What is the standard ability score set? Are most games playing too high?

[Emirikol]

A post from another thread got me thinking about my upcoming campaign and what "standard point buy" is for D&D. [it's 25]

Not 15 = "low powered campaign" 13, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 +1 bonus
Is it 25? EL's and "elite" NPC's are designed for this = 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8 = +5 bonus
Is it 28? That is what they use for Living Greyhawk = 16, 14, 14, 10, 10, 10 = +7 bonus
Is it 32? That is what is considered "high powered" right? 16, 16, 14, 10, 10, 10 = +8 bonus

The reason I ask is to determine how I will hand out buff items in the upcoming game. If you're using a 32 point system you could wait to hand out the items longer right?

jh
[edited to include standard arrays of ability scores)

 

[Doug McCrae]

DMG page 169.

 

[Crothian]

Ability scores don't mean as much as people think. And it is easy to make a useless character and a high powered character with the same point buy. Of course with 32 point buy one could wait longer to hand out buff items. One could also do that with 10 point buy.

I use a higher then standard stats for my PCs because that's what my group likes. We are making up new characters and one guy has what would be a 53 point buy character. But considering the 8 wisdom and 9 dexterity I'm really not that worried.

 

[Emirikol]

DMG page 169.

Thanks Doug. I'm at work and it doesn't come up on SRD. What's the answer?

jh

 

[Masquerade]

The standard array in my games is 18, 14, 13, 11, 10, 8.

 

[Keldryn]

Thanks Doug. I'm at work and it doesn't come up on SRD. What's the answer?

jh

Maybe the "elite array" that works out to a 25-point buy. Something like 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. I'm probably off on those numbers.

I remember a thread here a while back... at least I think it was here... demonstrating that the average character generated by the standard method of generating characters (4d6, drop the lowest) actually results in characters well above the "normal" 25-point buy. It was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 32-35 points, I think. Calculated into this average was the fact that characters without at least one score 13 or higher and a total modifier across all abilities of +1 or greater are discarded. (Or whatever the PHB says about minimum scores; I don't have my books at work)

Given that many DMs allow players to roll up several sets of scores and choose the one that they want, they might as well just go with a 35 point buy.

 

[Doug McCrae]

It was somewhere in the neighbourhood of 32-35 points, I think.

28.58

 

[Delta]

Thanks Doug. I'm at work and it doesn't come up on SRD. What's the answer?

Standard Point Buy: 25 points

Nonstandard Point Buy...
Low-powered campaign: 15
Challenging campaign: 22
Tougher campaign: 28
High-powered campaign: 32

 

[Vocenoctum]

Thanks Doug. I'm at work and it doesn't come up on SRD. What's the answer?

jh

25 is standard, I usually go 26 and have had no issues except whining players. They think anything below 30 is a severe handicap.

 

[Destil]

28.58

Amazing. I've never done the math, but I've been bouncing between 28-29 points in my game for a while.

Right now I'm at 28, but I use the Iron Hero's point costs, which reduces the acceleration in point cost a bit.

My only problem with this 'low' point buy is the horrid attribute requirements for some feats added in 3.5 (19+ dex for a feat you can get at 8th level otherwise?), but I look at this as a large flaw in the core rules revision rather than the standard point buy.