Assistance needed for New Campaign

[Prof Yeti]

I am at a personal quandry about a soon to be started Campaign. And it revolves around ability score generation. I know this kind of question has come up before but I could not find some of the older posts. Any help that can be rendered will be greatly appreciated.

I am beginning a new campaign set in the Dragonstar game system. And am looking for a new way to have my players generate stats. I have tried 4D6(discard lowest) and point-buy and neither worked for what I have in mind. The 4D6 method left to big a disparity in scores and the PB....well I will just say at recommended levels I would have to have a lot of paper for new character to be created. The game will focus on non-combat situations (spy kind of campaign) but I plan on what combat there is to be violent and dangerous, especially at low level. Also the creatures/NPC will have maxed hit points and there will be a plethora of traps and puzzles. So I am hoping some of you might have some suggestions on ability score generation. Any ideas will have my deepest thanks.

 

[Jondor_Battlehammer]

There is one that has been suggested on the boards before that I have tried and liked. Let the players chose their scores, with three even, three odd. Their total bonuses is the limit you set. I.e., total bonus of +6 could be three 12s and three 13s, or two 16s, three 10s, and one 11.

 

[Nifft]

What's so hard about point-buy? Some paperwork for 1st level, then just +1 point/4 levels, just like with dice.

-- N

 

[dvvega]

I just started a new campaign and I used the 25 point-buy method using the default matrix in the DMG ... 15,14,13,12,10,8

The session was great, not focusing on the power of the characters, and those with the right skills/feats were better than others, but not that much more powered than those who focused on character.

It really makes a difference to gameplay when characters aren't super-powered.

D

 

[Hodgie]

Not that this wouldn't be overly apparent once you began, but if you plan to use the 'total modifier' system, it is a good idea to do stats before racial adjustments. Something about the half-orc's net -2 becomes broken if you allow them to still have a total + equal to everyone else.

 

[Jdvn1]

I like 30 or 32 point buy, myself.

Although 2d6+6 gives an average of 13, with a range of 8-18. That's a pretty cool system.

For a high powered game, I'd done 1d4. That gives your modifier. Roll again for odd/evens.

There's also a fun method that involves rolling a lot of dice. Roll 24d6. (!) Discard six lowest. Combine the remaining 18 into 6 groups of 3, at your liesure. Those are your stats.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Try 4d6 (drop lowest) rolled 7 times (drop lowest score) and place scores where desired, ability scores with a total modifier +5 or less are re-rolled. Produces above average results for heroic characters, might be what your looking for in a higher powered game at low-levels (with the rare combats being really tough).

 

[painandgreed]

What we always did back in my group for 1E was roll 4d6, drop lowest and then re-roll all 1's (till it's not a 1). So, if you only role one 1, you're stuck with dropping it and keeping the other dice. It gave above average stats without being too powerful. We always figured that adventurers would have higher than average stats anyway and characters with 1's wouldn't have made it.

Or let them roll their states and then get bonus' to their desired stats. Say a +2 and a +1 with a max of 18. That should give them enough to tweak low stats out and a favored stat higher.

 

[S'mon]

Things I've done that worked ok:

For previous, high-level game:

1. Roll 1d10+8 per stat (from Conan OGL) - creates big disparities.

2. 35-point-buy - or 1d10+8 first, then use 35 PB if preferred.

3. Let people roll as many times as they like - produces a lot of 49-point characters, for some reason.

For current low-level game:

1. 3/4d6, can reroll if total bonus +3 or less; or use 25-PB if preferred.

 

[the Jester]

If you like the balanced element of point buy but don't like the power level it generates, simply give the pcs more points (35 point buy?)