Stats for Heros

[diaglo]

Is that clear enough for you?

very basic, if not rudimentary statistics show that rolling 3d6 gives you an avg of 10.5



rolling 6 times does not change the avg for a 3d6 roll. you will get numbers above and below 10.5 thus an average....

you are correct in that they should not all be 10 or 11. but the avg is still not 12. . it is 10.5 no ifs, ands, or buts.

 

[Viktyr Gehrig]

you are correct in that they should not all be 10 or 11. but the avg is still not 12. . it is 10.5 no ifs, ands, or buts.

For 100% of the population, this is true.

Xeriar is talking about the upper 10% of the population, and his posts spell that out explicitly. For the upper 10% of the population, the scores will be higher than the average of the general population.

 

[diaglo]

For 100% of the population, this is true.

Xeriar is talking about the upper 10% of the population, and his posts spell that out explicitly. For the upper 10% of the population, the scores will be higher than the average of the general population.

true. but i was trying to get him to see what JC was talking about.

it was easier to start from the bottom and work up.

 

[diaglo]

besides the PHB method is 4d6 drop the lowest.

in that case the avg for 100% of the PC population is ~ 12.28

 

[Xeriar]

true. but i was trying to get him to see what JC was talking about.

it was easier to start from the bottom and work up.

The bottom of the barrel is in such a sorry state we don't like to talk about it

 

[ichabod]

very basic, if not rudimentary statistics show that rolling 3d6 gives you an avg of 10.5.

He's not talking about the average (mean), he's talking about the 90th percentile. I don't know if his numbers are right, but the average stat for a 90th percentile character is definitely greater than 10.5

 

[diaglo]

He's not talking about the average (mean), he's talking about the 90th percentile. I don't know if his numbers are right, but the average stat for a 90th percentile character is definitely greater than 10.5

we've covered that.

read Korimyr the Rat's post and my and Xeriar other posts.

 

[John Crichton]

Do you even understand what I'm saying?

roll 6 sets of 3d6, 1,000 times.

Group in order from highest total to lowest total.

Look at number 100

His or her average 3d6 score will be 12.

None of this is opinion, it's basic statistics. If you don't comprehend this, than hopefully I can spell it out for you in a different manner:

>- snip -<

Is that clear enough for you?

No need to explain or get offended. I'm simply looking in my game book at the average scores for a human. They are 10-11. I don't need a basic statistical analysis to see that.

Talking about the upper crust of the population of course means their attributes will be higher. I get that and I get the numbers.

My point before when mentioning the character classes was that it is not all about the numbers. There may be a million people with the potential to be heroes but the number of actual heroes (PC's in this case) is considerably smaller. Besides, the game is taylored for all types of stat ranges and should be. One should not have to have the equivalent of a high point buy to be a hero, IMO. And if we are talking about the core D&D game, when you strip a 20th level hero of all his magic items he's about as useful as a normal 1st level character so the game is less about individual stats at that point anyway.

To get away from the numbers just for a second - I guess all I am saying is that just because there are many other individuals that populate a game world with similar or better statistics doesn't diminish the PC's role as heroes.


To the original poster - alot depends on the DM and the group. There is a give and take to be considered when PC stats are concerned. A DM can scale a game to make a it fit any combination of characters and attributes using the rules system. So, the 25 pt party should, in theory, have just as much fun as the 35 pt one because the DM should be scaling the challenges to what the group wants and enjoys. It can be a ton of fun to play a character with all high (15+) stats and I've done it. However, over time that character became terribly stale and didn't jive well with the party because the stats were just too high and unbalancing (giving the DM problems when running encounters).

So I bring it back to the group aspect. Whatever works best for the group (DM + players = group).

 

[ichabod]

we've covered that.

read Korimyr the Rat's post and my and Xeriar other posts.

Sorry, they posted theirs while I was typing up mine.

 

[Xeriar]

Is there any reason to assume this ?


Chacal

Only in older editions of D&D.

Which may or may not hold weigh in 3rd edition depending on viewpoint, however the use of 4d6 and 25 point buy/standard array simulates the top 10% on 3d6. Rather funky, that.

Regardless, you do get a good sense of scale working the numbers out.