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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Remathilis" data-source="post: 8568554" data-attributes="member: 7635">Depends on how sly they are.In the halycon days, I was very aware players (from multiple play groups, no less) tended to:1. Ignore a exceptionally low rolls (1s or 2s on the die) when rolling stats or HP and either coyly reroll or just give themselves the average roll (rolled a 1 on your hd fighter? Adds 5 to HP). 2. Roll 7+ times for ability scores and choose the six best3. Roll 5 times for ability scores and assign a 16 to your primary.4. Nudge ability scores up a point when transferring them from scratch paper to sheet, especially if they missed a racial or class min.5. Wait until the DM and other players are busy and roll/fudge as desired (usually done with replacement PCs worked on while the rest of the group was finishing up the encounter).Now, you have to understand that there was an unspoken acknowledgment that this was acceptable as long as you weren't abusing the system. The guy who "rolled" scores with two 16s , two 17s, and two 18s was chastised for cheating, but the guy who just happened to roll the minimums needed to be a ranger was ignored. Long into 3.5, enough of us had gotten bored with the wink-nudge game that point buy and fixed HP (borrowed from RPGA) became the norm. Without the subtle cheating, both average ability scores and HP totals decreased slightly. Now, could one of us (or many of us) called out all the cheating? Sure. That player would have had a harder time finding players to play with. And I'm sure there were players who didn't adjust and there were ones who tried to abuse the system. However, the majority of the time I played 2e and early 3e when rolling stats was standard, cheating was assumed. Put another way: I never saw anyone who wanted to play a particular race or class ever stopped by their ability scores.So between the removal of minimum ability scores and the use of point buy and fixed HP, we finally abandoned the unspoken rule of chargen and dice. And I'm happier for it.</blockquote>

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