Do you need high stats to be an effective character?

[Crothian]

Lots of times I read how certain characters need high stats to be effective. In my games though I've seen characters work really well with not so high stats. So, I am seeing how and to what degree people feel high stats are needed.

 

[Seeten]

If you are used to high stats, seeing a bunch of low stats on your sheet may make you think your character is a lamer.

Regardless of the truth of how he performs, its about perception.

 

[Crothian]

good point, but people nee3d to be broken of that.

 

[Eolin]

It depends on the rest of the party.

If everyone else has a bunch of 16s and 18s and the like, and I've got a character I barely didn't throw away after 3 rolls, then my character will be less effective.

Reminds me of a game I'm in right now. I'm playing a bard, and the rest of the party consists of fighter-awesomes. Last time, we raided a thieves guild. I walked around with a wine glass in hand, occasionally listening at doors. I asked people to surrender so we didn't have to kill them.

But other than that, I didn't do much. Everyone else did the killing. I think I cast a spell or two, but that's about it. And if I hadn't cast the spells, we would have been fine.

 

[francisca]

I'd say that if you play 3.x in the "standard treasure" sort of way, meaning you accumulate treasure as shown in the DMG, and the players are similarly or better equipped than the NPCs shown in the DMG, then the equipment you carry defines your effectiveness more than your stats.

Other than that, your milage may vary. Certainly in "scarce magic" games, stats are going to have greater bearing on your PC's success. In games where magic swords and power misc magic items are common, stats wouldn't matter nearly as much.

For me, I'm over the wishing for straight 18s stage. A net of +3, with the bonuses in the appropriate abilites for the character is fine with me.

 

[DaveMage]

I think it depends on the DM and the campaign that's being run. If it's role-play heavy, then the stats aren't as important. If it's all hack 'n slash, then give me all 18s, please!

 

[Dracomeander]

I have played with so-called worthless characters and have had fun with them. It depends on the tone of the game. If you are playing a game where the tone is about overcoming near impossible odds, or a game like Cthulhu, where you're working to survive and discover what's going on a low - average stat character can be a blast.

However if you are planning an heroic epic, I find low - average stats to be severely limiting on the heroic over-the-top flavor the game is supposed to be portraying. See the last paragraph in my post on the Point Buy vs. Rolling Generation thread.

If a mod could put link in for me, it would be appreciated. Not one of the skills I've mastered yet.

 

[Seeten]

good point, but people nee3d to be broken of that.

My group is what it is. If 4/5ths of the people want heroic stats, I guess heroic stats it is?

 

[Yair]

It depends. At high level games spellcasters do need one high stat to be effective. Otherwise, I think scores in the range of 14 are sufficient. But they often aren't as fun

 

[pierworker]

good point, but people nee3d to be broken of that.

Agreed. Too many players gauge a character's effectiveness by the bonuses they have from their ability scores, despite constant reassurance from their DM that it's not necessary to have a few 18's to be effective.