FormerlyHemlock
Hero
Technically, "standard" in 5E is rolling or array. Point buy is Variant 1.
I think it would be fun to run an Amber campaign or one-shot and have the players roll 4d6 (keep all four), in order.
D&D 5E How do you generate ability scores for PCs?
- Thread starter Oofta
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Technically, "standard" in 5E is rolling or array. Point buy is Variant 1.
I think it would be fun to run an Amber campaign or one-shot and have the players roll 4d6 (keep all four), in order.
Cognomen's Cassowary
First Post
Other: All abilities start at 12. Roll 3d6. Each d6 gives you a modifier which you can add to one ability but must also subtract from another. You can add and subtract once from each ability, but you cannot add to the same one twice or subtract from the same one twice. You do not have to use the mods if you do not wish.
FormerlyHemlock
Hero
BTW, I answered the poll question "4d6 drop one," because that's what I would prefer if I were playing and I had the same choice I give my players... but I actually let them choose to roll or point-buy, as they prefer.
Xeviat
Dungeon Mistress, she/her
I recently added 16 to my point buy options, with a cost of 12. I upped the point buy to 30. This is based on the more accurate 4d6 drop the lowest of 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.
Alternately, I'm thinking of doing a "secret bonus", where I give out the standard array and then randomly increase one of their scores to 16 (or increase it by 2 if I roll something 15 or up). The intent on this is to give characters a random high stat outside of their concept, just to see what they do with it.
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Alternately, I'm thinking of doing a "secret bonus", where I give out the standard array and then randomly increase one of their scores to 16 (or increase it by 2 if I roll something 15 or up). The intent on this is to give characters a random high stat outside of their concept, just to see what they do with it.
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Rhenny
Adventurer
We use all of them depending on the campaign.
In some campaigns we used point buy (27) or standard array - to keep it fair and to allow players to create their own PC and bring them to the table. In another (one that I knew would only have 2 or 3 players at any one time) I even upped the point buy to 40 (with a 16 being available at creation for 12 points)...yikes. (I wanted them to survive even if only 2 PCs played in a session). In another campaign we rolled 4d6 drop straight down from Strength to Charisma without being able to arrange them.
Heck, I'd even be tempted to go back to the old days and roll 3d6 in order Strength to Charisma to see what happens. I kind of like the vulnerable and sometimes hopeless causes.
In some campaigns we used point buy (27) or standard array - to keep it fair and to allow players to create their own PC and bring them to the table. In another (one that I knew would only have 2 or 3 players at any one time) I even upped the point buy to 40 (with a 16 being available at creation for 12 points)...yikes. (I wanted them to survive even if only 2 PCs played in a session). In another campaign we rolled 4d6 drop straight down from Strength to Charisma without being able to arrange them.
Heck, I'd even be tempted to go back to the old days and roll 3d6 in order Strength to Charisma to see what happens. I kind of like the vulnerable and sometimes hopeless causes.
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Maxperson
Morkus from Orkus
My current group likes high stats and since stats really don't matter, I go with it.
We roll stats like this.
2 x 5d6 take the best 3
2x 4d6 take the best 3
2x 3d6 take what is rolled
After that, we have a minimum 78 point rule. If the rolled stats add up to 78 or more, you keep them. Otherwise you roll a d6 and add +1 to the corresponding stat to a maximum of 18. Strength being 1, dexterity being 2, constitution being 3, and so on. Repeat until you have 78 points.
At that point you can swap any pair of stats so that you can have a high prime stat in the class you want to play or set up decent multi attribute stats for that sort of class.
We roll stats like this.
2 x 5d6 take the best 3
2x 4d6 take the best 3
2x 3d6 take what is rolled
After that, we have a minimum 78 point rule. If the rolled stats add up to 78 or more, you keep them. Otherwise you roll a d6 and add +1 to the corresponding stat to a maximum of 18. Strength being 1, dexterity being 2, constitution being 3, and so on. Repeat until you have 78 points.
At that point you can swap any pair of stats so that you can have a high prime stat in the class you want to play or set up decent multi attribute stats for that sort of class.
Bacon Bits
Legend
Point buy, standard array, or fixed array depending on DM's choice. We haven't rolled abilities since before 4e.
Actually that's not entirely true. We rolled stats for the initial test run for 4e, and realized how broken our characters were and switched to point buy. We never really went back. When we rolled, we required table witnesses and we also did some extra hoop jumping to make rolling generate more consistent characters. I think people just decided that it was much easier to use point buy since you didn't have to do any of that. Once people got used to it, it seemed like a hassle to have to roll.
Actually that's not entirely true. We rolled stats for the initial test run for 4e, and realized how broken our characters were and switched to point buy. We never really went back. When we rolled, we required table witnesses and we also did some extra hoop jumping to make rolling generate more consistent characters. I think people just decided that it was much easier to use point buy since you didn't have to do any of that. Once people got used to it, it seemed like a hassle to have to roll.
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Greenstone.Walker
Adventurer
You need to add the 15-14-13-12-10-8 array to the poll choices.
In the game I GM it, players can use the array or point-buy, their choice.
In the game I GM it, players can use the array or point-buy, their choice.
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