D&D 5E Point Buy vs Rolling for Stats

[Flexor the Mighty!]

It's not an ego thing - I don't always have to be playing the biggest and baddest, though I've known players whose ego won't allow them to play anything less. I try to avoid these.

I have a player that uses RPG's as a power trip to make up for the face that his life is such a mess, so of course he gets emotional when things don't go his way, via dice or his own stupid decisions. Its funny he's the one that gets upset if his PC isn't stacked yet scoffs at point buy. But he'll want to roll up 43 sets of stats until he gets the one he wants. I'd tell him to take it elsewhere but he's my brother and I have to deal with him.

I think part of the reason I like rolling is I have never approached D&D with a story to tell and character in mind. I may think maybe a Fighter but then I roll my stats and just go from there. I never have a story since I'm not the type to do that, any story will come out through play at the table. And my story is more likely to be about a sucker who died from rot grubs than the guy who became king by his own hand so I don't spend a lot of time beforehand trying to make some arc.

 

[OB1]

I have a player that uses RPG's as a power trip to make up for the face that his life is such a mess, so of course he gets emotional when things don't go his way, via dice or his own stupid decisions. Its funny he's the one that gets upset if his PC isn't stacked yet scoffs at point buy. But he'll want to roll up 43 sets of stats until he gets the one he wants. I'd tell him to take it elsewhere but he's my brother and I have to deal with him.

Lawful - Control - Fantasy Genre

I think part of the reason I like rolling is I have never approached D&D with a story to tell and character in mind. I may think maybe a Fighter but then I roll my stats and just go from there. I never have a story since I'm not the type to do that, any story will come out through play at the table. And my story is more likely to be about a sucker who died from rot grubs than the guy who became king by his own hand so I don't spend a lot of time beforehand trying to make some arc.

Chaotic - Surprise - Fairy Tale Genre


Side note - What High School did you go to Flexor?

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Side note - What High School did you go to Flexor?

How "Saint Louis" a question that is!

 

[Caliban]

You keep assuming that I don't understand your viewpoint or have some problem with it. I completely understand where you are coming from and respect it.

You keep saying that.

Lawful - Freedom of Choice - But false choice, since the results are all uniform regardless of the initial choice

Chaotic - Resigned to whatever hand fate deals you - For your starting condition, but infinite variety afterwards

Ah yes, there it is. I can just feel the respect you have for my viewpoint.

 

[Oofta]

Lawful - Control - Fantasy Genre



Chaotic - Surprise - Fairy Tale Genre

Or simply:
- Prefers point buy
- Prefers rolling

No "One is better than the other because ... ", just different preferences.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

Man people are touchy on this subject.


What is the record for longest forum thread in Internet history?

 

[Caliban]

Man people are touchy on this subject.

Yeah, it's almost like the "debate" has dragged on so long that people showing up late to party with "new" insights are really just bring up old points that have already been discussed to death.

Talking down to us like they're a high school guidance counselor doesn't help either. "Now I totally understand where you are coming from and respect your viewpoint, but I'm still going to sort you into my own personal categories with generic labels so I can feel like I've accomplished something."

 

[OB1]

How "Saint Louis" a question that is!

Just because it's been 25 years since Lafayette High and 20 since moving to Los Angeles doesn't mean I've forgotten!

You keep saying that.

Ah yes, there it is. I can just feel the respect you have for my viewpoint.

Sorry, thought we were trading good natured jabs back and forth on our different views of Law and Chaos.

I don't have to agree with your viewpoint to respect it.

Or simply:
- Prefers point buy
- Prefers rolling

No "One is better than the other because ... ", just different preferences.

Why does equating Point Buy with Law/Fantasy and Rolling with Chaos/Fairy Tale mean that "one is better than the other"? I'm just trying to come up with a theory of why people may have different tastes and to see how that may relate to other areas of the game and the way people play. In turn, that will help me be a better DM, which is the reason I'm on these boards in the first place.

 

[Caliban]

Sorry, thought we were trading good natured jabs back and forth on our different views of Law and Chaos.

Nope. I was pointing out that trying to stick a label like "Lawful" on someone preferring point buy is meaningless.

Because traditionally, "Freedom of Choice" is a preference more commonly associated with Chaos than Law.

And "Accepting your fate" is traditionally a preference more commonly associated with Law than Chaos.

Putting a label on someone tells you more about the person assigning the label than the one they assigned it too.

 

[Hussar]

/snip
Lawful - Freedom of Choice - But false choice, since the results are all uniform regardless of the initial choice

Chaotic - Resigned to whatever hand fate deals you - For your starting condition, but infinite variety afterwards
/snip

How is it a false choice? No, the results are not uniform - after all the points/array are assigned to different stats. And, with point buy, there are 60 ish different iterations of those numbers (as was shown earlier in this thread). Even with standard array, there are hundreds of different combinations. True, that's less than what you'd have with random. Absolutely. And a whole lot less to be fair.

But, I'm not seeing how the results can be considered uniform.
[MENTION=996]Tony Vargas[/MENTION] - you commented earlier about D&D not doing the sidekick role very well. I'm not sure I agree. 5e has a number of "support" character options. Heck, my current Forge Priest is very much a support character. Clerics don't get many offensive spells in 5e and, as a Forge Priest, I get even less. This is very much a support character, focused on aiding other PC's and out of combat goodies.

Making an effective sidekick style character in D&D has never been terribly difficult. Bards and clerics lend themselves directly to the role, and you can do it with other classes as well.