Stats at Character creation

[wargear]

Like everyone else here, I've tried a wide range of methods of generating stats for characters. straight 3d6, 4d6 discard one, 4d6 reroll 1s, best of 5d6, points buy, all 10s + 25 points...the list goes on.

For my current campaign I decided on a heroic spread of attributes, to be allocated as my players chose. 18, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14.

Any thoughts?

 

[accipiter]

I did a high point buy this campaign and most of the players ended up with a similar spread to what you're offering. The only unexpected (well, to me anyway) thing I've discovered is that it makes the characters quite a bit more powerful for their level, to the point where I'm regularly running encounters several ELs higher than normal just to give them a challenge. (A lot of that is probably my lack of skills as a DM, but I've had some of the players tell me the high stats are a factor.)

 

[Crazy Eights]

I'm playing in a game now where we had a high point buy system for stats, like 32 points or something. It seems really overpowering at lower levels, but honestly, once you reach 10th or so the extra stats don't seem nearly as important. Sure, they are nice, and it helps a lot at lower levels for survivability, but at higher levels the difference between 32pts and 25pts is fairly negligible. As always, YMMV.

~CE

 

[robberbaron]

Wow, that's generous.
IMC I use 76 points, on a 1-for-1 basis and I thought that was generous, though I agree that at higher level the extra few points doesn't make that much difference.

Historically, we generally used 4d6 drop lowest and the difference in characters produced was minimal, with an odd aberration high or low. In fact, should I re-start my campaign, I will go back to rolling.

 

[ValhallaGH]

One of my favorite games I ran used 1d8+10 for stat generation.

While yours is at least as powerful, it doesn't have the variation. That kind of makes me sad; I'd personally prefer to see either dice rolling or point buys, allowing people to have different base stats.

 

[Rhun]

For my current campaign I decided on a heroic spread of attributes, to be allocated as my players chose. 18, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14.

This is 61 point buy equivalent, which is pretty high. I think you'll find your PCs are probably able to handle encounters much more challenging than what their level would indicate. Just don't overcompensate for this, or you'll end up with a TPK...

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[der_kluge]

Mine is an array as well. I like that all the characters start with the same set. No one feels like they got the shaft that way.


15, 13, 12, 11, 10, 8

Then they can add 8 points wherever they want to (not to exceed 18). And then apply racial modifiers.

 

[GreatLemur]

For my current campaign I decided on a heroic spread of attributes, to be allocated as my players chose. 18, 17, 16, 16, 14, 14.

Oh, wow, that is huge.

I dunno; like it when characters have a bad stat or two. I've been playing and DMing with a 32 point spread, lately (which can work out to 16, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8). I also really dig the idea of a 38 point spread, so that characters could get 18, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8: They'd be incredibly good in one area, pretty decent at most things, but also below average in another area. I think that 8 can add some character, you know? As long as players don't just stick it into Charisma and forget about it, that is.

 

[Piratecat]

I like some bad stats as well, or at least the option for one. Some of my favorite characters were defined just as much by what they were bad at. In my current game I use a 32 point buy.

Here's a weird question: why are there 28 and 32 point buys, but no 30 point buy? Is there actually a reason not to average the difference between the two?

 

[wargear]

This is 61 point buy equivalent, which is pretty high. I think you'll find your PCs are probably able to handle encounters much more challenging than what their level would indicate. Just don't overcompensate for this, or you'll end up with a TPK...

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I very nearly had a TPK a couple of sessions ago with a group of 4 wraiths supported by a band of misc. skeletons and zombies...two down, one on 2 con, and the rest of the party down to 10% or less hit points. Curse their turn undead. lol.