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Where does optimizing end and min-maxing begin? And is min-maxing a bad thing?
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<blockquote data-quote="Arial Black" data-source="post: 7077739" data-attributes="member: 6799649"><p>To give a more nuanced perspective....</p><p></p><p>The standard array does indeed avoid the heinous 16/16/16/8/8/8.</p><p></p><p>So you <em>can</em> min-max the standard array (by adding your two human +1 bonuses to the two odd numbers so that your stats are all even) and have 16/14/14/12/10/8, but that is certainly <em>less</em> min-maxed than is possible with point-buy.</p><p></p><p>So the standard array has its own mix of strengths and weaknesses, just like point-buy and rolling have their own packages of strengths and weaknesses. You may prefer the standard array 'package' over the packages of the other two. Personal choice and all that.</p><p></p><p>Standard array's strengths include fairness to all the players, limited min-maxing, able to create PCs in advance without having to wait to roll for stats in front of a DM, being certain to get the stats you need to play the class you want.</p><p></p><p>Standard array's weaknesses include lack of verisimilitude ('real' people aren't all equally blessed), lack of being able to fine-tune the stats to better reflect your concept, lack of the chance for the unpredictability of dice-rolling to inspire creativity, cookie-cutter characters, a more limited number of combinations than the other two methods.</p><p></p><p>You pays your money, you takes your choice.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arial Black, post: 7077739, member: 6799649"] To give a more nuanced perspective.... The standard array does indeed avoid the heinous 16/16/16/8/8/8. So you [i]can[/i] min-max the standard array (by adding your two human +1 bonuses to the two odd numbers so that your stats are all even) and have 16/14/14/12/10/8, but that is certainly [i]less[/i] min-maxed than is possible with point-buy. So the standard array has its own mix of strengths and weaknesses, just like point-buy and rolling have their own packages of strengths and weaknesses. You may prefer the standard array 'package' over the packages of the other two. Personal choice and all that. Standard array's strengths include fairness to all the players, limited min-maxing, able to create PCs in advance without having to wait to roll for stats in front of a DM, being certain to get the stats you need to play the class you want. Standard array's weaknesses include lack of verisimilitude ('real' people aren't all equally blessed), lack of being able to fine-tune the stats to better reflect your concept, lack of the chance for the unpredictability of dice-rolling to inspire creativity, cookie-cutter characters, a more limited number of combinations than the other two methods. You pays your money, you takes your choice. [/QUOTE]
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Where does optimizing end and min-maxing begin? And is min-maxing a bad thing?
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