D&D 5E Ability Score Balance: through the eyes of fresh players

[DND_Reborn]

Yep. This is one of the things groups can discuss before the start of a campaign: what sort of characters you want to play. If you want random and flawed, traditional 3d6. If you want standard, go the standard route. If you want heroic, use one of the methods I or doctorbadwolf mentioned. Etc.

LOL 3d6! Recently I was looking at my B/X sets so for a lark decided to roll a set of 3d6 stats. The results:

16, 16, 15, 15, 14, 10.

Not, quite as good as your 18, 18, 18, 16, 16, 14 example, but not bad either, huh?

 

[Lanefan]

My only issue with most of these non-standard methods, along with array and point-buy, is that none of them allow you a chance of starting with a stat lower than 8.

And while I can't speak for everyone, I can do a lot more* with a character that starts on 18-15-13-12-11-6 than I can with 13-13-13-12-12-12 even though both average out at 12.5.

* - especially if that 6 goes into Wisdom...

 

[DND_Reborn]

If you want really average characters, try 15d2-12.

AnyDice

AnyDice is an advanced dice probability calculator, available online. It is created with roleplaying games in mind.

anydice.com

It works almost perfectly with the idea that 10.5 is average and each +1 is a standard devation of ability. The kurtosis is really low and the skew is basically 0.

 

[BrokenTwin]

@doctorbadwolf: All odd number array would be a big boost for default humans.

I'm a big fan of random rolling, but I don't like the large range of the default 3-18.

2d6+5 works perfectly fine for me. And yes, I realize that doesn't go all the way to 18. That's a feature, not a bug.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

@doctorbadwolf: All odd number array would be a big boost for default humans.

I'm a big fan of random rolling, but I don't like the large range of the default 3-18.

2d6+5 works perfectly fine for me. And yes, I realize that doesn't go all the way to 18. That's a feature, not a bug.

Whatever works for the group. 5e runs just fine with all of these options.

@Lanefan definitely depends on the player. I play my 12 wisdom gnome rogue with no wisdom skills trained as very impulsive, lacking insight into people, habitually lost in thought, etc. It wouldn’t be enhanced by a 6 wisdom, it would just make him bad at making the most common mental stat save.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Yep. Rolling allows for far less cookie cutter characters at the expense of potentially less intra PC balance in the game.

Yes. As such I prefer rolling. But I also hate rolling, because inevitably you get someone with an 18 and then their racial makes it a 20 and they're basically just able to start taking Feats from L4 onwards and kinda-breaking the bounded accuracy (not quite but it sure feels like it). And I have yet to find a method which includes both the fun of rolling, and isn't prone to giving some players drastically less playable characters.

I read about a method I did like the sound of, apparently used for some Pathfinder Adventure Paths, called Focus and Foible, which is that all the PCs start with an 18 and an 8, and roll 1d10+8 (I think - or possibly 1d10+7) for the rest of their stats. At worst you're going to get a character good only at one thing, and even that's rather unlikely. It shares the "Feats from Level 4" issue, but at least all the PCs will have that.

 

[Yardiff]

You can always put a cap of 18 as starting stats after race. If vhuman you can decide if feats effect this cap, at most you'd stat with a 19.

 

[reelo]

How to make Strength better?

Enforce encumbrance.

 

[Don Durito]

No.

(Aside from the tedious bookkeeping it probably won’t work. It‘s not sufficient to stop them dumping strength it’s just a way of punishing them for doing that.)

 

[Mercurius]

My only issue with most of these non-standard methods, along with array and point-buy, is that none of them allow you a chance of starting with a stat lower than 8.

And while I can't speak for everyone, I can do a lot more* with a character that starts on 18-15-13-12-11-6 than I can with 13-13-13-12-12-12 even though both average out at 12.5.

* - especially if that 6 goes into Wisdom...

This goes back to table agreements. Some folks love playing a character with a poor stat, others hate it, or find it distracting. I'd say that if your table agrees to it, that's a great way to go.