D&D 5E Point Buy or Standard Array

[Horwath]

If you guys rolled for stats (as was standard in any edition before 3.0), and the lowest you ever saw in a rolling system was 9, then I don't think your players were rolling fair. IJS

average is between 12 and 13 with 70% of the rolls falling in 10-15 range, so maybe they are rolling fairly.

and if you use 27 point buy to get most balanced character you get 13,13,13,12,12,12.

 

[Ace]

I use point buy but I'd certainly allow the standard array. I don't use rolled stats though, they don't give steady results and are often too weak or two strong.

For comparison. in 3x I used 32 point buy , 25 in PF 1E and in older editions I just let the players do whatever they like as I tend to game with people I trust not to make the game less fun for everyone else.

Because of that I'll get strong but reasonable characters without the occasional super high power craziness die rolls can lead to and peopel can play what they like.

 

[Lord Twig]

Things that I thought of when I saw this thread!

"Oh! It is a point buy vs. standard array thread. Well that is a nice change from arguing about rolling vs. point buy."
Starts to read thread...
"And now it is rolling vs. point buy again."
Then...
"Wow, this is an old thread. But maybe it was revived because of the new Tasha's rule on species ASIs? That would be interesting."
More reading...
"Nope. Just more rolling vs. point buy."

So... What do people think about point buy vs. standard array now that Tasha's is out? To me the optional floating species ASI rule makes the standard array a lot more flexible now and point buy is even better that it was before. So still an advantage to use point buy over standard array in terms of Min-Maxing.

 

[DND_Reborn]

So... What do people think about point buy vs. standard array now that Tasha's is out? To me the optional floating species ASI rule makes the standard array a lot more flexible now and point buy is even better that it was before. So still an advantage to use point buy over standard array in terms of Min-Maxing.

TCoE having nothing to do with it, I never liked the standard array because of the 8. In the dozen or so PCs I've played in 5E, I only had one, once with a single 9... not even an 8.

Now, with Tasha's (which we aren't doing, but for the sake of argument) you could put the +1 or +2 in the 8 to bring it up, but I'd rather just do point-buy.

Personally, point-buy is my favorite system because I can custom tailor the PC's score to exactly what I want. Rolling can be fun, but the only way I like rolling is if the table agrees to roll IN ORDER, one set, and you are STUCK with it for better or worse. But frankly, few people enjoy or can handle playing PCs that way.

 

[jmartkdr2]

Things that I thought of when I saw this thread!

"Oh! It is a point buy vs. standard array thread. Well that is a nice change from arguing about rolling vs. point buy."
Starts to read thread...
"And now it is rolling vs. point buy again."
Then...
"Wow, this is an old thread. But maybe it was revived because of the new Tasha's rule on species ASIs? That would be interesting."
More reading...
"Nope. Just more rolling vs. point buy."

So... What do people think about point buy vs. standard array now that Tasha's is out? To me the optional floating species ASI rule makes the standard array a lot more flexible now and point buy is even better that it was before. So still an advantage to use point buy over standard array in terms of Min-Maxing.

If anything, I'd say Tasha's makes Standard Array even more appealing, since most races get a +2 for your 14 and a +1 for your 15, letting you start with two 16's. You can faff around with the other stats 1-for-1, but there's not a lot of incentive to do so (unless you're a mountain dwarf).

 

[CrownRoyalDice]

:: looks at date::

Perhaps Necromancer?

Isn't that an Int based Wizard school?
also, I decided to use 8, 15, 15, 8, 15, 8 as a stat block for a group of NPCs. turns out they make a great "anti-middle of nowhere Evil" killer team.

 

[CrownRoyalDice]

Things that I thought of when I saw this thread!

"Oh! It is a point buy vs. standard array thread. Well that is a nice change from arguing about rolling vs. point buy."
Starts to read thread...
"And now it is rolling vs. point buy again."
Then...
"Wow, this is an old thread. But maybe it was revived because of the new Tasha's rule on species ASIs? That would be interesting."
More reading...
"Nope. Just more rolling vs. point buy."

So... What do people think about point buy vs. standard array now that Tasha's is out? To me the optional floating species ASI rule makes the standard array a lot more flexible now and point buy is even better that it was before. So still an advantage to use point buy over standard array in terms of Min-Maxing.

my perspective, Tasha's was unnecessary in that regard. If a player wanted to be a +2 Int +2 Dex Mountian Dwarf, then they and the DM can work that out and treat it as homebrew.

I appreciate Tasha's for updating and clarifying some archaic mechanics from the older editions, but a good chunk of the book amounts to "if you want to do something, you could have just asked your DM and homebrewed it, rather than spend $49.99 on a book."

But that's just the opinion of a random person on the internet who prefers a 72 point Point Buy system, with all characters starting at 0.
incidentally, this method was made from wanting a Non-Variant Human who could Multiclass into any class.

Turns out, it is the same Base Stat Total as the PHB Standard Array.

 

[CrownRoyalDice]

TCoE having nothing to do with it, I never liked the standard array because of the 8. In the dozen or so PCs I've played in 5E, I only had one, once with a single 9... not even an 8.

Now, with Tasha's (which we aren't doing, but for the sake of argument) you could put the +1 or +2 in the 8 to bring it up, but I'd rather just do point-buy.

Personally, point-buy is my favorite system because I can custom tailor the PC's score to exactly what I want. Rolling can be fun, but the only way I like rolling is if the table agrees to roll IN ORDER, one set, and you are STUCK with it for better or worse. But frankly, few people enjoy or can handle playing PCs that way.

on the one hand, that sounds like an interesting way to play, on the other, I imagine you get a lot of duplicate high stats, say, 2 or 3 Dex based stat blocks, rather than a Str, a Dex, and a Cha player.

I prefer the 4d6 drop lowest, and let the player rearrange the numbers, but not trade them out.


My group tends to be a "everyone can do the method they like best" philosophy.

seeing my 72 point +Human Racial Barbarian, be better in every way than the Mountain Dwarf Paladin who rolled for his stats was funny.

I have a different post above this one explaining the 72 point system.