D&D 4E New "Confessions of a Full Time Wizard" - 4e tidbits!

[Jefe Bergenstein]

If I say "choose your path", and a player decides to "roll the dice", they have put the fate of their ability scores in the fickle hands of the Lady Luck...

...which is precisely why the majority choose point-buy, or array.

And then suddenly "lose" interest in that weak character after 2 sessions. Its pretty hard to FORCE someone to play a character they are unsatisfied with.

 

[Roman]

There are three methods to generating Ability Scores as mentioned before. When referring to a Ability Scores in the Racial Traits section it refers when you assign your scores not how you derived them. In the basics of describing character creation it just says you "Generate Your Ability Scores". There is no default from what I can see as there are three options

(Note: Phrase bolded by me.)


I have not noticed this before - I think I posted simultaneously with Scott. In any case, it makes me happy.

 

[Midknightsun]

I have kind of a love hate relationship with point buy vs. rolling. I've seen the unbalanced monsters that can come from rolling characters up, and the disappointment in the eyes of those who roll just crappy enough to have to keep their characters, by the rules. In and of itself this wouldn't be so heart breaking if not for the fact that you're now likely stuck with said character for a good year of playtime, at least. But there is a certain excitement and variety that seems missing in point buy. Point buy creates consistency and equality, but you can pretty much guess the array based on the class the player is making, leading to that inevitable dump stat. I'd be happy if they just kept both, or more and made it a point to say they're all equally viable options, depending on the type of campaign you're looking for.

 

[KingCrab]

I hate point buy personally. But I let my players have a choice when it comes to stat generation. They can either roll 5d6 for stats, or take a 25 pt. buy.
No one ever takes the point buy.
Thus my diabolical plan insures that players always roll for stats.
The way the gods intended it.

Better to use either 32 point buy or 3d6 no rerolls.

 

[KingCrab]

There is no default from what I can see as there are three options

I have not noticed this before - I think I posted simultaneously with Scott. In any case, it makes me happy.

I'm still happy as long as point buy is listed first.

 

[KingCrab]

It's not that sometimes you get absurdly high stats. It's not that sometimes you get absurdly low stats. It's that very often, one player will get a really good set of stats, while another will wind up with average or poor stats. If stats weren't so important to the game then that would be fine, but as it is my preference is for a suitable point-buy.

This is my number one objection as well. If I was running or playing in a solo campaign, it wouldn't matter quite as much. It's the discrepancy in the power level of the characters that bothers me.

Even then though, if I had a concept I wanted to go with (like an extremely charming but completely clueless bard) it's not something that would always fit a 4d6 drop the lowest system.

 

[mhensley]

What if you combined the two methods? Let the player choose three stats that they can spend 20 points on using the point costs in the DM's Guide. Then the other three stats are rolled 3d6 in order. This gives the player control over the stats that are most important to his character and guarantees that it will be playable. The other three stats are mainly for roleplaying hooks.

For example, I want to create a Fighter. His three most important stats are Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution. Spending my 20 points between these three, gives me stats of Str- 16, Dex- 14, Con-12. Now I roll 3d6 in order for the rest. I end up with Int- 8, Wis-9, Cha- 15. Hmm... sounds like a rather dim witted, blond, muscle man - much more interesting than straight 10's. It also pushes his point value to 29 which is higher than the standard 25 point build. But as the higher value is due to a stat that won't have much effect due to the Fighter's lack of Charisma based skills it won't really cause him to overshadow any other character.

 

[Wolfspider]

The first game of 3e that I ran - one fighter had rolled 18 Strength, the other fighter had rolled 16. The second fighter felt completely outclassed by the extra +2 to hit and +3 to damage his mate had, and soon the character was abandoned to die.

Hmm? Shouldn't that be extra +1 to hit and +1 to damage?

 

[Malk]

+1 to hit and +2 to damage assuming a two handed weapon.

 

[Rechan]

I've always allowed PCs the options to roll, and I generally think my method of rolling was fairly generous.

Roll 4d6, drop the lowest.
Do this 12 times.
Pick the best of the lot.