What to you do for attributes

[Blackbrrd]

We used the 22 point buy.

We stopped rolling stats after one player rolled 18,18,17,16,15,14 and the rest rolled something like 18,16,14,12,10,8. (we rolled 4d6, drop lowest until we got a set that totaled 78 or higher).

 

[Griogre]

Standard array or point buy. I always had players roll in prior editions - but here is just no way I'm going to take the hell if someone rolls higher than the +8 mod total and I tell them to re-roll because the stats are too good.

I would feel obligated to do that too, because +1's are kinda rare, and my feeling is too many high stats would probably make that character overshadow the others.

 

[Tervin]

With this edition I have moved into preferring point buy, and 22 is enough to make a good character with. Considering racial bonuses, later increases in stats and feats demanding stats along the way, it feels like there will be enough routes to go for the players anyway - no risk that every fighter will have the same stats (which is basically why I used to prefer rolling for them).

One thing that I really like about character creation with point buy now is that there are no die rolls to be made along the way. This means that every player can be expected to make the character at home before the session starts - and we avoid losing precious playing time.

 

[FireLance]

Personally, I prefer the 4d6 rolling. Using a set point buy / standard array make it feel too cookie cutter for me. I like the RP that comes out of having large deviations in scores. But I also suggest, like it says in the book, setting some limits (mainly a lower). I still want the players to have fun, and rolling a bunch of extremely low scores can make a player disinterested in his or her character...

Interestingly enough, the PH now explicitly allows the DM to disallow a character if it is too powerful compared to the standard (if the total ability modifiers are higher than +8 before racial adjustments, pg 18 of the PH under "Method 3: Rolling Scores".

One approach I've thought of to avoid the "cookie cutter" approach is to start with a 8 in each ability score, roll 1d6 for each ability score in order, and subtract the amount rolled from 32. If you have any points left over, you can increase your "as-rolled" ability scores via point buy. This allows for some variation - each 6 usually gives you an additional point, but roll too many 6's and you'll get a lot of moderately good scores, but little scope to get very good ones.

 

[Staffan]

Point-buy. I usually preferred rolling before, but point-buy is more balanced, and at least at the start of playing 4e, I want a level playing field.

 

[Xzylvador]

22 point buy. Allows more diversity than the standard array, but gets rid of the unfairness of rolling. (Agreed, some "bad" stats can allow for great RP. But the problem is that someone who rolls good (like 4 18-16's) will/should get to be tweaked lower and end up pissed, while someone with bad luck (rolling nothing above 15 or something) will be screwed and also end up dissapointed.)
Point buy or array seems fairest and equal for everyone.

 

[Pbartender]

For our upcoming 4E campaign...

I'm allowing my players to roll 4d6 six times and arranged as desired, as denoted by "Method 3" in the 4E Player's Handbook. The rolls are made in front of me, with no rerolling.

If the players don't like the rolls they get, then they can use either "Method 1", a standard array, or "Method 2", a 22 point buy.

 

[toxicspirit]

The inner munchkin in me would really like just one more point in the point-buy system.

 

[Bold or Stupid]

I must admit I go for very skilled PCs in the games I run.

the players roll 4d6 7 times (drop worst from set) until they have a happy set (2-3 times each for the current game) or they can star5 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 and add 26 none weighted points to that. Most characters have ended up with one weak defence (both scores being unimportant for concept happened a lot) so it doesn't seem too imbalanced they just have good skills.

That being said I'd actually play in a standard points buy game this edition.

 

[Marasmusine]

I always liked the 'organic method' of rolling 4d6 (dropping lowest) in order, then allowing the player to swap two over. As a player, I like imperfect heroes; as a DM, I found this useful for players who weren't sure what class they wanted to begin with. Doesn't seem to work so well in 4e unless I allow a second swapover after class selection.