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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 330959" data-attributes="member: 3146">Well, there's a difference between the most advantageous use of a point buy system for a character and the most advantageous use of a point buy system to get the highest stats.Consider the following example:32 point buy, half orc fighter/barbarianStr 16(+2), Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10(-2), Wis 10, Cha 10 (-2)This results in a character who would cost 36 points if he were human. This is pretty close to as good as you can get with a half-orc for effective points.Str 18 (+2), Dex 12, con 14, int 8 (-2), Wis 14, Cha 8 (-2)This is a difficult character to quantify since he has a 20 strength which is normally not possible to buy on a point buy system. If you want to play a dumb and rude but tough and strong willed fighter who plans on wearing full-plate, however, this is a better set of stats than the first one.A more clear example:Two human fighters:Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10Str 16, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 8The first has a total stat bonus of +8The secont das a total stat bonus of +6 making it a less efficient use of points than the first character.However, the second set of stats may well be a more efficient construction for standard "tank" fighter. The first set of stats is probably much better for a fighter/cleric (although my fighter/cleric construction would take a 10 dex, 12 charisma, and a 15 in either strength or wisdom depending upon whether he was more fighter or more cleric).This relates very directly to racial stat modifications. In raw numbers, a wood elf (+2 str, dex, -2 con, int, cha) is superior to a half orc (+2 str, -2 int, cha). However, the numbers don't tell the whole story. The elf's con penalty means that any wood elf character would have to buy a 16 in order to end up with a 14 con. This means that, in general, a human fighter or a dwarf cleric will have as many hit points as a wood elf barbarian. The disadvantage in terms of hit points means that wood elves are not the ideal choice for a front-line tank type character. In fact, half-orcs and dwarves are likely to be vastly superior in those roles. However, the wood elf's bonusses to both dex and str make them ideal archers since the archer's hit points don't come into play as often as their strength and dexterity scores do.My recommended race/class combos (28 pt buy):Half orc fighter, or fighter/barbarian:Str 18, Dex 10, Con 14, int 10, wis 10, cha 10Half orc barbarianStr 18, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 8, Wis 10, Cha 8Dwarf FighterStr 16, Dex 12, Con 16, int 10, wis 10, cha 10Dwarf ClericStr 14, Dex 8, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 10Elf Fighter/Wizard (bladesinger)Str 15, Dex 16, Con 12 (+2 toad), Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8Grey Elf WizardStr 10, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 10, Cha 10Wood Elf Ranger/Rogue (melee focussed)Str 17, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 8Halfling RogueStr 12, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 10Human FighterStr 16, Dex 12, Con 15, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10Human BarbarianStr 16, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10Human WizardStr 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 10Human Cleric (melee type)Str 14, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 15, Cha 12Human Cleric (non-melee type)Str 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14Human PaladinStr 15, Dex 10, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 14Human BardStr 12, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 15Human SorcerorStr 10, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 10, Cha 15Human MonkStr 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 14, Cha 10As you can see, I'm not much of a fan of dump scores. I prefer playing somewhat more balanced characters to ones who excel in combat but can do nothing outside of it. I also don't think it's worth buying anything higher than a 16 on point buy. (At least not when you only have 28 or 32 points to play around with). Expanding these characters to 32 points, I'd probably bump most of the 15s and 17s up to 16s and 18s. For characters who follow the 14, 14, 14, 14, 10, 10 model, I'd probably bump their primary scores up to a 16 or two 15s. For characters who follow the 16, 14, 14, 10, 10 model, I'd consider bumping one or two of the 10s up to a 12. (I made 32 point a fighter/barbarian with the following scores str 16, dex 14, con 14, int 12, wis 12, cha 10. This gave him some skill points for cross class skills, and a slightly better will save (always a weak point for fighter/barbarians). It also lets me multi-class him into a fighter/barbarian/cleric if I want to).</blockquote>

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