Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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I been in campaigns that there were too many Op characters and have DM 1
i have no idea what you are talking about can you clarify t a bit. if its high stats just switch to point buy or standard array.
Same. Too many OP Player Characters.
Although really it was my fault as the DM by giving them my stupid homebrewed magic items too often.
I really need to start adding more cursed items...
Do people just not know about Non-standard Arrays anymore?
Example: If Standard Array is 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8. "Gritty Array:" is 13, 12, 11, 10, 8, and 8. Weaker stats for harder campaigns have been a pretty standard practice.
Maybe the practice was much more niche than i thought it was.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
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Most of the time when you hear about alternate stat generation systems they're more powerful than vanilla, not less, though I have seen 'hardcore' (3d6 per stat and they're rolled in order, not as pool that you can change)
3d6 down the line is how i learned the game back in 78, when i switched over to ad&d we used some alternative methods.
A common problem with players around my table, DM included, is that they take DDB's word for things. If it works on DDB they assume it's in the rules, if it isn't they don't read up to find out. "Gritty Array" isn't one of the DDB options so to many players it simply doesn't exist.
I remember reading and rereading the Original D&D books, then the hardbacks all the way through 5th edition. I don't think most do that anymore.
I think this is one of those "I forgot that I am older than dirt" moments.
Started playing in the 90's and have been connected to D&D communities and sub-communities for so long that I can't tell what the current playerbase does and doesn't know about.
Old Gnoll might be out of touch.
But yes, Rolling for stats can get you either Overpowered or weak AF, and Standard Array is the predictable middle ground. Point Buy is MinMaxer Paradise or can be used to make more Average Joe characters. (It is mostly minmaxers though)
Non-Standard Arrays Up or Down are DM table practices not in the rules, but common enough to have a name where the Stat array is adjusted to fit a play style.
A few of them had silly names Like "Crazy Eights" and I am not sure if people actually ran them.
Other methods are "Stat Capping" in which you say "A stat cannot exceed X at 1st level"
2D6 Rolls instead of 3D6.
"Earn your stats" which is making real life players do things like weight lifts or trivia to justify their stat placement (<- this method can also die in every fire)
Tweaked Pregens, where a pregenerated character is adjusted backstory and appearance wise until player is happy.
And finally, Negotiated. In which the DM says "This is busted, how about this instead?" and the player and DM talk out other arrangements.
The real problem is... a lot of these are kinda boring. Sometimes Letting your players be OP is fine as long as everyone is having fun. You can also make the monsters slightly stronger to keep them competitive with the powerful players, but that is only advised if everyone is over powered.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
Nah, minmaxers roll for stats and badger the DM for a reroll if it's bad. Point buy isn't all that significantly different from standard array in 2024 (17/14/14/12/10/8, which tends to be the final result of standard array, is a pretty decent array for most classes)
This is less about it not being a DDB option and more about it not being an official option in the 5e/5.5e rules. There are lots of common house rules that D&D Beyond doesn't include support for because its purpose is to be an implementation of the official rules.
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OP, please clarify what you're referring to:
Stat distribution methods?
Player characters(allegedly) outpacing the DM & the challenges they can throw at players?
What exactly are your referring to?
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Honestly, OP stats are more mythical than real in 5e, assuming it's still bounded by 20. Having +5 instead of +3 in your attack/DC stat is nice but not game-breaking, and stops being ahead of the curve by 8th level. Skills are such that a straight +5 to non-prof skills is just equivalent to someone with prof and a +3, and the latter will steadily pull ahead as the characters level. Save DCs are such that having less than strong ability score and prof mean you're still likely to fail a save more often than not. About the only place where it has a persistent effect is adding CON mod * level to HP.
Eh, high stats can be pretty impactful, particularly at lower levels or for classes with MAD issues, but it's true that the biggest factor in winding up with OP character is OP items, plus the game just not being all that well balanced to start with.
If the entire party has similar stats, the DM can balance the encounters towards whatever power level the PCs are at - but if there's one PC with stats higher than the others, that's when the problems occur. Anything strong enough to challenge the high stat PC, wipes out the others. And I disagree with Ace of Rogues, in 5e and 5.5e the difference between a +3 and +5 is huge. Keep in mind that the difference between the weakest magic weapons and the strongest is only a +2 difference. In older editions of the game a +2 or 3 difference was far less noticeable than in 5e, and 5e isn't really balanced for characters with 20 ability scores until the 8-12 level range. Allowing a character to have a 20 ability score before that is unbalancing, unless the entire group does AND the DM buffs the encounters as if the PCs were higher level than they are.
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Have played every version of the game since Basic (original Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
No one is more OP than the DM, so it’s actually pretty easy.
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It's what, a 10% difference in DPR? And in practice it's all or nothing, so you only see the difference if the die lands on one of the two spaces where the difference would actually apply. If this was some MMO generating dozens if not hundreds of rolls per combat you could see a consistent performance bump, but especially in tier 1 where most players are making one, maybe two attack rolls a turn, d20 scatter carries a lot more weight than 2 points of mod difference.
I'm not sure where the idea that within the scope of different attack mods one monster is notably more challenging comes from. Any monster with a non-fractional CR is a damage sponge against a single PC in the corresponding tier. They might get a few more hits in that others in the party against such a creature, or the dice might hate them and they'll keep whiffing throughout the encounter.
Also, again, the performance will correct sharply at level 4 and level 8 given that someone who hit 20 before then has already peaked. So yes, you might have someone slightly more effective in the tier where the party will typically either instantly cut through a handful of mobs or have people downed every second encounter- quite likely including the hypothetical "OP" player, given in tier 1 the CON mod to HP has the least impact relative to damage output numbers.
To look at an extreme case, for a dex-based two weapon fighter, the difference between 17 and 18 is 23%, and a point of AC which is typically around 10% improvement in durability.