Point Buy Systems: Help Please

[TheRelinquished]

I know that I'm showing my non-veteran colors by asking this, but could someone be so kind as to explain point buy systems to me. I personally have only ever used the 4d6-drop-one method of rolling stats, though I'm aware of 3d6 and 5d6 systems. Somehow, the point buy system has eluded me completely.

What I know about it thus far is that it involved "buying" stats from a set pool of points. But I don't know any details about it. So what I need is an idiot's guide. Please.

 

[Crothian]

All scores start out as an 8. THen each character gets a set number of points to improve those attribute. Normal seems to be about 27 but they can really vary from game to game. THe point costs are as follows

8-0
9-1
10-2
11-3
12-4
13-5
14-6
15-8
16-10
17-13
18-16

So, if you want you character to get a 12 strength, then you just spent 4 points.

 

[Yair]

The above is the point buy system presented in the DMG.
I just wanted to make clear there are other point buy systems people use, the above costs are not holy. When someone just says "point buy" in D&D, though, they probably mean them.

 

[HeapThaumaturgist]

That's the system in the DMG, alright.

I find the Point Buy system creates situations in which people can create legal characters for play when away from the table. We don't have to spend an entire session hashing out PCs, etc etc, which is very useful.

It also means that everybody starts with character parity at the begining of the game. Nobody has mysteriously rolled exceptional stats at home, nobody has rolled unfortunately low stats at the game. I find alot of people's home rolling systems (reroll 1s, minimum stats, etc etc) end up skewing the stats way out of proportion to what the designers of the game felt was "baseline".

25pt buy should be "baseline". And that gives you some relatively low stats compared to, say, 5d6 reroll 1s drop lowest or whatever. But 25pt is what CRs are calculated against, abilities are designed for, etc etc.

We like to play with about 28pts. That starts getting a little more into the heroic end. The powerful games we do 32, and I've played as high as 36 ... and you can do ALOT with 36pt buy. 36pts is when you start getting into classical munchkinland type PCs who have a couple stats at 17, etc.

--fje

 

[DaveStebbins]

I find the Point Buy system creates situations in which people can create legal characters for play when away from the table. We don't have to spend an entire session hashing out PCs, etc etc, which is very useful.

Main advantage number one.

It also means that everybody starts with character parity at the begining of the game. Nobody has mysteriously rolled exceptional stats at home, nobody has rolled unfortunately low stats at the game.

Main advantage number two.

It also give players more flexibility to build exactly the type of character they were looking for, where rolling might give them stats different from what they had hoped for. This gives players more of an investment in their PCs, IME. The downside is that it can lead to lots of PCs with essentially the same stats, which my group doesn't mind at all, but might not suit the style of others.

25 point is "standard" as mentioned, but most games I've heard of use 28 or so. My groups always use 32 point buy (high-powered), which skews the party about one level higher for figuring what encounters will be challenging at low levels.

-Dave

 

[Aeson]

The above is the point buy system presented in the DMG.
I just wanted to make clear there are other point buy systems people use, the above costs are not holy. When someone just says "point buy" in D&D, though, they probably mean them.

This is one of the reasons I don't like point buys. The DM can use any system in the verse and it may or may not make sense.

I like rolling stats. It to me seems more fun. The actual rolling of dice and waiting to see what you come up with. Point buy is so boring.

 

[Aus_Snow]

This is one of the reasons I don't like point buys. The DM can use any system in the verse and it may or may not make sense.

Er. The same applies to ability rolling variants, actually. The DM can insist on anything from 3d6 take what you get (placed in order), to 5d6 drop 2 lowest reroll 1s (place as you like), minimum ability mod total: +9, to whatever else they deem to be appopriate for their campaign.

Personally, I have yet to find/make a point buy system I'm happy using for my campaigns, but on the other hand I've used ability arrays a couple of times (e.g., 18, 16, 13, 11, 10, 8 - ha! why, that's 36 point-buy and I hadn't even realised it! ) and that was absolutely fine with everyone.

I think I'd favour a '1-for-1' point-buy system, if I was to use one at all. So, start with a base of 3 for each ability, and add points to the abilities directly, with a pool of. . . maybe 52 points or so? That allows a degree of 'min-maxing' I know, but I think part of the GoO Role-Playing Game Manifesto applies here. Sure, at the extreme end, a character could start with 18, 18, 18, 10, 3, 3. . . but I'm sure they would have some serious problems if they did. Well, there's that, and the fact that players IMC's have rolled scores such as these (4d6 drop lowest, and in plain view) : 18, 17, 16, 16, 13, 10 - arguably 'worse' than the 'worst' scenario possible using that hypothetical point-buy system I just described. Hm, 54 point-buy? Is that right? Well regardless, that's what someone rolled for their PC, legit.

 

[Obscure]

Does anyone apply racial ability modifiers before buying the stats? For example, a dwarf would start with

Str 8
Dex 8
Con 10
Int 8
Wis 8
Cha 6

and buy from there.

 

[Michael Silverbane]

Generally not. That is, you start with all 8's... Buy your ability scores, and then apply the racial abiity score adjustments.

Later
silver

 

[mythusmage]

I had a look at Tapestry (White Rose Publishing) again today. It uses a combination of dice rolling and point buy to determine characteristics.

You start off by rolling 3d6 for the 15 characteristics in order. You then get 100 points to use to raise or lower characteristics to better fit your character concept. Yes, lowering characteristics costs you points.

The formula for determining the cost is, (a-b)x((a-c)+0.5) where 'a' is the new value, 'b' is the old value, and 'c' is the means. So raising a characteristic of 16 to 17 would cost (17-16)x((17-10.5)+0.5)=7. But raising that 16 to a 19 would cost (19-16)x((19-10.5)+0.5)=27 points.

So one could start off with an average character and end up with a more interestig (playable) one.