Stats, PC's and the effect on a Campaign

[Bauglir]

There's a guy I play with who's the sole reason I'm thinking about suggesting we move to point buy (we use 4d6 drop lowest & assign)

His current character is a human cleric:

Str 18
Dex 14
Con 18
Int 14
Wis 18
Cha 16

And these stats are not unusual for him; I've never seen anyone so lucky with dice rolls. One time in a different game he was carrying a vorpal greatsword. For an entire session he didn't roll a single attack that wasn't a critical (and no he isn't cheating, we watch him roll)

 

[Kae'Yoss]

(and no he isn't cheating, we watch him roll)

Checked his dice?

 

[Bauglir]

He's using mine!

 

[Darklone]

I had a guy in my group too who once rolled 13 natural 20s in a row. With different dice.

The trick is how he rolls. AFAIK, he practiced several years for it. But well... we liked him to roll good.

That char had once a properly rolled char with 4 18s too. That one I didn't allow.

 

[Particle_Man]

Maybe use a point-buy system, but if two players have the same stat in any stat, then they have to roll-off, with the loser(s) dropping their stat by one (and not getting any points in change!). If you are really sadistic, you could cause any new ties causes by roll-offs, as well as multiple losers on a three-way tie, to have to roll-off again to determine the new "holder of the stat"

This would allow characters to shine in one or two areas, but prevents too much min/maxing (8's have a chance of becoming 7's, 18's might become 17's, etc.). In fact, it might cause some (gasp!) cooperation between players, if they are smart. And suddenly the odd-numbered stats don't look like as much of a waste.

Some points, some dice. Note: I have never tried this system. Let us know how it works if you use it.

 

[Kemrain]

I like a 30 point point buy. You get higher than average stats, but not terribly high. Most characters won't have more than 1 negative stat modifier, and even then, if they do it's because they have a really high stat. A 30 pointer lets you have 2 16's and still keep everything else in the 10-14 range. Rather heroic.

- Kemrain the Point-Bought

 

[Sir Whiskers]

Hackenslash, here are the percentages for stat rolls, given the method you've posted. This is before the player adds the bonus points. Looks like the average is 12.5. Hope this helps.

6 1.62%
7 2.93%
8 4.78%
9 7.02%
10 9.41%
11 11.42%
12 12.89%
13 13.27%
14 12.35%
15 10.11%
16 7.25%
17 4.17%
18 1.62%

BTW: If you want the spreadsheet that figures this, just let me know and I'll email it to you. I downloaded someone else's sheet and just did a quick modification to match your criteria. Using this sheet is an easy way to find out how the percentages change as you change your criteria.

 

[Skaros]

I think it depends a lot on your group.

I play with the same group of players in 2 campaigns (one I run, one another player runs).

In one, we use 32 point buy. In the other, they roll 4d6 7 times, rerolling 1's, and drop the lowest of the 7....or can just make up the stats they want as long as they aren't way out of line.

The group handles either situation well.

Those in the 32 point buy campaign don't min/max with the stats....not many (if any) stats below 10 are chosen, and if so it is for roleplay reasons.

In the higher stat campaign, there are plenty of high stats around, but the DM compensates for it well with his monster choices and builds.

Skaros

 

[Artoomis]

I really despise random stat generation. There is simply too much riding on it. Character design, character power relative to the rest of the group, etc. Not to mention some folks really do roll better or worse than others (truely - I've seen and proven it - they are well outside a normal deviation consistently). I don't know why this is so - I suspect some sort of unconscious dice manipulation.

I do like the method that Aaron proposed, or a variation on it. Make up a number of stats (numbers to be arranged in any order) and let the player roll to see which stats they get.

That way some randomness is preserved (if you must), but no one is really out of whack with the rest of the group.

 

[Savage Wombat]

I plan, in my next campaign, on trying a system I've heard another ENworlder describe, referred to as the "we're all adults here" method.

I'm going to let my players decide what stats they think their character should have. (Although anyone giving me a character sheet with four eighteens on it will be given the hairy eyeball.)

They will also be given the following caveats to prevent abuse:

1) The three characters with the lowest overall stats will start play higher level than the rest of the party;

2) The average (or possibly mode) stats will be used to generate NPCS and monsters. So the tougher you make yourself, the tougher that Shadow Troll Berserker is going to be.