Point Buy

[JoeGKushner]

32 point buy. We used to run 52, found that it was way out of line, went to 42. Two of my friends who GM still run that as they feel it provides an 'epic' style play but I prefer the 32 point buy.

 

[Desdichado]

What do various alternate methods average to relative to point buy, I wonder? That might be the answer to your question right there. I think I remember someone crunching the math and showing 4d6 drop the lowest is mathematically (more or less) equivalent to 32 point buy? Is that right?

Me, I use standard array and then let everyone have three stat increases wherever they want them at the beginning of the campaign. I think that's more or less equivalent to a 28 point buy. I haven't done the math, though. I don't remember enough statistics to do it, for that matter.

 

[dvvega]

The "standard" by the book is 25 <-- simple answer

The mathematical proof relies on a point of view. I was involved in the discussion regarding it and two seperate Statistics professors looked at the problem from 2 different angles. One agreed with the 25 point buy the other with the 30 point buy. So any range in that (splitting difference gives you 27/28) would be adequate for both camps I would say.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Typically, we use 40 points. But we also tend to do over-the-top, wacked-out-cinematic adventure parties that carve through armies of bad guys! I dare say that a lot of players would find us to be power-happy, slap-stick chiiiilldren, but we love it.

 

[Urbannen]

We used 35-point buy in the campaign in which we used point buy. Compared to the "rolled" stats of other groups I have played with in my area, 35-point buy characters are underpowered. I have found the "standard" array for 35-point buy characters to be 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10. I really wouldn't classify that as being "high-powered" or "epic." The "rolled" characters I have seen in the Kansas City area are closer to the 45-55 point buy range. The two other groups I have played with extensively that "rolled" their stats have found it perfectly normal for every PC to have at least one 18, one 17, and 12 being the lowest stat. And when I say normal, I mean "matter of course." I guess it's all a matter of taste, although that's too twinked out for me, personally.

Even if you honestly roll your 4d6-1, you will most likely get stats way above 25-point buy in my experience.

 

[S'mon]

Our Midnight campaign uses 32 pts, which seems to give moderately decent PCs, and seems to be the most common PB. In my high-powered campaign I currently use best of either 35 PB or 1d10+8 x6, arrange as desired.

 

[Derulbaskul]

IMC players use 42 points for their characters.

I use 25 points for "generic" NPCs, 32 points for named NPCs and 36 points for key NPCs (and the party will only encounter fewer than half-a-dozen of these over the course of a campaign spanning from 1st to Epic levels).