Level Up (A5E) Do Player Characters Have Average Population Stat Distributions?

[DND_Reborn]

I still like the idea of 4d6 drop lowest, 7 times, drop lowest, standard array of 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 32 point buy with a cap of 16 in place of ASIs, and plan to use it for my next game.

Yep. We've covered this before and they work fine if you want to remove racial ASIs. You really don't need to add anything to make up for that either, as races already have other racial traits.

 

[Charlaquin]

What would the cost be for the 16? 11 (+2 over 15) or 12 (+3 over 15)?

11. If it cost 12 you would need a 33 point buy to be able to recreate the array.

 

[Phoebasss]

So, just to be clear, you're more envisioning racial traits that can be tailored to each class possibly?

Not really, I think something that embodies the race, but is more generally useful than (as an example) +2 strength. Because lets be honest, if you decide on a wizard or dex build with a +2 strength race, you basically lose access to your racial bonus. Which isn't fun or interesting. Dwarven toughness should help you out regardless of class. Likewise, the half-orc savagery should apply to things that aren't just melee weapon attacks. So while there's still a small incentive to be a half-orc barbarian, you don't lose access to all your racial features just because your half-orc is a caster. You can still imbue that savage attitude into a blast of acid or bolt of lightning. (Provided it has an attack roll of course)

I just feel that because 5e is so hardline focused on combat being where the mechanics are, your race should also differentiate you in combat a little bit.

 

[Charlaquin]

Yep. We've covered this before and they work fine if you want to remove racial ASIs. You really don't need to add anything to make up for that either, as races already have other racial traits.

Exactly. Maybe not the ideal solution for A5E (more polling and playtesting will be needed to determine what will be best for that), but as a quick and dirty house rule to replace racial ASIs in 5e, I think it works great.

 

[Guest 6801328]

Exactly. Maybe not the ideal solution for A5E (more polling and playtesting will be needed to determine what will be best for that), but as a quick and dirty house rule to replace racial ASIs in 5e, I think it works great.

Hmm. Yes, it works...but squanders a golden opportunity to create cool new mechanics.

 

[aco175]

I understand racial modifiers can be viewed as just as modern as phrenology, which is to say "entirely obsolete". On the other hand, we could just realize we're playing a game of pretend elfs, and not let any real-world connotations seep into our fantasy experience.

Kudos using phrenology. For those who did not click on the link it is like palm reading but uses the bumps on your head.

How many times have you experienced a player rolling the exact number needed to hit, and having them narrate something about their ancestry? "Good thing I'm an elf or I would have missed." (I've never once heard that. YMMV. And of course it's the internet so we can all pretend that it happens in whatever way most supports our side of the argument.)

This usually comes up at my table when anyone but the fighter rolls a 19 and doesn't crit. Used to come up in older editions where a lot of random +1s were not consolidated in the base attack. I had one player every time look at the base attack, the stat bonus, a spell bonus, a magic bonus, a luck bonus, and yelling "Wait, Wait, I must have another +1 somewhere".

 

[Charlaquin]

Hmm. Yes, it works...but squanders a golden opportunity to create cool new mechanics.

Yeah, which is why I don’t think it’s necessarily the best way for A5E to go. But I think it’s pretty perfect for a house rule, as it does exactly what it sets out to do with as small a footprint as possible, which I think is a good benchmark for homebrew.

 

[Minigiant]

Really? Peewee league is for kids around age 11-12. No matter how exceptional a pro football player is, he or she was nowhere near as strong as they were all those years ago so it's silly to suggest that an "exceptional" individual on the peewee league offensive line can credibly pretend they are capable hold a candle to even the weakest pro football player. Level 1 PCs are at real risk of being killed by rats spiders zombies & even a lucky wizard's familiar, that's probably not even peewee league. The difference between those Level PCs & the average person who hired them is that the average person is almost guaranteed to be killed & as a result needs to hire a team capable of working together to handle these minor problems.

If growing & building story/world depth through those kind of threats or the hardcore combat as war planning that goes with making larger foes something first level PCs can handle is not the right fit for your campaign you can always start at a higher level or with higher stats. When the game is built around the assumption that a first level character who is at serious risk of death from a housecat has abilities not significantly below the most capable elites it's not possible to simply dial it back because the mechanical structure for that growth is missing.

Again I don't see PCs as normal people. They are not average examples for their race. Therefore they can go further despite starting high.

And no, they aren't at risk from dying from a single rat or cat. It's multiple rats and cats. PCs are exceptional in 5e. That is a trend from 4e.PCs are weirdo freaks. That's why the folk hero leaes the farm. Because he relizes that he could adventure.

Adventuring is for chosen ones and weird kids.

 

[Guest 6801328]

This usually comes up at my table when anyone but the fighter rolls a 19 and doesn't crit. Used to come up in older editions where a lot of random +1s were not consolidated in the base attack. I had one player every time look at the base attack, the stat bonus, a spell bonus, a magic bonus, a luck bonus, and yelling "Wait, Wait, I must have another +1 somewhere".

You lost me with this. Are you talking about a different game?

 

[Charlaquin]

Kudos using phrenology. For those who did not click on the link it is like palm reading but uses the bumps on your head.

It’s like palm reading in that both are nonsense with no measurable predictive ability. But unlike palm reading in that it was widely accepted and supported as accurate by the scientific community for an embarrassingly long time.