Horwath
Legend
basically, you are then limiting players to play what they rolled up not what they want.
D&D 5E Why I Am Starting to Prefer 4d6 Drop the Lowest Over the Default Array.
- Thread starter Zardnaar
- Start date
basically, you are then limiting players to play what they rolled up not what they want.
Savage Wombat
Hero
Yes, that's what it means. Doesn't make it an invalid play style. Some people find it to be a boost to creativity.
jasper
Rotten DM
....All of the gish classes also look a lot better if you roll higher ability scores.....
Um Fish I know. Wish I know. Never heard of Gish. Pss OP some of us are not hip on the short hand lingo. What is a gish class?
edit to add. Nevermind the question and answer were given on page 2.
Um Fish I know. Wish I know. Never heard of Gish. Pss OP some of us are not hip on the short hand lingo. What is a gish class?
edit to add. Nevermind the question and answer were given on page 2.
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TwoSix
Everyone's literal second-favorite poster
If you don't want the dice to influence what choices people make in terms of characters, you need to use a very permissive dice rolling scheme. Otherwise, yes, the dice will constrain some options, which I believe is part of the attraction.
CydKnight
Explorer
For me I find that using standard array or point buy works better at my tables. The biggest reason being that when players roll their own, I often run into stat envy. Some simply will roll better than others even if only slightly. Even when rolls are made at the table in view of everyone, there often seems to always be someone that feels they are diminished or slighted because someone has better ability scores than they. This leads to animosity which leads to conflict between party members either during role-play or during reality side bars at the table. Often it is passive aggressive. Other times folks won't say anything outright and specific about it but you can tell by their body language and comments they are not happy because they believe that someone else at the table has a "better character".
Sure there are other reasons besides ability scores that might lead someone to believe their character is inferior to others but those for the most part can be controlled by the choices we make for character type, spells, feats, equipment, etc. No other major aspect of character creation leaves one feeling as helpless as the randomness of rolling for your ability scores. This is especially true when players already have their ideal character in mind which is very often the case. Because they didn't get to choose their scores, even if a limited choice, they are potentially let down by a perceived power deficiency that they could not control.
This is not the case for everyone. Some are perfectly fine with taking random scores and placing them wherever they feel makes an ideal character build. Maybe you play with a regular group which is fine doing it this way and perhaps even prefers it. If it works for that group you should definitely roll for your ASIs.
The cool thing is that there are choices for how this can be done so you can choose the one that works best for you and your group. If there were no choices and we all just accepted this was the way, would there be no interesting discussions such as this.
Sure there are other reasons besides ability scores that might lead someone to believe their character is inferior to others but those for the most part can be controlled by the choices we make for character type, spells, feats, equipment, etc. No other major aspect of character creation leaves one feeling as helpless as the randomness of rolling for your ability scores. This is especially true when players already have their ideal character in mind which is very often the case. Because they didn't get to choose their scores, even if a limited choice, they are potentially let down by a perceived power deficiency that they could not control.
This is not the case for everyone. Some are perfectly fine with taking random scores and placing them wherever they feel makes an ideal character build. Maybe you play with a regular group which is fine doing it this way and perhaps even prefers it. If it works for that group you should definitely roll for your ASIs.
The cool thing is that there are choices for how this can be done so you can choose the one that works best for you and your group. If there were no choices and we all just accepted this was the way, would there be no interesting discussions such as this.
dagger
Adventurer
The characters are balanced against each other, thats all that matters to the DM. Having everyone be strong, weak, or average is the point of why we do it this way. When you roll the normal way some can be weak and some can be strong.
We also only roll if EVERYONE rolls, if people want to point buy then everyone does point buy.
dagger
Adventurer
Thats one of the reason we do it the way I posted.
iserith
Magic Wordsmith
I always use standard array for my campaigns. I think I would do random ability score generation only when I want to play up some element of randomness or luck in the campaign's theme such that random generation would reinforce said theme. Like the setting is very superstitious and focused on fate, the party are all servants of the Goddess of Luck, or maybe use cards from the deck of many things to generate scores in a game like Madness at Gardmore Abbey.
I use a modified array of 16 14 13 12 10 8 for my games(basically a hold out from 4th ed.). I prefer it over rolling for stats. It gives a good stat and a weak stat and lets the players have a 16 in their primary stat even with races that dont fit the meta. This also works well when I dm for my younger players who easily can get jealous if someone has a godrolled pc. Sorry never going back to rolled stats. I know some peeps still prefer it, but not me.
TwoSix
Everyone's literal second-favorite poster
I give my players a choice between the following arrays, or they can roll.
1) Generous array: 16 16 14 13 11 9
2) Feast and famine array: 17 17 16 10 7 6
3) Destiny array: 14 14 13 12 10 9 + a boon to be negotiated with the DM. (This is for if you want a pet dragon, or to start with a magical sword that belongs to your family. Something that marks you with a special destiny.)
4) DMs whim array: 18 8 + 4 stats of the DM's choice + a boon/complication decided by the DM. (Basically, I'll give you an 18, but I get license to screw with you a bit. But nicely, since you did trust me enough to pick this array.
)
5) Fair dice roll method:
a) Roll 2d6+6 five times.
b) Sum up these 5 rolls, and subtract them from 77. This is your 6th score.
c) If your 6th score is under 6, subtract points from your highest score equal to the number required to make the 6th score a 6, and make the 6th score a 6.
d) If your 6th score is over 18, add points to your lowest score equal to the number required to make the 6th score an 18, and make the 6th score an 18.
1) Generous array: 16 16 14 13 11 9
2) Feast and famine array: 17 17 16 10 7 6
3) Destiny array: 14 14 13 12 10 9 + a boon to be negotiated with the DM. (This is for if you want a pet dragon, or to start with a magical sword that belongs to your family. Something that marks you with a special destiny.)
4) DMs whim array: 18 8 + 4 stats of the DM's choice + a boon/complication decided by the DM. (Basically, I'll give you an 18, but I get license to screw with you a bit. But nicely, since you did trust me enough to pick this array.
)5) Fair dice roll method:
a) Roll 2d6+6 five times.
b) Sum up these 5 rolls, and subtract them from 77. This is your 6th score.
c) If your 6th score is under 6, subtract points from your highest score equal to the number required to make the 6th score a 6, and make the 6th score a 6.
d) If your 6th score is over 18, add points to your lowest score equal to the number required to make the 6th score an 18, and make the 6th score an 18.
