Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Technik4" data-source="post: 3449054" data-attributes="member: 7211">There is a divide between games that I've been a part of - Storytelling and Tactical Wargaming.On the Storytelling end you have DM's that let some characters start with items from their background, or get a skill bonus when they complete a quest. Some characters are below the wealth level, and some may be over it. No one started with the same points to buy their characters attributes, they randomly determined them. The party does not all stay the same level, go on the same quests, or even necessarily like each other. Leveling up is determined almost entirely by the DM, usually at the end of a plot sequence. The experience on the whole requires a lot more attention from individual players and a great deal of work from the DM.On the Tactical Wargaming end you have players that want to be entirely equivalent so no one starts with an unfair advantage. Treasure is always split, sometimes to the point of selling a powerful item to distribute gold to rebuy other items rather than let the character who would benefit from its use the most simply have it. Instead of bonuses assigned by DM fiat, players often try to use material from a new source (book, magazine, self-designed). Experience is usually by-the-book, according to CR/EL and the DMG, with some minor bonuses for roleplaying. Overall it requires less work from all involved and can be quite a bit of fun (the combat).The best games are somewhere in-between. I think the more Storytelling-ish your game is, the lower the stats (they are generally less important - actions not attributes win the day). The more Tactical Wargaming-ish your game is, the higher the stats (and the more important they are - against a bloodthirsty DM you need to try and eke out every +1 advantage you can).I've played in 36, 32, and 28 point buy games, but I really prefer random methods (with some control, though I wouldn't be averse to rolling-in-sequence as long as I knew in advance). Point buy takes some of the mystery away for me (even if I would roll somewhat equivalently). It just bothers me that there never seems to be odd numbers (except for some requirement, or banking on a boost at 4th level) when you could very well roll 6 odd numbers. Many of the fantasy novels and movies that people try to recreate with their games are based on heroes with wildly disparate abilities (levels). Look at R.A. Salvatore's Drizzt novels, the Conan movies, Lord of the Rings, Willow, etc etc. Maybe thats why I prefer rolling too <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /></blockquote>

Verification