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General Tabletop Discussion
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
Whats your opinion on the Point Buy System
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<blockquote data-quote="Elder-Basilisk" data-source="post: 689612" data-attributes="member: 3146"><p><strong>Re: Hmm...</strong></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>More than a few. They're fewer and futher between than fighters but tend not to multiclass as much.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I think the difficulty of seeing character "templates" over and over again is exaggerated. The RttToEE game I played in until last September was 30 point buy. For the last session, a friend brought in a 6th level half-orc fighter/barbarian/ranger for the session (we'd recruited some help after getting our asses handed to us at the main gate--well actually we won the battle but had to hoof it before reinforcements arrived). </p><p></p><p>So, I thought I knew what to expect. Then his 18 strength monstrosity broke out a whirlwind attack. 13 int?!? Not something you see on half-orc fighter barbarians every day. But it worked. The nice thing about 3e is that you have so many options that, even if you have a really large player pool, limited point buy, and obviously optimal templates for certain character classes, you very rarely see the same character twice. At least that's been my experience in the various Living Campaigns.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>I'm afraid I haven't. The last game I ran, I was foolish and allowed 36 point buy which I think results in characters that are too powerful for their level. If I run another home game, what I plan on doing is either 25 point buy/Iconic Spread (to experiment with a "life is cheap" low-power, high death rate meat grinder game) or a hybrid point buy system allowing for ECL in the point buy--something like:</p><p>1. All characters must be ECL 0-ECL +2</p><p>2. The following point buys are available</p><p>Points-ECL</p><p>22 ECL-1</p><p>28 ECL-0</p><p>34 ECL+1</p><p>3. The standard races are available. . . plus</p><p>Aasmar ECL +1</p><p>Tiefling ECL +1</p><p>and a few other ECL races.</p><p></p><p>That way, characters can choose to have really good stats but be behind the other characters in level (they're the young and inexperienced but naturally skilled types) or be further behind the curve by having special heritage and good stats or have a special heritage without the normal ECL penalty by taking less points for stats.</p><p></p><p>In the end, I think I'd choose to do point buy over the 5d4 method you propose. Rolling takes too long, doesn't guarantee the availability of certain character concepts, and, while a reliable average is good, it can still result in lucky or unlucky rolls.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Elder-Basilisk, post: 689612, member: 3146"] [b]Re: Hmm...[/b] More than a few. They're fewer and futher between than fighters but tend not to multiclass as much. [b][/b] I think the difficulty of seeing character "templates" over and over again is exaggerated. The RttToEE game I played in until last September was 30 point buy. For the last session, a friend brought in a 6th level half-orc fighter/barbarian/ranger for the session (we'd recruited some help after getting our asses handed to us at the main gate--well actually we won the battle but had to hoof it before reinforcements arrived). So, I thought I knew what to expect. Then his 18 strength monstrosity broke out a whirlwind attack. 13 int?!? Not something you see on half-orc fighter barbarians every day. But it worked. The nice thing about 3e is that you have so many options that, even if you have a really large player pool, limited point buy, and obviously optimal templates for certain character classes, you very rarely see the same character twice. At least that's been my experience in the various Living Campaigns. [b][/B] I'm afraid I haven't. The last game I ran, I was foolish and allowed 36 point buy which I think results in characters that are too powerful for their level. If I run another home game, what I plan on doing is either 25 point buy/Iconic Spread (to experiment with a "life is cheap" low-power, high death rate meat grinder game) or a hybrid point buy system allowing for ECL in the point buy--something like: 1. All characters must be ECL 0-ECL +2 2. The following point buys are available Points-ECL 22 ECL-1 28 ECL-0 34 ECL+1 3. The standard races are available. . . plus Aasmar ECL +1 Tiefling ECL +1 and a few other ECL races. That way, characters can choose to have really good stats but be behind the other characters in level (they're the young and inexperienced but naturally skilled types) or be further behind the curve by having special heritage and good stats or have a special heritage without the normal ECL penalty by taking less points for stats. In the end, I think I'd choose to do point buy over the 5d4 method you propose. Rolling takes too long, doesn't guarantee the availability of certain character concepts, and, while a reliable average is good, it can still result in lucky or unlucky rolls. [/QUOTE]
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Whats your opinion on the Point Buy System
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