D&D General Having your players roll their stats

[Xamnam]

Last game I ran was everyone rolled 4d6 drop low, then we threw every array generated on a whiteboard and folks could choose their favorite. I think 3 of the 5 generated were used.

 

[soviet]

Rolemaster had a very elegant mechanism for rolling your stats. You have ten stats and you roll d100 ten times, rearranging to suit. However, each class has two prerequisites (so for fighters it was STR and CON) - if your prerequisities were lower than 90, they automatically became 90s (which is equivalent to about a 15 or 16 in D&D).

So, you had random stats, but you could always play any class to a minimum level of competency, and if you rolled say a 95 you had an interesting decision as to whether to put it into STR (maximising your core effectiveness) or to instead put your lowest stat into STR to bump it up to a 90 and use the 95 elsewhere (more versatile and higher stats overall).

 

[pukunui]

That's not an assumption I make, either as player or DM, with  any version of D&D, from any publisher.

OK. That has not been my experience with 5e, and I’ve been running and playing with three different groups (with a variety of players who have come and gone) since the Next Playtest days. The only time I had high PC turnover was when I ran Tomb of Annihilation.

But anyway, I’m not really sure why I’m being singled out here for my choice. I’m not the only one in this thread who dislikes random stat generation.

 

[Oofta]

Yes, and after a while and some character deaths/turnover you've got a different mix of over- and under-powered characters.

Life ain't a level playing field.

Life isn't fair, but part of the fantasy in a fantasy game can be that it is more fair. Or not, I just don't think that's justification.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

Ideally, sure. But people aren't perfect. Many don't empathize as much as they could. Others are going to smile and say it's okay while inwardly cringing. Just because you aren't attuned to other's desires, it doesn't mean you're a jerk.

Ah, yes, the inevitable uncharitable reading of what I wrote.

You did read the part about the player being overly greedy to the detriment of others? Perhaps I wasn't clear enough and needed some more disclaimers? Like, if the person did not relent when the issue was addressed then they might not be a good fit for the table? Or that most groups would actually talk it through and if the person didn't actually mean to be overly greedy someone could point out their mistake and they could let someone else have some of those high numbers they were inadvertently monopolizing? Etc.

This goes back to this black and white label that seems to pop up now and then. Either you're a "good" player or you're a "jerk". All jerks should be immediately kicked from the game. Except that's not how it works, most behavior is on a spectrum. Some people just have a low insight skill while others have a low charisma. We're all playing a game. I try to ensure I'm setting up the best possible game for the most people, even if I also accept I can't be the right DM for everyone. But part of setting up a good game? Not pitting players against each other unnecessarily is something I prefer in the game.

Well, good thing I didn't say that either you're a "good" player or a "jerk".

Yet you imply that the stat draft is "pitting players against each other" despite the explanations of others describing how it is not. Sounds, ironically, like a pretty black and white label to me...

 

[Corinnguard]

I take it that old school refers throttling 4d6 with one hand or both hands, and then dropping them onto some hard, unforgiving surface. I did that in the first 5e adventure I joined back in 2021. Rolled 4d6, dropped them and then dropped the lowest result.

For my current adventure, my group went new school by using the virtual dice on D&D Beyond to roll up our character stats.

 

[Umbran]

I feel you're somewhat overestimating the intensity of the environment for an "average" group.

Show me where I have said ANYTHING about an "average group".

When you cannot find it, and instead you find that I spoke about not wanting it for my own group, please consider the likelihood that I know my players, and their dynamics in certain situations, a darn sight better than any of you.

Then, if you all could stop 'splaining the thing to me, that would be great. Thanks.

 

[Hex08]

I have done some reading and maybe figured out what a stat draft is and if it works for your group then great, but I don't think I would ever implement it. Everyone's group is different but depending on the group dynamic this seems like it could be a really bad idea. My current group has some veteran players who have been gaming with me for decades but also two who are new and their idea of an RPG comes from video games and MMOs. The way the new players approach the game is radically different than my veteran players and I have always been of the opinion that a video game isn't an RPG in the same sense of a tabletop RPG and they really have very little in common. Honestly, I am spending a fair amount of time trying to break the new players of their video game habits. For my current group I think a stat draft would be horrible and unless I am not understanding how a stat draft works I don't see the advantage over rolling stats, at least based on using the method that I mentioned in my original post.

I notice there is some discussion about how different methods work in 5E, and that's fair enough since it is the current version of the most popular RPG out there but keep in mind that's not everyone's bag. I even mentioned in my original post that I run Castles & Crusades primarily when I run a D&D style game and Pathfinder before that. The version of D&D being played can really impact how well various methods of character generation works.

 

[Micah Sweet]

OK. That has not been my experience with 5e, and I’ve been running and playing with three different groups (with a variety of players who have come and gone) since the Next Playtest days. The only time I had high PC turnover was when I ran Tomb of Annihilation.

But anyway, I’m not really sure why I’m being singled out here for my choice. I’m not the only one in this thread who dislikes random stat generation.

Sorry if I made you you feel badgered. I responded to an inaccurate statement, and you responded back. I'll leave you alone.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I go with whatever the group wants to do.