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Point buy or Dice?
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<blockquote data-quote="Pvt. Winslow" data-source="post: 6518847" data-attributes="member: 6779864"><p>Ah, now I see where you're coming from. Yes, for sure if you allow "buying down" on a stat in point buy in order to get more points, that can open a whole can of worms. I generally keep to only allowing an 8 in any stat <strong>after</strong> racials. This means no 8 in a stat, with a racial putting it down to 6. I also don't allow any stat above 18 <strong>after</strong> racials, which prevents characters with huge disparities in stats. These are my personal changes, so I realize they don't particularly have any impact on your point, which is a valid one.</p><p></p><p>I do wonder though, if 5E hasn't deviously come up with a balancing factor for such low stats. In the previous two editions, 3.X and 4E, there were only three saves (or defenses in 4E). In 5E, there are six saving throws, and although they don't all come up equally, they CAN in fact be important. For instance, if a player, using point buy, buys down their Intelligence or Charisma to 6, they are going to be in a WORLD of hurt if they encounter Illusions or certain Charisma saves.</p><p></p><p>Against illusions, which generally require an Intelligence (Investigation) check as an Action to overcome, a character with Intelligence 6 (-2) and no proficiency in Intelligence saves is going to really have a bad day if an enemy illusionist casts Phantasmal Force on him and makes it appear as though a solid cube of steel is surrounding him, or a barbed wire fence.</p><p></p><p>Basically, 5E actually has ways to make those incredibly low stats show up in play, which was harder to do in previous editions. And of course, a player would have no right to complain if you used said Illusions or Charisma saves on him, because he made the choice of playing such a lobsided character.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Pvt. Winslow, post: 6518847, member: 6779864"] Ah, now I see where you're coming from. Yes, for sure if you allow "buying down" on a stat in point buy in order to get more points, that can open a whole can of worms. I generally keep to only allowing an 8 in any stat [B]after[/B] racials. This means no 8 in a stat, with a racial putting it down to 6. I also don't allow any stat above 18 [B]after[/B] racials, which prevents characters with huge disparities in stats. These are my personal changes, so I realize they don't particularly have any impact on your point, which is a valid one. I do wonder though, if 5E hasn't deviously come up with a balancing factor for such low stats. In the previous two editions, 3.X and 4E, there were only three saves (or defenses in 4E). In 5E, there are six saving throws, and although they don't all come up equally, they CAN in fact be important. For instance, if a player, using point buy, buys down their Intelligence or Charisma to 6, they are going to be in a WORLD of hurt if they encounter Illusions or certain Charisma saves. Against illusions, which generally require an Intelligence (Investigation) check as an Action to overcome, a character with Intelligence 6 (-2) and no proficiency in Intelligence saves is going to really have a bad day if an enemy illusionist casts Phantasmal Force on him and makes it appear as though a solid cube of steel is surrounding him, or a barbed wire fence. Basically, 5E actually has ways to make those incredibly low stats show up in play, which was harder to do in previous editions. And of course, a player would have no right to complain if you used said Illusions or Charisma saves on him, because he made the choice of playing such a lobsided character. [/QUOTE]
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