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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Art Waring" data-source="post: 8725513" data-attributes="member: 7037141">I'm currently in the trenches designing a 5e based ttrpg, and it's time to talk about point buy arrays and the point buy system.A lot of discussions are going on about point buys and random rolls to generate ability scores. Some say random rolls are too swingy, and that it creates too much disparity between PCs.Many prefer the point buy system (as do I), but my biggest concern is that players new to the hobby are coming in fresh and they haven't even made a character yet, and they are already bogged down with tables and charts.Not to mention, does a new player even know what ability scores are yet? Or how to place their scores into abilities that they will need for their chosen class. /i digress... Yes, a GM sets the standard up front as to what players do to start. Players want choices, but random rolls always end up in rerolls and wasted time.I'm deciding to add an option of point buy arrays, for the players to choose from right out of the book to save time, so I looked it up. Below I've relisted a full list of the complete point buy array possibilities in a spoiler, taken from the wizards forums (not sure who posted it). Ive chosen seven from the list, while probably not complete by any means it should give players enough options to feel they have choices and variance, but not enough choices to cause decision paralysis.So, the question is what are the most optimal, and what are the most varied choices to have on a list?15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 -Standard Array15, 15, 14, 10, 8, 8 -Adept14, 14, 13, 12, 10, 10 -Jack of Trades15, 13, 12, 11, 11, 11 -SAD Balance14, 14, 14, 10, 10, 10 -MAD Balance15, 13, 13, 13, 10, 9 -Odds13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 10 -Thirteen-OddEDIT: Forum consensus is heading towards generating Random Rolls, with pooling the highest rolls for all players at the table.[SPOILER="Point Buy Arrays"]5e Point Buy ArraysSee page 13 of the 5ePH under the heading "Variant: Customizing Ability Scores" using a standard 27 point buy:15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 815, 15, 14, 10, 8, 8 -Adept15, 15, 14, 9, 9, 815, 15, 13, 12, 8, 815, 15, 13, 11, 9, 815, 15, 13, 10, 10, 815, 15, 13, 10, 9, 915, 15, 12, 12, 9, 815, 15, 12, 11, 10, 815, 15, 12, 11, 9, 915, 15, 12, 10, 10, 915, 15, 11, 11, 11, 815, 15, 11, 11, 10, 915, 15, 11, 10, 10, 1015, 14, 14, 12, 8, 815, 14, 14, 11, 9, 815, 14, 14, 10, 10, 815, 14, 14, 10, 9, 915, 14, 13, 13, 9, 815, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 -Standard Array15, 14, 13, 12, 9, 915, 14, 13, 11, 11, 815, 14, 13, 11, 10, 915, 14, 13, 10, 10, 1015, 14, 12, 12, 11, 815, 14, 12, 12, 10, 915, 14, 12, 11, 11, 915, 14, 12, 11, 10, 1015, 14, 11, 11, 11, 1015, 13, 13, 13, 11, 815, 13, 13, 13, 10, 9 -Odds15, 13, 13, 12, 12, 815, 13, 13, 12, 11, 915, 13, 13, 12, 10, 1015, 13, 13, 11, 11, 1015, 13, 12, 12, 12, 915, 13, 12, 12, 11, 1015, 13, 12, 11, 11, 11 -SAD Balance15, 12, 12, 12, 12, 1015, 12, 12, 12, 11, 1114, 14, 14, 13, 9, 814, 14, 14, 12, 10, 814, 14, 14, 12, 9, 914, 14, 14, 11, 11, 814, 14, 14, 11, 10, 914, 14, 14, 10, 10, 10 -MAD Balance14, 14, 13, 13, 11, 814, 14, 13, 13, 10, 914, 14, 13, 12, 12, 814, 14, 13, 12, 11, 914, 14, 13, 12, 10, 10 -Jack of Trades14, 14, 13, 11, 11, 1014, 14, 12, 12, 12, 914, 14, 12, 12, 11, 1014, 14, 12, 11, 11, 1114, 13, 13, 13, 13, 814, 13, 13, 13, 12, 914, 13, 13, 13, 11, 1014, 13, 13, 12, 12, 1014, 13, 13, 12, 11, 1114, 13, 12, 12, 12, 1114, 12, 12, 12, 12, 1213, 13, 13, 13, 13, 10 -Thirteen-Odd13, 13, 13, 13, 12, 1113, 13, 13, 12, 12, 12[/SPOILER]</blockquote>

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