So, I rolled 5 18s

[Particle_Man]

I would use the "high stat" character to try out some of the weak races and classes (and especially weak race/class combos) that I otherwise would consider too weak to try.

 

[Coredump]

As a DM, I don't mind rolling at home.

As a DM, I don't mind players getting really high stats.

As a DM, I *do* mind a player making 100's of characters, and then picking the one 'randomly rolled' char with 5 18's.



OTOH, it could be fun to play a really smart friendly guy that wants to be a fighter.... IOW, put the 11 in the main stat of whatever class you choose.

 

[Erekose]

. . . SO I rolled his stats and they came up 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 11. Now the problem with this is, I was at home . . .

Well it is unlikely but not as unlikely as you might think - years ago I DMed a 1stE AD&D campaign where I had the players independently create their characters with me prior to play. One guy rolled six 18s (using the 4d6 ignore the lowest die method). He went on to play a human fighter.

There was no problem with this in the group - mind you he was renowned for rolling a large number of 20s (on my unbiased d20 die!) . . .

 

[Glyfair]

Well it is unlikely but not as unlikely as you might think - years ago I DMed a 1stE AD&D campaign where I had the players independently create their characters with me prior to play. One guy rolled six 18s (using the 4d6 ignore the lowest die method). He went on to play a human fighter.

This reminds me of the "perfect bridge deal" stories. This is when every player is dealt all the cards of a single suit. The odds are 2,235,197,406,895,366,368,301,559,999 to 1. Yet, almost every year during the height of bridge (the mid-20th century) there would be a newspaper story about that being dealt. That many bridge deals weren't dealt. In fact, I'm not sure it's possible that many have been dealt ever.

Analysis by the experts traces it to three things. The first is the obvious, lying. A hand comes close and they want a story so they report it as a perfect bridge deal (helped by the fact that newspapers would actually print these stories without any evidence beyond the players anecdotes).

The second is the imperfect shuffle. People rarely actually shuffle cards randomly. In fact, when computer dealt hands started taking hold there were a lot of complaints about "freaky hands." Analysis showed that the hands were within statistical expectations. The problem was that people were used to the imperfect shuffles which tended to lead to flat hands.

The last is also obvious, cheating. A good magician can duplicate this deal many ways very easily among non-experts in sleight of hand.

I think these examples here are very good possiblities for most stories of straight 18 rolls. Plus, there are always oddities. However, when things are that far out of line of expectations, there is probably something else going on.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

You ever notice how everyone always comes here with stories about how they rolled up incredibly unlikely high-stat combos for characters, but no one ever seems to comment on how they rolled up a character with all 4s and 5s? I haven't done the math, but I'd say an all 5 and less character is probably much more probably (using 4d6 drop lowest) as someone with 5 18s.

I'm sure KarinsDad could give the exact odds...

Yes, you rarely here stories about how a character with a array like
Str 14, Dex11 Con10, Int12, Wis8, Cha9 (probably one of the lowest legitmate rolls considereing the 3.x rules for rerolling bad stats) was rolled and actually played (with great joy).
Though, judging from my experience with the standard 25 point buy, I'd assume he was actually playable, but with notably weaknesses and problems.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I wouldn't allow it.

I need the stats rolled in my presence during the Character Generation session of a new campaign.

You say you "roll up new characters in your spare time", which can be cool as an exercise, but to imply that the one of them that comes out with five 18's is "fairly rolled" is nonsense.

What you've done is the equivalnet of rolling, rolling and re-rolling stats until you got a good set...the only difference is that you've done it over the course of weeks (your spare time) rather than while sitting at the table making characters.

Scrub it. Roll your stats in front of your DM. Do it one time (or however many he allows).

Don't just decide that after 6 months of rolling stats that you are going to keep the statistical anomaly as a fairly rolled set.

 

[Treebore]

Ok, so I like to make characters in my spare time. Usually I'm trying some crazy new build. N othing like that this time. I jsut wanted to play a straight fighter who used a katana and was going to test out how broken(or unbroken) Melee Weapon Mastery(PHBII) is if it stacks. SO I rolled his stats and they came up 18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 11. Now the problem with this is, I was at home. My group doesn't take scores under 10 anyway so usualy nobody cares when someone comes in with like two 17s and an 18 or something, but I got 54 freakin' 18s. On the other hand, my brother saw the whole thing and could vouch that it actually happened. The REAL problem, is even if he was allowed, should I use the 5 18s? Will the other players be jealous(or even secretly think me a cheater)? But, who are they to deny me to play a character whom the likes of will never be seen again?

I managed to put this in the TOTALLY wrong forum, can someone fix that?

I would allow it. We play the game to have fun, plus I have a high stat method that an 18 isn't uncommon. 5 18's I have never seen, but I also have a house rule that allows you to increase stats during "down time" up to racial maximums. So by 10th level, or so, the PC's start having 3 or more 18's anyways.

Plus I like to assume people are honest. If you are cheating you know it and you know how "false" your whole character experience will be. So if you were lying I would just assume you are telling the truth. Let the dishonesty, if any, nag at your own conscience.

Plus I am a competent enough DM your 18's wouldn't be over powering. Its all balance of power. If the PC's have 18's you can bet a fair number of the bad guys do too. Especially since they work out at the gym or study at the libraries as well.

So it all works out in my games.

 

[Ranes]

I wouldn't allow it. I wouldn't believe it. In fact, if a player rolled five 18s right in front of me, using my dice, I wouldn't allow it. (All right, I would, but only after I'd said, "No way," and seen the look on his face.)

 

[Ed_Laprade]

It depends on which system he used.

If he used 3D6, I do not believe him. The odds of that are 1 in 250+ billion. That's like winning the lottery 5000+ times.

If he used 4D6 drop lowest, I still do not believe him. The odds of that are 1 in 500+ million. That's like winning the lottery 10+ times.

If he used 5D6 drop lowest two, it starts coming down into the believable range, but I still do not believe him. The odds of that are 1 in 10+ million. That's like winning a small lottery.


I once had a friend who claimed that his DM rolled 7 20s on 7 consecutive D20s. I told him that he was either misremembering, or the die was loaded. The odds of doing that are 1 in 1,280,000,000. Now, I know that someone will claim that it COULD happen, but I still do not believe it happened in his game. That's like winning the lottery 25+ times. Nope. Never happened. Sorry.

You've never played Yahtzee, have you? The real odds are, of course, 50/50. Either it happens or it doesn't. You roll often enough and it'll happen eventually.

I'd allow it. But then, I've rolled a lot of poor stats for characters back in the day and am quite willing to let players have the stats they want. I usually don't even look when they roll, if we're using rolled stats.

 

[Glyfair]

I'd allow it. But then, I've rolled a lot of poor stats for characters back in the day and am quite willing to let players have the stats they want. I usually don't even look when they roll, if we're using rolled stats.

Then why roll? Why not let them assign stats?

I haven't used this in D&D yet (I have for other games). However, if my next group consists of mature players who I can trust not to abuse the option, I will likely try it.