Character Generation - Stat Draft Method

[Lalato]

Have you tried the 9 box system? The rolls are still random, but you have a bit less choice as to where they end up. You can choose whatever random method you like (3d6, 4d6 drop lowest).

Here's how it works... Make a 3 x 3 grid. Put your rolled stats into each of the squares of the grid. Across the top... label the columns "S", "D", "C". Along the left side... label the rows "I","W","C".

The player can choose their Strength only from the "S" column. Once a value is chosen it is unavailable for another stat. Keep choosing stats until done.

Anyway... just another method to try.

 

[theredrobedwizard]

If you're insisting on rolled stats, might I suggest my prefered method for such things?:

- Each player rolls (4d6 drop lowest) seven times, dropping the lowest. These become potential Stat Arrays.
- Everyone votes on which Stat Array to use.
- Everyone uses the same Stat Array, but can arrange as desired.

 

[Gilladian]

Have everyone roll their stats (4d6, drop the lowest die), roll 7 times, and pick the best 6. Figure the modifiers and total them. If the spread between total modifiers is greater than 3, the highest point character "gives" 2 stat points to the lowest point character. Continue "giving" until all characters are within 3 modifier points of each other.

"Given" points may be taken from any stat, and given to any stat. Typically, they'll be taken from the highest non-prime stat and given to the prime stat, but not always.

 

[DragonLancer]

Personally I prefer the randomness that comes from dice roll methods. I hate the whole everyone must be equal point buy methods. We always do the 4D6-lowest method but a couple years ago when I ran the Shackled City AP I let each player roller 4D6-lowest three times (A, B and C) and they could choose which set (A, B or C) that they wanted but they had to take the whole set. That worked well.

 

[kitsune9]

[MENTION=13703]Olaf the Stout[/MENTION]--have fun running Age of Worms. This was a great AP for me to run. However, I would make the stat generation higher because there are lot of lethal encounters--even in the first adventure, the Whispering Cairn. I had three near TPKs (everyone dies except for one character who runs away--no recovery of the fallen). The death count overall was high too that one of my players created a "Book of the Dead" to record all the names of the fallen. It got to be a big list. Overall, it was a great storyline and a blast to run.

 

[scourger]

The new Gamma World has an interesting system. Your first character background gives you an 18 in its primary stat, and your second background gives you a 16 in its primary stat. The rest are rolled on 3d6, in order. It works for that game because all the character abilities are tied those primary stats, and weapon to hit & damage values are based on STR or CON for heavy weapons or DEX or INT for light weapons.

 

[Kaodi]

I was rolling stats with my own dice using the method I described above, and now I am really itching to play this character I came up with... Actually, I went an extra step and did not rearrange the ability scores.

With 4d6 I rolled Str 13 Dex 12 Con 3(!) Int 16 Wis 5 Cha 13, which if you were to create using point buy would probably be negative points, hehehe... I bumped that up to 15 pt buy, so I came out with Str 14 Dex 13 Con 7 Int 16 Wis 7 Cha 14. I asked myself, " What would work well with these stats? " and the answer came to me: a Dwarven White-Haired Witch (three cheers for the Power of the Beard). Ancestor Patron, and Hedgehog Familiar, .

I finished the character, except for equipment... and now I am sad that I am not in a RL game where I can play this character, :\ .

 

[GSHamster]

I am not really certain exactly what you want. It sounds like you want stats which look random, but aren't really random.

Why not modify point-buy to require 3 even stats and 3 odd stats? That would give you the equal power across the group of point-buy, but not the "even-only" issue you seem to be having.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I am not really certain exactly what you want. It sounds like you want stats which look random, but aren't really random.

Why not modify point-buy to require 3 even stats and 3 odd stats? That would give you the equal power across the group of point-buy, but not the "even-only" issue you seem to be having.

The reason why I went with point buy was the previous campaign used 4d6, drop the lowest (which is what I have always used since starting playing D&D in the early-90's). I noticed in the pre-SCAP campaign though that there was a big stat disparity between some characters. Some had rolled really high during character generation, while a couple of others had been pretty unlucky and had average-to-low stats. The difference in character effectiveness wasn't huge, but it was definitely noticeable.

I had hoped that point buy would at least put everyone on a similar footing power-wise. It did. However, it resulted in characters that I would consider a little cookie cutter. No players had a stat with an odd number in it. The key stats for each class were high. The stat least relevant to a particular class was either an 8 or a 10.

I wasn't surprised by this outcome. Only 1 of my players is a real min-maxer but, given the choice, not many players are going to make their characters less effective by having 2 odd stats. Similarly, they are not going to put a 14 in Int for their Fighter unless they want to take a feat like Improved Trip.

Which leads me to my current position.

So basically I don't like that 4d6 drop the lowest often gives a large spread between the best and worst PC stat-wise (and, as a result, character power level).

I don't like that point buy results in cookie cutter PC's. Requiring 3 odd and 3 even stats still won't change the fact that almost all fighters will have high Str and Con and low Cha and Int, all Clerics will have high Wis and lower Dex, etc.

So I want the best of both worlds basically!

Olaf the Stout

 

[Olaf the Stout]

That's why you pick class after you rolled.

I've seen people do it both ways. As I've always used 4d6, drop the lowest, arrange as desired for my character generation, I have always picked my class before rolling stats.

In any case, my players have all spent a considerable amount of time thinking about what classes to play (to ensure that the party is balanced class-wise), so the classes are already all but set.

Olaf the Stout