D&D 5E Point buy vs roll

Which method fo you use for generating ability scores?

  • Point buy

  • Roll

  • Both

  • Other (please explain)


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I love the organic method, rolling dice in order and seeing what you end up with. Had surprising characters I wouldn't have otherwise built.

But really, for 5e in specific I enjoy the Faustian bargain of ASI vs. feat when both are singing a siren's song. I enjoy parties that are of similar highest ability scores, so some aren't getting nifty feats to play with while others are just getting math bonuses trying to catch up.
 

My preference is for rolling with the caveat that I want to do the rolling before I settle on a character concept.

I'd have a much higher opinion of point buy if it were callibrated to allow the full range of scores possible through rolling. The possibly of extremely good or genuinely bad scores honestly matters a lot more to me than the actual randomization or lack thereof.
 

I love the organic method, rolling dice in order and seeing what you end up with. Had surprising characters I wouldn't have otherwise built.

But really, for 5e in specific I enjoy the Faustian bargain of ASI vs. feat when both are singing a siren's song. I enjoy parties that are of similar highest ability scores, so some aren't getting nifty feats to play with while others are just getting math bonuses trying to catch up.
Yeah. These days I'll only allow rolled characters in 5e if the player is willing to take what the dice give them in the order they are rolled.
 



Never done anything other than rolling. No interest in non-random methods. If anything, more randomness in character generation would be strongly preferable.

Also @Lanefan , @Maxperson, @RoughCoronet0 , and anyone else who mostly rolls...

How often do you get a so-called "hopeless character"? Are none viewed that way, does the rolling system not have them occur, or is there a threshold to ditch them?

Thanks for any insight! It's been so long since I regularly rolled that I'm curious to hear.
 

Also @Lanefan and @Maxperson and anyone else who mostly rolls...

How often do you get a So-called "hopeless character"? Are none viewed that way, does the rolling system not have them occur, or is there a threshold to ditch them?

Thanks for any insight! It's been so long since I regularly rolled that I'm curious to hear.
Never really had to throw away a character: they aren't that different on average from point buy would probably give in my personal experience, but the randomness ia part of the ambiance of the game.

Point buy is honework: rolling is discovery.

My favorite chargen is Traveller, followed by DCC.
 
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Never really had to throw away a character: they aren't that different on average from point buy would probably give in my personal experience, but the randomness ia part of the ambiance of the game.

Point buy is honework: rolling is discovery.

My favorite chargen is Traveller, followed by DCC.

I remember having at least one with several low scores and no above average ones back in the day. But didn't remember how often.

What system do you use for rolling, and what would you consider bad?

Does a character dying during creation count as them being thrown away in Traveller? :)
 

I remember having at least one with several low scores and no above average ones back in the day. But didn't remember how often.

What system do you use for rolling, and what would you consider bad?

Does a character dying during creation count as them being thrown away in Traveller? :)
Heh, I prefer the Megatraveller or Mongoose Traveller rules, admittedly, but more for the options than for avoiding character death.

4d6 drop the lowest 6 times and assign, by the book. Also a bog fan of the life paths in Xanathar's and Wildemount.
 

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