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<blockquote data-quote="Bad Paper" data-source="post: 2177603" data-attributes="member: 24674">The reasoning behind this escapes me.&nbsp; 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 &quot;legal,&quot; i.e. sum of modifiers &gt; 0) would affect that decision.&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Rolled up 17, 16, 14, 9, 9, 6.&nbsp; Whew!&nbsp; That's one ugly wizard!&nbsp; Hmm... And hence I begin thinking about *developing the character*, not saying &quot;aw, shucks, those point-buy losers never get a score below 8; why should I?&quot;&nbsp; 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.&nbsp; Lots of joyously painful character development.&nbsp; No min/maxing on some prepackaged point-buy.&nbsp; And yes, he's still quite the murderous wizard.Even if everyone in the party has different point-buy equivalencies, why would it matter?&nbsp; Heck, I'll stand in back of the guy with the &quot;better&quot; stats any day.Oh yeah, I'm a wizard; I do that anyway.I don't get it.&nbsp; Outside of a tournament setting, why would anyone use a soulless point-buy?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Bad Paper, post: 2177603, member: 24674"] 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? [/QUOTE]

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