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Point Buy vs Rolling for Stats
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<blockquote data-quote="Tony Vargas" data-source="post: 7252292" data-attributes="member: 996"><p>I think it may be worth noting that both of your examples are of folks wanting to roll for stats...</p><p></p><p> Immersions are very personal things. Immersion can survive the most profound abstractions, inconsistencies, and disconnects, but be 'shattered' by one little thing being slightly off. What's different? The personal suspension of disbelief being shattered, nothing else. </p><p></p><p>It may seem like a strong reason for a preference to the person experiencing it, but it can't always be catered to in detail - some compromise is generally necessary, though groups can winnow their way to some sort of consensus through attrition over the years...</p><p></p><p> Personal preferences are just that, personal, that's all the justification they should need. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p>To be fair, it gives the DM a lot of latitude to be flexible... <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /> IMX, a high-stat PC or two can tend to 'fix' the game at very low level. Early on in AL (I think it was technically still Encounters, even), with array characters and preliminary encounter design in HotDQ, 5e skewed weirdly lethal at 1st level, but when I used random generation and some post-racial 18's and 20s slipped in, it got significantly easier on the party. Even the PCs that got comparatively poor stats (not a lot worse than array) would tend to survive, thanks to the party being more consistent in combat. </p><p></p><p>Of course, at higher level, the game has to expect high primary stats, because of ASIs. So it should even out, then, too. </p><p></p><p>I'm afraid low stats break the game worse than high. <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite2" alt=";)" title="Wink ;)" loading="lazy" data-shortname=";)" /></p><p></p><p> The inherent fairness of random generation absolutely requires that if you roll crap, you play it in good faith for the whole campaign. Undermining that does the method a severe disservice. (I mean, if you make very high stats re-roll as well as relatively poor, maybe... but I've never heard of such a thing.)</p><p></p><p> It is, and it does, it just doesn't manifest in the same way for everyone, and most of us have been dealing with the same or similar problems for so long that it's not really a matter of 'compensating' anymore, it's business-as-usual, and trying to cope with an effective mechanical solution would feel like more of an adjustment than continuing to do so.... </p><p></p><p>...yeah, that's 'Oberoni,' in a way, but mainly it's just D&D. </p><p></p><p> It's part of the brilliance of not just asserting DM Empowerment (technically 3.x 'Rule 0' was totally empowering), that it also laid the groundwork for it by inserting the DM's judgement into the mechanics at the most basic level, writing in natural language to, again, require frequent rulings, and assuming so little (no magic items, no system mastery, no feats or MCing, etc) that customizing the game to even fairly typical preferences necessarily means re-balancing it to suit.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Tony Vargas, post: 7252292, member: 996"] I think it may be worth noting that both of your examples are of folks wanting to roll for stats... Immersions are very personal things. Immersion can survive the most profound abstractions, inconsistencies, and disconnects, but be 'shattered' by one little thing being slightly off. What's different? The personal suspension of disbelief being shattered, nothing else. It may seem like a strong reason for a preference to the person experiencing it, but it can't always be catered to in detail - some compromise is generally necessary, though groups can winnow their way to some sort of consensus through attrition over the years... Personal preferences are just that, personal, that's all the justification they should need. ;) To be fair, it gives the DM a lot of latitude to be flexible... ;) IMX, a high-stat PC or two can tend to 'fix' the game at very low level. Early on in AL (I think it was technically still Encounters, even), with array characters and preliminary encounter design in HotDQ, 5e skewed weirdly lethal at 1st level, but when I used random generation and some post-racial 18's and 20s slipped in, it got significantly easier on the party. Even the PCs that got comparatively poor stats (not a lot worse than array) would tend to survive, thanks to the party being more consistent in combat. Of course, at higher level, the game has to expect high primary stats, because of ASIs. So it should even out, then, too. I'm afraid low stats break the game worse than high. ;) The inherent fairness of random generation absolutely requires that if you roll crap, you play it in good faith for the whole campaign. Undermining that does the method a severe disservice. (I mean, if you make very high stats re-roll as well as relatively poor, maybe... but I've never heard of such a thing.) It is, and it does, it just doesn't manifest in the same way for everyone, and most of us have been dealing with the same or similar problems for so long that it's not really a matter of 'compensating' anymore, it's business-as-usual, and trying to cope with an effective mechanical solution would feel like more of an adjustment than continuing to do so.... ...yeah, that's 'Oberoni,' in a way, but mainly it's just D&D. It's part of the brilliance of not just asserting DM Empowerment (technically 3.x 'Rule 0' was totally empowering), that it also laid the groundwork for it by inserting the DM's judgement into the mechanics at the most basic level, writing in natural language to, again, require frequent rulings, and assuming so little (no magic items, no system mastery, no feats or MCing, etc) that customizing the game to even fairly typical preferences necessarily means re-balancing it to suit. [/QUOTE]
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