D&D General Having your players roll their stats

[Lanefan]

That's pretty much what we always did when we had bad scores back in the day. Either they died quickly or went to boot camp and flunked out.

This is why 1e had minimum ability scores in order to be a class; it kinda built in the idea that, say, if your Strength was 8 or lower you just weren't cut out to be a Fighter.

And if you've got a character that isn't working for whatever reason (including bad stats) the DM can't exactly stop you from face-charging the next opponents you see in the field, can she? Or from having that character decide that adventuring is too risky and Dad's old bakery is looking pretty good right now...

 

[Lanefan]

My group rolls for stats, 4d6 drop lowest and reroll ones, then place stats anywhere you wish.

Grant it in the game I DM, there are wild bouts of magic that can reward stat increases or give a +1/-1 to two different stats (among other rewards), so stats can change wildly as the game progresses.

We also added percentile stat increments (a la the 1e Cavalier class) to all classes; though I guess ASIs have supplanted that notion in the WotC editions.

But yes: wild magic, Decks of Many Things, certain books, some curses, and so on - all of these can and likely will alter your stats at some point, for better or worse.

 

[Oofta]

That's pretty much exactly what I advise players not to do, in that you're only setting yourself up for disappointment if the dice don't co-operate with your ideas.

See what the dice give you to work with first, then build around that.

Different strokes for different folks. I play for different reasons. Vive le difference.

Some people - of which I'm one - approach D&D in large part as a game of luck as well as skill. At some points it's purely random, at other points the randomness can be mitigated or even avoided by smart or skillful play. Rolling up characters is one area where luck plays a large role.

Your casino experiences pretty much match my (quite few) own.

Sometimes, characters with crap ability scores can end up being the best to play while characters with outstanding ability scores just don't work out. My 3e experience really hammered this home, even though 3e is very stat-dependent.

I simply don't want a 1 time set of rolls to dictate my PC's capabilities. I don't want to struggle to make Melvin the Mediocre matter. Might be okay for a 1-shot or short term game, not a longer term campaign.

 

[Oofta]

This is why 1e had minimum ability scores in order to be a class; it kinda built in the idea that, say, if your Strength was 8 or lower you just weren't cut out to be a Fighter.

And if you've got a character that isn't working for whatever reason (including bad stats) the DM can't exactly stop you from face-charging the next opponents you see in the field, can she? Or from having that character decide that adventuring is too risky and Dad's old bakery is looking pretty good right now...

I've seen some people on this forum claim that they will force someone to play whatever they roll up. We never did way back when, but then again we also had what I would call "generous" ability score generation.

 

[Lanefan]

I've seen some people on this forum claim that they will force someone to play whatever they roll up. We never did way back when, but then again we also had what I would call "generous" ability score generation.

I have a cutoff called "DM's prerogative": if after rolling your six scores no score is higher than 13 and-or the average of all six scores is less than 10.0 you can either scrap it and reroll or continue with roll-up. Continuing, however, binds you to those bad rolls as you've passed the choice point and can't go back.

Our rolling system is generous enough that these thresholds are rarely if ever met. Other than that, however, you're committed to playing what you roll up, even if maybe not for long.

 

[Oofta]

I have a cutoff called "DM's prerogative": if after rolling your six scores no score is higher than 13 and-or the average of all six scores is less than 10.0 you can either scrap it and reroll or continue with roll-up. Continuing, however, binds you to those bad rolls as you've passed the choice point and can't go back.

Our rolling system is generous enough that these thresholds are rarely if ever met. Other than that, however, you're committed to playing what you roll up, even if maybe not for long.

After these threads come up I'm always tempted to start another one asking how many people use strict roll 4d6 drop lowest. Is it for short term or long term campaigns and so on. Because it seems like a lot of people use 4d6kL with exceptions and/or alterations like reroll 1s, reroll under a certain threshold, etc..

Way back when we'd allow "adjustments" like subtracting from 1 ability score and adding 1 to another. Then again, we'd also roll up 5 PCs and other tweaks.

 

[dumdragon]

For my current campaign I had everyone roll a set stats. Then the group picked one set that they would all use as they saw fit. This has all the fun of rolled stats but nobody gets stuck with inferior scores compared to the others.

 

[Stormonu]

Almost all the non-D&D games sitting on my shelf don't use random stats and use either some sort of set points to start with to purchase ability scores (and skills) or have prebuilt templates whose stats are set (usually with an additional set amount of points for customization). D&D seems to be the only RPG that clings to the method of random stat generation.

While I enjoy and encourage players in my games to roll for random stats, I have no problem with them using some sort of array/point buy if they feel that's better for them.

 

[Flights of Fancy]

If you want to roll, we roll 4d6 down the line, with an extra 4d6, which can replace any one of the first six rolls.

For example, six 4d6 rolls down the line: 14, 13, 8, 14, 15, 12
Extra 4d6 roll: 13

The 13 can be used to replace the 8, for 14, 13, 13, 14, 15, 12, in order.

Otherwise, you can do point-buy or standard array, but have to pick those before you roll.

 

[Swarmkeeper]

If you want to roll, we roll 4d6 down the line, with an extra 4d6, which can replace any one of the first six rolls.

For example, six 4d6 rolls down the line: 14, 13, 8, 14, 15, 12
Extra 4d6 roll: 13

The 13 can be used to replace the 8, for 14, 13, 13, 14, 15, 12, in order.

Otherwise, you can do point-buy or standard array, but have to pick those before you roll.

Does the player have to replace the 8 or could they choose to replace the 12?