Stat Generation - your wierd and wacky ways

[dedicated]

I like the grid method, described here

 

[Psimancer]

This is what I call the BAR method (Base, Assigned, Random).

1) All stats have a base value of 6
2) +1d6 (rolled and assigned as desired)
3) +1d6 (rolled in stat order)

Players have some control, but there is just enough randomness to keep it interesting.

 

[Nyaricus]

This is what I call the BAR method (Base, Assigned, Random).

1) All stats have a base value of 6
2) +1d6 (rolled and assigned as desired)
3) +1d6 (rolled in stat order)

Players have some control, but there is just enough randomness to keep it interesting.

Thats so cool!!! WOW. So cool!! Where in the nice hells did you get that from?

 

[Thia Halmades]

Psi: Nice. I may have to borrow that. I also like the card method, but I would only use it a game that it thematically works for; either Ravenloft with the Tarrokka deck, or a Western flavored campaign. Tragically, the Ravenloft campaign was started about six months prior to this thread.

Nyaricus: Breathe, dude. Breathe.

 

[Li Shenron]

I possibly used a different method every time I started with new characters...

We rolled dice, used point-buy, and used fixed array.

There isn't really a way which is better than the others.

One way I am considering goes like this.

Make you stat bonuses come out to a certain, pre-assigned number. By that I mean your stats can be anything you want (up to a maximum of 18 and minimum of 3) but the bonus, when added together, add up to a certain number (about 4 or 5 might be a good number). Half of your stats are designated odd and half even as well. I hope that makes sense.

That sounds perfectly feasible to me. It's the same thing as point-buy but with a linear cost instead of geometrical cost. The upside is that it encourages characters with more than one very-high stat at the cost of low stats. The downside is that it also encourages others to have dump stats.

 

[Li Shenron]

Those who favour random statgen seem to think that if the party has two fighter types, one of whom is clearly superior stat-wise to the other, the weaker character's player is considered 'immature' if he can't 'suck it up' and enjoy the character.

That's not true. AFAIK, those who favour random stats do so mostly because it has an old-fashion traditional flavor attached to it, which is dear to them.

 

[ARandomGod]

Make you stat bonuses come out to a certain, pre-assigned number. By that I mean your stats can be anything you want (up to a maximum of 18 and minimum of 3) but the bonus, when added together, add up to a certain number (about 4 or 5 might be a good number). Half of your stats are designated odd and half even as well. I hope that makes sense.

I've played that one, and I like it (with varying amounts of odd stats allowed). I call it the "mod buy" method. The way I compare this to the "standard" point buy method is I figure out that the maximum bonus points of a certian point buy would be, and I call it roughly equal. So a 28 point buy would be roughly equal to a +8 mod buy (of course, how many odd scores you allow adjusts the point buy equivalency).

+4 mod buy would be about a 24 point buy ... three odd points makes it almost a 27 point buy, but not completely, since you're enforcing the odd scores there... they're not quite equal to fully adjustable points, I'd call it a 25 point buy for the loss of flexibility). I'd say a 5 mod buy with three odds would be roughly equal to a 28 point buy.

Another way I like is the "simple point buy". You buy stats up at a one for one basis no matter how high you buy it (with the standard 18 pre-racial adjustment limit). This is easier to compare to a point buy method, because it allows more flexibility in how you might or might not spend to buy up stats to an odd number.

Whenever I use either of these methods I usually start the characters off with a minimum score of 10 pre-racial modifier. I consider it a partial payment for the added flexibility... You can buy your scores up higher than with the "standard" (or as I call it, "hero's are punished") point buy method, but you have a higher minimum as well.

The mod buy used to be my favorite, but I've switched my favorite to the "simple" point buy method. In part because of it's added flexibility, and also in part because it is indeed much simpler. There's no table people have to refer to or memorize to see how much their points are 'worth' at a certain stat... and there's no messy explaining how modifier points relate to ability points (yes, I've occasionally had that problem).

Another method I don't use but I've seen and enjoyed... 4d6 drop the lowest six times... and roll up as many characters as you want. This, of course, has to be done in front of everyone, and you have to make each rolled character into a full PC playable character. You get to choose one as a PC< the rest go to the GM. The order the characters are rolled in is noted, as is how many characters are rolled total. The PC's are each assigned a "luck" score, which is based off how many characters the player rolled before deciding to stop. Low numbers, of course, being better.

 

[Thanee]

There isn't really a way which is better than the others.

I prefer methods, which are somewhat randomized, so they are not as boring and sterile as point buy, allow enough customization to grant freedom in character choice, even though a resulting stat array might be a little better suited for some concepts rather than others, and are balanced enough, so that no re-rolling is necessary.

To me, methods, which fulfill all those criteria, are definitely better than those who do not.

Bye
Thanee

 

[Nyaricus]

Nyaricus: Breathe, dude. Breathe.

Thia, you always manage to give me a laugh every other day. But that just kinda pissed me off. Remember that i am still a level 63 epic druid with a pet tarrasque - and those damn four-nostrilled gnomes and the half-orcs didn't fill him up!

 

[Roadkill101]

I've used several methods.

The most commmon being roll 4D6 reroll any 1's then drop the lowest score six times (seven times if using the Comeliness stat) and assign as desired. Or it's variant where 1's and 2's are rerolled before dropping the lowest result.

Also used the table in the original UA where the number of D6 per stat was class dependant (fighters used 9D6 for Str, 8D6 for Con, 7D6 for Dex and so on) but applying rerolling any 1's or 2's.

For games using percentiles, roll 1D% as many times as there are Stats +1, reading each roll to the characters advantage, drop the lowest roll and assign results as desired.

These methods tend to result in high stats, but my feelings are that the characters are adventurers and are therefore a cut above most people.