Some new Character creation options - feedback?

[ThomasBJJ]

I'm working on a new campaign, and I want to tweak the character creation rules a little.

Normally, I like the PCs to start off at 1st level. For stats they can roll 3d6 six times and arrange the scores to thier abilities. If they are not satisfied with thier ONE chance of rolling 3d6 x 6, they can resort to a 32 point buy system using the values in the DMG.

This time, however, I want to do something like this:

Option #1: 34 point buy at DMG values.

Option #2: 32 point buy at DMG values, & 1 additional Feat.

Option #3: 30 point buy at DMG values, ECL +1 race (considered a 1st level character of thier class until they earn 3,000 exp)

Option #4: 28 point buy at DMG values, ECL +2 race (considered a 1st level character of thier class until they earn 6,000 exp)


I'm not sure the options are "balanced" though. Between option 1 & 2 is the difference of 2 point-buy points or an extra Feat. Is that even??? I'm not sure.

Maybe I should go:
#1 -34 point buy
#2 -31 point buy + Feat
#3 -28 point buy + ECL+1 race
#4 -26 point buy + ECL+2 race

Any suggestions to help balance this out?

 

[haiiro]

This is a biggie, but I'll take a shot at it.

Option #1: 34 point buy at DMG values.

Option #2: 32 point buy at DMG values, & 1 additional Feat.

In general, I'd take option #2 any day, but since the DMG point buy favors generalists (lots of decent attributes) over specialists (one or two very high attributes) my choice would probably depend to a certain extent on what I wanted to play. Overall, however, I think option #2 is more powerful.

If you change the options a bit -- make option #1 32 point buy, and option #2 28 point buy & 1 additional feat, for example -- I think that might help balance things out. Even then, I still think most folks would take option #2. (One tangent is nascence feats -- the ones you can only take at first level. They're generally a bit more powerful than regular feats, because you only get one shot at them; option #2 would change that balance slightly.)

Option #3: 30 point buy at DMG values, ECL +1 race (considered a 1st level character of thier class until they earn 3,000 exp)

Option #4: 28 point buy at DMG values, ECL +2 race (considered a 1st level character of thier class until they earn 6,000 exp)

These are both a bit odd, although it's definitely the logical approach if you want to allow ECL 1+ races in a campaign that starts at first level. Compared to a PC who took option one or two, however, the only plus to taking one of these options is being slightly too powerful at lower levels, and slightly underpowered thereafter -- assuming I'm understanding the options. If this is the case, I can't see choosing options three or four unless I was really itching to play an ECL +1 or +2 race.

IMC, I'd be leery of trying any of these options -- but if you do, I'm very curious to see how it turns out.

 

[IndyPendant]

I don't know if this is what you were interested in, but here's what I do with my campaigns: I think 3e is meant to be a 'larger than life' heroes-against-villains system, where, say, a 12th-level party could take on a small army of 0th level monsters and win hands down.

Therefor, I don't mince around with half measures. They're superheroes. I give my players 80 points to spend on attributes, bought on a 1-for-1 basis; 12 Cha costs 12 points, and 18 Str costs 18 points. The only limit is that 18 is max before adjustments for race etc, and 6 is min *after* adjustments.

I then compensate by boosting the enemies they fight somewhat, giving them brains and the ability to think, etc etc. So far, in the few campaigns I have run, it's worked out very well. They are still immensely challenged, and my players are very experienced and intelligent...: )