D&D 5E Point Buy vs Rolling for Stats

[Maxperson]

Oh, for sure. I wasn't pointing out popularity as a proof of superiority. Not at all. Just something I was actually a bit surprised about. If you had asked me which would poll higher, I just assumed that die rolling was more popular. To me, it's pretty much the default way of playing.

But, apparently, that's shifted over the years. Considerably.

Popularity isn't a part of that poll. No politics, please. Thanks.

 

[Hussar]

If more people do A than B, then A is more popular than B. That's pretty self evident isn't it?

I mean, I know that you're bummed that the polls don't show what you want them to show, but, jeez, let it go bud. Be proud of what you like and don't worry about it.

PS. Do not feed.

 

[Maxperson]

If more people do A than B, then A is more popular than B. That's pretty self evident isn't it?

Nope. For all you know, all of the people voting for point buy and arrays are forced into it by their DMs and hate it. No way to tell which is more popular without having a vote specifically for popularity.

Hope that ends it for now.

 

[Oofta]

Nope. For all you know, all of the people voting for point buy and arrays are forced into it by their DMs and hate it. No way to tell which is more popular without having a vote specifically for popularity.

Or, like in my case, people are forced to roll for ability scores and not given a choice. I see no reason to believe DMs are "forcing" point buy but not "forcing" rolling.

 

[Tony Vargas]

Oh, for sure. I wasn't pointing out popularity as a proof of superiority. Not at all. Just something I was actually a bit surprised about. If you had asked me which would poll higher, I just assumed that die rolling was more popular.

Oh, sure, tradition looms large in D&D, the few ways in which 5e deviates from the game at the height of the fad must carry a little extra weight....

 

[Tony Vargas]

Popularity isn't a part of that poll.

Popularity among DMs, then - it's not like the opinions of players matter....
;P

And, it's not like popularity proves anything... or that conformity to tradition does...

 

[Maxperson]

Or, like in my case, people are forced to roll for ability scores and not given a choice. I see no reason to believe DMs are "forcing" point buy but not "forcing" rolling.

Completely agreed. There's no way to tell the popularity of any of the choices from that poll.

 

[Oofta]

Completely agreed. There's no way to tell the popularity of any of the choices from that poll.

When this topic comes up again in 6-8 months we'll have to start a what do you prefer poll.

 

[Arial Black]

Or, like in my case, people are forced to roll for ability scores and not given a choice. I see no reason to believe DMs are "forcing" point buy but not "forcing" rolling.

Agreed. Are DMs dictators? Or do they rule with consent? Tables vary.

For me, when I DM I let the players roll their new hit die when they level up, and after seeing what they roll they can either keep that roll or take the set flat amount. I'm aware that it prevents low rolls but still allows high rolls; that's why I do it. Low hit points are a much bigger disadvantage than high hit points are an advantage.

When I read your story (wife rolling low, friend rolling high, no-one happy) my first thought was that if I was the DM I would have every player roll stats (using whatever method I favoured at that time in my gaming career), and after seeing what they rolled, each player had the option of discarding the whole rolled array and use point-buy instead. Like the hit point example, it allows high but guards against low, and I'm cool with that.

There could still be a discrepancy between arrays, but it is mitigated by the fact that you can (to use your words) 'have whatever you want' anyway, so everyone is happy. Or at least, less unhappy.

How would your story have differed if that DM had done the same: allow you to discard your rolls and use point-buy? Would you be happy that you can 'play whatever concept you want', or would you still have been unhappy that other players had better arrays than you because they rolled them?

Would you have rolled an array at all (knowing that you could switch those rolls for point-buy after rolling), or would you refuse to roll and just use point-buy?

 

[Oofta]

Agreed. Are DMs dictators? Or do they rule with consent? Tables vary.

For me, when I DM I let the players roll their new hit die when they level up, and after seeing what they roll they can either keep that roll or take the set flat amount. I'm aware that it prevents low rolls but still allows high rolls; that's why I do it. Low hit points are a much bigger disadvantage than high hit points are an advantage.

When I read your story (wife rolling low, friend rolling high, no-one happy) my first thought was that if I was the DM I would have every player roll stats (using whatever method I favoured at that time in my gaming career), and after seeing what they rolled, each player had the option of discarding the whole rolled array and use point-buy instead. Like the hit point example, it allows high but guards against low, and I'm cool with that.

There could still be a discrepancy between arrays, but it is mitigated by the fact that you can (to use your words) 'have whatever you want' anyway, so everyone is happy. Or at least, less unhappy.

How would your story have differed if that DM had done the same: allow you to discard your rolls and use point-buy? Would you be happy that you can 'play whatever concept you want', or would you still have been unhappy that other players had better arrays than you because they rolled them?

Would you have rolled an array at all (knowing that you could switch those rolls for point-buy after rolling), or would you refuse to roll and just use point-buy?

In my situation, we both asked if we could use point buy instead of rolling for our characters before anyone picked up dice. We would have been perfectly satisfied with that, even if everyone else rolled. Whether the person who rolled the PC with extreme stats would have had an issue in that case I can't say, I wouldn't have wanted to.

I'd be OK with the array (or some variant of arrays built on point buy) as well, but would prefer point buy. Not because I min/max (not normally anyway) but because I like a little more control. I'm a concept first, numbers second kind of person.

Slightly lower numbers are fine because it give me control over where I put the numbers; I'd rather not risk the extremes that rolling can give you (high or low).