Dice Rolling Method

[Fenris]

Hybrid System

What I have done in my last several games has worked out well. My players have really liked it and I have too. I have worked out twelve stat sets. Each set is balanced against the other so that they have roughly equivalent bonuses and stat levels. Then each player rolls a d12 and I give them their stats for them to assign as they like. The stats sets are varied enough so that each player feels an individual but I make sure that no one is too high or too low. For instance one stat set has a bunch of 14s and 12s. Good for a multiclasser, while others have one or two high scores (but then correspondingly low one too). It has really worked out for us well and cuts down on creation time.

 

[Sodalis]

i saw a really good one a while back- cant remember the details, but it was worked out with cards:

face:number in hand
7:1
6:2
5:3
4:4
3:4
2:3
1:1

you shuffle the cards and deal them into six hands (three cards each) and those are your stats. you lowest stat is a 5 (2,2,1) and your highest is 19 (7,6,6)

lostsoul:
Low stats are not necessarily character flaws. While a low wisdom or charisma might be, not being able to lift more than 50 pounts isn't.

A character with straight 14s can be just as complex as any other character.

I guess what Imeant was that having a couple weaknesses is more fun to play than a char with all str. But that could just be a matter of preference.

 

[LostSoul]

i saw a really good one a while back- cant remember the details, but it was worked out with cards:

I remember seeing somebody post a card generation method as well. It had something to do with the PCs buying cards in an auction - trading your Str card for somebody's Int card, or something like that.

I thought that was a really good way of doing it, because then you can give each player a role in the group. (Or no role, if they want to go Jack-of-all-trades.)

 

[David Argall]

No roll

Any roll system just causes cheating and bad breaks. You want to run your character, not the character the dice roll up. Forget rolling.

The official point buy systems really are much the same. You are 40 point studs? The DM makes the monsters and NPC studs too to keep the challenge even. You are 20 point wimps? So are the monsters and NPC. The standard one is likely to be best simply because it is less work to adjust.

However, it is likely best to just let the PC put the points where he pleases. Granted, the 6 categories are not of full equality yet, but the most important 18 still means pain in an important category. And increasing costs for the higher stats means some characters are impossible. Indeed, the classic BDF is ruled out by the official rules.

 

[rounser]

I was surprised to see the 4d6 drop lowest so much in the lead, but then you add all the point buyers together, and they're about even...

 

[KDLadage]

I votes "4d6, drop lowest" and "other" -- I would have liked to have had two "other" buttons to vote for.

I use:

• 4d6, drop lowest -- this is the most common for me. I have seen people use 4d6, drop lowest, re-roll 1s -- but this, in my opinion, is complete overkill.
• Standard Array -- this is my second most common. Assign the numbers 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8 and then go. It has the advantage of giving all players an equal oportunity footing.
• Cards -- this is one I like, but few of my players do, so we end up using the ones above. Select 16 standard playing cards such that you have two 7s, three 6s, four 5s, three 4s, two 3s, and two 2s. Shuffle the cards and deal them into six piles of three cards each. Turn them over, and assign the resulting numbers to your stats. Maximum roll=20 (7+7+6), Minimum roll=7 (3+2+2), Average roll=12.3 -- and all characters will start with a baseline of having all ability scores total 74.

 

[Darraketh]

Cards -- this is one I like, but few of my players do, so we end up using the ones above. Select 16 standard playing cards such that you have two 7s, three 6s, four 5s, three 4s, two 3s, and two 2s. Shuffle the cards and deal them into six piles of three cards each. Turn them over, and assign the resulting numbers to your stats. Maximum roll=20 (7+7+6), Minimum roll=7 (3+2+2), Average roll=12.3 -- and all characters will start with a baseline of having all ability scores total 74.[/list]

I like his idea. However I use 4d6, drop lowest.

 

[Dinkeldog]

The best method I've ever used.

It's from here

CHARACTER CREATION
Our last campaign saw a lot of players with vastly different ability scores, most of them too high, and the ability to be and to do pretty much whatever they wanted. I knew I wanted the stats to be lower across the board (thanks to Arcady, I think) and I wanted the players to have very different characters.

Following a thread from the main board about "bidding" on stats, I advised my players that we would use the following system.

1) Everybody would start with a base attribute of 10.

2) Everybody would receive SEVEN index cards. Cards #1 thru #6 had STR, DEX, CON, INT, WIS, and CHR on them. Card #7 was a "Special" ability (more on that later).

3) Players created characters as a group, trading index cards amongst themselves. When trading was finished, every "Stat" card you had at that point gave you +2 to your attribute.

So, for example, you could trade away your STR and DEX cards for a WIS and CHR card-- giving you no STR and DEX and leaving you with the base 10 for those attributes, but giving 2 each of WIS and CHR, giving you 14 for those two attributes.

This system kept the stats in a reasonable range and also kept the players from stepping all over each others' toes with regards to character class and roles.

4) I prepared an extra set or two of seven cards. If a player's character dies, they can then trade their cards back into the pool to try something different-- but what they CAN'T do is easily come back into the game in a role that is already taken. There's only one 18 STR fighter in the game, and as long as he lives, he's holding 4 of the STR cards.

Pretty simple really.

SPECIAL CARDS (edit 8/11)
Here's a list of the special cards I prepared:

1) Bonus Feat
2) Family Heirloom: Spend up to 500 gp on up to three items (magic, masterwork, or otherwise) whose total value does not exceed 500 gp
3) Ringleader: You start play at 2nd level.
4) Monstrous Influence: Start play as a non-standard race; OR get +2 on all knowledge and CHA based skills vs. that race and a bonus language
5) Extraordinary Attribute: +2 on any attribute (18 max)
6) Enkili's Blessing: This is a cool tattoo from R&R that lets you make a re-roll once per session if it will save your character's life
7) Patron: You have friendly contact with a person or organization that you can call on for favors/information

 

[kengar]

30 point-buy is the way to go for me.

At least, it's best for the folks I play with. It always seems (with rolling) that the disparity between the best set of scores at the table and the worst is too far apart for comfort. Also, it eliminates the need for 'witnessed rolls' and potential accusations of cheating. Personally, I don't think anyone at my table cheats, but if you can remove the shadow of doubt in an even-handed way, so much the better.

30 points is a good level for the type of play we do; not too heavy on magic items, so good scores matter more. Not so many "megamonsters" (more gnolls and bandits and dire wolves, etc.), though, so you don't need straight 18's to be studly.

IMHO, YMMV, blah blah blah

 

[Quickbeam]

Until recently, I solely used the 4d6 drop the lowest method. Then I came across a thread some months ago on these very Boards, wherein someone described the following method I now use:

Roll 24d6 (equivalent of 4d6 six times) and record all of the individual die rolls separately. Drop the six lowest die rolls, leaving you with 18 remaining numbers between 1-6. Place these 18 die rolls into six groups of three at your discretion to complete the character attributes.

This method definitely promotes min/maxing, but I love the flexibility it provides in allowing me to tailor my character's strengths and weaknesses.