[5E] Point buy, stat array, or rolls

Sommerjon · February 08, 2016, 10:55:41 PM

We use 30d6 arrange however you want.

S'mon · February 09, 2016, 02:53:16 AM

Quote from: Omega;877803Why? Does it bother you that players might have names?

Currently just the three of us. And the DM. Two other players I've mentioned in other threads are infrequent to the point I havent heard from one in months. The other had to bow out due to long term family crisis.

OK thanks. It just seems you mention their names in every post. Generally people don't refer to the names of players they play with unless they're likely to be known to the reader.

Edit: Like Christopher says, it comes across as odd. I wouldn't mention the names of my players/fellow players (esp female players) or GMs on a board unless they were also posting, in which case I'd probably use their board moniker not their real name.

mAcular Chaotic · February 09, 2016, 03:54:30 AM

I just had an idea for a good way to roll stats.

What if instead of 4d6 drop lowest, you do:

5d4, drop lowest.

I tried out the spread on anydice.com and it actually works pretty well. Most results are 10-14, so you avoid getting 18s and 7s everywhere.

Omega · February 09, 2016, 05:51:39 AM

Quote from: Christopher Brady;877806But it comes off as a little odd that you're willing to drop names. I'm assuming you have permission or they don't care enough to be told to a bunch of strangers from around the world, but it's still odd.

Sometimes, I wonder if we're expected to know them well enough to be on a named basis with them.

Quote from: S'mon;877849OK thanks. It just seems you mention their names in every post. Generally people don't refer to the names of players they play with unless they're likely to be known to the reader.

Edit: Like Christopher says, it comes across as odd. I wouldn't mention the names of my players/fellow players (esp female players) or GMs on a board unless they were also posting, in which case I'd probably use their board moniker not their real name.

I dont expect anyone to know the players I mention unless youve played with them too at some point.

I mention them by name to both identify who I am talking about in a situation and out of respect for the characters I've played with or GMed for. They also happen to be good examples of the variety in player types along with Daern, Nox and James from the group I DM for. And for the curious Daern likes point buy and the other two are fine with whatever.

As I mentioned in an older thread, one bit of bemusement for me is that Daern does not like random rolls. And yet rolled up a pretty good character. And currently Id swear his dice are magic as they have been rolling absurdly well every session. We all use dice towers.

Omega · February 09, 2016, 06:02:49 AM

Quote from: mAcular Chaotic;877863I just had an idea for a good way to roll stats.

What if instead of 4d6 drop lowest, you do:

5d4, drop lowest.

I tried out the spread on anydice.com and it actually works pretty well. Most results are 10-14, so you avoid getting 18s and 7s everywhere.

er... 4d4 (after dropping a d4) gives you a spread of 4 to 16? You can not roll a 17 or 18 with that method.

Checking AnyDice looks like the peak of the bell using a r5h4 via d4 is 11-12.

Here is the link and code.
http://anydice.com/program/22f5

output [highest 4 of 5d4]

The peak of standard r4h3 via d6 is 13

Omega · February 09, 2016, 06:07:44 AM

Quote from: Natty Bodak;877824I can easily recall that Kefra is a druid and Jan is a fighter (or, um ,ranger ?).

Ironically, I can't remember what Omega plays. I don't recall if those are people names or character names, and I guess I don't care.

1: Correct. Jan is currently a half-orc fighter. The halfling ranger got eaten by a giant frog.

2: Warlock in 5e. Magic User in BX & AD&D. (Not counting occasional mentions of the reincarnation retired bard.)

Batman · February 09, 2016, 06:27:19 AM

Basically what the DM wants, though I don't mind either way. When I DM, it depends on the edition and style. If I want more variety in my PCs, we roll 4d6, drop the lowest and sometimes in order.

mAcular Chaotic · February 09, 2016, 08:51:08 AM

Quote from: Omega;877889er... 4d4 (after dropping a d4) gives you a spread of 4 to 16? You can not roll a 17 or 18 with that method.

Checking AnyDice looks like the peak of the bell using a r5h4 via d4 is 11-12.

Here is the link and code.
http://anydice.com/program/22f5

output [highest 4 of 5d4]

The peak of standard r4h3 via d6 is 13

That's what I meant. It's more like point buy or stat array because those max out at 15, not 18. And dropping lowest means you won't get super low numbers except very rarely.

So you still get the randomness of rolling but a spread that's closer to the other methods.

Maybe you could add in that any number below 8 becomes 8 as well.

JoeNuttall · February 09, 2016, 09:50:47 AM

Quote from: Sommerjon;877828We use 30d6 arrange however you want.

I'll arrange them with the sixes on the top ;-)

Omega · February 09, 2016, 07:47:32 PM

Quote from: JoeNuttall;877916I'll arrange them with the sixes on the top ;-)

So do I.

Now that I have determined Strength... :eek:

Batman · February 10, 2016, 11:28:59 AM

Quote from: Skywalker;877752Array or point buy. I have one game in which we rolled and the person who rolled well chose a Monk and is reaping the rewards way too much.

Isn't that the reward for gambling on rolling the dice? Would there be feelings of leniency if the rolls were pretty poor?

Omega · February 10, 2016, 09:54:25 PM

Quote from: Batman;878184Isn't that the reward for gambling on rolling the dice? Would there be feelings of leniency if the rolls were pretty poor?

Sometimes players complaints against rolling boil down to. "Its ok if I take a chance and get good. But its not ok if someone else took a chance and got good." Rare will you see one of these paragons of gameplay complain when they rolled great and everyone else rolled poor.

Few players will overly complain about roll and arrange. Its roll in order that some baulk at. Others love it. The more control over the random you give a player the less likely they are to baulk.

And then some dont like point buy. Or array. And so on.

If you roll really poorly ask to roll again. Some will allow some wont.

Skywalker · February 10, 2016, 10:50:54 PM

Quote from: Batman;878184Isn't that the reward for gambling on rolling the dice? Would there be feelings of leniency if the rolls were pretty poor?

It was more of a case that the rolls were made first and that effected the class choice. Monk's benefit much more than other classes from high ability scores. So, not sure if there is a reward for gambling is relevant

Omega · February 10, 2016, 11:16:37 PM

That is kinda how it was in AD&D as well. You needed really high stats to qualify for some of the side classes. So those side classes had high stats.

As for the 5e Monk. DEX and WIS are the primarys. You can get by without STR as you can use DEX instead for combat. CON is useful. But CON is useful to everyone so not really an issue there. For some needing two stats to be more effective would be seen as a drawback.

And some of us just dont see high stats as a must have.

Christopher Brady · February 11, 2016, 12:32:35 AM

Quote from: Omega;878315That is kinda how it was in AD&D as well. You needed really high stats to qualify for some of the side classes. So those side classes had high stats.

As for the 5e Monk. DEX and WIS are the primarys. You can get by without STR as you can use DEX instead for combat. CON is useful. But CON is useful to everyone so not really an issue there. For some needing two stats to be more effective would be seen as a drawback.

And some of us just dont see high stats as a must have.

The Monk is the biggest victim of Attribute Deficiency Disorder, especially in 3e.

There were three stats you needed, as pointed out, Dex, Wis and Con. Which at level 1 is not easy to get, but somewhat doable. But as the game system relies on a scaling bonus system for attack and defense, the Monk class with its inability to benefit from a lot of the systems that actually gave the scaling system, namely magical items with stat boosts, it was often a sub-optimal choice to play.

They fixed it slightly with 3.5 but not enough to make it a viable combat class.

In 5e, it still has that same problem, but tries to fix it by giving it in game mechanics to help mitigate the fact that it's a less optimal melee fighter.