I’ve been thinking a good bit about the attribute array/pointbuy system in 5e & levelup thanks to thehow has df&d changed thread’s discussion on it & settled on some things that I miss about the older more generous & limited options. At the end of the day the difference between a specialist & the guy with a dumpstat just isn’t much until late in the game when the specialist has made significant investment. All of that creates problems in a few different areas depending on which side of the GM screen & style of attribute choices a playe makes
From a PC development standpoint that squeezes the generalist out from relevance & strongly pushes players to maxing out their primary stat before making other investments like feats. While the generalist might be able to hold their own alongside most specialists with magic items & do reasonably ok in a pinch compared to the PCs specialized away from a given area they no longer need that equipment& a +/-1 isn’t even meaningful alongside the d20 roll. The specialist by extension starts out not all that different in their niche & never really feels any pain for their “weak” area with a whole -1 on it so any gear that shoes up their weakness at all is only worthy of consideration if there is zero cost
From the GM’s side of things nobody has any weaknesses that are meaningful enough to feel so every magic item needs to be objectively better at someone’s specifically siloed niche or it’s a trash item never to be considered for any reason beyond what It will sell for. Without sidegrades as a meaningful option to dole out the inevitable overload & breakdown of the system happens faster. Worse yet the GM can’t get too creative with magic items early on because nobody has chosen any feats & hasn’t decided too strongly on their niche
I decided to fix that with a new pointbuy system with new point allocations. Firstly, I extended the buy options down to three and up to eighteen to widen the gap between specialist generalist and sacrificial dump stats to make them feel more meaningful
Secondly I changed the point pool so all options have a larger pool than standard 25 & 27 point buy so just presenting an option doesn’t start with justifying a nerf. The names for each of them try to evoke things about how the various options shape parts of the campaign for both player & GM. I might not have always succeeded but the effort is there & can be shored up with some descriptive text
high power (48 point buy)
This will generate extremely powerful characters with few if any weaknesses. Characters should expect few if any magic items or a short campaign like a higher-level one-shot game started without magic items. Example stat arrays generated with this method are unlikely to have any weaknesses & be great in most areas.
Elite Characters (45 point buy)
Not only are these characters well above the average person, they are likely to be elites among elites. These characters don’t need magic items to excel & may not encounter many over the campaign.
Low Magic Campaign(42 point buy)
These characters are among the elite of the populace & fit well into a campaign with a wide range of semi-accessible magic items available in the world. Magic marts may not be a thing but it’s hard to not find magic gewgaws as you advance.
“Typical” 39 point buy
Characters are well above average in their field but may have some weaknesses. Magic items are relatively common and the time needed to engage in magic item crafting during a campaign is likely to be significant.
Low Power Campaign(36 point buy)
Characters are well above average but are likely to have weak areas. The campaign is likely to be one with magic marts & readily available directions to magic item crafting components. Alternately survival is certain to be a big factor in a campaign where characters need to bring their A game & work together
From a PC development standpoint that squeezes the generalist out from relevance & strongly pushes players to maxing out their primary stat before making other investments like feats. While the generalist might be able to hold their own alongside most specialists with magic items & do reasonably ok in a pinch compared to the PCs specialized away from a given area they no longer need that equipment& a +/-1 isn’t even meaningful alongside the d20 roll. The specialist by extension starts out not all that different in their niche & never really feels any pain for their “weak” area with a whole -1 on it so any gear that shoes up their weakness at all is only worthy of consideration if there is zero cost
From the GM’s side of things nobody has any weaknesses that are meaningful enough to feel so every magic item needs to be objectively better at someone’s specifically siloed niche or it’s a trash item never to be considered for any reason beyond what It will sell for. Without sidegrades as a meaningful option to dole out the inevitable overload & breakdown of the system happens faster. Worse yet the GM can’t get too creative with magic items early on because nobody has chosen any feats & hasn’t decided too strongly on their niche
I decided to fix that with a new pointbuy system with new point allocations. Firstly, I extended the buy options down to three and up to eighteen to widen the gap between specialist generalist and sacrificial dump stats to make them feel more meaningful
| Score | Cost |
3 | 0 |
4 | 2 |
5 | 3 |
6 | 4 |
7 | 5 |
8 | 6 |
9 | 7 |
10 | 8 |
11 | 10 |
12 | 12 |
13 | 15 |
14 | 18 |
15 | 21 |
16 | 24 |
17 | 27 |
18 | 30 |
Secondly I changed the point pool so all options have a larger pool than standard 25 & 27 point buy so just presenting an option doesn’t start with justifying a nerf. The names for each of them try to evoke things about how the various options shape parts of the campaign for both player & GM. I might not have always succeeded but the effort is there & can be shored up with some descriptive text
high power (48 point buy)
This will generate extremely powerful characters with few if any weaknesses. Characters should expect few if any magic items or a short campaign like a higher-level one-shot game started without magic items. Example stat arrays generated with this method are unlikely to have any weaknesses & be great in most areas.
Elite Characters (45 point buy)
Not only are these characters well above the average person, they are likely to be elites among elites. These characters don’t need magic items to excel & may not encounter many over the campaign.
Low Magic Campaign(42 point buy)
These characters are among the elite of the populace & fit well into a campaign with a wide range of semi-accessible magic items available in the world. Magic marts may not be a thing but it’s hard to not find magic gewgaws as you advance.
“Typical” 39 point buy
Characters are well above average in their field but may have some weaknesses. Magic items are relatively common and the time needed to engage in magic item crafting during a campaign is likely to be significant.
Low Power Campaign(36 point buy)
Characters are well above average but are likely to have weak areas. The campaign is likely to be one with magic marts & readily available directions to magic item crafting components. Alternately survival is certain to be a big factor in a campaign where characters need to bring their A game & work together
