D&D 5E Point Buy vs Rolling for Stats

[Lanefan]

Requiring a specific (extreme) stat in order to player your character isn't a concept. That's being a prima donna.

How is it being a prima donna to want to - for whatever reason - start with a 6?

Not all concepts can be realized at level 1. Sometimes you actually need to put in some work.

This, however, is also very true...no matter what char-gen system you're using.

 

[Tony Vargas]

How is it being a prima donna to want to - for whatever reason - start with a 6?

You're just being a more emo sort of prima donna, in that case.

If one Soviet supermarket has only bread and salt to sell, and another supermarket across the street sells bread, salt, and hundreds more items, then the second supermarket has an advantage over the first.

That advantage remains an objective truth.

Fine: Point buy that allows stats in the range of 3 to 18 has an objective advantage over point buy that sets limits of 8 and 15. It also has a corresponding disadvantage in that it lets powergamers go that much crazier.

There's a similar contrast between an array of 15,14,13,12,10,8 and an array of 18,15,13,9,7,3. Or, for that matter, 3d4+3 vs 3d6.

 

[Caliban]

I would hope and expect that the DM has at least the first adventure planned out before the roll-up session, if for no other reason than if roll-up goes quickly we can dive into adventuring the same night and not miss a beat.

You can expect it all you want. Doesn't happen, but sure go ahead and expect it.

You seem have a very specific set of expectations and preferences for how D&D is played. Not everyone plays the way you do. I certainly don't.

Which goes back to my point - it's all about opinions and preferences. Don't expect what works for you and your group to work for (or be enjoyable to) everyone else.

 

[Caliban]

How is it being a prima donna to want to - for whatever reason - start with a 6?

Yeah, because that is the extreme stat everyone goes for.

 

[Tony Vargas]

You seem have a very specific set of expectations and preferences for how D&D is played. Not everyone plays the way you do. I certainly don't.

No, but it's probably pretty close to some sort of all-time/global mode-average way to play. Because so many more people played so much more 1e AD&D in the 80s than any other sort.

 

[Yardiff]

Requiring a specific (extreme) stat in order to player your character isn't a concept. That's being a prima donna.

Not all concepts can be realized at level 1. Sometimes you actually need to put in some work.

This funny!! All PCs are prima donnas, face PCs more so then others.

 

[Caliban]

No, but it's probably pretty close to some sort of all-time/global mode-average way to play. Because so many more people played so much more 1e AD&D in the 80s than any other sort.

Hmm... I kinda doubt it. It's certainly not my experience. Probably the difference between people mainly playing in "organized play" environments and people mainly playing with stable groups in a home game.

 

[Oofta]

So, the concepts that go with those numbers are unavailable.

If one Soviet supermarket has only bread and salt to sell, and another supermarket across the street sells bread, salt, and hundreds more items, then the second supermarket has an advantage over the first.

That advantage remains an objective truth. The fact that some people might only want to buy bread and salt does not take that objective truth away, just because they have a subjective opinion re: the deliciousness of salted bread.

I don't think it's a disadvantage that I don't have the "option" of buying bread that is secretly loaded with arsenic at the store either.

I can't play all concepts with either rolling or point buy. With rolling I'm forced to play a concept based on the set of 6 numbers that random rolling gives me. Assuming standard 4d6 drop lowest I can't keep rolling until I come up with a concept that I want to play.

I should correct that: given an infinite number of characters I could play the nearly infinite number of concepts. Given an infinite number of monkeys, typewriters and bananas we could also generate the works of Shakespeare*.

Back in reality land I have to live in the real world where I play 1 character at a time, and unlike the grindhouse campaign Lanefan plays in (not that there's anything wrong with that), I'm probably going to play that character for a year or 2.

My limitation is set by 27 points, yours is limited to a 1 time roll of dice that results in 6 numbers that can't be modified. I'd rather have more flexibility thank you very much.

Which is, of course just my opinion and preference.

*and, coincidentally generate an infinite amount of monkey poo, which most people never think about.

 

[Lanefan]

You're just being a more emo sort of prima donna, in that case.

Fine: Point buy that allows stats in the range of 3 to 18 has an objective advantage over point buy that sets limits of 8 and 15. It also has a corresponding disadvantage in that it lets powergamers go that much crazier.

There's a similar contrast between an array of 15,14,13,12,10,8 and an array of 18,15,13,9,7,3. Or, for that matter, 3d4+3 vs 3d6.

Off-the-cuff idea for a variant system that might allow a bit more range but still end up kind of balanced...?

Start with 12-12-12-12-13-13 (total 74, average = 12.33, close to the 12.24 that 4d6x1 gives). Swap points on a one-for-one basis (the total must always come to 74) to generate your stats with the following provisos and limits:

- no two stats may rise by more than 8 combined points (thus if one goes up by 5 no other can rise by more than 3)
- no single stat may fall by more than 9
- each stat must be different than each other stat
- no more than one pair of stats may total 30 or more

Workable?

Lanefan

 

[Lanefan]

Hmm... I kinda doubt it. It's certainly not my experience. Probably the difference between people mainly playing in "organized play" environments and people mainly playing with stable groups in a home game.

Perhaps. I'm in the latter group, here.