PC Creation: Pointbuy or Roll?

[Lord Rasputin]

Why roll for hit points?

I'm still trying to figure that one out.

Seriously.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

I agree with this, up to a point. I think it only makes the campaign less fun if they get attached to their PCs, or if there is a big penalty for death.

In a meat-grinder dungeon, rolling for stats seems perfectly "balanced" and natural. Sure, you'll probably die, but so will the guy who rolled four 18s. (Eventually. )

-- N

I don't play in meat-grinder dungeons (or run them).

To make an ad absurdum arguement...

Why roll for hit points?

To get players to stop complaining they can't roll for stats, of course

Or damage?

You roll damage many times over your career.

Or skill checks and saving throws?

See above.

After all, any time you roll the dice, it affects the game from then on.

You're still going to roll those checks more than once.

 

[Fieari]

I prefer not rolling HP as well. My players, again, who love rolling the dice, have overrulled me, so the way I have them do it is roll the HD type, take half, and add it to the average. That way, they never have below average HP, but there's still some variation outside of con scores.

But honestly, I'd be happy with "Take average" or "Take 75%" for HP, flat out.

 

[Xyanthon]

From a kneejerk reactionary perspective, I like to roll stats. I don't know, it's just a game in and of itself. However, from a practical stand point of giving the players the concepts that they want, I'm not opposed to point buy.

 

[Aus_Snow]

But honestly, I'd be happy with "Take average" or "Take 75%" for HP, flat out.

Same here. In my games, it's the better side of average (so d8 is treated as 5, f'rex).

 

[Christoph the Magus]

I can't stand point buy. Just seems lame, and a kind of a crutch for people who can't handle the occasional "crappy" character that can result from rolling. I like the excitement of watching the rolls come in as the character forms.

 

[Jedi_Solo]

Point Buy. Always.

Our group used to roll for stats until one player rolled a character that would have been 40+ in point buy and another took 6 tries to roll a viable (according to the PHB rules) character and then it was just barely concidered viable (it was a few years ago so I don't quite remember what the point buy total came to. About 18 or so points I think).

 

[Cam Banks]

Strictly point buy for my D&D campaigns. My view is, there's going to be plenty of occasion for randomness in the game itself, so I eliminate all randomness from chargen just to get everybody started on the same page.

I've played in games where we roll dice for stats and where we use hybrid versions. In the past, I've been somewhat fond of a method that has you roll 8d6 and apply the dice to the six stats (which are set at a base of 8). You have to keep the value on the face of each die, so in some cases you end up with extremely average results, while the possibility exists for a 20 in a stat (if you add 2 dice reading 6 each). I think 20 is the agreed cap on any ability score in such a method.

In King Arthur Pendragon, contrary to my approach to D&D, I like almost everything about the character to be randomly generated. In KAP's case, though, it's much more likely to be interesting later on if you roll poorly as if you roll well.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Pbartender]

You're still going to roll those checks more than once.

Sure, but a serious failure of any of those rolls can ruin the fun of playing a character just as surely as rolling poorly for ability scores can... And since you are rolling those checks so much more often, you have a lot more chances for failure.

What's the advantage of point buying a perfectly balanced character, if an unlucky roll of the dice during the game will render him dead or debilitated for life?

 

[Jefe Bergenstein]

We choose a total bonus for the campaign (+7 in our current one). Your stat mods before racial changes must add up to that amount. 3 of your scores can be odd, nothing starts below 6. Its worked well so far. For mooks I normally give them 3-5 points. Max HP each level as well. I detest randomness in character generation.

IMO, if you roll for stats, you forfeit the right to EVER whine about class balance, some feat being overpowered, etc. When you choose to throw balance out the window, thats your call.