I hope stat generation is addressed

[Jhaelen]

Poll doesn't have enough choices.

Yup, seems like the poll is just an excuse to underline the OPs opinion which doesn't seem to mesh well with D&D's focus.

If Treebore really meant what he's written in his post, I'd recommend getting rid of stats completely. Just assume everyone has the same chance at succeeding at a given task than everyone else (i.e. basically giving everyone the same stats set at an arbitrary number). To ensure that characters are still different from each other, introduce a system with boons/ flaws or just use feats/background traits.

Treebore, I think you are missing the reason why there need to be rules for how stats are generated. It is because the players are supposed to be about equal in power.

Exactly. Thus, I am all for point-buy. Point-buy means that the player is in complete control of the character's stats - at a power level everyone is comfortable with (by adjusting the number of points available). It's neither random nor DMs fiat.

 

[Crazy Jerome]

Very cool method. I might have to adapt something similar for future games I run, though I'd prefer the possibility of a PC drawing as low as 6.

It's all in the cards you pick. We have two characters with a 6, including one in Con--an archer, no less. I think our current deck has 21 cards, with two 1s and one 2 kept out and assigned after the deal. So the players with a 6 could have turned that into an 8 if they had really wanted, but they had a higher priority for that 2 point adjustment.

 

[Psion]

It's all in the cards you pick. We have two characters with a 6, including one in Con--an archer, no less. I think our current deck has 21 cards, with two 1s and one 2 kept out and assigned after the deal. So the players with a 6 could have turned that into an 8 if they had really wanted, but they had a higher priority for that 2 point adjustment.

I think he was talking about my method, that doesn't allow anything below a 9.

 

[Warbringer]

17, 15, 13, 13, 11, 9

Arrange anyway you want

Welcome to my game

 

[Januz]

I have never noticed a rule that all characters must be equal. In fact the system is inherently against that. Unless you believe thieves and Wizards are inherently equal? Plus the rules guidelines only worry about players have equal value in treasure, not in the effective power of those items.

The whole rule book is there to create balance, games have rules so that there can be balance. I do believe Rogues and Wizards are equal, they are not equal in every task but they are equal overall. D&D and other RPGs are very advanced games so it is impossible to completely balance every thing but in almost all cases it is balanced. The rules for making your own items are there so you can make sure that items of equal value are of equal power.

So if the players create characters like you suggested, so what? They only have themselves to blame. They wanted those characters, they created them, they can live with it. Guess they will have to learn to create characters they can be happy with.

The problem is that they would have been happy with the characters if it hadn't been for the DM increasing the difficulty making the characters nonviable. So you as a DM are forcing them to create more powerful characters then they want to have by allowing the other persons create more powerful characters. This can also cause the persons with the more powerful characters to not have as much fun because they constantly have to save the weaker characters from peril. Nothing here says it is less fun and some players might enjoy being the weak character with the powerful characters but the major flaw in your quest for removing "DM influence" in creating characters is that players generally want it.

As i see it with just choosing your stats it will either come to players at different power levels or being the same as point buy seeing as the players decide to have about the same power level, you just didn't set a exact number.
I have no problem with you or anyone else having higher ability scores. What bothers me is adjusting the difficulty because of the higher scores which is basically negating the need for higher scores and you could just have stayed with lower scores and lower difficulty. So you are creating more work for you and the only effect of it is higher numbers on the character sheets.

Now I personally roll stats in my current campaign that I am DMing and in other campaigns i have played in. We roll 4d6 removing the lowest roll and we can re roll if no score is above 13 and/or if the total ability modifier is 0 or less. I like rolling because the actual stats don't matter that much to me, i can create almost any character concept I want and it is allot easier to arrange scores then consider how high i should increase each score in point buy. I think i would prefer set values over pointbuy and i don't mind if it is 15 or 55pointbuy as long as it is the same for all the characters.

 

[BryonD]

I now use a card-based system, though I know that will never show up in the official rules.

Ya never know.....

Start planting the idea that they could sell "official" D&D stat generation cards.....

 

[FreeTheSlaves]

I think the proliferation of houserules regarding stat generation in 3rd edition points to a rule set that isn't robust. A stat generation rule should be standard and legitimate across most groups.

For the time being we can stomach 3rd edition rules because we house rule the bajeezas out of it. Essentially we use the organic method, modified by rolling 2d6+6, and allow endless character generations with the numbers written down as 'proof'. All very silly but it works.

I'd much rather have some professionals sort it out, and I think they will.

 

[catsclaw227]

I picked that the PLAYERS choose, but this would be done via point buy -- it just allows for more player balance in the beginning and it's easier to build consistent 3rd party modules and supplements with this assumption.

I wish there were more options in this poll, or at least more specific options.

 

[Treebore]

I picked that the PLAYERS choose, but this would be done via point buy -- it just allows for more player balance in the beginning and it's easier to build consistent 3rd party modules and supplements with this assumption.

I wish there were more options in this poll, or at least more specific options.

Well, I would have, but I was just wanting to know how many agree that players should be given complete creative control, and how many think DM's should maintain control of this aspect.

 

[Hypersmurf]

Could you imagine Einstein with the muscle of Schwarzeneger, the charisma of Marylin Monroe, the wisdom of the Dalai Lama and the agility of a gymnastic olympic ? That's just silly.

Einstein, Arnold, and Marilyn, at the same time?

Madness!

-Hyp.