D&D 5E A different way to roll stats for 5E

[Ristamar]

For me it was the fact that 5E's hard cap on ability scores meant that characters who rolled 16 or better at level 1 didn't have much room left to grow.

Agreed. This is my largest concern with the default 4d6 method. I'd rather have the PCs work up to the pinnacle of their primary ability rather than starting there at first level.

 

[SubDude]

Agreed. This is my largest concern with the default 4d6 method. I'd rather have the PCs work up to the pinnacle of their primary ability rather than starting there at first level.

I've started two separate campaigns at first level using the 4d6 method exclusively. Some higher scores are there, naturally. But so far nobody has progressed beyond 3rd level, so I haven't seen the problem yet. I suspect I will see issues soon, though. Glad to have found this thread, albeit perhaps too late for my first batch of players....

 

[Henry]

Actually, i will tell you the hardest problem this method DOES solve: every time the DM says point buy, for many groups, there's always That One Guy, the one who just wants to roll, and will be unhappy until he does, but if he rolls and gets bad stats, he'll want to reroll. This gives that player the chance to just roll some dice, but still end up with essentially the standard array. For the occasional player, the rolling is an end unto itself, and sometimes that's enough to stop the argument without having to lay the GM smackdown, and still get a balanced group.

Sounds silly, but I've seen it.

 

[Warbringer]

Actually, i will tell you the hardest problem this method DOES solve: every time the DM says point buy, for many groups, there's always That One Guy, the one who just wants to roll, and will be unhappy until he does, but if he rolls and gets bad stats, he'll want to reroll. This gives that player the chance to just roll some dice, but still end up with essentially the standard array. For the occasional player, the rolling is an end unto itself, and sometimes that's enough to stop the argument without having to lay the GM smackdown, and still get a balanced group.

Sounds silly, but I've seen it.

already have a solution for that ...same one I use with tantrum throwing 4 yr olds

 

[bedir than]

If someone wants random, I'm just going to use the tool that automatically builds legal point buy, generate 20 of them and then have the player roll that d20.

I forget which user developed this, but it's now my favorite

http://aramis.hostman.us/dnd/RedrickRoller.html

Example of six arrays

Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
12 10 12 15 13 11
13 15 12 12 12 9
11 10 11 15 13 13
14 10 12 12 14 11
12 15 10 11 13 12
11 10 13 14 13 13

 

[Fralex]

There really is no way you can have random rolls that are also controlled and easy. Choose any two, but not all three.

Actually, there is a solution: use card draws instead of dice rolls! Make a deck of 24 cards, containing four cards of each number from one to six. Then "roll" 4d6 by drawing four cards, dropping the lowest, and adding them together. Do that five more times so you've gotten every die result exactly four times, and you'll have six scores that are random, but balanced. I actually made a Visual Basic program to do this for me. Maybe I should post it to the downloads.

 

[aramis erak]

If someone wants random, I'm just going to use the tool that automatically builds legal point buy, generate 20 of them and then have the player roll that d20.

I forget which user developed this, but it's now my favorite

http://aramis.hostman.us/dnd/RedrickRoller.html

Example of six arrays

Str Dex Con Int Wis Cha
12 10 12 15 13 11
13 15 12 12 12 9
11 10 11 15 13 13
14 10 12 12 14 11
12 15 10 11 13 12
11 10 13 14 13 13

Thank you!

Redrick's inspiration and (mostly) methodology, my coding skills.
Share and enjoy!

 

[Jeff Albertson]

Actually, there is a solution: use card draws instead of dice rolls!

No thanks, do not want cards in my D&D (unless it's the Deck of Many Things, or Radoka).