Level Up (A5E) Where to put ability bonuses during character creation

[Morrus]

I voted to place them in with race. Why have different races if you cannot have them be different.

Well, there are lots of ways to make them different. Ability score adjustments, IMO, are only one of those ways.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Previously my tendency was to tie the ASI either to background or split it between background, culture and race.
However, @vincegetorix has a good point - once you do point buy, you might as well scrap ASIs completely and increase the point buy budget if necessary.

My players hate point buy. I can't accept any option that insists upon it. Which is a shame, because it's a very clean way to deal with this stuff.

 

[Micah Sweet]

Well, there are lots of ways to make them different. Ability score adjustments, IMO, are only one of those ways.

I agree, there are other options. I would want something stronger or more varied then what we have, however, and I don't know what that would be.

 

[Cadence]

I think some physical bonuses make sense to me due to vast differences in implied physiology from height and weight. Mental and also some physical due to background or other reasons also seems good for customization. I have no idea how to balance that. Maybe if everyone gets a +2 and +1, let some races stack them up if they take the right background? If everyone gets to put a +1 and +2 somewhere then why not just make that part of the points used to buy the initial abilities? Or do lots of folks still roll?

 

[DND_Reborn]

My players hate point buy. I can't accept any option that insists upon it. Which is a shame, because it's a very clean way to deal with this stuff.

So, do they roll all the time then? If they do, they are already getting better scores than either the current standard array or point-buy allows.

My suggestion if they insist on more and roll, is do 5d6-2L for two scores, and 4d6-L for the rest. I haven't run the numbers, but that will allow them two scores which should be better if they need that.

EDIT: ok, ran the numbers, it works IMO.

DICE METHOD: two 5d6 twice and 4d6 four times, keeping the best three dice for each roll. [Average: 12.64]
STANDARD ARRAY: 16, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9 [Average: 12.5]
POINT-BUY: 32 points, as normal but max 16 (costs 11 points). [Average: 12.5, well... sort of]

Then get rid of any racial, class, background, floating ASIs and just put the scores where you want them. Done.

 

[HomegrownHydra]

I prefer a split between class and species/culture/background like 13th Age does it. That opens up more variety of class and race combos that people will play.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Well, there are lots of ways to make them different. Ability score adjustments, IMO, are only one of those ways.

Apparently, from what I've read on teh Interwebz, if races don't have ability modifiers then they are "just humans with halloween masks" or something like that. Derp.

 

[Tales and Chronicles]

I prefer a split between class and species/culture/background like 13th Age does it. That opens up more variety of class and race combos that people will play.

Only if you do not allow +3, because if you do, you've just piegonholed the mix of ''viable build'' even more.

Fact is, those people that do not play golitath wizard because they dont have a + to Int (for example)? Do you really think that the fact that you can gain 2 x +1s from background and culture actually mean they will say ''ah, no matter if my specie does not give me a +1 int, I can finally play my goliath wizard'' instead of going anyway for that +1 specie for the whole +3 INT?

And then, min-maxer will just do the thing they did before: take the optimal combination. Having the pluses come from more than one place is just extra steps to gain the same +2, +1 races already do. No matter if it comes only from your race choice, from background and race, from culture and background, from 3 or 10 places.

If we want people to actually care about the background/culture/ancestry they choose in a in-setting sense, we should remove the stat bonuses in favor of roleplay and flavor features.

 

[Micah Sweet]

So, do they roll all the time then? If they do, they are already getting better scores than either the current standard array or point-buy allows.

My suggestion if they insist on more and roll, is do 5d6-2L for two scores, and 4d6-L for the rest. I haven't run the numbers, but that will allow them two scores which should be better if they need that.

EDIT: ok, ran the numbers, it works IMO.

DICE METHOD: two 5d6 twice and 4d6 four times, keeping the best three dice for each roll. [Average: 12.64]
STANDARD ARRAY: 16, 15, 13, 12, 10, 9 [Average: 12.5]
POINT-BUY: 32 points, as normal but max 16 (costs 11 points). [Average: 12.5, well... sort of]

Then get rid of any racial, class, background, floating ASIs and just put the scores where you want them. Done.

I may try that. Thank you!

 

[Charlaquin]

Well, there are lots of ways to make them different. Ability score adjustments, IMO, are only one of those ways.

And by far the least interesting way.