Intelligence

Intelligence determines how well a character learns and reasons. This ability is important for wizards because it affects how many spells they can cast, how hard their spells are to resist, and how powerful their spells can be. It's also important for any character who wants to have a wide assortment of skills.
Intelligence modifiers are applied to:
*Number of skill points gained each level. (But a character always gets at least 1 skill point per level.)
*Skill bonuses: Appraise, crafting skills (all 4 types), disable device, lore, search, and spellcraft checks. These are the skills that have Intelligence as their key ability.
* Damage rolls with the Combat Insight epic feat
* Damage bonus with Insightful Strike
* AC bonus with Canny defense and Unfettered Defense class feats
* Wizard's spell DC
A wizard gains bonus spells based on her Intelligence score (see ability modifier). The minimum Intelligence score needed to cast a wizard spell is 10 + the spell's level.
An animal has an Intelligence score of 1 or 2. A creature of human like intelligence has a score of at least 3. Some creatures are unintelligent and have an intelligence score of 0 (and are thusly unaffected by some spells).
==Notes==
*Lore was used in NWN as a collective version of knowledge and other information skills. NWN2 will include it for the same reasons.
*When increasing intelligence on level up to a value which would mean a bonus skill point, it is only applied after that level has been taken.
== Gameplay Notes ==
Having negative intelligence even for a few-skill using class can be cumbersome, since a penalty can mean they have only a single skill point to spend! However, if they can last with one skill point (although dangerous even for some combat abilities) then it doesn't affect much else, since it is not linked to a conversation skill, is not used to increase a save or change attack bonuses or AC as the others are.
== 3.5E Comparison ==
The number of languages a character knows at the start of the game is not affected, since languages don't exist - basically, the entire game assumes everyone speaks common, so the need for languages is pretty moot!
Category:Base Abilities