D&D 5E (2014) Is Point Buy Balanced?

[Maxperson]

The idea of balance is inconsistent with rolling dice and the rules and method of play for D&D and I said so when I first started talking about it on this thread some 10 or so pages back.

A game can be balanced to include die rolling. Balance in an RPG doesn't = exactly the same 100% of the time.

 

[Retros_x]

The method is balanced, because every player can choose the same point spread if they want to. The results between player might be not balanced, but on the other hand players with classes that need to be decent in a lot of stats and players who can dump a lot can do that and don't have to take the fixed array. In that sense its even more balanced than a fixed array.

But overall it doesnt matter really, there is no perfect method of stat distribution, just take one that feels good. For me personally a fixed array is boring and bland, I prefer rolling or at least point buy.

 

[AlViking]

I won't go as far as the latter sentence, but I agree with the first and second.

Individual rolls don't matter when it comes to balance. If individual rolls are all we consider then ability scores don't matter. Someone with a 3 is balanced with someone with a 20 because the former could roll a 20 and the latter could roll a 1. The difference and imbalance only becomes obvious after a number of rolls, the bigger the imbalance the fewer the rolls required.