Post by Ironnerd on Feb 14, 2022 20:10:54 GMT
The Rules Compendium lists three (and a half) ways to assign character ability scores.
1: roll 3d6 in order and assign the totals
It’s simple and it works, but sometimes you get an unplayable character, which sucks. And there are a lot of times when you just don’t get to be an elf.
2: Roll 3d6 eight times and keep the best six, assigning them however the player wishes.
More flexible, and more likely to come up with a character the player actually likes.
3: Roll 5d6 and add 60 to come up with a total number of ability points to assign however the players wishes.
Not bad… but not great. Giving the player choices always slows down session zero.
3 ½: Assign between 60 and 90 ability points to assign however the players wishes.
Same problem as 3, but without all the dice.
There is also the old standard of roll 4d6 and drop the lowest for each ability (not actually in the book).
It’s a good compromise, and it works, but players can still end up with unplayable characters.
I mainly use method 1. It’s really quick and easy. Sure, sometimes a player does not get what she wants in a character, and she’s slightly bummed. But, as I have explained many times, it’s very likely that the character will die soon and they can roll up a new one. Which means they take risks with the character that they would normally take and starts to have fun and keep him… or they just kill him off and make a new one. Either way, the players end up reasonably happy.
Of course, I have used other methods
» 1d6+10: Guarantees average-or-above characters
» All 18’s (just to show that it doesn’t matter when the DM is already pi**’d off at the players for whining about their weak characters).
What methods do ya’ll use?
1: roll 3d6 in order and assign the totals
It’s simple and it works, but sometimes you get an unplayable character, which sucks. And there are a lot of times when you just don’t get to be an elf.
2: Roll 3d6 eight times and keep the best six, assigning them however the player wishes.
More flexible, and more likely to come up with a character the player actually likes.
3: Roll 5d6 and add 60 to come up with a total number of ability points to assign however the players wishes.
Not bad… but not great. Giving the player choices always slows down session zero.
3 ½: Assign between 60 and 90 ability points to assign however the players wishes.
Same problem as 3, but without all the dice.
There is also the old standard of roll 4d6 and drop the lowest for each ability (not actually in the book).
It’s a good compromise, and it works, but players can still end up with unplayable characters.
I mainly use method 1. It’s really quick and easy. Sure, sometimes a player does not get what she wants in a character, and she’s slightly bummed. But, as I have explained many times, it’s very likely that the character will die soon and they can roll up a new one. Which means they take risks with the character that they would normally take and starts to have fun and keep him… or they just kill him off and make a new one. Either way, the players end up reasonably happy.
Of course, I have used other methods
» 1d6+10: Guarantees average-or-above characters
» All 18’s (just to show that it doesn’t matter when the DM is already pi**’d off at the players for whining about their weak characters).
What methods do ya’ll use?
