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<blockquote data-quote="Al'Kelhar" data-source="post: 7251831" data-attributes="member: 7884">After reading the first 10 pages to get the gist of this conversation, I apologise if the following's been said somewhere else in the last 136 pages...The attractiveness of rolling vs. point buy (or standard array) for PCs stats is always going to be a personal choice for any gamer and gaming group.&nbsp; However, point buy has two key advantages over rolling for stats.&nbsp; These are certainty and equity.There is a fundamental principle of game design that randomness works against players and certainty works for players.&nbsp; This is particularly the case in the long run - as for a character planned to be played over an entire campaign.&nbsp; When you think about it, every part of the mechanical design of a character is about maximising the likelihood that the outcome of random dice rolls are to the character's advantage.&nbsp; Basically, the whole metagame is about decreasing randomness/increasing certainty.&nbsp; Point buy provides greater certainty to players, both at initial character generation, and through stat influence on most other dice rolls in the game, throughout a character's life.Point buy also achieves greater equity between characters (and players) than rolling for stats. (Note &quot;equity&quot; is about outcomes, not process.&nbsp; Every player rolling 3d6 for each stat, in order, is &quot;fair&quot; to the players, but the outcome is highly unlikely to be equitable as between the players without some further manipulation).Whether the increases in certainty and equity that arise from using point buy outweigh other aspects of what makes gaming enjoyable is, of course, up to the individual.Cheers, Al'Kelhar</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Al'Kelhar, post: 7251831, member: 7884"] After reading the first 10 pages to get the gist of this conversation, I apologise if the following's been said somewhere else in the last 136 pages... The attractiveness of rolling vs. point buy (or standard array) for PCs stats is always going to be a personal choice for any gamer and gaming group. However, point buy has two key advantages over rolling for stats. These are [B]certainty[/B] and [B]equity[/B]. There is a fundamental principle of game design that randomness works against players and certainty works for players. This is particularly the case in the long run - as for a character planned to be played over an entire campaign. When you think about it, every part of the mechanical design of a character is about maximising the likelihood that the outcome of random dice rolls are to the character's advantage. Basically, the whole metagame is about decreasing randomness/increasing certainty. Point buy provides greater certainty to players, both at initial character generation, and through stat influence on most other dice rolls in the game, throughout a character's life. Point buy also achieves greater equity between characters (and players) than rolling for stats. (Note "equity" is about outcomes, not process. Every player rolling 3d6 for each stat, in order, is "fair" to the players, but the outcome is highly unlikely to be equitable as between the players without some further manipulation). Whether the increases in certainty and equity that arise from using point buy outweigh other aspects of what makes gaming enjoyable is, of course, up to the individual. Cheers, Al'Kelhar [/QUOTE]

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