D&D 5E Generating Player Characters

[cbwjm]

My usual homebrew method is 4d6 drop lowest, distribute as you want.
Sometimes, if I want stronger player characters, I'll do 4d6 drop low, reroll 1s.
But not often.

My old method used to be 4d6 drop lowest, 8 times. Keep the 6 best scores and arrange as you like. Back in 2e I used this method but I also allowed any class to be chosen and if they weren't able to meet the requirements then they could be bumped up, but they had to apply their highest scores to the stats needed. This meant that if someone wanted to play a paladin, they could, but if they rolled a 14 and a 16 as their highest scores, then they needed to put that 16 into Charisma and it could then be bumped up to 17 while the 14 went into Strength.

When I DM you get a choice:
*4d6 drop one of them (most opt for the lowest) x6, arrange as you wish, then add racial mods.
*Take the standard array,
*27pt buy.

If you choose to roll, those #s are what you'll use. There's no re-rolls, no safety net vs mediocre/bad results. You're gambling that you'll be awesome & letting fate decide your stats. Sometimes that pays off big, most times fairly average, & other times....
Whatever you get, you WILL play the resulting character in good faith.

I find in many cases, it's a lot of fun to play a character with one or more bad stats. It's how we end up with characters like Raistlin from Dragonlance, high intelligence, but shattered constitution. Although now that I think on it, that may have just been the fiction for the novels whereas his actual character I think just had average constitution, but my point still stands, playing something like a mage powerful in magic but weak in body can be a fun experience.

 

[TallIan]

All but one of my group is are parents so time to pay is very limited. I use point buy so all characters are made, ready to go as soon as we're at the table.

I would trust them to roll but I've been on both sides of the improbably good roll and its not nice to be questioned about your honesty.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

[Azurewraith]

4d6 drop lowest re-roll ones and twos 2sets or take point buy. Don't like that your rolls came up minimum tough you chose to gamble.

 

[Redthistle]

3d6, replace lowest die with a 4. If you agree to take them in order rather than select order, you get to add 2 to one score.

Dang! I never heard of this method before. It's got my brain ticking over ... Thanks!

 

[Ath'kethin]

We do standard array +2. So everybody starts with the same scores to distribute, then has an additional 2 points to put where they like.

This method is fast and easy and ensures everybody is competent without anyone being super powered just because of a lucky roll or two.

 

[Redthistle]

Most of the comments address methods of generating ability scores.

As of the moment, only @TallIan has commented on the topic of having a Session 0. He raised a salient point in that as one moves deeper into adulthood, other responsibilities tend to limit the time available to play.

If it's possible for a group, I always recommend a Session 0 for the reasons cbwjm mentioned: it allows for building relationships between the PCs and removes the element of low-level paranoia about the honesty of rolled stats produced by other members of the group.

As TallIan said, though, a Session 0 is not always possible for some players.

That suggests to me this rule-of-thumb:

1) When there's not going to be a Session 0, the PCs should be created using either the standard array or the 27-point* buy.

2) With a Session 0, choose any one of the rolled stat methods, the standard array, or the point-buy method. In fact, each player could use a different DM-approved method if they wished. For any of the group's players who aren't able to make it to Session 0, see rule 1.

If time allows, a Session 0 can end with a short scenario wherein the initial Story Hook(s) can be introduced.

* [MENTION=6801845]Oofta[/MENTION] posted while I was editing this, saying that a larger number of points might be useful, depending on the nature of the campaign.

 

[Oofta]

Point buy - sometimes with 32 instead of 27 points depending on the campaign.

I've seen too many really unbalanced characters with die rolling.

 

[Blue]

I love the organic characters that dice, especially in order, give.

That said, I think one of the balance points of 5e is the hard choice between ASI or feat, and that's gone with high rolls. Also a lot of the "I think class X is overpowered" is with characters with very high rolled stats, where the MAD doesn't impact them.

So while I love rolling ability scores, I love balance in 5e more, so I use point buy.

 

[dagger]

Players choose as a group to all use point buy, standard array, or roll for stats. Everyone has to use the same method, they can decide which, but if they choose to roll they must do the following:

Everyone rolls one set of 4d6 drop lowest, and the stat arrays are recorded on one sheet. Players can choose from the stat arrays which one they want, and yes they can all choose the same one if they want.

Random rolling but no one gets screwed unless the dice betray everyone. The risk of everyone getting a super stat array is possible, but at least every PC will have it, and not just one character.


Our session 0's are mostly done over email and the players can usually hash out the party that way. If the rolling method is chosen it has to be done in person at the table, and that will require a little more coordination.

Also, we do use the multi class stat requirements, but players at the table have not multi classed much anyway (not sure if this is related or not). I am not running at the moment, but next time its my turn to DM multi-classing will be off the table unless it happens organically during the campaign.

 

[GMMichael]

Ours is pretty easy:

We use 4d6, drop the lowest. Assign in order, unless you want to play a class that doesn't really agree with that layout. In that case, roll 3d6 and add 4. This gives a pretty even array for the optimizer-type players. So then they get to assign those scores as desired, unless another player already has that set of stats. In which case, you roll 3d6 100 times, and lay all the results out on a grid, in order from left to right, line-by-line. From there, you can pick any six scores you like, as long as they're all in a row or on a diagonal. But if a player yells "YAHTZEE" while you're filling in your ability scores, you have to fill a Yahtzee cup with five dice and throw those down for the score you were writing, and use the total that came from the cup.

Sometimes the pet weasel runs in and grabs a die while we're determining scores, thinking it might be edible. Since you have to play the dice as they land, we're still waiting for him to, well, let a die or two land...