Dexterity

Dexterity (Dex) encompasses several physical attributes including hand-eye coordination, agility, reaction speed, reflexes, and balance. Dexterity affects a character's reaction to a threat or surprise, his accuracy with thrown weapons and bows, and his ability to dodge an enemy's blows. It is the prime requisite of rogues and affects their professional skills.

Reaction Adjustment modifies the die roll to see if a character is surprised when he unexpectedly encounters NPCs. The more positive the modifier, the less likely the character is to be surprised. The Reaction Adjustment is also applied to mitigate the penalties associated with fighting with two weapons.

Missile Attack Adjustment is used to modify a character's die roll whenever he uses a missile weapon (a bow or a thrown weapon). A positive number makes it easier for the character to hit with a missile, while a negative number makes it harder.

In some situations, beneficial Dexterity modifiers to Armor Class do not apply. Usually this occurs when a character is attacked from behind or when his movement is restricted--attacked while prone, tied up, on a ledge, climbing a rope, etc.

For example, Rath is wearing chain mail, giving him an Armor Class of 15. If his Dexterity score is 16, his Armor Class is modified by +2 to 17, making him harder to hit. If his Dexterity score is 5, his Armor Class is modified by -2 to 13, making him easier to hit.

Defensive Adjustment applies to a character's saving throws (see Glossary) against attacks that can be dodged--lightning bolts, boulders, etc. It also modifies the character's Armor Class (see Glossary), representing his ability to dodge normal missiles and parry weapon thrusts.

 

Dexterity Modifiers

Ability Score	Reaction Adj.	Missile Attack Adj	Defensive Adj
1	-6	-6	-5
2	-4	-4	-5
3	-3	-3	-4
4	-2	-2	-3
5	-1	-1	-2
6	0	0	-1
7-14	0	0	0
15	0	0	+1
16	+1	+1	+2
17	+2	+2	+3
18	+3	+3	+4
19	+3	+3	+4
20	+3	+3	+4
21	+4	+4	+5
22	+4	+4	+5
23	+4	+4	+5
24	+5	+5	+6
25	+5	+5	+6