Forum:The Failure of Scaling Bonuses and LA Buyoff

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The Failure of Scaling Bonuses and LA Buyoff

Ghostwheel 18:40, September 23, 2009 (UTC)

I've noticed a few instances where people have tried to add scaling bonuses to things like AC, ability scores, attack, and other things that require a d20 rolled as part or against them, and I'd like to explain why this doesn't work.

Let's say that a character has a scaling bonus to AC; we'll take an extreme example, say they get a +10 natural armor bonus to AC (not an enhancement to natural armor as given by the amulet, so it stacks with it). Character X has said ability, and at level 20 they have A+10 AC, where A is the AC they would have with only items/ability boosts/etc to AC. On the other hand, character Y in the same party buys exactly the same stuff, but doesn't get the +10, having an AC of A. Now, let's say the DM brings in monsters that should be a match for the party, and are able to hit an "average" character (Y, who has buffed up their AC with items, but doesn't get the +10 from scaling) on an 11. This monster will damage character Y about half the time, and miss the other half of the time. However, it will only hit character X on a natural 20. On the other hand, if the DM gets tired of not being able to hit character X and brings in a monster who hits him on a natural 11 or higher, that means that character Y is always going to get hit. In effect, the scaling bonus pushed character X off of the RNG (random number generator) table as far as AC goes, since the roll isn't an opposed check.

Scaling bonuses don't usually grant this extreme of a bonus to the stat, but at the same time they continually make the difference between the die needed to roll ever larger, rather than keeping it static, and keeping the benefit of the ability the same at all levels. (+2 to AC at level 5 gives the same amount of defense against attacks as +2 to AC at level 20--people need to roll 10% higher on average to hit you, or ~20% if you assume that 1d20 rolls around a 10 on average, and needs around a 10 to succeed on the check.)

The same goes to bonuses to Attack, DCs, and other things that rely on the RNG to function--that is, use a d20. Opposed checks are given more allowance here, since the gap is wider, allowing someone to have up to around a +40 to their check before being pushed off the RNG.

On a similar note, LA Buyoff just doesn't work; in fact, it essentially makes LA meaningless, especially the low LA of +1 (and +2 if you start at a high enough level). The difference in XP is so miniscule after a few levels (and by the book, the person at the lower level should receive more XP) that characters reap all the benefits of their LA without any of the penalties. Now, some people might say that the benefits of LA disappear at higher levels, or are subsumed by stronger abilities. This is true for some racially-granted abilities, but not for ones that stack, or for ability modifiers. For example, an ability that would be subsumed might be a race's ability to fly, since one could pick up Winged Boots at higher levels, and the benefit of the race would be gone, effectively worth the cost of Winged Boots, and LA Buyoff would be viable, and perhaps even correct to use.

On the other hand, +2 racial to strength for example, is going to give you +1 to hit and +1 damage no matter what level you are when compared to someone of equal level with the same items. Now, if races gave instead Enhancement bonuses to stats, then it would be true; +2 to a stat would be subsumed at higher levels, effectively being worth 4k gp, but when it stacks with items then saying that it doesn't matter at higher ACs is wrong.

Another example would be +2 to a casting stat. The +2 gives a higher DC and more bonus spells regardless of what level you're playing at as long as LA has been bought off and the two characters have the same items. Thus, one should either change racial bonuses to ability scores to become enhancement, or get rid of LA Buyoff.

Surgo 19:13, September 23, 2009 (UTC)

Scaling bonuses are totally fine if they are named and replace what would otherwise be an item you buy or something. (In other words, there's precedent for them.)

Ghostwheel 21:15, September 23, 2009 (UTC)

I agree--on one condition, that the equivalent bonus is one that you could buy/receive normally at the level you'd get the enhancement. So, for example, a character that got 1/4th their level as an enhancement bonus to natural armor would be completely normal--they're not over the predicted AC for a creature at their level. But, on the other hand, if they get 1/2 their level as an enhancement bonus to natural armor, they would be over the predicted AC for a creature of their level by 1 at level 4 (when others should have +1 and they have +2, by 2 at level 8 (when they have +4 and other creatures of their level should have +2), and the gap keeps getting wider. So yes, it's alright--if you stay within the acceptable limits of what an equivalent character could buy, but I've seen a number of things that go above and beyond this, contributing to character imbalance as far as the RNG goes.