Table of Contents
Introduction
In fifth edition fantasy gaming, Intelligence has migrated from becoming an important statistic to one of the more overlooked ones and is often relegated to the realm of a “dump stat” — not seen as desirable or even necessary for a large number of character builds (except if you are a wizard!).
In fact, if it weren’t for eldritch knight, arcane trickster, and wizard (and much more recently, the artificer), there would be almost no need to have the intelligence stat in the game. Very few spells target Intelligence for saves, either, so using it for your dump stat rarely has any serious consequences unless your fighting those squid-headed guys in a dark underground place or you are the target of certain, very specific spells.
The Solution
So how do we make this woefully neglected statistic more interesting and viable in your fantasy game? Well, at our table we have created the following house rule that might just make players think twice about maxing their other statistics and dumping good old Intelligence on the doorstep: give characters proficiency with a an extra gaming set, musical instrument, language, skill, or tool per point of their Intelligence modifier. Have a +3? You’re all set. Grab a language, a skill, and a tool. Or three languages. Or three musical instruments. Mix and match to your heart’s content.
What? Yes, you read that right. Give your players more things they can do and they might gravitate toward having a decent Intelligence score a lot more often. Since the “lowly” Int score is supposed to be a measure of how smart you are, how many things you know, and how adept you are at solving problems, this has turned out to be quite an elegant solution in our games.
Got a really bright character that just so happens to be a paladin? Give him proficiency with Thieves’ Tools or an extra language, like Celestial. Smart bard? Perhaps a few more musical instrument or gaming set proficiencies are in order. Try it out and see how it works for your game.
What About Negative Scores?
Enter the variant wrinkle to this rule: remove a proficiency for each -1 a character has in the Intelligence department. Bear in mind that you can also just say the rule affects only positive scores, but to make it really not be a dump stat, players should have to think a little harder about having that fighter with a 6 Intelligence. Losing two proficiencies they would normally have from their class or a language they would know from their background, etc., would put a bit of sting in their decision making.
In Your Game
Let us know what you think about this variant rule, if you have used it or something similar in your game, and what the results were if you do. We think it’s added a lot of fun, variety, and interest and maybe this optional rule will work for you, too!