Generation: rolling vs. point buy

[Bad Paper]

I've always run Point Buy as I prefer a game with strong character concepts. That's the first thing I ask my players: "What type of character do you want to play?"

IMO, Random Rolling leads to an entirely different question: "What type of character do you want to play given these stats?"

The reasoning behind this escapes me. What do your stats matter if you know what kind of character you want to play?

If I decide to play a demonic smurf, I can't see how different stats (so long as they're "legal," i.e. sum of modifiers > 0) would affect that decision. Stats may influence my choice of feats or spells or distribution of skill points, but...

It seems to me that point-buy (particularly in your case) simply encourages powergaming and discourages character development.

e.g. I decided to play an elven wizard. Rolled up 17, 16, 14, 9, 9, 6. Whew! That's one ugly wizard! Hmm... And hence I begin thinking about *developing the character*, not saying "aw, shucks, those point-buy losers never get a score below 8; why should I?" Indeed, because of the way his scores played out, he wound up with a couple levels of rogue, has been reincarnated as a half-orc, is on his way toward a bizarre PrC combination, looks nothing like I thought he would at this point, etc. etc. Lots of joyously painful character development. No min/maxing on some prepackaged point-buy. And yes, he's still quite the murderous wizard.

Even if everyone in the party has different point-buy equivalencies, why would it matter? Heck, I'll stand in back of the guy with the "better" stats any day.

Oh yeah, I'm a wizard; I do that anyway.

I don't get it. Outside of a tournament setting, why would anyone use a soulless point-buy?

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

If I decide to play a demonic smurf, I can't see how different stats (so long as they're "legal," i.e. sum of modifiers > 0) would affect that decision. Stats may influence my choice of feats or spells or distribution of skill points, but...

Hmm... I want to play an intelligent and agile swashbuckler.

Boy, it's a shame I rolled a 14 and 5 10s. I guess he can be Intelligent, or Agile, but not both.

But I can still roleplay my character, right?

 

[Angel Tarragon]

I prefer to roll them bones....and I let my players do the same.

 

[DrNilesCrane]

I've used both, but my players prefer rolling. To even it out for our upcoming campaign, I allowed players to either keep their rolls or drop them all in exchange for the standard stats (15, 14, 13, etc.). I also created two dozen "bonus" cards with nifty stuff (extra feat, some bonus skill points, start at 2nd level, etc.) and let everyone pick two, starting with the person with the worst rolled stats. Helped even things out for the folks that rolled poorly, was a LOT of fun, and gave more "organic" stats than a straight point buy (which I've also used and am OK with, depending on the type of campaign).

The bonus cards are online at:
http://www.the6elements.com/setting/#more if anyone would like to use them either as is or for inspiration.

 

[the Lorax]

I've got 25 years of playing with rollin' the bones myself, but I really think that the next game I start I will have players do a point build of some sort, if nothing else to see how it works out and how it balances the party.

 

[IronWolf]

Point Buy for games I run. While rolling the dice is fun, I like for the players to be able to play what they want to play - in my opinion Point Buy helps facilitate that. The point buy also helps for characters that get generated at home before a session. With point buy there is no need to worry about dice rolls getting fudged or anything like that.

As for the range I tend to allow from 28 to 32 depending on the game I plan on running.

 

[Ogre Mage]

Roll. It you don't like the stats, you can use 32 PB instead.

 

[The Souljourner]

Prequel - we switch between various rolling methods (never straight 4d6, usually multiple sets, rerolling some dice, etc) and point buy. And in fact, I have a house rules thread discussing alternate ability score generation methods.

The reasoning behind this escapes me. What do your stats matter if you know what kind of character you want to play?

Player: "I want to play a dashing, flashy swashbuckler"
Dice: 8 Dex, 7 Charisma, 18 Strength....
Player: "Uh...."

Stats matter because many character concepts include the ability to DO things. You can't be the rakish swashbuckler if you trip over your own feet and couldn't talk a kid into eating a candy bar.

If I decide to play a demonic smurf, I can't see how different stats (so long as they're "legal," i.e. sum of modifiers > 0) would affect that decision. Stats may influence my choice of feats or spells or distribution of skill points, but...

Demonic smurf sounds like a race to me... sure, stats don't define your race. But the *character* i.e. the personality, background, and abilities, are very much defined by your stats.

It seems to me that point-buy (particularly in your case) simply encourages powergaming and discourages character development.

It can encourage powergaming, but doesn't discourage character development. What it does is allow you to determine just how intelligent, wise, and charismatic your character is. If you want to play a wise old man and your wisdom is 8, you're screwed. To properly roleplay your stats, you couldn't justify trying to be very wise.

e.g. I decided to play an elven wizard. Rolled up 17, 16, 14, 9, 9, 6. Whew! That's one ugly wizard! Hmm... And hence I begin thinking about *developing the character*

And that's exactly the problem. Your stats are determining the character you can play, as opposed to vice versa. YOU are the one letting the numbers ru(i)n the game. You are taking stats and assigning a character to it, whereas point buy guys are taking a *character* and assigning stats to it.

I don't get it. Outside of a tournament setting, why would anyone use a soulless point-buy?

Because we get cool character ideas that we'd like to use, instead of getting shackled into what random crap 4d6 drops on us.

-The Souljourner

 

[Crothian]

Player: "I want to play a dashing, flashy swashbuckler"
Dice: 8 Dex, 7 Charisma, 18 Strength....
Player: "Uh...."

Stats matter because many character concepts include the ability to DO things. You can't be the rakish swashbuckler if you trip over your own feet and couldn't talk a kid into eating a candy bar.

That's why people allow you to move the 18 to Dex and move other attributes around. I've never known a DM that was so cruel that he wouldn't allow rerolls or moving around stats to fit a character concept. This was a problem in the old Diaglo days, but not now.

 

[reanjr]

All of the above. I voted Other, though. Depends on the game. Sometimes I just assign scores as I like.