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

[tetrasodium]

Can't speak to Mulan - never seen it. But Luke and Han operate within a galaxy of other individuals who also adventure and have powers and are the protagonists in their own stories. That it's the Luke-Han story being told doesn't invalidate all the others, nor does it mean Luke and Han can operate in ways all those other protagonists cannot: they have to fit within their setting just like everyone else.

Not intended as insulting, just trying to point out that if the PCs really are the only adventurers in the entire setting there's nothing stopping a DM or a rule-set from making them be absolutely anything without regard to the rest of the setting. It's exactly the same as if the PCs are aliens within the setting - they don't need to conform to it.

Luke started off as a nobody living in a relative's basement with no badass force powers, rot ripped off by jawas, almost died to a tuscan & had to be rescued by obiwon where he learned a bit about his dad & discovered the need to go off on a quest because he lacked the ability to do much of anything & even after meeting yoda it took him quite a bit to rise to the point where he could make his father's lightsaber wiggle. It sounds like you started star wars like 6+ movies in & think luke was always a badass because the first time you saw him was a cameo of an old PC in a new campaign with different characters?

 

[Guest 6801328]

Here's a thought experiment I just went through:

Imagine we're not talking about rules for character creation, but for playing the game. What would happen if the PCs and the NPCs had different rules? For example, what if only PCs crit on a nat 20? Or in an opposed test, ties went to the PC? (Or vice versa for either.)

I would find that...dissatisfying. Maybe some of the other adjectives @Saelorn and @Lanefan have been using.

So I imagine what's going on is that they see character generation rules sort of like I see gameplay rules. As something that delivers impartial justice. Or whatever.

I'm still not there with them. Not even remotely. But at least it doesn't seem quite as bonkers as it did previously.

 

[TwoSix]

Here's a thought experiment I just went through:

Imagine we're not talking about rules for character creation, but for playing the game. What would happen if the PCs and the NPCs had different rules? For example, what if only PCs crit on a nat 20? Or in an opposed test, ties went to the PC? (Or vice versa for either.)

I would find that...dissatisfying. Maybe some of the other adjectives @Saelorn and @Lanefan have been using.

So I imagine what's going on is that they see character generation rules sort of like I see gameplay rules. As something that delivers impartial justice. Or whatever.

I'm still not there with them. Not even remotely. But at least it doesn't seem quite as bonkers as it did previously.

I dunno, I've played plenty of games where the NPCs aren't even really statted. They just exist as narrative complications based on the results of the PC's checks. I don't think that's the right approach for a D&D style game, but the idea of NPCs and PCs running around together like a giant game of the Sims (which is how I keep picturing this playstyle) is even more odd.

 

[Phoebasss]

I've never seen all 11s or lower. My game doesn't use ability mods in the same way 5e does; but I have seen (and played) characters whose total would have added to 0 or maybe worse. (the best character I've ever played started with a total of +2)

Unless the PC is a rescued prisoner, in which case it sort-of does start in bondage, they usually start as free-willed individuals.

I usually bring them in at either raw 1st level or at a floor which increases slowly as the party gains levels - which means they've had at least some training.

As for profound disability, there is a chance via bad luck of having your PC come in deaf, or (as just happened recently) mute, or similar. A stat of 4 or less in anything other than Cha would perhaps indicate a disability of some sort also.

Dude, if you want to play retroclones or OSR games, no one is stopping you. But this game has at least a basis in 5e. And so long as it has that, PCs are going to be a cut above, even at level one.

 

[Guest 6801328]

I dunno, I've played plenty of games where the NPCs aren't even really statted. They just exist as narrative complications based on the results of the PC's checks. I don't think that's the right approach for a D&D style game, but the idea of NPCs and PCs running around together like a giant game of the Sims (which is how I keep picturing this playstyle) is even more odd.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you here.

I'm just trying to figure out how those two get to the place they are.

 

[TwoSix]

Oh, don't get me wrong, I totally agree with you here.

I'm just trying to figure out how those two get to the place they are.

I'm pretty sure I know how they got there (a focus on the primacy of setting over characters, and a disdain for anything resembling metagaming was prevalent in the late 80s into the 90s); I'm just not sure why they stopped there.

 

[Maxperson]

Worse at being a bard than a race with a Charisma bonus.

True. The options are good and slightly better. Not a big enough deal to worry about.

 

[Phoebasss]

True. The options are good and slightly better. Not a big enough deal to worry about.

I feel like that's more about the power level of bard and the fact that you were multiclassing into Barb to make use of your +2.

 

[DND_Reborn]

Let me put it this way. I haven't seen a non-MAD character in years without a 16+ at level one.

FWIW, using 4d6-L, about 56% of characters rolled will have at least one score of 16 or higher. Throw in racial ASIs from the PHB and the odds go up of course because now all you need is a 14 or higher (over 92% of characters will have at least one 14 or higher).

Using the Standard Array or Point-Buy, with racial ASIs, and two scores could potentially be 16.

If you min/max at all, I would estimate between 90-95% of PCs will have a score of 16 or higher. Even if min/maxing isn't your goal, it would probably in the ballpark of 75-80% IMO.

 

[Charlaquin]

True. The options are good and slightly better. Not a big enough deal to worry about.

Point is, your cool character wouldn’t be less cool if it was good at being a bard.