D&D 5E 4d6 Drop the Lowest Etiquette

[Guest 6801718]

Did you see the option I suggested on the first page? Might work well for you, given your concerns.

I did see that and I like it. Gives everyone the fun of rolling and keeps everyone on the same playing field. I think I'll suggest it next time we generate characters. Thanks for the suggestion!

 

[Guest 6801328]

My favorite method is for everyone to roll a single set, and then each of those sets is an optional array that anyone can pick.

If one person rolls a clear best, everyone takes it and nobody gets overshadowed, but you still have the fun and unique qualities of random rolls. But even better is if 2 or more sets are roughly equivalent, e.g. If one set has an 18 but overall worse rolls than another set, some may choose one or the other.

In general I find it combines the fun of rolling with the inter party balance of using an array. I'm not overly worried if their array is a bit worse or better than the standard in the book

Late to this thread party, but I like this system as well. I agree: it combines the fun of rolling with the equity of point buy.

I still want to try the system I've proposed elsewhere: straight up old-school 3d6 x 6, rolled in order, but then customization with a 12-point buy on top of that. The goal is to have some variation in stat assignment, but still let people create viable characters for whatever class they are going for. Statistically it comes out identical to RAW point buy, but with a hefty standard deviation, and the possibility for really high (or really low) dump stats.

 

[iltharanos]

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So basically how do you handle rolling for stats and what do you do if you roll very well or poorly?

Most of my players usually opt for a standard array, but on the rare occasion a player goes for rolling stats, they keep what they get (whether it's good, bad, or mediocre).

 

[Sezarious]

My group has always rolled and I've got this one guy who always rolls the worst results. To accommodate him, I said he should roll 4, re-roll any 1s, drop the lowest. He rolled up this Necromancer with 2 stats below 10 (con of 6, yup) and his highest roll was 15, followed by a 13 and lower.

That character died after an amazing few months gaming. On level 4, he put +2 into con as his "necromantic magic began to enhance his health unnaturally". He roll played this hilarious perverted 70+ year old who was working toward lich dim. He despised evocation style magic as it was chaotic and unpredictable in his eyes and early on wasn't always the best at contributing in combat. Eventually though he started to really knock enemies with fear effects and made some amazing contributions to outcomes in my game through his utility spells. If the party could send a message to an allied city about an upcoming attack, I didn't plot armor block things from happening, rather made everything completely capable of being influenced. That Necromancer was a wonderful thorn in the side of my BEBG. The party kept him preserved and raised him 2 levels later. He left them to pursue the campaign as an NPC.

 

[Knight_Marshal]

I thought about having the players roll 5d6 and drop the highest and lowest die so that no one gets overly (un)lucky. Not too sure how that would actually work out at the table. I guess I need to grab some dice and make some test rolls.

 

[Sunseeker]

My rules are:
7 sets of 4d6, drop lowest die, drop lowest stat; reroll 1s.
You may roll a second set for the same character if you wish.
If you are not happy with either set, you may take my homebrew stat array: 18, 16, 14, 12, 12, 10

If you are not happy with either of those, you may roll new stats for a new character concept. IE: If your Fighter Bob did not work out, you must pick another class or at least another concept. So, a Swashbucker would be an acceptable replacement, if still a fighter, for a heavy-armored meat shield fighter.

Oh, and these must be rolled at the table.