Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rolling for Stats
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Eugee" data-source="post: 6354174" data-attributes="member: 61170"><p>The last time we did rolled ability scores was in 3.5, and we ended up with an elf ranger with and 18, 16, 16, 13, 12, 12 starting stats (best I've ever seen) and a human mage with something like -2 net bonus. I offered to let him reroll his stats, but he wanted to play it.</p><p></p><p>No one had an issue with it, but it was hard to make an encounter that the ranger didn't just roll over without threatening to TPK the group. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f61b.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":P" title="Stick out tongue :P" data-smilie="7"data-shortname=":P" /></p><p></p><p>We did point buy after that, and then 4E point buy really turned character creation into it's own mini-game.</p><p></p><p>After 4E Essentials fell flat, we discovered 13th Age, when your three defenses are each based on the MEAN() value of three ability scores (AC = CON/DEX/WIS, Physical Defense = STR/CON/DEX, Mental Defense = INT/WIS/CHA). You're practically expected to have two 8's in your stats, and because you add your level to ability checks, you barely notice it. For example, a fighter with 16str, 14con, 8dex, 8int, 14wis, 14cha then puts +2 to STR and CON, and ends up with +3 starting AC, +4 starting PD, +3 starting MD, and +5 to STR attacks, +0 to DEX attacks.</p><p></p><p>Back in BECMI, the difference between a 13 and a 15 was... nothing, except an XP bonus for Prime Requisite. Your attributes weren't constantly climbing, either. In 13th Age you get to raise 1 point to 2 attributes 3 times in the life of the character, so if you're really gaming the optimization, you want an odd number for your main attack stat.</p><p></p><p>So for 5E, I'm not sure. Your attributes have much more impact than the old days, as a 16 is giving the same bonus that an 18 used to. Plus your attributes increase throughout the game, and the math has always been expecting +X to hit at a given level, especially in 4E. I don't know how critical that is in 5E. While I'm a little tired of seeing the same cookie-cutter stat-blocks on every character, at the same time there is some comfort in knowing that the players will start on level ground. *shrug*</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Eugee, post: 6354174, member: 61170"] The last time we did rolled ability scores was in 3.5, and we ended up with an elf ranger with and 18, 16, 16, 13, 12, 12 starting stats (best I've ever seen) and a human mage with something like -2 net bonus. I offered to let him reroll his stats, but he wanted to play it. No one had an issue with it, but it was hard to make an encounter that the ranger didn't just roll over without threatening to TPK the group. :P We did point buy after that, and then 4E point buy really turned character creation into it's own mini-game. After 4E Essentials fell flat, we discovered 13th Age, when your three defenses are each based on the MEAN() value of three ability scores (AC = CON/DEX/WIS, Physical Defense = STR/CON/DEX, Mental Defense = INT/WIS/CHA). You're practically expected to have two 8's in your stats, and because you add your level to ability checks, you barely notice it. For example, a fighter with 16str, 14con, 8dex, 8int, 14wis, 14cha then puts +2 to STR and CON, and ends up with +3 starting AC, +4 starting PD, +3 starting MD, and +5 to STR attacks, +0 to DEX attacks. Back in BECMI, the difference between a 13 and a 15 was... nothing, except an XP bonus for Prime Requisite. Your attributes weren't constantly climbing, either. In 13th Age you get to raise 1 point to 2 attributes 3 times in the life of the character, so if you're really gaming the optimization, you want an odd number for your main attack stat. So for 5E, I'm not sure. Your attributes have much more impact than the old days, as a 16 is giving the same bonus that an 18 used to. Plus your attributes increase throughout the game, and the math has always been expecting +X to hit at a given level, especially in 4E. I don't know how critical that is in 5E. While I'm a little tired of seeing the same cookie-cutter stat-blocks on every character, at the same time there is some comfort in knowing that the players will start on level ground. *shrug* [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Rolling for Stats
Top