D&D 5E Rolled character stats higher than point buy?

[The Grassy Gnoll]

So I rolled a half Orc monk which was never going to be terribly min maxed anyway. I rolled fairly average.

But this is what I made of it:
Name: Eric
Race: Half-Orc
Class: Monk (will be Way of the Open Hand)
Background: Acolyte
Level: 1

10 STR (+0)
16 DEX (+3)
12 CON (+1)
10 INT (+0)
14 WIS (+2)
10 CHA (+0)
(Stats rolled 4d6 drop lowest: 8,10,10,11,14,16)
HP: 9
AC: 15

Quarterstaff +5, d8+3 / d10+3
Unarmed Attack +5, d4+3

Skills: Intimidation +2, Religion +4, Insight +4, Acrobatics +5, Stealth +5
Languages: Common, Orcish, Elvish, temple sign language

Reviled by his Orc clan, the Many Arrows, for not only being half-orc, but for being built skinny, wiry, and to them, weak, he was mocked from birth and named “elf orc”, or “erc”. Cast out into the winter snows at a young age, he was found by a Elven monk of the monastery of Ilmater, who took the infant Erc in and gave him a new home, training him in the religious rites of his new deity and the physical rites that these monks adhered to.
The monastery/temple was a place for silent contemplation, and so the monks were not permitted to speak when inside the walls, instead communicating in a complex and balletic form of sign language.
Erc was renamed Eric, and proved a capable student, learning the rites of Ilmater and the twin languages of Elven from his deliverer and sign as used only at the temple; though his half-orc nature caused him mental turmoil as the mark of Gruumsh was upon him.
This struggle was clear to his brothers and to his finder, now a senior brother and priest of the temple. Eric was summoned and challenged with showing the dedication needed to become one of the priesthood, but failed the tests of faith, the divine magic not coming to him.
The tests are an annual occurrence, and for three long years Eric trained and prayed and every year, the magic failed to imbue him.
The senior brother took him aside and charged him with going into the world and finding some peace, taking his faith and his physical skills and testing them against what they saw as his unfinished business with his erstwhile clan.
He was tasked with returning each year and each year to bring with him proof of his good deeds. And thus was born Eric, wearing the red wrist cords of his deity, on a quest to find his meaning in the world, and one day to find his tribe and come to peace or come to war with them; Ilmater would reveal the path he must take.
(Future plans: at level 4 take Magic Initiate feat, go Cleric and learn Light and Mending as cantrips, and Inflict Wounds as his spell. It will be a sign that the healing power of Ilmater, when channelled through Eric and the mark of Gruumsh, can heal objects but when used on living creatures can only inflict pain, not heal it; but the fact that the divine magic has shown itself to him reveals that Ilmater has plans for Eric yet, and he must endure...)

 

[Fleetwood C. DeVille]

I don't care what anyone says. My 1E male human fighter had an 18/00 strength rolled honestly.

For reals...

Trust me.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I don't care what anyone says. My 1E male human fighter had an 18/00 strength rolled honestly.

For reals...

Trust me.

In the mid 90s I actually, for realz, rolled an 18/00 strength AND rolled 00 for psionics. I never actually got around to playing the character though....

 

[thecasualoblivion]

I

This would be my system for semi-random 5E character generation:

1. Choose your class(must be chosen before rolling stats)
2. Put 15 in your the main stat(s) of your class(yes this means Paladins, Monks, and Rangers get 2), main stat for Fighter is Strength
3. Put 14/15 in Constitution, Fighter, Cleric, Barbarian, and Paladin get 15, all others get 14
4. If not your main stat, put 14/15 into dexterity or roll(your choice), Fighter, Cleric, Barbarian, Paladin get 14, all others 15. Monk, Rogue or Ranger CAN choose to roll.
5. Roll other stats 4d6 drop lowest IN ORDER(including Dex if you chose to roll it), treat any roll less than 8 as 8, treat any roll of 16-18 as a 16
6. You may swap your main stat(s) for any other stat
7. If you rolled Dex, roll 4d6 drop lowest. You may swap that result for any one stat. (This roll can go above 16)
8. You may swap your Constitution for any other stat as long as that stat is lower than your Con

This will result in higher stats overall, but establishes a floor and a ceiling. It's impossible to roll a sub-par character, and keeps the well rolled characters from being too much better.

Alternatively, if you wanted to roll before choosing a class:

1. Roll Str, Dex, Int, Wis, Cha in order, 4d6 drop lowest, treating any roll below 8 as 8 and any roll of 16-18 as 16
2. If none of these 5 rolls is higher than 14, replace your highest rolled stat with a 16(if there is a tie, either choose or randomly determine)
3. Reroll your 2nd lowest stat(determine randomly if tie), 4d6 drop lowest, and keep the new score if it is higher(this roll can go above 16)
4. Choose a class
5. Put 14/15 into Constitution, 15 if Barbarian, Cleric, Fighter or Paladin, otherwise 14
6. You may choose to replace your rolled Dexterity with 14/15. 14 if Barbarian, Cleric, Fighter, or Paladin, otherwise 15
7. If you did not replace your Dexterity with 14/15, roll 4d6 drop lowest and you trade any stat for that roll(this roll can go above 16)
8. If you are a Paladin, you can swap any one stat with either Str or Cha(you may only do this once)
9. You may trade your Constitution for any other stat

 

[lowkey13]

*Deleted by user*

 

[Satyrn]

Really, I support anything that might help my own group finally get into the swing of using Inspiration. We're currently struggling to get the players past the feeling that if they bring up whether or not something was worth inspiration that they are doing the undesirable behavior of begging for bennies, while I am also struggling to find a solution for me not always remembering every background detail of every character in all our campaigns that doesn't rely solely on my players speaking up about when they were trying to incorporate a detail meaningfully (so we can meet half-way on the matter). I'm struck by the idea of printing a sheet that lists their details in large enough print that I can reference it without struggling to read my scribble-scratch handwriting, but I keep forgetting to actually implement the idea and see how much it helps (but hey, now that I am reminded of it and not currently busy doing anything important, I'll get on that - thanks for the reminder, EnWorld).

I'm a little surprised that you haven't adopted [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION]'s practice of letting the players simply claim Inspiration without need of DM approval.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I grew up around a different brand of cheater gamer. Nobody would come with /00.

Instead, a player would always have between a /91 and a /99 (next highest bonus).* Always the same conversation.

"Wow, Paul, an 18/94 strength and a 17 charisma? Let me guess - a Paladin? You have some lucky dice there!"


*Because an /00 would be too obvious, but always getting in the /90s wouldn't attract attention. The first ten times.

LOL, yeah. We had a player whose fighter ALWAYS had an 18/70ish strength score. Always.

 

[FormerlyHemlock]

In the mid 90s I actually, for realz, rolled an 18/00 strength AND rolled 00 for psionics. I never actually got around to playing the character though....

He's probably better off having never seen play. At least that way he never got eaten by a grue at first level. What a tragedy that would be.

 

[jgsugden]

Some notes:

1.) As higher stats give a better chance to survive on a superficial level, you expect characters with lower stats to be more likely to die and then be rerolled, possibly resulting in a PC with higher scores - meaning that games that use rolled stats are more likely to end up with long term PCs that beat the 'average'.

2.) 5E is a substantially different game than prior editions with relation to the impact of high and low ability scores. A fighter with a low intelligence or wisdom in prior editions really just had good fodder for role playing. A very low intelligence or wisdom in this edition means that there are saving throws you do not want to fail that you may have a very bad chance to make. As such, this is a bigger issue in 5E than in prior editions.

3.) There are plenty of reasons that rolled stats might be enjoyable for role playing reasons. If you like them, I suggest the following system which balances in the joy of rolling for non-key ability scores, the stability of point buy for key ability scores, and limits potential abuses/excess benefits derived from high rolls:

Rolled Point Buy

1.) Choose any number of ability scores to be Primary Abilities for your character.

2.) Use the Point Buy system to determine your ability scores for your Primary Abilities. If you have one Primary Ability, you get 9 points (a guaranteed 15 stat). If you have two Primary Abilities, you get 14 points (Two 14s, or a 15 and a 13). Three Primary Abilities will gather you 18 points (15/14/10, 14/14/12, etc...). Four Primary Abilities is 20 points (15/15/10/8; 15/14/12/8). Five Primary Abilities is 22 points (15/15/12/8/8; 14/14/14/9/8; etc...) Six primary Abilities is 27 points (and is the same as your standard point buy system).

3.) Roll 4d6 and use the best 3 to determine each of your remaining ability scores (known as Non-Primary Abilities).

4.) When multiclassing, the character may not elect to multiclass into a class that has a prerequisite option that is a Non-Primary Ability Score unless the character can't qualify using that ability score. For example, If a character has Dexterity as a Primary Ability score (and a value in it of 13 or greater), Strength is a Non-Primary Ability Score for the character, and the character wishes to multiclass into fighter; the character may only multiclass into fighter if the Strength score is 12 or less. The character with a 12 or less Strength can qualify to multiclass into fighter based upon the Dexterity score and is not hampered by this restriction, but a character with a Strength of 13 or more is prevented from mutliclassing into Fighter by this restriction.

5.) The DM may elect to treat any Non-Primary Ability Score as a 13 at any time, regardless of the actual score. The DM should do this if the PC is receiving a significant benefit or burden from a very high or very low Non-Primary Ability Score.

 

[AaronOfBarbaria]

I'm a little surprised that you haven't adopted [MENTION=97077]iserith[/MENTION]'s practice of letting the players simply claim Inspiration without need of DM approval.

I've suggested that - the players shot it down for the same reason they don't feel comfortable saying "Because of [background detail] I'm going to..." or asking me if I think something they've just done in character is worth inspiration.

The closest we've gotten is that a player has asked after a session if a particular thing during the session was worth inspiration (which of course it was, but I had forgotten the particular trait of the character that made it so), and another player having quietly slipped me a note reading "Inspiration?" because they thought something another player had just done might be worth inspiration (again, it was, but I had forgotten the particular trait of the character that made it so).