New ways to generate ability scores.

[Kae'Yoss]

How about assigning fixed values

What's wrong with you guys. I said crazy, interesting, exotic. Not booooring

18, 16, 14, 12, 11 & 10. Each character will have three stats with a bonus (+3, +2 & +1 IIRC) and three stats without a bonus.

Actually, that's +4, +3, +2, +1, +0, +0.

In point buy, these scores would equal 41 points. That's beyond what I usually use. When I'm feeling real generous, I give them 35 points, otherwise 32 (and that's "High Powered" according to the DMG).

One thing I don't quite like with fixed arrays are that they not always support characters that need several ability scores (okay, that array of yours is quite powerful, but that's because it has quite a high point cost. With more "normal" values, you'll either punish those who want to play a focussed character, or those who want a versatile character.


Those arrays can be used to supplement run-of-the-mill point buy, though. For example, you could tell them that they got 32 points to spend, and example arrays for that are 16, 15, 14, 14, 10, 8 or 18, 16, 10, 10, 10, 8 (just some examples). This combines the advantages of point buy (you can tailor your scores to your character) and array (it's quite fast).

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

What does said score do?

Nothing, really, other than two things:

1. It keeps the players honest, in that no one is going to want to be the guy with a 30 Hubris score when everyone else is in the -5 to 5 range.

2. It provides the DM a way to focus all the random stuff in the game world. Need to know who the thieves pickpocket in the middle of the night? The guy with the highest Hubris. Need to know whose starship gets broken into? Hubris.

It's mostly the first, though.

EDIT: The above array actually gives bonuses of +4, +3, +2, +1, +0, +0.

 

[Roadkill101]

I've never messed around with point buy. I like the fixed array, because all characters are balanced in the sense they have all have the same range of stat values and bonuses. From there it's just a matter of how the stats are assigned to apply the bonuses to meet the characters needs.

It may be on the powerful side but I look at characters as being the Hero's, and the extra oomph from the stat bonuses, helps insure their survivability (especially at lower levels) to actually pull off some heroic deeds.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

It may be on the powerful side but I look at characters as being the Hero's

Me, too. But those are quite powerful even for quite powerful stats

 

[Cam Banks]

I'm not usually big on random chargen, but one trick I used to use was rolling 8d6 and having the players assign the dice to their ability scores. You had to assign an entire die and the value showing on it, you couldn't split it up. Each ability score started at 8, so if you didn't assign a die or dice to a score you'd at least have that.

I think we decided that 20 was the cap, so that if you rolled incredibly well (all sixes) you could have 20, 20, 14, 14, 14, 14, but that never happened. You could probably afford to drop one or two dice from the initial pool if you were aiming for a low-powered campaign.

An interesting variant on this was that if you assigned a die to an ability that was favored by your race (such as Dexterity for elves) that die was automatically a 6. Likewise, if you assign a die to an ability score that was ill-favored, it would automatically be a 1. This only applies once per die if multiple dice are assigned, with the remaining dice adding their face value. If you use this system, the standard ability score modifiers are ignored.

Cheers,
Cam

 

[Ahnehnois]

I use "mod totals" which basically say do your stats between 3-18 so the modifiers add up to a given total (9, for my latest game). 3 even, 3 odd, then add racials of course. It's point buy, but expressed in a much simpler way and without placing any extra value on high stats.

"But then doesn't everyone have 18s in all their useful stats? And 3s in the others?"
No. I want versatile, extraordinary PCs for heroic adventuring. This gets the job done. Even with mod total 9 one of my 3 PCs didn't have an 18 in anything. I hate how hard point buy makes it to get 16-18s. I *want* players to have those.

I've never heard of anyone else doing it this way, but it's a lot easier to make characters and to judge a character's power under this system (great for fast NPCs).

 

[ivocaliban]

It provides the DM a way to focus all the random stuff in the game world. Need to know who the thieves pickpocket in the middle of the night? The guy with the highest Hubris. Need to know whose starship gets broken into? Hubris.

I really like this idea. Instant karma's gonna get you...

 

[EvilGM]

I use Wulf's generation method

 

[Treebore]

I can: Pick your own ability scores. Forget being limited by anything but yourself. Forget never being able to have the exact ability scores for your concept.

Exactly. This is the absolute perfect way to make sure the players are playing characters they want to ply.

If you can't go that far then have them roll a generous system, like 4d6, reroll untill nothing is lower than a 3, take the highest 3. Arrange as desired.

Nothing I hate more than being forced to play a character with lousy stats. So I'm sure not going to force someone else to play such a character, unless they like to.

 

[el-remmen]

I do a stat draft.


To see a sample stat draft, click here.

To see the stat draft for the Second Son of a Second Son campaign, click here.