Statisbitchian
Chapter: Season Four
I have survived my bout of the plague! I should be back on schedule now and I apologize for the brief interruption.
I’ve been in Brett’s situation before and it can pull at you. Do you go for average across the board or grab that set with the 18 and play to your one strength? You’d be shocked how folks fall on that choice.
If you’re curious, I use the following rules for players rolling character stats:
- 4d6 and remove the lowest number
- Roll that six times per set
- Roll two sets of six
- Then the player chooses one set (no mix-n-match)
This may seem a little convoluted but it gives players a slightly better chance to have starting scores that aren’t in the toilet. I think any of us who’ve gamed for a while have seen it happen. Call it a forgiving house rule.
COMMENTERS: Between Brett’s sets, which would you choose?
That’s a tough choice. I suppose it would depend on the class I’m playing as, and what my party has in terms of strengths. With no other information given, I think I’d pick the more well rounded stats.
I’d go for the set on the left, if I was rolling for D&DNext. Any other edition I’ve played, I’d roll up a back up character and go with the one on the right.
Would go average… Other has to many negative modifiers…
I typically use the 4d6 drop lowest method, but then allow my players the option of rerolling their lowest score as long as they keep the new one.
But honestly, I think I’ll try out your method next time.
We used to do 4d6, 6 times, drop the two low. Not 2 sets though. We’ve gone to point buy though, after the dice Jesus of the group rolled 5 18’s for one character….I’m not kidding.
I was trying to come up with a character to use that 18. I mean, an obese, autistic wizard? There’s not a ton of genuine roleplay potential. I’d probably play it safe, too.
I’d go for the set on the left, most DMs I’ve played with love to put PCs in situations that require skill checks and/or saving throws. The right set would be completely boned in those situations. Unless it was a barbarian needing to bust open a door, but that usually leads to very bad things imo.
Cry. I’d cry alot.
My group uses the same rolling scheme. However, we tend to view that, if your bonuses don’t break even, then you roll a new set.
We instituted this (illegal set) rule after a guy rolled two sets that had no higher then 8.
Assuming 3.5, I’d probably go with the right and play a class that can use that 18 well. It’s be a more interesting character in general, a kind of “idiot savant” if you will.
Assuming you take a race with a +2 to Con, you’ve still got at best (assuming you don’t put the 18 in Con) an 11 Con, and with the rest of that crap, even with a 20 Con you’re not lasting long.
With a good stat bonus, the average set will net you a playable, if not particularly badass, character. In that case I’d go Druid or Summoner (assuming Pathfinder), to get something to play secondary DPS/striker for the group.
if gestalts are allowed, go druid/summoner. your buddy will more than cover your ass and that of the party just fine with your Eidolon having the extra boosts from the druid’s Animal Companion buff
Knowing Brett… he’ll pull the right set just for the hell of it…
But I’d go left. After all, well-rounded people last longer than specialists in the groups I’ve had the pleasure of being in…
And then there’s those moments when I am dice Jesus…
Oh Torn the Ranger how I’ll miss you… (triple 18 and lowest score a 16)
Depending on edition, the character on the right might be impossible. It’s been too long for me to remember. In 1e, I believe that if you have a score of 5 or lower, you are forced into one of the four basic classes. Having two sets of stats below 6 would force you into two different classes, and I don’t believe that’s legal. I did the take “take the 18 and other crappy stats” once, back in the day. Created a very stupid, low Charisma fighter that lasted until about 3rd level before he croaked.
I’d go for the average set. The set with the 18 would promote too much “When all you have is a hammer” thinking.
Left/average set, definitely. A wizard would probably, in my mind, be the only class that could handle the right side, but even then, no…
We roll character stats by rolling 4D6, rerolling ones, dropping the lowest, and mix matching the numbers to whichever stat best suits our chosen class. (Which was nice when I rolled an 18 for my elven mage… Chose a gray elf, and got a +2 bonus to intelligence. I have one smart ass mage! <3)
If the 18 was Charisma, I’d pick a class that used Charisma (which one would depend on what stats the other numbers are) and try to talk my way out of anything I should need other stats for. Mostly for my own amusement. Otherwise, I’d go with the left.
That style of stats rolling is similar to what we always did back in the day. Knew one guy that went with the set of mediocre stats and called himself Atilay Atkins and played him as a super average man. Was funny.
I’d probably pick the set on the right, as well. You can get away with more being an average guy that being, say, a scrawny, wheezy, substandard wizard (depending on which stat that 18 landed on).
2 things for those rolling stats for 3.0/3.5: The rule is 4d6 and if you do not have a positive modifier then you reroll.
In 4.0 the DM can rule you need to reroll if you have less than +4 modifier total og higher than +8 due to those stats being too weak or too strong.
Go read the books 😀
I have! Several times! I’ll still do it my way.
House rules are the best! ^_^
You use the same method we used to use for ability scores. We’ve since swapped to point buy since a couple people kept ending up with nothing but 16-18s and also the dms would feel sad watching me roll sub 10s. I had 5 straight sets with nothing above a 9 one session….
But which set would depend on class. Wizard I would play the 18 and he’d be like an old time Steven Hawking. Otherwise I’d go average set.
we used to roll stats but playing pathfinder we almost always go points now… which i kinda hate. we used to roll 4d6 and drop the lowest, with the option to reroll a one once.
and actually using the stats on the right wouldn’t be too horrible with a dex or cha based character either… again you would have to pick a race with decent stat mods to balance it out a touch.
There’s just not enough Con to survive, even with a gnome and putting the 9 into Con that’s still only an 11 Con, and even a Gnome Sorcerer (assuming Pathfinder) with a 20 Cha won’t last long with an 11 Con.
I’d be sad, but I’d take the left one. I can play a character with one or two low numbers, but any more and I’d feel like the weak part of the party.
Shhh…. I’m trying to think…
Left column.
We use point buy now, it allows everyone to play what they wish.
We used the same way as you described but with a third set rolled when the stat modifier total for both sets didn’t break even, which oddly enough happened more than we’d expected… which led to the change point buy.
All things being equal I would have to take the well rounded stats as the rest of the scores around the 18 are pretty bad.
Well, with what I normally play…..the left is perfect fledgling fighter that could later multiclass to show growth (thats how I’ve always viewed the Fighter Class). The right is perfect for my old, grumpy dwarven wizard, Grumbjorn Runehammer (Dwarven Mr magoo basically, with many racial hatreds).
That’s a really generous character rolling method! Our usual way is roll 4d6, drop the lowest, 7 times and choose the best 6. Your way sounds like good insurance against a run of poor rolls.
It might be unpopular here, but I think I’d take the more average numbers. All those 4s and 5s would make the character pretty well useless.
Great house rule. I’m too nice. I let people roll 3 sets and choose one. I’m thinking of scaling it back to 2 like you do. I can only imagine the howls and gnashing of teeth that will happen when I announce it though.
The last time I had the players roll stats, we did 4d6, drop lowest. Roll two sets. Pick a set, arrange stats in the order you want for the char type you want to play. The second set of stats is for the character you will play AFTER your first one dies 😉
they asked for a good ol fashioned dungeon crawl….I’m giving them one…lots of traps included! BWA HA HA HA!
Thats scary, I use the same method for rolling stats in my games. It would depend on what kind of charachter I was playing to how I would arrange my stats. A fighter with a wisdom of 18 and a Str of below average could be fun to RP….
Point buy, cause I’m not in the 80s. But if I had to choose, go with the right – more interesting role playing there. 🙂
We do 4d6 and drop the lowest die, SEVEN times and drop the lowest total. Arrange however you like.
When I first started back just before Advanced came out, it was roll 3d6 six times, SIWDConCh in that order, so I’ve had plenty of opportunity to play with substandard scores, and unless the DM is deliberately fudging rolls for you, most of the time they’re not so much “fun” as “a drag on the party that only active DM enforcement of alignment rules is keeping your other party members from ganking in the first convenient dark alley.”
2d6+6 with no rerolls
Well, as I normally play a mage, I’d take the one on the right. 18 intelligence, woot bonus spells, and for the love of the gods above and below, DON’T LET ME GET HIT.
We’ve had a number of different methods, but yours in the one we seem to use the most… 4d6, drop lowest number, arrange how you like. We’ve occasionally also included a “re-roll any 1’s” rule.
For a challenge, we occasionally roll (as above, but with no arranging… straight down the stat list) and then try to select a class those stats work with. It helps us to break the mold of “always caster”/”always melee” that we can sometimes fall into.
I always take the 18 instead of the even set. Mostly because having one extremely high stat and one really low stat is a lot of fun to play.
I had a sorcerer once with an 18 charisma and a 5 wisdom. Very friendly to everyone and he thought everyone in the world was his best friend. Such much fun to roleplay.
Yeah, but this isn’t one low stat, it’s three.
With rolls like that I would have melted those dice in to slag before I finished the 3rd set of rolls. Really… A FOUR?!?
I once had a detective character in Call of Cthulhu that had a Dexterity of 5. As part of my backstory, I wrote that he had a partner once… at least until he accidentally shot his partner in the foot.
Personally I’d go with the left set. If you add both sides up, the left one has 71 points and the right only has 49. I know you can’t move points around, but it still seems like the better set to me.
Play the right side, and keep the left side as a backup set for after you get killed. We still play 3d6 in-order, but we roll five sets, choose one as a PC and two as backup PCs.
I still roll 3d6 six times, take ’em in order, you’re done. And I’d play the stats on the right. All those low mods are an opportunity for a great fighter’s backstory. He lost some fingers (low dex), probably has a bum eye and he’s touchy about his appearance. He’s also strong enough to make you regret mocking him.
Do it, Brett. You’ve played a wizard and a thief, now go for the fighter. We get all the cool gear.
Well if I were Brett, and I was being malicious, I would take the stats on the right with the intent of killing off my character so I could roll a new one.
In the meantime, I would play a Wizard… and make him very old. He’d get -6 to all his physical stats, but +3 to all his Mental ones. So I’d chuck the lowest rolls into STR, DEX, and CON for a total score of 1 in each, then I’d have a 21 Int, a 12 Wis, and a 10 Cha. So he’d be a kick-ass spellcaster right up until he died! A win-win!
In 4e, he should definatley go for the average stats. The bonuses are a lot kinder. In 1st ed… yea gods! Most bonuses didn’t start till a 15 or 16 and unless you were a fighter there was no point in a higher strength or con.
Too bad it’s not D&D. If it was, that second set is bad enough to qualify for an automatic re-roll. Anyone would be a moron to take the second set though. It would make for an absolutely crap character.
Depends on the character. Rolled an abominable character once for Anima. Eight stats, d10 for each, rerolling three or less, and replacing your lowest score with a nine. I rolled 4 fours, 3 fives, and a six. Final totals: 3 fours, 3 fives, a six, and a nine. I named him FailBad the Terrible Warlock. One of the few times I rolled up a back up character.
He was also the first character I had live for an entire campaign. It was just unreal.
I’ve had that kind of luck before. Played a lvl 1 arena game where everyone made like 6 characters. I had a couple of decent concept characters, but the best matchup was a throwaway Paladin because I’d ran out of real characters.
I pissed off an LE Orc (not half-orc), so we had a pre-game match. Schooled him because he didn’t roll higher than a 4 for the entire match. Fought him a second time in the real match and almost repeated it.
While luck’s always a factor, I still would never use those stats.
However, if I did, I know what I’d make. I’d make my charisma junkie with no less than +16 to diplomacy at lvl 1, and a bluff check of +14.
Seriously? A D&D character with a 4, 5, 6, & 7? Using your system? Seems highly unlikely. And seems unplayable. Especially if that’s an Int score. Glass Cannon Wizard indeed.
If I really had to pick one, I’d go on the left. More out of the second side you’d kinda be roleplaying as Scarface without the Ventriloquist. He might look mildly threatening, but he’s really not all that useful.
I prefer point buy. Mostly because I usually come to the table with a character idea, rather than building one around the dice rolls. While that might be interesting for a session or two, I think my imagination would revolt against being pigeonholed for a full campaign.
Depends:
If playing a caster, take the 18 and the crap.
If playing a warrior, take the balanced average rolls.
The set on the left, one 18 is never worth 5 poop scores. My DM’s usually use your method but also an optional “Yahtzee” rule (roll 4 of the same number you can keep that total).
However, I am forced to use point buy after one time I rolled straight 24s; playing a gnome bard with a 22 STR gets silly, not least of which is the mental imagery.
This is why I almost always have my players use point buy.
And I’d go for the average set, too – with racial bonuses, you could still even play a decent spellcaster. Assuming straight down matching, something with a +2 Wisdom would give you a 15 there, which works for a cleric or druid. (I play Pathfinder, not sure on 4e.)
It wouldn’t work in 4E if only because it assumes at least a 16 in your primary stat (18 is better). Even with racial bumps both arrays would be unplayable in 4e.
It’s Brett. He takes the 18.
For me, ignoring for the moment that every game I play uses point-buy, it would depend on the estimated length of the campaign. For a one-shot or short arc, I would pick the character with the jacked-up stats, easy. One thing you do well and a bunch of flaws and failings gives me easy hooks into figuring out a fun way to play a character.
For an extended campaign, I would go with the one on the left, easy, as it gives you a more subtle and well-rounded character and you have time to explore a persona, figure out who they are and have the capacity to branch out into other specialties if you get bored with your initial direction.
Interesting, from what I recall don’t you get a reroll if you roll below a certain average normally? It seems like your ruleset would result in lower, not higher numbers, due to not allowing rerolls in situations like these.
For my part, while I no longer actively DM, when I did I tended towards schemes that resulted in artificially high results. I was particularly fond of granting scores past 18 if someone rolled more than 3 sixes. My last time I allowed 6d6 six times, drop lowest three. It worked for what I wanted, but I disliked how it produced no low stats. I intend to do something stranger next time, to ensure both low and high stats (take the numbers 4, 6, 8, 12, 14, 16. Roll six dice, assign where you want). I will note that as I run sandbox, and do not cut any slack for the players, this system is designed to produce extremely competent PCs, for equally dangerous challenges. I also offer optimization help for players who need it.
As far as your question of which I’d take as a player? In this case, the left. Although ordinarily I’d gleefully sell my other stats down the river, and play some kind of idiot savant or some such, I draw the line at only having one good stat. I need at least one for a primary stat and one for Con.
Oh, and for relevance sake: I don’t play 4E, 3.5 only. Although I should be playtesting D&D Next, I haven’t had time or a group for a year.
Would deffo go for the 2nd set. The character might only be good at one thing, but it’ll be so much easier (and more hilarious) to flavor the character in so many absurd ways!
Also, I use the exact same character stat roll system, as it usually gives the player a bigger chance to avoid the utter crap character and also demands a choice of the player to go for one or the other – which as a DM is a bucketload of fun, as players (just like Brett) fret at what to do:)
The set on the right is part of why my group doesn’t roll stats, instead we use the point-buy system which leaves everyone on a similar playing field and it’s up to you how much you suck or don’t in any given ability score, though it does remove the hilarity factor that rolling gives it also makes it so we can reverse engineer someone’s sheet at any given time.
Is Trevor wearing an ‘acting ensign’ Wesley shirt?
I’d take the first set… but my rolling method is a bit different, to reflect that a Player Character isn’t just some random slob from the farm or down the street… they’re someone that’s at least a bit “god/goddess touched”.
Roll 4d6, keep the top three, and re-roll 1’s and 2’s. This makes your lowest stat a 9, and leans a bit higher than the average. Also, you roll this six times… and decide if you want to keep that set. (you can place the numbers on any stat you want) If you decide to pass on that set… IT’S GONE FOREVER. So, either you sit there and roll forever, or eventually you just take a decent looking set. My personal formula for my own characters is to add up all 6 numbers. I prefer a total of 90 or better. That insures at least 15’s for average. Will I roll all day for a good set? Depends on my mood, and how set (no pun intended, lol) I am on certain stats. If I feel I need an 18 for a character, I roll until I get an 18 in a set of 6, PLUS the total of 90 or better… yes, it can take a while sometimes. Also, all stat rolls must be witnessed, preferably by the DM, but that’s me.