D&D 5E How do you handle randomly rolling for stats

[Meech17]

I've actually seen the opposite. Gal had incredible luck rolling (multiple 18s, nothing below a 14), better than anyone else at the table, far, far better than another person. She felt guilty about having such an OP PC and committed suicide by goblin.

Imagine trying to get your character killed, but you're unable to because their stats are all so good you keep passing all the various checks

 

[Oofta]

Imagine trying to get your character killed, but you're unable to because their stats are all so good you keep passing all the various checks

Nah, just do a solo Leroy Jenkins against a small army of goblins. Worked for her. Sad thing is, the DM was oblivious to what she was doing. Same DM told us "no" when we asked to use point buy instead of rolling and then just shrugged and literally laughed when the player with the terrible rolls asked if they could please redo with point with point buy.

My point being, just because you don't recognize and problem, doesn't mean there isn't one.

 

[Horwath]

I've actually seen the opposite. Gal had incredible luck rolling (multiple 18s, nothing below a 14), better than anyone else at the table, far, far better than another person. She felt guilty about having such an OP PC and committed suicide by goblin.

Fool!

she should have thrown her weight around every chance and present how ovepowered her character is in comparison to everyone else in every aspect.

with subtle hints: Next time we point buy?

 

[Oofta]

Fool!

she should have thrown her weight around every chance and present how ovepowered her character is in comparison to everyone else in every aspect.

with subtle hints: Next time we point buy?

You would think that would work, but the DM was really excited for her having a PC far more powerful than anyone else.

 

[TheGlen]

and low array rolled leads sometimes to suicided characters.

I have seen it, but no one can prove it was 100% intentional

Oh I've used constitution for a dump stat when I hose a character's creation. I've played Stumpy McLunger more than once. The only thing that they shared other than a scorching case of consumption was a rather nasty overestimation of their fighting skills at low level.

 

[Oofta]

The biggest issue I see is that if you roll and roll poorly, the DM will either have pity on you and you get to roll again and/or let you adjust the scores to something reasonable. If not allowed to reroll or adjust the PC with the poor scores either dies quickly or hides in the back, never taking any risk. None of those options would be fun for me.

So at this point? If we're talking a one-shot or short term campaign I don't care although I still prefer point buy so I can play the PC I want not the one I'm forced to run. Long campaign? If I can't use point buy (if people can roll they must use strict 4d6dl) then it's not the right game for me.

In any case, I'm back to ignoring this thread because it's not a "should you roll or not".

 

[Horwath]

You would think that would work, but the DM was really excited for her having a PC far more powerful than anyone else.

maybe then she will persuade others with weak stats to suicide missions:

THE WEAK WILL PERISH!

 

[CleverNickName]

"Point Buy" is just Standard Array with extra steps. In my experience, everyone at the table ends up with nearly identical stats. And hey--if that's the goal, it's a great way to do it.

I prefer randomness over predictability, though. I'm one of those weirdos who likes to roll my stats, roll my hit points, roll my Ideals/Traits/Flaws, roll my starting gold, all of that. I like to be surprised.

 

[Meech17]

"Point Buy" is just Standard Array with extra steps. In my experience, everyone at the table ends up with nearly identical stats. And hey--if that's the goal, it's a great way to do it.

I prefer randomness over predictability, though. I'm one of those weirdos who likes to roll my stats, roll my hit points, roll my Ideals/Traits/Flaws, roll my starting gold, all of that. I like to be surprised.

You usually end up seeing one of three trends, in my experience.

A set that looks like the standard array,

A set that looks like three solid stats, three awful stats(15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8)

or the one where they're all really close to the point of the character being not bad, but also not good at anything. (13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12)

I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing though. I do agree it would be maybe wiser to just offer multiple arrays, rather than requiring all that math.

 

[Horwath]

You usually end up seeing one of three trends, in my experience.

A set that looks like the standard array,

A set that looks like three solid stats, three awful stats(15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8)

ah yeah, the NPC healer that needs to follow the party:
str 16, dex 8, con 16, int 8, wis 16, cha 8
perfect!

or if they lack a front liner then the stats would be ... wait, completely the same.

or the one where they're all really close to the point of the character being not bad, but also not good at anything. (13, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12)

Actually I played with a great character with that array in the party:
half elf barbarian.
we had bonus 1st level feat, he took skill expert,
stats:
Str 18, dex 14, con 14, int 12, wis 12, cha 12
at 3rd level(Tasha's rules): he had 8 skills and 1 expertise.
what versatility for exploration from a barbarian...

I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing though. I do agree it would be maybe wiser to just offer multiple arrays, rather than requiring all that math.

what math?
1st year of elementary school?