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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lakesidefantasy" data-source="post: 9829665" data-attributes="member: 6682043">"...in the place it will least matter..."Yeah, I agree. It's like dumping the trash; we're dumping the low score somewhere we can forget about it. Because we're dumping it in an Ability that will least matter, that's what makes it a dump score rather than simply a low score.One way to avoid dump scores is the Classic method of rolling scores in order. This way, we remove our ability to choose where the low score goes. In the analogy above, our trash goes on the ground, and we have to live with it just blowing around in the wind as litter. But, I'm not advocating for that. Don't get me wrong, creating a random character is fun, but most of the time we want to create specific characters: fighters, clerics, goliath bards, etc. So we allow ourselves to rearrange the scores, and then we are faced with the dump score problem. Take for instance the Standarard Array; we're faced with that low score of 8. It doesn't matter what specific vision we have for our character--it's going to have a low Ability. Many times I've faced this dilemma, haven't you? I mean, when faced with where to place this score I'm thinking I didn't really imagine this character as stupid, or weak, or sickly, but I guess it'll have to be.Point Buy has the same problem. It's a case of arranging the Points rather than the Scores themselves. And when we apply optimization guidelines to the arrangements we are usually left with 2 or 3 pretty low scores. So we place them in 2 or 3 Abilities that matter the least. Not that they don't matter, they just matter less than other scores, so we "dump" them by choosing to spend less points on them even though they started at 8 to begin with. Even if we don't apply optimization guidelines we usually run low on points after we distibute them to the scores we're focused on.Rearrangement of Scores and arrangement of Points generally forces us to pigeon hole our characters into predictable archetypes: Dumb, daft, or dull fighters; weak or weak-willed wizards, etc. We have to try really hard with Point Buy to avoid these predictable characters because we only have 65 options, of which about 2/3rds are sub-optimal.Now we also have the opposite problem when it comes to rolling scores in order. What if we imagined our character is very sickly but we rolled a 15 in Constitution and the lowest score we rolled in the set was a 10? I would allow you to lower your Constitution score to any value below 15, but this does not impact any other scores. If I wanted a sickly character I'd probably lower the score to 6 or 7. This may be a low score but it is not a dump score.Low scores are low; dump scores are lower so that another score can be higher.</blockquote>

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