Ability Scores

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ABILITY SCORES
To create an ability score for your character, roll four six-sided dice
(4d6). Disregard the lowest die roll and total the three highest ones.
The result is a number between 3 (horrible) and 18 (tremendous).
The average ability score for the typical commoner is 10 or 11, but
your character is not typical. The most common ability scores for
player characters (PCs) are 12 and 13. (That’s right, the average
player character is above average.)
Make this roll six times, recording each result on a piece of paper.
Once you have six scores, assign each score to one of the six abilities.
At this step, you need to know what kind of person your character is
going to be, including his or her race and class, in order to know
how best to distribute the ability scores. Choosing a race other
than human or half-elf causes some of these ability scores to
change (see Table 2–1: Racial Ability Adjustments, page 12).
ABILITY MODIFIERS
Each ability, after changes made because of race, has a modifier
ranging from –5 to +5. Table 1–1: Ability Modifiers and Bonus
Spells (on the next page) shows the modifier for each score. It
also shows bonus spells, which you’ll need to know about if
your character is a spellcaster.
The modifier is the number you apply to the die roll when
your character tries to do something related to that ability.
For instance, you apply your character’s Strength modifier to
your roll when he or she tries to hit someone with a sword.
You also use the modifier with some numbers that aren’t die
rolls—for example, you apply your character’s Dexterity
modifier to his or her Armor Class (AC). A positive
modifier is called a bonus, and a negative modifier is called
a penalty.
ABILITIES AND SPELLCASTERS
The ability that governs bonus spells (see Chapter 3:
Classes) depends on what type of spellcaster your
character is: Intelligence for wizards; Wisdom for clerics,
druids, paladins, and rangers; or Charisma for sorcerers and
bards. In addition to having a high ability score, a spellcaster
must be of high enough class level to be able to cast spells of
a given spell level. (See the class descriptions in Chapter 3
for details.) For instance, the wizard Mialee has an
Intelligence score of 15, so she’s smart enough to get one bonus 1stlevel
spell and one bonus 2nd-level spell. (She will not actually get
the 2nd-level spell until she is 3rd level wizard, since that’s the minimum
level a wizard must be to cast 2nd-level spells.)
If your character’s ability score is 9 or lower, you can’t cast spells
tied to that ability. For example, if Mialee’s Intelligence score
dropped to 9 because of a poison that reduces intellect, she would
not be able to cast even her simplest spells until cured.