D&D 5E (2014) Random, balanced, fail proof 5E stat generation system

pkt77242 · Mar 31, 2016

Couldn't you just boil this down to you get a 2 15s and a 14 and then roll 4D6 drop the lowest 3 times but if lower than an 8 make it an 8 and if higher than a 16 make it a 16?

thecasualoblivion · Mar 31, 2016

feartheminotaur said:
I gotta agree that this has too many moving parts.

I applaud the effort, but there's nothing to it, compared to existing methods, that demands we buy in, no obvious and inherent advantage over the psychological barrier of "the way I've always done stat generation" and/or "I hate rolling/using presets for stats" (a sentiment you yourself voiced in the other thread).

The reason I hate rolling is the disparity between results at the table. It was one of the problems I wanted to solve. That being said, I do agree to an extent with the people who like random generation, particularly with those who advocate rolling in order, about interesting random results. When using point buy or arrays, I invariably put low scores in the unimportant stats, so I never build a smart Fighter or charismatic Barbarian, and that is a little boring. It's just that finding that boring is less offensive to me than the imbalance of rolling. There is also the question of fudging/cheating. I hate rolling by the book with a passion, but will tolerate it if there is an understanding that fudging/cheating will be allowed. I'd rather not have to fudge/cheat though.

There really isn't a stat generation method that can give random results, not result in weak characters, keep the imbalance to a minimum, all while discouraging fudging/cheating.

thecasualoblivion · Mar 31, 2016

pkt77242 said:
Couldn't you just boil this down to you get a 2 15s and a 14 and then roll 4D6 drop the lowest 3 times but if lower than an 8 make it an 8 and if higher than a 16 make it a 16?

It's simpler, but that would kind of require arranging the six stats to taste. I wanted to include rolling the stats in order, and I had to make it a bit more complicated to accommodate that and making sure the stats end up where they need to.

pukunui · Mar 31, 2016

I seem to recall that, back in the 3.5 days, I came up with a method that involved rolling for three stats, then subtracting the point buy values of those stats from a point buy total. The remainder was then used to buy the other three stats. I did that because some of my players liked rolling for stats, but I wanted to ensure that everyone had equalized stats in terms of point buy value. It seemed to work out all right.

Rune · Mar 31, 2016

I've had very good results using a method I first read about on these boards (unfortunately, I can't remember who posted it).

Take a deck of cards and remove everything that isn't an Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6. Shuffle the rest. Draw four, drop the lowest, and add the other three (Aces equal one). That's your first number. Repeat five times for five more numbers. Quick, not impossible to get very high or low numbers (although very low numbers are a lot less common), much more even distribution than 6 X (4d6 - lowest d6).

Of course, my current campaign is 3d6 in order (with no ASIs), but that's a different story altogether.

bedir than · Mar 31, 2016

I just have my players use a random array from http://aramis.hostman.us/dnd/RedrickRoller.html

feartheminotaur · Mar 31, 2016

thecasualoblivion said:
There really isn't a stat generation method that can give random results, not result in weak characters, keep the imbalance to a minimum, all while discouraging fudging/cheating.

Sure there is: "OK, 12. And 13. And a 4?" *crumples up paper* "OK, 12. And a 17..." I don't consider starting over cheating (and hey, more dice rolling, whoo-hoo!)

But I'm someone who point buys normally or, if rolling, has everyone use the best of the rolled arrays...and someone who doesn't considers a sub-optimal score "weak".

So, really, unless a new system is just that much better, there's no incentive (for me) to use it.

Radaceus · Apr 1, 2016

A method I've used before, which I garnered from the original Rogues Gallery ( a chart in the back had numerous NPC stat and you could roll random on it), was to roll 4d6 heaps of times and generate a d20 table. I originally used this for making NPC's on the fly, after a few years I had several random tables of NPC stats, as well as I believe it was a d8 to determine class, which you then rolled on the appropriate class table for the stats.

Later I used the same method for pre-rolled, fleshed out PC's, and had the player's roll random from 20 choices, first they rolled highest die to see who picked first, then they got two rolls each to choose from the list. This is a good exercise, encouraging variety of roleplay, as well as one might end up with a type of character they would not normally play ( thus the 2 choices so someone doesn't get stuck with something they really don't want to play).

You could do the same thing with just the ability scores, roll and consult a chart for ability scores, ( even go so far as to have one chart per class)