You roll a 3...

[Dannyalcatraz]

In my experience players are only interested in rolling their stats because they hope to end up with a character that is better than what they could get using point-buy, no matter what they tell you.

Well, just to let you know, not all players are like that.

The last rolled-stat PC I played had Str15, Dex15, Con13, Int10, Wis8, Cha6; rolled at the table in that order, who became the very thugnificent Mr. Johnny Bones, a Ftr/Th. A blast to play, and quite memorable.

Really, players who can be adult about rolling dice are out there.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

BRIAN DAMAGE

Barbarian/Thug (Ftr variant)
Str18 Dex17 Con18 Int14 Wis16 Cha3

Brian seems like a typical street-tough: a musclebound guy with an ugly face, a typically monosyllabic vocabulary and a baaaaaad temper. But don't mistake his hotheadedness for stupidity, because that will get you hurt. He's a powerful, crafty and a skilled combatant...and if he loses his temper? Well, just look out.

OTOH

OLE THORVALD

Paladin
Str18 Dex14 Con18 Int3 Wis16 Cha17

Ole has always tried to do the right thing, was kind and beloved of all in his village. But when he was still a young- but quite large- man, he heard The Call of a higher power that said it needed his strength to save others in lands far away. He told his parents about it, and by the end of the week, his village had collected enough bits and pieces of armor to make him a suit that (sort of) fit, and gave him a good hunter's knife and a large waraxe to go along with his own prized throwing axes. Then, he was off, following The Voice that called to him...

 

[Jhaelen]

To quote Water Bob's xp comment:

Water Bob:

Yep. Point-buy = Everyone's a Hero. No variety. No life.

That's the whole point:
Every player character is a hero because every player wants to play a hero.

Point-buy is just the logical end of an evolution in character creation methods: What's the point of 4d6, drop lowest? It's to improve the odds that your pc is better than average Joe (who only gets to roll 3d6). Point-buy improves the odds to 100%, making everyone happy.

There are certainly rpg systems where you aren't expected to play a hero, but D&D is not one of them.

 

[Reynard]

To quote Water Bob's xp comment:
That's the whole point:
Every player character is a hero because every player wants to play a hero.

Point-buy is just the logical end of an evolution in character creation methods: What's the point of 4d6, drop lowest? It's to improve the odds that your pc is better than average Joe (who only gets to roll 3d6). Point-buy improves the odds to 100%, making everyone happy.

There are certainly rpg systems where you aren't expected to play a hero, but D&D is not one of them.

The hero is the guy -- or gal --that didn't end up a mouldering corpse at the bottom of a pit impaled on kobold punji sticks. The hero is the one that, through a combination of luck and grit and talent, find his fortune and fame and glory.

More to the point: randomness, whether it is rolling for stats or wandering monsters or NPCs quriks and traits, improves the game by providing far more options than our limited preferences and imaginations generally allow for. I am all for designing your random character generation method so every character is valid and playable, but believe than an atypical stat arangement can be the beginning of a far more interesting character than most tired cliche's people who have been playing the game for a billion years are likely to come up with.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

People, people, people- both methods have their merits and flaws.

Can't we all just get along?

 

[dagger]

To quote Water Bob's xp comment:
That's the whole point:
Every player character is a hero because every player wants to play a hero.

Point-buy is just the logical end of an evolution in character creation methods: What's the point of 4d6, drop lowest? It's to improve the odds that your pc is better than average Joe (who only gets to roll 3d6). Point-buy improves the odds to 100%, making everyone happy.

Well some might say the characters in D&D are trying to become heroes....and not starting off that way. So maybe it depends on how you run the game or what edition you are playing?

Some might also say that point-buy is just another method and is not any better or worse than rolling.

There are certainly rpg systems where you aren't expected to play a hero, but D&D is not one of them.

According to you.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

There are 720 different combinations...

If there were 6 distinct scores, then there would be 6! = 720 different combinations. However, since there are two 18s, there are actually 360 different combinations.

 

[Calzone]

There is obviously only one answer for such stats: Dump Dex to get a peg-legged paladin with a hook hand.

Paul the Peg-Legged Paladin of Pelor

"Aye, most initiates wait years for a chance to prove themselves worthy of the honor of the Piercing Sun. I received the mark a week after being cloistered. Some damn fool lass (Pelor bless her addled mind) got in between a griffin and its young. I got her out safe all right, but left a bit of myself behind in the process. The high priest decided I'd already got a good grasp of the whole 'charity and self-sacrifice' bit."

 

[sjmiller]

If there were 6 distinct scores, then there would be 6! = 720 different combinations. However, since there are two 18s, there are actually 360 different combinations.

To be honest, I was viewing each roll, regardless of its value, as a unique entry. So, instead of viewing it as having two 18s, I was viewing it as 18A and 18B. Plus, I being lazy and not crunching number in a more complex formula.

Also, when you think of it, the mental exercise shows that with six given attributes you have a surprisingly large pool to choose from. That gets me wondering about other combinations.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

That gets me wondering about other combinations.

Well, as a professional mathematician, I wonder about the combinations you wonder about!