D&D 5E (2014) Best rolls I have ever got

[auburn2]

double post

 

[Oofta]

Back in the 80s before point buy existed this was the normal at the table and we still had fun. Even published modules were like this with pregen characters and 1 fighter has an 18xx S and another has a 13.

We still had fun.

Umm ... okay? I've been playing since the 70s, I've never liked rolling. We either used a version of point buy (you have X points put them where you want), roll multiple characters, so on and so forth. In this case it was more of an issue because we asked to use a different system and the DM was completely clueless that there was even an issue.

Not telling anyone they're wrong if they like different things.

 

[pming]

Hiya!

And then DMs wonder if those characters have direct suicide hotline, as they get into deadly situations often

Then again there are superior players who take the rolls fate has given them and create some of the most fun and memorable characters to ever grace my game.

Barkus Liebentaub, Mort (my PC, actually; I wasn't DM), Thistetop the Magic-User, Olga "Buttocks" Bluntaxe, Willford The Wizard (think a very horney Wilford Brimley with SERIOUS health and social issues), and many others.

Bad stats are only "not fun at all" for bad players*...at least in my experience. I've had players who think if they have more than one stat under 12 then "they suck!". I have actually had a guest player openly state "A character without at lest two 18's is useless). That's not to say that some people just prefer and have more fun with 'good statted' PC's...it's just when they end up poo-pooing another Players character (or their own!) who happens to have low stats, that I start to take issue.

I actually got 'yelled at' by an entire gaming group (and yeah...I only played with them that one time...obviously!) because I was happy with the stats I first rolled. I can't remember them, but they weren't great, not horrible, but not great (think 14, 12, 10, 9, 8, 6 or something). They were all annoyed that I wouldn't roll again, and one guy was just outright ANGRY. To this day I have no idea why they all kinda lost it at that.

*And by 'bad players' I mean players who get upset when someone plays a PC in a manner that THEY think is stupid or 'unoptomized', 'inefficient', or otherwise 'stupid'; e.g., "Your character sucks...and you suck because you want to play him!"

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[auburn2]

Umm ... okay? I've been playing since the 70s, I've never liked rolling. We either used a version of point buy (you have X points put them where you want), roll multiple characters, so on and so forth. In this case it was more of an issue because we asked to use a different system and the DM was completely clueless that there was even an issue.

Not telling anyone they're wrong if they like different things.

Sorry I did not mean that to be harsh if it came across that way.

 

[auburn2]

Hiya!

Then again there are superior players who take the rolls fate has given them and create some of the most fun and memorable characters to ever grace my game.



^_^

Paul L. Ming

This is what I love about rolling with fixed stats (i.e. you don't choose where the 18 goes).

We have a method of rolling in most of my games which is adapted from late 1E where you choose your class before you roll and it uses different numbers of dice for different abilities, but your scores are fixed. You roll strength and that is your strength score, you can't pick another roll to put in strength because you are a Barbarian and it is higher.

In this scheme you choose your class before your roll and you are almost always going to have a 15+ in your main stat. However you may get an 18 in charisma as a wizard, while you have a 16 intelligence.

This creates some of the best role playing and it is true to life to a degree, what you want to do in terms of profession is not always what you are best at.

 

[Benjamin Olson]

I once had a first time 5e player who thought they were supposed to roll a d20 for their stats get (after racial adjustments) 18s, 19s, and 20s straight down the line. I then had to explain that no, you use d6s. And they then got nothing over a 13. Poor kid.

 

[DammitVictor]

If you roll up enough player characters, eventually you get something like this: best 3 of 4d6, assign to taste. Four 18s, a 15, and a 9. This was 2e, so I turned that into a human (illegal) Ninja/Psionicist. Never played her.

 

[pming]

This is what I love about rolling with fixed stats (i.e. you don't choose where the 18 goes).

We have a method of rolling in most of my games which is adapted from late 1E where you choose your class before you roll and it uses different numbers of dice for different abilities, but your scores are fixed. You roll strength and that is your strength score, you can't pick another roll to put in strength because you are a Barbarian and it is higher.

Ahh.. sounds like "Method V" from Unearthed Arcana (1e). Where the number of dice per stat (Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha, Com) was based on your class that you choose first (ex: Fighters have, in order, 9, 3, 5, 7, 8, 6, 4). You still obviously only kept the best three, and this method was only usable for Human characters.

We used it a few times, but found it's results to be...to predictable, overall. Fighters would almost all have at least 16 or 17 strength as a minimum...and almost always have an Int approaching that of a half-cooked aubergine.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

 

[Horwath]

Ahh.. sounds like "Method V" from Unearthed Arcana (1e). Where the number of dice per stat (Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha, Com) was based on your class that you choose first (ex: Fighters have, in order, 9, 3, 5, 7, 8, 6, 4). You still obviously only kept the best three, and this method was only usable for Human characters.

We used it a few times, but found it's results to be...to predictable, overall. Fighters would almost all have at least 16 or 17 strength as a minimum...and almost always have an Int approaching that of a half-cooked aubergine.

^_^

Paul L. Ming

I found that 32pt point buy is a nice number(PF1 budget) and max stat is still limited to 15 before racial boost.

It gives more versatile characters, and generally players do not want to dump stats, as if they have a character with 8 int and 8 wis and they as players come up with a bright idea, DM could just dismiss them as, your character is too stupid to figure that out. Or roll me an Int check of DC 15.

it's a no brainer to RP low or high physical stats, RPing high or low mental stats is a bit more difficult and sometimes it can be fun as hell and sometimes it can be at the expense of fun.

 

[jgsugden]

My Best PC Rolls:

AD&D - 18/93? strength, psionics, and great constitution and dexterity (which was important due to the rule set were we used a segmented combat system). He was grossly overpowered relative to his peers, so I dual classed him to cleric of the God of Strength and filled a more supporting role in the campaign. We retired the PCs early-ish (level 5?)

My favorite current method:

• Roll 2d6 6 times.
• Then, you may reroll 2 of those 12 dice (if you like - you can choose whether to use the reroll or not).
• Add the dice in each resulting set together and add 4.
• Decide between: 1.) Use them in order and gain a minor boon, 2.) Keep 3 fixed where they are and move the other 3 around, or 3.) Put these aside and use point buy per the PHB.

A minor boon is something like an ally, wealth, a DM selected uncommon magic item (not top tier uncommon, not bottom tier either), or a minor special ability (in the past I gave out access to a cantrip of DM's choice, an unpopular feat, Resist 1 to all damage, adding a spell to a spell list, an additional 1st level slot, etc...)

I like the range and diversity of the PCs. You tend to not get 'dump stats' mentality as often, and there is still the excitement of rolling.

Other favorite system for new campaigns:

I have a deck of ~250 cards I made. I give each player 100 pennies. I randomly determine one player and hand them the idol.

The majority of the cards have numbers between 6 and 16 on them. The remainder have a boon on them (similar to above), or deck manipulation cards (look at the top 10 and put them back in any order, or look at the top 3 cards and put 2 on the bottom of the deck).

I flip over a card and the player that has the idol is assigned a bid of 1 on it. They then hand the idol to another player of their choice that does not have 6 ability scores. Then, we go around in circles bidding on the card to see who wants it the most. Once you have 6 attribute cards, you can't bid on attribute cards,but you can bid on perk cards.

If someone runs out of coins, I give them back 1 penny.

This falls apart a bit if they collude too much. There are a few cards that punish them for having too much money left when too many cards have been selected, but I find that they do not stop collusion as well as just asking them not to collude.