Does anybody else hate the Point Buy Sell Off?

[DonTadow]

I don't blame players for this I blame the DMs. As long as the DMs are making it so that the 5 stat never comes to play and never is a hindrance ion the character then the player is just going to keep doing it.

I do dislike point buy in general though not for this reason.

I agree, this is solely a DM issue, not a rules issue. Let me catch a player dropping a 6 in an area. That 6 will be their downfall time after time after time. I don't mind a 7 in 1 area, but multiple areas, just to get a +20.

Charisma only becomes a dump skill if you use diplomacy incorrectly. everytiem a pc opens his or her mouth, its a diplomacy roll, however, because in most cases we expect average looking humans, i make low charisma players roll when they speak.

 

[TheAuldGrump]

Now I used to be absolutely against dump stats, but I begin to see the flavor they can add to my roleplaying experience. I'm currently playing a game where I have absurdly high stats as per the character rollup: 5d6, keep 3 highest, re-roll 1s AND 2s. And while it's fun to be almost super-hero like, it also makes the roleplaying aspects a little silly. The DM is forced to AMP the DC so high on some things, that they almost don't make sense:
"So I'm going to try to scare this kid... and make him run away"
"Cool, roll for it"
"19, plus bonuses ... is a 31"
"Good job, the kid just stares at you"
"What?"
"Yeah, he's not intimidated in the slightest"
"Holy , I could have scared that kid myself... in real life"
"Yeah... maybe"

Extreme example, but you get my point.

The point but puts everyone on equal footing, and some chose to gimp their INT and CHA to make a Conan-eqsue Barbarian than that sure as hell seems to make more sense than the Barbarian with 20 STR (after racial) and no other stat lower than 12. You've now rolled the Incredible Hulk, but with Bruce Banner's brain in constant control of all that might.

In my game that would be a subtle hint that something is not right in the town.... The kid just keeps looking at the Incredible Hulk half-orc and keeps smiling....

Do his eyes seem a little cloudy?

Is there a touch of blue green beneath his chin and around his neck?

Why do the flies keep circling the kid, but never landing?...

But then I use standard 4d6, drop the lowest.

As for the OP and folks min-maxing.... Really, it comes down to making the low stats count. If you are not willing to do that then it really does not matter if you are using point buy or not. Complaining as a GM because you are unwilling to do part of the job, making the low stats count, is not a problem with point buy, it is a problem with the GM.

Care to guess where I think that the OP's problem lies?

The Auld Grump

 

[KiloGex]

However, I don't have a better solution - except perhaps capping the "selloff" at 8. (Although that will still result in 6s.)

I tweaked the system in a similar way, bottoming the stats at 8 and capping at 18. Also, I have the players adjust for race before they add their points, this way you don't end up with that 6 WIS and 20 STR.

 

[thundershot]

I use the 4E standard array in Pathfinder or any of the combinations on the chart on the page after.

I want the PC's to be on equal footing.