D&D 5E Point Buy Arrays [Assembled]

[delericho]

I agree. Floating scores aren't a good idea IMO, but the problem is rolling those into point-buy works, and you can always boost the standard array, but how do you incorporate them into the rolling method? I've looked into it, and I think rolling 7 or even 8 scores, and then using the best 6, does this effectively.

Honestly, my inclination was to leave the as-is for the random roll and standard array options - partly because I would find myself torn between 17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8 or 16, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8 (assuming a standard +2/+1 race). Of course, you could offer both.

As you say, you could build it in to random rolling by having players roll extra stats and then choosing 6, or perhaps by having them use 5d6-keep-3 for a couple of the stats. Either way, this does have the advantage that the maximum for a starting stat is capped at 18, which the current "roll then add bonuses" doesn't give you.

 

[Horwath]

In current zeitgeist of agnostic racial ability boosts, I'm more and more in favor of:

14,14,14,14,14,10
14,14,14,14,12,12
16,14,12,12,12,12
16,14,14,12,12,10,
16,14,14,14,12,8
16,16,14,14,8,8
16,16,14,12,10,8
16,16,14,10,10,10
16,16,12,12,12,8
16,16,12,12,10,10
16,16,16,10,8,8


racials are calculated already.
Pick one out of 11 and GO!

 

[Art Waring]

One last note: if doing point buy in 5e, my strong inclination these days would be to roll the racial ability score adjustments right into the point buy - so grant a number of extra points to spend, and allow stats of up to 17 to be bought.

I've actually decided to remove racial bonuses entirely, moving them right into character generation. As soon as the player generates their scores they assign +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 to their abilities

 

[Art Waring]

I've looked into it, and I think rolling 7 or even 8 scores, and then using the best 6, does this effectively.

That's not a bad idea, I'm testing this as a variant option now.

 

[Art Waring]

In current zeitgeist of agnostic racial ability boosts, I'm more and more in favor of:

14,14,14,14,14,10
14,14,14,14,12,12
16,14,12,12,12,12
16,14,14,12,12,10,
16,14,14,14,12,8
16,16,14,14,8,8
16,16,14,12,10,8
16,16,14,10,10,10
16,16,12,12,12,8
16,16,12,12,10,10
16,16,16,10,8,8


racials are calculated already.
Pick one out of 11 and GO!

Thank you very much for the input, but ability scores of 16 aren't allowed in point buys and arrays, at least by the book, before racial modifiers.

If you look at the OP, there is a complete list of possible point buy arrays in a spoiler, using a standard 27 point buy.

 

[Horwath]

Thank you very much for the input, but ability scores of 16 aren't allowed in point buys and arrays, at least by the book, before racial modifiers.

If you look at the OP, there is a complete list of possible point buy arrays in a spoiler, using a standard 27 point buy.

this is with racials already included, so basically it's 14+2 or 15+1 for the 16 score.

 

[delericho]

Having looked at it (very briefly), it looks like you could build a +2 into a random roll by using 6d6-drop-3, and +1 by using 5d6-drop-2. Which should allow you to deal with all the races to date.

For most races, I would therefore offer a choice:

Either roll 6d6-drop-3 once, 5d6-drop-2 once, and 4d6-drop-1 four times (for the +2/+1 case), or roll 5d6-drop-2 three times and 4d6-drop-1 three times (for the +1/+1/+1 case).

 

[Art Waring]

this is with racials already included, so basically it's 14+2 or 15+1 for the 16 score.

My Bad! I got it now! Thank you for clarifying.