1st level fighter with 30 STR?

[Wootz]

I have a friend who wants to do this with his character. I know 1st level characters get a certain amount of points to allocate to each different ability, and he basically sacrificed intelligence, wisdom and some other stuff for it, and I was wondering if this is acceptable by game terms? It just seems like his reaping strike does a LOT of damage for a 1st level character.

 

[Vayden]

Completely unacceptable. The highest any attribute can be at first level is 20 (18 is the max you can get through point-buy or rolling, then +2 racial).

 

[MatthewJHanson]

No, this is not possible. You can only buy up to 18, which can then become a 20 if your race has a +2 Str.

Also note that point buy is not strictly a 1:1. As your stat gets higher, it costs more points to increase the ability one point.

 

[Sunglare]

I don't believe anywhere in the point buy it says you can subtract scores to place in one stat. You start with an 8 and five 10's. Do not subtract from there.
The best you can have at level 1 is a 20 in any stat with a racial bonus.
Cost of scores

22 points total
11 = 1 point
12 = 2 points
13 = 3 points
14 = 5 points
15 = 7 points
16 = 9 points
17 = 12 points
18 = 16 points

So if he was to put a 18 in a stat that would only leave him 8 points to spend. Next best stat he could get is a 15 at 7 points, now only leaving him 1 point to spend.

I can't even imagine how he thought he could get a 30?????

 

[Enforcer]

The rules don't allow you to beat 18 for a starting score (before racial modifiers). Check out the 4e Player's Handbook, pages 17-18. None of the methods for determining ability scores listed there allow a score of greater than 18 (before racial mods).

That said, do what you want, but as you noted with Reaping Strike, there are balance problems for exceeding the 18 cap.

 

[Nail]

I have a friend who wants to do this with his character.

<chuckle>

I'm sure he does.

<IYKWIM,AITYD>

 

[Doctor Proctor]

22 points total
11 = 1 point
12 = 2 points
13 = 3 points
14 = 5 points
15 = 7 points
16 = 9 points
17 = 12 points
18 = 16 points

Plus, if you notice, there's a progression here. You have 1 point per increase for 11, 12 and 13. Then it's 2 points per increase for 14, 15, and 16, going up to 3 for 17 and 5 for 18. So following this progression (+1 per point after 16) we get the following...

19 = 21 points
20 = 27 points
21 = 33 points
22 = 41 points
23 = 50 points
24 = 60 points
25 = 71 points
26 = 83 points
27 = 96 points
28 = 110 points
29 = 125 points
30 = 141 points

So, even if you were to allow him to drop those 10's down, which would not be a good idea, he still won't have enough points to get up to 30. If he drops 4 of the scores from 10 to 1 and then drops the 8 to a 1, then he'll get 43 points. Combine that with the 22 from point buy, and that's 65 points, which would be a 24. Then +2 for racial for a 26. However, then you have 1's for everything else, which is completely broken...

 

[DEFCON 1]

Of course... if he really wanted to have a 30 STR... there's a very easy way to do it. Just add 10 to everyone's ability scores (but the modifiers all remain the same).

So rather than a 10-11 = +0 modifier and a 20-21 = +5 modifier... just add 10. So a 20-21 = +0 modifier and a 30-31 = +5 modifier. Do this for every character and every ability score (since the actually scores mean diddly, it's the modifiers that actually impact the game), and you're all set. He does a point buy to get an 18 STR (or a "28" STR in your version), and he adds the +2 for being Human. Boom. He has a 30 in STR.

Of course, it means absolutely nothing... but if he just had to have that 30.... you can still be the good doobie DM and say "Yes!".

Absolutely pointless... but you're giving him what he wants.

 

[Mengu]

Assuming you typoed 30 instead of 20, yes a 20 is completely acceptible. Reaping strike does indeed do a lot of damage with a 20 strength and a two-handed weapon on a miss, but if you think about it, it's only 1 point more than the damage he would be dealing with an 18. Not that different.

 

[underfoot007]

I have a friend who wants to do this with his character. I know 1st level characters get a certain amount of points to allocate to each different ability, and he basically sacrificed intelligence, wisdom and some other stuff for it, and I was wondering if this is acceptable by game terms? It just seems like his reaping strike does a LOT of damage for a 1st level character.

Not if he is playing D&D 4E, please read PHB pg 17-18.