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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Zaruthustran" data-source="post: 330606" data-attributes="member: 1457">I went to a con this weekend and created a character for RPGA play using the 28 point buy method. I noticed that if playing a race with ability bonuses it was advantageous to buy up the ability scores that feature those bonuses, thus gaining a point advantage. For example:For a human, Strength 17 costs 13 points from his pool. For a half-orc, Strength 17 (15 plus the +2 Str bonus) costs 8 points from his pool.The half-orc's +2 Str bonus has allowed him to save 5 points on that 17 Str. Or, looking at it another way, it's gotten him 5 "extra" points to spend on ability scores. Sure, the -2 Int and -2 Cha cost points. But assuming that the half-orc does not want to have a final score of 12 or higher for those two stats, it only costs him 4 points to "buy off" the penalties. That's a net gain of 1 point. Effectively, this character has a point pool of 29 instead of 28.If he doesn't mind a Cha and Int of 6, he can keep all of his point gains and have an effective pool of 33. My question to the group: what is the most advantageous way to allocate points for a character with +2 / -2 stat adjustments? What about a character with +2 +2 / -2 -2 -2? What I'm looking for: the point allocation that creates the greatest possible effective point pool.For example (a wood elf Ranger with +2 Str +2 Dex -2 Int -2 Con -2 Cha):Str 12 (+2) = 14 (costs 4 points, while a 14 normally costs 6)Dex 15 (+2) = 17 (costs 8 points but normally costs 13)Con 14 (-2) = 12 (costs 6 points but normally costs 4)Int 12 (-2) =10 (costs 4 points but normally costs 2)Wis 14 = 14 (costs 6 points)Cha 8 (-2) =6 (costs 0 points)Total points spent = 28, but if you total the costs of the final stats as if they were purchased outright you'll find an effective total of 31. Thats a 3 point gain.The above char is not the most optimized; how about some creative ideas for optimized chars of other race/class combos? Try to come up with highest effective points, but also most useful/playable/powerful--what good is a Str 19/Dex 19 Wood elf barbarian if he has an 8 Con?-z</blockquote>

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