D&D 4E Should Ability Scores in 4E Be Randomly Determined?

[Jefuri no Oni]

I think rolling stats can stay as a variant but it does not deserve to be the standard way of generating stats in the PhB as it currently is. That is one sacred cow that I would like to see turned into a juicy slab of sacred beef. The standard method of creating stats in the PhB ought to be the method that the play testers use to play test. Which as demonstrated by the iconic characters used to play test the game is clearly not rolled stats.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

I voted 'no' but what I really mean is that the default should be point buy, but the option to roll ability scores should still be there in the PHB and if not there then definitley in the DMG.

 

[Green Knight]

I'm for Point Buy for the most part, but there're a couple downsides to it. Namely that if you have a character concept outside of the norm, then it's harder to create such a character without an insane number of points than it is to roll for it, and hopefully, come out with good stats.

For instance, let's say I want to play a two-weapon fighting Paladin. To do that I need the Two-Weapon Fighting Feat. To get that, I need a Dex of 15. And a Dex of 15 costs 8 points. That leaves 17 points on a 25 Point Buy. Not a whole lot left when split between Str, Con, Wis, Cha (All must haves for a Paladin) and Int (Which I never take below 10, as the Paladin has few enough Skill Points as it is). So to get such a character, my statline would probably have to look as follows.

STR 12, DEX 15, CON 10, INT 10, WIS 12, CHA 13

He can fight with two weapons, sure, but otherwise he's a terrible Paladin. So in cases like that, I prefer to roll and hope for the best. But overall, though, I do prefer Point Buy, as not every character I come up with ventures that far off the beaten path.

However, it would be nice if a higher points amount was the norm. Say 32 points in place of 25, and 40 instead of 32. I much prefer the idea of higher statted and less magic item equipped PC's to lower statted PC's with magic items popping out of every orifice. I like the news, though, that PC's won't have to rely on magic items as much. Personally, I've always favored characters who were individually tough, and could hack it in a world even if they didn't have magic items. One of the good sides of the Midnight campaign setting. A character's heroic because of who he is, not because of all the magic items he's carrying.

 

[Lanefan]

Roll the stats.

And, to make the 3-18 more meaningful, go back to a mechanic of rolling *under* a stat on d20 to see if you succeed at something (this assumes the 3e stat boosters in general Go Away and thus having a stat of 19 or 20 becomes really significant again). It's so simple.

Lanefan

 

[WarlockLord]

I like point buy. Dice rolling always results in one character having more stats than the other, leading to fairness complaints, anger (nope. Can't effectively play a fighter with these weak stats), etc.

We always use point buy.

 

[thundershot]

Wow. This poll didn't turn out like I thought. I figured the dice rollers would win straight out, but they're almost doubled by the fairness.. I voted to make everything even, by the way.



Chris

 

[Thurbane]

I went for option 4, as there was no option to reflect my answer - just as in 3E, there should be an option for both rolling and point buy...

 

[JoeGKushner]

Point Buy default in the PHB with Dice Variants in the DMG.

Uh... the ditto post?

If D&D, by default can't arrange for point buy system, let's chuck out the whole idea of balance.

No point in house ruling dozens of solutions for it. (Well, we roll 5d6... no, we use the 1st ed Unearthed Arcana dice rolling system.... we start at 10 and roll 1d8 with rerolls below 2!)

Cut the nonsense.

 

[TwinBahamut]

Honestly, I have no particular problem with 3-18 ability scores, but the ability damage argument in their defense is a bit weak. After all, it is not certain that we will even see ability score damage in 4E. If you ask me, ability score damage, which by necessity requires temporary and very sudden recalculation of an entire character sheet, and forces all characters to have a high Con stat, is one of the problematic mechanics of D&D. The game would probably be simpler to run if ability scores were never buffed or damaged in the middle of battle. Poison and disease could affect other things (causing HP damage or fatigue), and buffs could just apply directly to damage, AC, or attacks. I would prefer it that way, at least.

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Yes, they should be random. AND there should be other options for those who don't like random. Unless the system is redesigned such that it ONLY works with one particular means of character generation don't presume to DENY other people their preferences.