How many of your use the 22 point buy in the phb?

[Particle_Man]

In the campaign I am a player in, we are getting our asses handed to us. Now one response would be for us to buckle down, spend time learning tactics, and become better at playing the game.

But that sounds like too much work.

So we are taking the more fun route of increasing our characters' power. We are abandoning the 22 point buy system of the PHB and using the Iron Heroes 24 point buy system (where stats start at 10, 15 costs 5 points, 16 costs 7, 17 costs 9 and 18 costs 13, and you can drop a 10 to 8 for 2 more points).

I talked to another DM of a different 4e campaign and although he is a staunch defender of it, even he admits that he allows players to "reroll" one stat (after the 22 point buy, when all the stats are locked into str, int, etc.) and take the better of the two rolls.

So I am wondering - is the 22 point buy model being adhered to in general, or abandoned?

 

[Drakona]

We use it right now out of sheer default. We don't know the system well enough yet to muck with it.

 

[Dykstrav]

I stick to the 22 point method myself. For me, character power does not equate with "fun." I have had just as much of a blast with characters with low scores and the war stories are often alot better.

It's my opinion that smart play and the skill of the player account for alot more than the numbers on a sheet. Would you have more fun at Monopoly if you started with Boardwalk and Park Place? Some players might, some players wouldn't. I'm definitely in the latter camp. I prefer to have lofty heights to work toward rather than starting out heads and shoulders above the teeming masses just because I'm a 1st-level PC. I dig the idea that anyone in the world could become an adventurer--you just need to be a bit more restless, headstrong, or ambitious than the people around you.

So we are taking the more fun route of increasing our characters' power.

This is what it all boils down to. If it's a change that results in more fun for the group, by all means, embrace it.

 

[Barastrondo]

We're trying a higher level of point buy "in exchange for" more limited equipment. The characters are in a rather low-resources environment and not much magic is going to be appearing, but the higher point buy helps them be appropriately heroic even if they're using chipped knives and wearing patchwork leathers.

 

[Chauzu]

I use good ol' dice rolling.

 

[Nifft]

22 point buy here, in all our games and one-shots so far.

Cheers, -- N

 

[sjmiller]

I use good ol' dice rolling.

If I were to play in or run a 4e game, that is what I would do.

 

[Invisible Stalker]

We also roll the dice

 

[wayne62682]

The campaign I just joined used the new Standard Array, but the other players are new to D&D so that might factor in.

While I would use the point buy, my only issue with it is that there's a so-called "Optimal Arrray" floating around, which is I think 16 14 14 12 10 8, or some variation thereof, which everyone and their mother seems to assume/advocate using to create characters, at least over on the WotC boards.

You know, honestly I've had a lot of fun with just the Standard Array. IMO it's enough to create an interesting character without the feel of min-maxing, but you're also going to be able to create a character who is good at what they do as long as you give your role and "build" (using the general sense, not the specific CharOp version) some thought beforehand.

I would not ever go back to rolling dice, nor play in a game which did so. I despise any sort of randomness in character generation for reasons that I don't wish to go into because it would derail the thread

NOTE: I'm considering the Standard Array to be different than "22 point buy" because you aren't able to modify the scores. So, in effect, I do use the 22 point buy, but technically speaking I don't. If that makes any sense.

 

[AtomicPope]

I use a 32 point buy in and I have been since the beginning of 3e. I've played with the buy in since 3.0 and I think it's scaled a bit low. On a good day I'll end up with a +12 and my average is around +8. In a 3.5 game I'm playing in now I have three 17's, two 15's, and an 11. It was a standard 4D6, six times, and drop the lowest. Personally, I think that those stats are only unfair if no one else has them because it does make a difference.

With a 32 point buy in the PC's are granted more feasible options for classes that suffer horribly from MAD in 4e such as Fighters, Wizards, and Paladins. All classes benefit from the extra points as it allows them to better build for feat qualification while still meeting the primary stat requirements.