Die Rolls or Point-Buy

[Shard O'Glase]

1 way I saw on these boards that I like and will steal if I run a game again is to pick a number of what the total bonus should be for the character and let the people arange there stats so they reach that bonus 1/2 the stats must be odd, 1/2 must be even. So if I said +8 total, you could have 18(+4),18(+4),10,11,11,11, or 12,15,13,15,12,12. I'd likely pick a total bonus more around +4-+6.

 

[drakhe]

I've used both methods with a twist: since all my players wer first-timers, I had promised them that they could "rebuild" their characters before we would start the major campaign. So after playing 3 scenarios (one being the Sunless Citadel) ...

They had to retain race/class/equipment/money. I let them reassign stat's by adding all their previous stats together to use as a pool for assigning stats. Appart from adhering to the basic rule of not going below3/over18 they could do whatever they wanted. Then they could reassing skills/feats.

The idea behind this: as they were all beginners my players didn't realy know how to create their character. And rather than explaining them in an abstract manner I decided to let them discover for themselves and gave them a chance to apply what they've learned. At least one of the players was satisfied with his character as it was and hasn't changed anything.

 

[Severion]

I've posted this before but...

8-18 even numbers, assign as you please, then add racial mods.

 

[Creamsteak]

I use a modified point buy that works to circumvent ECL. I pick a number, and that number represents the ability scores I want all players to be able to have in every stat if they distributed their points evenly. First, I justify the power level I want the PCs to have available to them.

Red=Super High, Orange=Moderately High, Blue=Moderate, Yellow=Moderately Low, Green=Super Low.

18 (16*6 = 96 Points)
17 (13*6 = 78 Points)
16 (10*6 = 60 Points)
15 (8*6 = 48 Points)
14 (6*6 = 36 Points)
13 (5*6 =30 Points)
12 (4*6 = 24 Points)
11 (3*6 = 18 Points)
10 (2*6 = 12 Points)
9 (1*6 = 6 Points)

After picking the power level, I lower a players points available one level for each ECL purchased. For instance, in a 36 Point Game a player can play an ECL+1 race, but they only get 30 Points. If ECL+2 is used, they only get 24 Points. If a player wants to play an ECL+4, that's fine, but they are going to be stuck with 12 Points.

NPCs in these games start with a number of points one tier lower, and most of my games start with 48 Points because about half of the players take ECL +1 or ECL +2 races, and the other three are Human, Human, Elf 99% of the time.

A player can forego a level as they gain experience to regain points lost during character creation, but they can never go past the set limit. For instance, creating a ECL+4 character with only 12 meager points to work with would be a bit powerful at first level, no doubt, but they would quickly lose a seat to characters who have ability scores that open up new doors for them. When this character would have gained their first character level, they can instead choose to gain 6 points back, so they are eventually able to fill out their ECL - or they can choose not to.

It's worked very well so far, allowing for a greater degree of customization without requiring players to start at unusually high character levels to play certain ECL races.

 

[nopantsyet]

Point buy, but I think there is something lost in the minimum stat value of 8. I've been thinking about maybe a modification of the point buy to start at 6. Or maybe start at 4 but say that there can be no more than a 10-point difference between highest and lowest stat. Obviously the number of points would be adjusted for the starting score.

I just tried a standard point buy plus three 1:1 points. That was pointless. So you buy your highest two stats at 16 and 15 and they end up 18 and 16--that's just effectively added alot of points.

So I dunno...Maybe I'll just go back to rolling for the next campaign. That 6x6 method is pretty cool too.

 

[tburdett]

I use a 30 point buy. One stat must be an 18.

 

[Plane Sailing]

I used to go for rolls, but now I encourage a simple 1 for 1 point buy with a starting 74 points. Too often a new character had been rolled up and got lucky, thus overshadowing established characters, and I didn't like that.

The big problem as I see it with point buy is that it favours the single-stat classes (fighter/rogue/barbarian/cleric/wizard/sorcerer) at the expense of classes that ideally want 2-3+ good stats.

Cheers

 

[Creamsteak]

The solution to that would probably be to change the point to cost spread to make mid scores slightly easier and High Scores more difficult to get.

9 = 1 point
10 = 2 points
11 = 3 points
12 = 4 points
13 = 5 points
14 = 6 points
15 = 7 points (subtracted one)
16 = 9 points (subtracted one)
17 = 12 points (subtracted one)
18 = 16 points (added one)

This makes it more reasonable to have two 17s or 2 16s, while making 18s still as costly.

 

[Plane Sailing]

- just wanted to mention that the standard PHB point buy gives bonus points to most races, since they can place the -2 where it would (technically) gain them 2 points, but put the +2 where it (technically) would cost them 6 points - e.g. an elf who'se 10 CON goes down to 8, but whose 16 Dex goes up to 18. He's 4 points better off than a human with an 8 Con and 18 Dex !

That's another reason why I went for straight 1 for 1 points in the end.

 

[Sanackranib]

point buy

The solution to that would probably be to change the point to cost spread to make mid scores slightly easier and High Scores more difficult to get.

9 = 1 point
10 = 2 points
11 = 3 points
12 = 4 points
13 = 5 points
14 = 6 points
15 = 7 points (subtracted one)
16 = 9 points (subtracted one)
17 = 12 points (subtracted one)
18 = 16 points (added one)

This makes it more reasonable to have two 17s or 2 16s, while making 18s still as costly.

as opposed to even method I which while harsh still gives you the potential, however remote, to roll 6 sets of 18's. maby I'm just old school but I like to roll to control my own stats rather then have everyone start off on an even plane. people are not even and thats a reality. I don't mind that some peoples characters have better stats as long as mine have that potential as well.