D&D General Having your players roll their stats

[pukunui]

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

Thanks. It wasn't just you, though. And I do appreciate your correction. Where I work, we're all about making education more fair and equitable, so I ought to know the difference between those two terms!

 

[DEFCON 1]

Most games I have folks use Point Buy. The one time recently I allowed for randomness I used the playing-card method of 12 set cards with numbers from 4-8 and you shuffled and dealt 2 cards per ability score, adding the cards together (and they designed their characters based on what stats they got.) Everyone got randomized scores, but they all remained within a relatively even range. No one PC was much bigger or smaller than the others.

 

[delericho]

I won't any longer play in a campaign where I'm required to roll stats. One-shots are a different matter, though I can't recall the last time I wasn't issued a pregen for those.

For campaigns I run, I now offer a choice of generation methods: random roll, or a standard array that is slightly less generous on average, or point buy that is slightly less generous again. (The trade off there that one approach gives bigger total numbers but less control over exactly where they are; the other is weaker on paper but allows for greater control.) Each player is free to choose for themselves, but if they roll they are expected to play the resulting character in good faith (that is, no suiciding a character because you didn't like the numbers.)

Thus far, everyone has gone for point buy.

 

[Oofta]

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.



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...

I simply don't see the need. It's not the worst solution, but I see no value to it.

If you can't accept that some people would have issues with this, if you can't accept the negative aspects, that's not my problem. It also doesn't make those aspects go away.

 

[Oofta]

Most games I have folks use Point Buy. The one time recently I allowed for randomness I used the playing-card method of 12 set cards with numbers from 4-8 and you shuffled and dealt 2 cards per ability score, adding the cards together (and they designed their characters based on what stats they got.) Everyone got randomized scores, but they all remained within a relatively even range. No one PC was much bigger or smaller than the others.

An alternative is to create a handful of arrays using point buy, say a dozen. Roll for which array to use. If you want more random, randomly assign which number goes with which stat.

You'll have some balanced, some min maxed, etc.. AlI don't see the point to randomization but you can have random and reasonably balanced.

 

[CreamCloud0]

for people curious about the stat draft that keeps being mentioned here's a link to the thread where two were played out

D&D 5E - Playing through a Sample Stat Draft (COMPLETED!)

Originally I said I was gonna post this tomorrow because today was too busy, but I found some time. . . So over in the "How do you determine your initial Attributes?" thread, I mentioned (for the millionth time, probably) my patented method for players to determine starting ability scores for...

www.enworld.org

 

[aco175]

ENWORD fixed that problem

I present, the Redrick Roller! Redrick Roller

I think it has some more work to do. I just rolled 35 character stats and the lowest I rolled was an 8- twice and highest was 15- which came up every other character, maybe twice. Not sure on the parameters for 3d6, certainly did not look like 4d6-L. Might be good for NPCs, but I tend to just crap them out as needed.

 

[Burnside]

For 5E, which is the only edition of D&D I run at this point, always point buy or standard array (players choice; standard array is literally a set you could arrive at through point buy anyway).

As a player, I wouldn't play in a 5E campaign where the DM required rolled stats; it's become a red flag for me based on experience. One-shot, sure.

However, when running Dungeon Crawl Classics, I absolutely will do the rolled ability stats as the system advises and with that system it's a lot of fun, particularly when you use 0-level funnel adventures.

 

[Ancalagon]

I think it has some more work to do. I just rolled 35 character stats and the lowest I rolled was an 8- twice and highest was 15- which came up every other character, maybe twice. Not sure on the parameters for 3d6, certainly did not look like 4d6-L. Might be good for NPCs, but I tend to just crap them out as needed.

That's by design. The site states "Randomly generates legal 27 point character attribute sets." - I suppose that it should have specified this was for 5e - where by point buy, you can't get lower than 8 and can't get higher than 15 (before racial stat mods).

I'm a big fan because it does add some variability and "organic" feel to the stats generated, but on the other hand the "power variation" is quite small. Oh and, for some rolls, standard human is really good

I do agree with you that it would be great if the site had... "levers/dials" where we could change things like the point value, the maximum value etc...

In my current campaign however we didn't use this method, and instead used the Dungeon Dude array, which is the standard array punched up a wee bit (the 14 is now 17) giving you 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8.

 

[Oofta]

I sometimes think part of the divide between random versus point buy/array is the different approach people take to character creation. I hear people saying they want to be "surprised" by their PC. Me? I come up with an idea for a PC that I want to play that will fit in well with the group and then I come up with a backstory. Ability scores are about the last thing I do. Sometimes the stats will be a bit min-maxed, sometimes they'll be more balanced because I don't want to focus on just one aspect of my PC such as combat. But I want to play Mouse the halfling rogue who is intelligent, wise, charismatic and a decent rogue as well. Maybe I want to play Gragnar the Barbarian and min max a bit. I want my ability scores to fit the image I have in my head.

The other aspect I simply don't understand is the thrill some people get from the gamble of rolling for ability scores. Maybe that's because I suck at games of chance. I went to Vegas once and, because everyone else was gambling, I put $50 into my pocket. I figured if I ever got to $60 I'd quit but otherwise I'd just put all my winnings back into my pocket until I ran out. Even though I've been told that it's highly statistically unlikely, I never put any money back in my pocket. I played twice on a $5 machine, everything else was dollars or quarters. I would have killed myself with boredom losing all that money at nickel slots so I didn't bother.

But determining ability scores for my PC takes, what 10-15 minutes? The thrill of rolling is supposed to justify playing with that PC for months on end is supposed to be enough to justify the risk of having crappy ability scores? Nah, not for me.