D&D 5E Random, balanced, fail proof 5E stat generation system

[thecasualoblivion]

I agree in two directions.

First: Constitution makes almost no difference unless it is negative or maxed.
Second: The contribution brought to survival by Constitution is cumulative. At level one, it's pretty meaningless.

Even a Barbarian Dwarf or a Variant Human Barbarian with Toughness and maximum Constitution is only going to have 19HP (1d12+5Con+2 toughness). That's a lot, but not enough to really secure a character against a few good hits. They're still very killable.

Most characters will be sitting somewhere in the 8-12 range of health, except for maybe that one really scrawny Wizard who has 6HP. Adding one or two hit points to any of those numbers, while it looks like a lot, is ostensibly meaningless. 5E has by far, the weakest purpose of Con that I've ever seen. It could be completely removed and it's appropriate checks assigned to almost any other score and noone would notice the difference.

A Rogue at level 1 will have 8hp with 10 Con and 10 hp with 14 Con, but at level 5 those numbers are 28 versus 38, and at level 10 those numbers are 53 versus 73. It adds up. That and everybody seems to say that Con is the most important of the 6 saves.

 

[bedir than]

A Rogue at level 1 will have 8hp with 10 Con and 10 hp with 14 Con, but at level 5 those numbers are 28 versus 38, and at level 10 those numbers are 53 versus 73. It adds up. That and everybody seems to say that Con is the most important of the 6 saves.

Most notably it powers Concentration. In certain survivalist campaigns it helps with Exhaustion checks. I still think Dex is more important

 

[Sunseeker]

A Rogue at level 1 will have 8hp with 10 Con and 10 hp with 14 Con, but at level 5 those numbers are 28 versus 38, and at level 10 those numbers are 53 versus 73. It adds up. That and everybody seems to say that Con is the most important of the 6 saves.

As I said, the benefit from Constitution is cumulative.

As for Concentration, that's another one of those "important at low levels, irrelevant at high levels" because the DC to break is the higher of 10, or how much damage you took. If your players aren't being hit for more than 18 damage in a hit, or at worst, more than 10 damage in a hit multiple times, then you're not even challenging them at higher levels and there's no point to even worry about concentration.

 

[thecasualoblivion]

As I said, the benefit from Constitution is cumulative.

That being said, the opportunity cost of raising Con later compared to buying it at level 1 is fairly high. Most people I would think build a character with the assumption that they'll be playing it over a certain period of time, and will look to the future when it comes to the Constitution stat.

 

[dmnqwk]

The most important aspect of creating these alternate stat generators is to ensure they aren't too difficult to use. My suggestion would be the following, which allows minor flexibility but still provides a vastly different range of power without making characters unplayable.

Roll 2d6 based on the number of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Scores you choose (Either 1 Primary, 4 Secondary, 1 Tertiary; or 2 Primary, 1 Secondary, 3 Tertiary)
2 - 4: Primary = 14, Secondary = 10, Tertiary = 8
5 - 6: Primary = 15, Secondary = 11, Tertiary = 9
7 - 9: Primary = 16, Secondary = 12, Tertiary = 10
10 - 11: Primary = 17, Secondary = 13, Tertiary = 11
12: Primary = 18, Secondary = 14, Tertiary = 12

Both methods can create characters with attribute bonuses ranging from +1 to +13 total bonus (Standard Point buy of 15/14/13/12/10/8 offers a +5 for comparison, but the odd numbers skew it down slightly) with every character being playable created with this method.

 

[Tony Vargas]

That's a lot of numbers, but the take-away I'm getting from this is that, in order to play an average character - the type of character who won't immediately die - everyone should have at least 14 in Constitution.

That can't be right.

A 14 CON won't do it, you're still pretty likely to immediately die. I think "won't' immediately die" might be too high a bar - if you want that, start at 3rd level, minimum.

 

[Sunseeker]

That being said, the opportunity cost of raising Con later compared to buying it at level 1 is fairly high. Most people I would think build a character with the assumption that they'll be playing it over a certain period of time, and will look to the future when it comes to the Constitution stat.

This brings up a rather odd experience, one of the more power-gamery types at my table simply doesn't think long term. He enjoys builds conceptually but almost always makes characters intended for short games which he inevitably gets bored with. It has been a weird experience.

 

[GlassJaw]

With that system, might as well just assign 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.

Everyone wins.

 

[Ancalagon]

5E has by far, the weakest purpose of Con that I've ever seen. It could be completely removed and it's appropriate checks assigned to almost any other score and noone would notice the difference.

I wonder if it's because your AC isn't expected to increase as much as you level up, so your HP is your main defense in 5e, making Con more important. Because of that less things were coupled with Con to avoid making it too important...

... but really Dex is the god stat.