Point buy vs. rolling

[Sir Osis of Liver]

I like the higher points for humans idea it definatly would be a cool way to even things out stat wise for humans, and would be a nice way to encourage players to go human in any campaign that focuses on humans over other races.

 

[Axiomatic Unicorn]

Point buy - S&P taught me the folly of that.

Could you please clarify that?

I never used S&P, so I don't knwo what you are refering to, but I have used point buy a lot and found no "folly" in it.

I am not saying you are wrong, I just honestly don't know what you mean.

 

[Zappo]

I always use point buy. I even assign fixed HP at every new level. I don't like the different power levels that randomness generates.

 

[orion winterfire]

im a roller. i have always hated point buy . . . more so as i have gained gaming experience. the peak had been 3e. there are just too many options out there, and i would take hours deciding on points. i just roll my stats, down the line, and use what i get to decide what i want to play. who would ever play a wizard with 14 int and 18 str with point buy??? random rolls also keep more options open as opposed to point buy (unless youre doing high point totals), like the character i had that ended up being a rogue/wizard/fighter/spellsword . . . if i hadnt rolled really well for her stats, she wouldnt have been viable, and she was a blast to play.
a player i dm'ed, usually a min/maxer power gamer ended up with a cleric with dex & cha 8, which never would have happened if he was using with point buy. that character ended up founding a religion and became an icon of the campaign world. (and that players favorite character)
generally, i just find points too artificial.
i have condidered using point buy when i dm, esp after reading this thread, but my players are so used to the *possibility* of great scores, they would insist on a lot of points. to many. i may play with the point & roll stuff youve been discussing here, though. that definitely has possibilities.

 

[Jax]

we vary... often use the following though


roll 4d6 take the top 3, reroll 1's (and 2's dending on the game)


Otherwise I prefer the point-buy method. Everyone stays fairly well the same. Yea someone could min-max it but they'd be hurting themselves badly in teh process.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

I always use point buy. I even assign fixed HP at every new level. I don't like the different power levels that randomness generates.

Wow. I couldn't play in a game like that.

 

[Deadguy]

Personally, I would always Point Buy if possible. There's little point in repeatedly re-rolling to get the character you want (and many DMs effectively handle it that way, though YEMV).

But for those who would be interested in a variation of the Hybrid system, the old Dragonquest RPG had a peculiar method. Basically you rolled on a table to see how many Points you got to spend on building your character. Sounds weird? Well, the additional element was that the maximum score you could buy was governed by the same die roll, and it was counterintuitive: the more points that you got to spend on building your character, the lower the maximum score you could assign!

The idea is that the truly exceptional person is very very focussed, and so has generally poor scores to compensate. At the other extreme you have the good all-rounder: no very high scores but no low or average scores either.

I'm not quite sure how you'd put it together, but if someone wants to try I could try and dig out the game (might take a whiles since it's in storage).

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I prefer point buy.

The downside is it really hurts paladins and monks because both are very stat intensive. A low level monk with point buy is nearly unplayable IMNSHO.

 

[The Cardinal]

point buy

 

[Psion]

I never used S&P, so I don't knwo what you are refering to, but I have used point buy a lot and found no "folly" in it.

I really had hoped not to get involved with it.

Referring to S&P, it was the first really point buy system for D&D and it showed me the ugly side of min/maxing. The characters seemed hopelessly distorted if the player was willing to specialize.

I rather prefer the idea of assigning your best stat instead of having "sacrificial stats".

And that's about all I am willing to say. If you like point buy, fine, have fun with it. I am not going to get in another flame war:
1) Today, in general.
2) On this topic, ever.