Unreal....

[Buttercup]

This is why I hate rolling for stats. Point buy all the way, baby!

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Just another addition to my growing list of reasons why I'll never again DM a game or play a character that isn't Point buy.

 

[Cedric]

All I have to say is...Caterpillar to Butterfly! Go with and advance your concept as his ages.

Maybe he had older brothers who were stronger and more charismatic, which gave him something of an inferiority complex, which will takes months/years to work out as time goes by and he realizes he isn't the quiet, weakling he thought he is.

Just a thought...

Cedric

 

[ForceUser@Home]

Among the circle of DMs I play with, we're moving to something we heard on this board that we've labeled "organic point-buy." It's a hybrid of point-buy and rolling. Basically you roll 3d6 straight down. So you might end up with stats like:

13 STR
13 DEX
7 CON
8 INT
10 WIS
9 CHA

(Two 13s, I rolled well!)

Then you make a one-time straight swap. Let's say I want to be a wizard, so I'll swap like this:

8 STR
13 DEX
7 CON
13 INT
10 WIS
9 CHA

Then you add up the points and compare to the point-buy total you use in your campaign. For instance, we like 28-point characters in our campaigns, and we rolled a 12-point character:

8 STR (zero points)
13 DEX (+5 points)
7 CON (-1 point)
13 INT (+5 points)
10 WIS (+2 points)
9 CHA (+1 point)

total: 12-point character

The difference between 28 and 12 is 16, so I now have 16 points left over to distribute into the character. My final character looks like this:

8 STR
13 DEX
14 CON
16 INT
10 WIS
13 CHA

We like this method because it seems with standard 28 point-buy, all fighters have an 8 CHA, all wizards have an 8 STR, all clerics have a 10 DEX, etc. There's a very standard stat formula one follows when crafting a strictly point-buy character, and after having used it for almost a year, the pattern has emerged.

We initially liked point-buy because it allowed one to build the exact character they wanted without the utter randomness of rolling for stats. Once the DM has allowed you to roll more than once for a character's stats, the purpose has been defeated. And we want players to be happy with their characters and to be able to play the exact character they want. Organic point-buy allows this without allowing players to absolutely optimize their stats at first level. The resulting amount of variance is within acceptable limits for the player and the resulting stats satisfy the DM who doesn't want every single fighter in his game (or in our case, across three games) to have an 8 CHA.

In the rare event that players roll an exceptional character who adds up to more than 28 points (or your own point-buy limit), all characters always get at least 4 points to distribute, even if he's got godly stats. If he's godly anyway, 4 points won't make much of a difference to the DM, but the player will still have a small modicum of flexibility. Exceptional stats on 3d6 straight down is an extremely rare occurance, however.

That's out method. Best of both worlds.

 

[JoeGKushner]

eeewwwww!

Disagree with ya. Point Buy assures that all players start off at the same foundation. Of course it also stops cheating. Bad side is that most players know the point break and characters start to look 'optimized' after a while.

 

[Corinth]

What the hell???? NOW I get a ridiculous streak of luck right off the bat? I actually have to reroll the character now. What are the freaking odds? That's beyond random....

This is why you roll the stats first. Never decide upon the course of a build before you know what you have for raw materials.

 

[Ace]

After pretty much exclusively playing Aragorn/Legolas/Conan type alpha-male badasses, I decided to go against my standard character type and create a young, wiry, somewhat shy wizard on the path to becoming a Techsmith of Gond who lives a bit vicariously through the heroics of his constructs.

I wanted this guy to have a sweet Intelligence, maybe a good Dexterity, okay Wisdom and be average to slightly below average in everything else.

So here's what I roll using the standard 4d6 method:

15
16
16
17
17
17

What the hell???? NOW I get a ridiculous streak of luck right off the bat? I actually have to reroll the character now. What are the freaking odds? That's beyond random....

Thats a wow set of stats.

I think he would make a good-well anything.

I would make a very cheesed out charcter from those for the next hack and slash game you are in

As for your charcter concept why don't you just write down a set of stats and show them to your GM.

Some will let you get do this if you don't make abusive charcters.

FWIW I user neither point buy nor roll system. I just let the let the players do as they like with the caveat I can just say NO to munchkin attempt.

Its worked for me so far.

 

[Ace]

Another idea occured to me

EN STATS

using the powers I gained as I hit 400+ posts I declare that your characters stats are

Str-10
Int-17
Wis-12
DEx-12
Con -14
Cha-9

hope those work for ya

 

[Kai Lord]

Re: Re: Unreal....

This is why you roll the stats first. Never decide upon the course of a build before you know what you have for raw materials.

Nah. I never let the dice tell me what character concept I'm going to pour my heart into playing for possibly 20 levels or more. When I play D&D, I'm not just playing a game, I'm crafting a story. A good story needs a good protagonist that I'm both prepared and inspired to play. Generally speaking, said inspiration comes before the stats are rolled.

 

[ForceUser@Home]

Re: Re: Re: Unreal....

Nah. I never let the dice tell me what character concept I'm going to pour my heart into playing for possibly 20 levels or more. When I play D&D, I'm not just playing a game, I'm crafting a story. A good story needs a good protagonist that I'm both prepared and inspired to play. Generally speaking, said inspiration comes before the stats are rolled.

Yep, I agree. We craft stats that support our character concepts, not the other way around.