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Message: <blockquote data-quote="eamon" data-source="post: 5836442" data-attributes="member: 51942">I think it's worth emphasizing that cookie-cutter stat distributions on  the one hand and power disparities on the other are opposites you'll  unfortunately need to choose between to some extent.  The "right" answer  depends on what you're looking for.What we've been using for years now is natural roll with point-buy  fallback: i.e. you roll stats in order; reroll one stat then get to swap  too.  If you don't like the result, you may discard and use point buy.   In practice, in 4e anyhow, this means most people end up using point  buy since it's simply better than the vast majority of rolls; those that  do keep the rolls tend to be numerically more powerful but also  constrained in their choice of class.  I don't think this is an ideal  system, but it works.However, I think part of the issue is that power differences are all  about perception.  I don't get the impression that significant power  differences actually occur due to stat differences with a system like  this very often.  Of course people can get envious of super-stats, but  that's not because the real power is that much higher, it's because the  stats are known, and dammit I want those two 18's too...  and even  though such brilliant stats almost never occur, they wouldn't cause  power problems compared to say a 17+16 array (which is achievable in  4e's point buy anyhow).All of this is a roundabout way of saying that I think power-differences  are overblown, and I think it's more fun in the long run to avoid  cookie cutter stats rather than to avoid power differences (at least as  long as you avoid the real crap stats).So an ideal rolling system for me should:<ul> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Allow some power differences, recognizing that perfect power balance comes at too great a cost</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Encourage randomness whereever it can, and as much as it can</li> <li data-xf-list-type="ul">Avoid too-weak characters to ensure that no matter what, PC's are useful.</li> </ul>Looking  at those issues, I prefer a system that does not allow arbitrary stat  arrangement (or at least, not without some cost): this encourages weird  stat orders.  E.g. something like in-order rolling with one free swap  and subsequent swaps reduce the higher ability score by one.There's a fundamental problem with 3d6 or 4d6 drop lowest in that it's just too variable; particularly towards the low  end.  Getting only roughly average scores leads to weak characters, and  it's quite likely with such a system.  Conversely, having several very  high stats is surprisingly likely: there's just too much variation, and  that's unavoidable due to the fact that the dice are memory free: your  next 18 is just as likely as the last.  A character with otherwise  mediocre stats is just as likely to roll a high stat as a character that  already has a bunch of high stats, even though in the first case he  really needs it to be playable and in the second he really shouldn't get  it to avoid power disparities.</blockquote>

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