User:Dandin/Expending TDPs on Attributes

The primary and most effective way to better your character with TDPs is to spend them training character stats. Due to the incremental nature of this sort of training, it is rarely observed from a wide perspective. In this article, I will attempt to examine the total TDP costs of optimizing character attributes.

Initial State

Despite any complexity introduced by species, all attributes initialize in one of 5 possible states, each a function of the stat's racial modifier: (-3, -2, -1, 0, +1, ,+2, +3). Each of these racial modifiers determines the stat's initial state (all -3 modifiers start at 16 ranks, etc) This is described by the following formula:

TDP costs

Attribute progression is an incremental process, with the number of TDPs required to raise an attribute by a value of one increasing by 3, scaled by the racial modifier for that attribute. This is expressed with the following formula:

However, since we'll be interested in total TDP costs for a stat, actually want to use this formula:

In the general case, there are 3 variables to this formula (target, current and racial), however, since we would like to consider the total cost of raising the attribute, our target will be set at 99 (the current stat cap), and our current will be set to our initial state, which is dependent upon the racial modifier, therefore, there is only one independent variable. The formula is thus reduced to the following polynomial form:

Since there are only 7 racial modifiers, it would make sense for us to make a table at this point:

Racial Modifier	Total Cost
-3	7096.5
-2	9520
-1	11962.5
0	14418
+1	16880.5
+2	19344
+3	21802.5

Conclusions at this point

The differences between racial modifiers are significant.

Racial Modifier Magnitude	1	2	3
Difference between + and 0	2462.5	4926	7384.5
Difference between 0 and -	2455.5	4898	7321.5
Difference between + and -	4918	9824	14706
Normalized difference (+-diff/magnitude)	4918	4912	4902

The difference between a 0 and a -1 modifier is a cost of just under 2500 TDPs, which strikes me as very significant. That difference gets even more extreme with a -2 or -3 modifier, to just under 4900 and just under 7400 TDPs each. There is a significant cost benefit to training attributes your race has an affinity for. The increased costs of a +1, +2, and +3 modifier do a great job of counter-balancing with the discounts on the negative side. There is a significant cost penalty to training attributes your race doesn't have an affinity for. They are however, slightly more expensive than the negatives are cheap. I will investigate this more in the next section.

Comparing Races

Using the above table, we can determine the total costs for each attribute of each race:

Race	Strength	Reflex	Agility	Charisma	Discipline	Wisdom	Intelligence	Stamina	Total Cost
Dwarf	14418	16880.5	16880.5	14418	11962.5	14418	14418	11962.5	115358
Elf	16880.5	11962.5	11962.5	11962.5	16880.5	14418	14418	16880.5	115365
Elothean	16880.5	11962.5	14418	14418	14418	11962.5	11962.5	19344	115366
Gor'Tog	7096.5	16880.5	14418	14418	14418	19344	19344	9520	115439
Gnome	21802.5	9520	11962.5	14418	14418	14418	9520	19344	115403
Halfling	19344	11962.5	9520	14418	16880.5	16880.5	14418	11962.5	115386
Human	14418	14418	14418	14418	14418	14418	14418	14418	115344
Kaldar	11962.5	14418	14418	11962.5	14418	16880.5	16880.5	14418	115358
Prydaen	14418	9520	14418	11962.5	16880.5	19344	14418	14418	115379
Rakash	14418	11962.5	16880.5	14418	11962.5	16880.5	19344	9520	115386
S'Kra Mur	11962.5	11962.5	14418	14418	14418	16880.5	16880.5	14418	115358

Conclusions at this point

Since all races have a 0 sum for their species modifiers, the TDP costs are all relatively close, but since there is a difference (greater cost than there should be) on attributes with a higher racial affinity. Races with more specialized affinities have greater costs associated. The most efficient race overall is Human, with a total cost of 115344, the least efficient race is Gor'Tog, with a total cost of 115439. The difference is 95 TDPs. Insignificant.