D&D 5E How Will You Be Generating Stats in 5E?

[Jeff Carlsen]

While someday I'll run a campaign where the players roll 3d6 in order, that's the exception to the rule. Normally, 4d6 drop the lowest or the default array, as the player chooses. That said, I'm conceptually fond of 2d6 + 6.

 

[Jester David]

Tarot cards.

 

[drjones]

I let players chose from 4d6 drop 1 assign, point buy, 6x6 array of 4d6 drop 1 used in order. For the rolled ones I require a little fudging; no total bonus greater than +10 to avoid having one PC who is great at everything.

So far none have chosen point buy and they have been quite lucky, several 18s and 17s. but also some < 10s and a 3 or two. Some of the good scores are not in optimal stats. If the rest of the party is as lucky I'll experiment with designing encounters for a level higher or so. Because of the 20 cap I think it will mostly matter in the lower levels anyway.

 

[pming]

Hiya.

For my group, I have the start with 4d6(-Lowest). If they don't like what they have, they can choose the array of : 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. Optionally, they can choose to custom-make their stats with the 27-point system.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[jrowland]

I voted array and 4d6 drop lowest and assign.

FYI - I've always allowed players, after rolling, to drop one number by 2 to increase another by 1 as many times as they want.

eg:

Roll	Change	Result
18	-2	16
16	0	16
15	+1	16
13	0	13
12	0	12
10	0	11

Some players find this more than fair, and is self-limiting in that the more you do it, the less your overall stats are. You may ask why lower a nat 18 to 16? A player may decide the racial bonus (+2) gets him back to 18 anyway, and missing out on a 20 is a fair trade for a third stat that allows for a bigger bonus (or for multiclassing, etc) until the Ability bump comes in at 4th.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

If I ever get to run I'll have a variety of methods available for individual choice.

Probably 4D6, drop the lowest, but roll 9 times and keep the 6 you like best.
A better than standard array, probably 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10.
And maybe a point buy, 30-33 points, with 18 as the highest possible score.

That way everyone ought to be happy. Or at least they won't have anything to complain about!

 

[Aribar]

At least 28-point buy. It's not fair for one or more players to be permanently screwed over because of a few unlucky dice rolls before the game even begins. Our group likes stronger characters as well.

 

[Psikerlord#]

We're using 4d6, drop lowest, arrange how you like. But in addition any player in the group can use the stats any other player rolled, albeit with a 2 point penalty (ie must take 2 points of one stat, or 1 pt off two stats). And if after all the rolling you still dont like it, you can go straight point buy instead.

 

[HabitualErrant]

Got to be 4d6 drop the lowest for me. I like the randomness but if someone were to roll all 6s or something ridiculous like that I'd have to politely ask for re-rolls, which is always awkward. That being said, it's terribly unlikely that'd happen. My current game does have three high-stated characters and one who rolled normally, but I find that sometimes that's all part of the fun.

 

[AverageCitizen]

I've been experimenting with a variant roll system.

Players roll their stats (Dm choose your favorite method)

Players compare the point buy total of their rolls (you have to extrapolate the 5e system to get 16,17 and 18 but its not hard to figure out)

Players and DM decide on an acceptable level of variance between the strongest and weakest character in terms of point buy total

Players swap their rolls until they are within that level of variance


This way the players get the excitement of rolling, but avoid the rolling pitfall of one player being far behind the others. (I don't even mind one being far ahead, that can be fun, but one who just lags behind can be a real downer for the player and the group). In the end, the group might be high powered, average, or low powered, but they are more-or-less in it together.