you drew the short end of the stick
- Thread starter Crothian
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the Jester
Legend
Isn't the whole point of PB character generation to make sure everyone starts out equal?
I have no problem playing a character whose stats are inferior to the rest of the party's if they are generated with dice; with PB it seems like a sharp stick in the eye to me.
I have no problem playing a character whose stats are inferior to the rest of the party's if they are generated with dice; with PB it seems like a sharp stick in the eye to me.
the Jester said:
I think that's the key. If the DM required me to play a significantly weaker character than everyone else, I'd demand a very good reason for this, and I can't imagine what such a good reason might be. If I didn't get a good reason, I'd conclude that such a capriciously anti-Orsal DM is not one I want to play with.
But if we all play by the same rules, and those rules result in some players playing stronger characters than others... why not? The challenge of a game isn't to wallow in the most personal resources possible, it's to make the most of whatever personal resources you have.
To an extent. But what if your DM asked everyone if they would rather play a 25 pt buy character or 16,15,14,13,12,11? With the 25 pt buy, you could conceivably start with a 17 or 18.
My whole point was that they would not be so radically different. Personally, I wouldn't mind giving it a try, especially for a short game, but with mild reservations if it were to be a campaign.
Of course, according to some, you can act more heroic with lower stats, so go figure.
Technik
Darkness said:
The whole sentence is:
"You are not being forced to, the campaign will be long and even if you guy dies any new character will be 25 point buy, and all characterswill be treated the same."
So even though you're not being forced to, if your guy dies any new ones will also be 25 points. Or something. It's easy to see why you snipped part of the sentence out of context, since the context makes very little sense.
A thing I'd like to point out is that point buy, while undoubtedly being the fairest method of character generation, is the least believable. There are many possible permutations, its true, but as I found one day trying to stat 5 of my closest buddies, some people need more, some need less. Now, don't get me wrong, I could certainly stat everyone to my satisfaction at whatever point buy level I wanted, but since the only way to 'know' if I got the stats 'right' was through comparison, I felt that certain people just 'needed' more stats than other people. Thats one thing die rolling has going for it, variable power levels.
I mean look at some fantasy fiction- rarely do you end up with adventuring parties with equally balanced characters. Usually there is the grizzled vet (or the amazing prodigy) who is better than everyone at one thing (usually combat, but could also be magic) and then there are some side-kicky gimmick characters who come and go, and then maybe a love interest who may or may not be nearly as powerful, etc. Very rarely do you get a party of equall characters - just look at the fellowship (oh no, I invoked the fellowship. I really should get to sleep).
I mean you have Gandalf who by all accounts is a demi-god, cloaked in the form of a man, a wizard no less who can cast spells and is full of useful knowledge about everything. Then you have the future king who has spent years and years in the wild and in battle honing himself to fight the dark agents that would threaten honest folk. Compare 2 such heroes to people like Merry and Pippin, 2 lively hobbits from decent bloodlines who want nothing more than food and pipeweed for the majority of the novels (and to save their friend, Frodo of course).
Naturally, there is certainly an experience, or level-difference, but (and maybe its just me) I feel that gandalf and aragorn should have higher stats. They are the guys that rolled an 18 and some strong stats that first night of character creation, Merry and Pippin rolled alright, but they aren't really comparable.
Now, I'm not trying to say that every D&D game should be composed of such fellowships, surely there would be roleplayers rioting in the streets. Nay, I'm saying that if you are playing with a pretty mature crowd who isn't there just to revel in combat and loot, perhaps they could accept one of their members being more powerful than the rest, the gandalf of the group. And, assuredly, if they could accept a Gandalf, they could accept a Pippin.
Who knows if that makes any sense? Not I. The bed beckons...
Technik
I mean look at some fantasy fiction- rarely do you end up with adventuring parties with equally balanced characters. Usually there is the grizzled vet (or the amazing prodigy) who is better than everyone at one thing (usually combat, but could also be magic) and then there are some side-kicky gimmick characters who come and go, and then maybe a love interest who may or may not be nearly as powerful, etc. Very rarely do you get a party of equall characters - just look at the fellowship (oh no, I invoked the fellowship. I really should get to sleep).
I mean you have Gandalf who by all accounts is a demi-god, cloaked in the form of a man, a wizard no less who can cast spells and is full of useful knowledge about everything. Then you have the future king who has spent years and years in the wild and in battle honing himself to fight the dark agents that would threaten honest folk. Compare 2 such heroes to people like Merry and Pippin, 2 lively hobbits from decent bloodlines who want nothing more than food and pipeweed for the majority of the novels (and to save their friend, Frodo of course).
Naturally, there is certainly an experience, or level-difference, but (and maybe its just me) I feel that gandalf and aragorn should have higher stats. They are the guys that rolled an 18 and some strong stats that first night of character creation, Merry and Pippin rolled alright, but they aren't really comparable.
Now, I'm not trying to say that every D&D game should be composed of such fellowships, surely there would be roleplayers rioting in the streets. Nay, I'm saying that if you are playing with a pretty mature crowd who isn't there just to revel in combat and loot, perhaps they could accept one of their members being more powerful than the rest, the gandalf of the group. And, assuredly, if they could accept a Gandalf, they could accept a Pippin.
Who knows if that makes any sense? Not I. The bed beckons...
Technik
Lasher Dragon
First Post
I voted "No, and I wouldn't want anyone else to, either."
I like fair games, I like everyone to start off on the same page with the same opportunities. I don't want anyone to feel like the DM is giving them the shaft, nor do I want any favoritism going on.
I like fair games, I like everyone to start off on the same page with the same opportunities. I don't want anyone to feel like the DM is giving them the shaft, nor do I want any favoritism going on.
Abraxas
Explorer
Been there, done that 
OK, so maybe not exactly, but close enough.
We never use point buy, always some form of rolling.
Many a time I've played in a game where effectively there was more than the difference between a 25 pt and 36 point character and I've been on both ends of that list. And no, there isn't a vast difference (IME) unless two players with vastly differing stats try to play the same character concept.
In fact, one campaign in particular my character was effectively 27 pts behind another character (if we would have used point buy to get our stats). My character survived to a comfortable 14th level, the other character never made it past 12th level.
OK, so maybe not exactly, but close enough.
We never use point buy, always some form of rolling.
Many a time I've played in a game where effectively there was more than the difference between a 25 pt and 36 point character and I've been on both ends of that list. And no, there isn't a vast difference (IME) unless two players with vastly differing stats try to play the same character concept.
In fact, one campaign in particular my character was effectively 27 pts behind another character (if we would have used point buy to get our stats). My character survived to a comfortable 14th level, the other character never made it past 12th level.
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