I just wanted to pick other's brains on having your players roll their character stats. Do you always just use standard array? Roll 4d6 keep the highest? reroll 1?
Recently I have been using a fairly unique style of rolling stats. I've been having them roll 20d6 drop two lowest and have a pool of 18 dice to assign 3 to each stat. The results have been surprisingly good and not over powered or anything. Seems to encourage a lot more thought from my players in how they design their character too. I wonder, does anyone else use this unique system?
Maybe your group of players aren't min-maxers, because having a pool of 18 dice to assign however you like could definitely be used to min-max a character.
We played with 4d6 and keep best 3 for a very long time.
But when switching to 5e we tried the standard array, and it has been a lot better for player harmony, knowing that all characters are based on the same level of ability scores as each other.
You are correct, my group likes a more RP heavy session so min maxing is rarely an issue, they do try to maximize their character is ways though which this roll system really favors. I can see the fear of min maxing being an issue. I don't mind as long as they Role play their weaknesses too. I fear powerful combos from features and feats more then an 18 in one or two stats. A plus 1 or 2 on damage and rolls isn't as strong as combining things like polearm master and sentinel.
Roll 4, keep best 3. If three characteristics or more end up at 10 or less, rerroll everything. That said, we are all fairly new to dnd, so another method might be better but so far nobody raised a stink over stats.
Your method sounds interesting, I would like to give it a try at some point. How often do you see characters with more then one stat at 18?
In my games I use the follow method: roll 4d6 drop the lowest do that 6 times. I allow the players to do that 3 times. so they end up with 3 groups of stats to choose from. they cant mix from one group to the next. I find this works very well to give players some agency in how their character ends up. do they want that 18, 16, 12,12, 7,5 or do they pick the 15, 15, 13, 13 ,13, 12. I find that with three groups of rolls there is usually a good mix. I try to be fair though and if they rolled three really low groups i will let them roll until they get a group with two 15s.
Your method sounds interesting, I would like to give it a try at some point. How often do you see characters with more then one stat at 18?
In my games I use the follow method: roll 4d6 drop the lowest do that 6 times. I allow the players to do that 3 times. so they end up with 3 groups of stats to choose from. they cant mix from one group to the next. I find this works very well to give players some agency in how their character ends up. do they want that 18, 16, 12,12, 7,5 or do they pick the 15, 15, 13, 13 ,13, 12. I find that with three groups of rolls there is usually a good mix. I try to be fair though and if they rolled three really low groups i will let them roll until they get a group with two 15s.
Surprisingly rare! Getting 6 or more 6s means a third or more of the dice were 6s. Out of the few dozen times we've used it so far we've only seen it once. We roll 20 dice so that if too many 1s are rolled a couple get dropped (Some people are really unlucky). My players have been giving me a very positive review on the new way we have been rolling dice. What we've been finding is that those with bad luck can still assign dice in a way to make their character feel strong.
I use Point-Buy and it has been pretty successful what surprised me the most has been my players had not focused on building min-max characters using this method.
For my current campaign I allowed my players to do whatever. All but one chose rolled stats (4d6 drop lowest), probably because I have a homebrew rule that allows players to reroll their entire stat block once if they don't like the result. (I also allow my players to choose fixed or rolled HP, and my homebrew rule is that if they roll lower than half the hit die value on level-up, they can round up to half. So if the cleric rolls a 2 on his d8, it counts as a 4.)
I want to switch to a modified point buy/standard array next campaign so that everyone is more or less on the same page ability-wise. Rolled stats can be pretty swingy.
I'm starting a campaign soon and I gave this option to my players:
You may roll if you like. 4D6DL - One set, choose which stats.
If you choose not to roll you may use Point Buy instead.
If you do choose to roll and are not happy with the result you may use Standard Array but not Point Buy.
This lets people roll stats and potentially get better (or worse) stats than possible with both Point Buy or Standard Array. For anyone that chooses not to roll they have the option of building their character's stats the way they want them to be (point buy has more flexibility than standard array). For those that do roll but decide not to take the rolled stats, Standard Array gives a decent offering of stats but has less flexibility than point buy so there is a little bit of risk/reward to rolling but without outright punishing a player that isn't happy with their results.
All 5 of my players chose to roll and kept their rolled stats. I'm kinda happy with their thoughts on it as I, myself, like the randomness of rolling but don't want anyone to feel "less good" than anyone else because of bad luck. I also find point buy and standard array get boring since almost every array of stats ends up looking very samey.
I’ve experimented with Point Buy, Rolling, and special arrays. Pure rolling was my least favorite, having year-long differences in character power based on a few rolls at character creation has never sat well with me. Point Buy was good, but sometimes I like more extreme spreads.
My favorite version was Special Arrays, where the characters could pick from any of the sets I picked, or Point Buy. This let people have normal Point Buy, but get the good parts of rolling (more extreme/dynamic stat lines, and ability to get flavor Feats without being behind on ASIs) without the luck-based disparity. If I remember correctly, the options were: (6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16), (8, 10, 12, 12, 14, 16), (10, 12, 12, 13, 14, 14), or Point Buy.
(I also allow my players to choose fixed or rolled HP, and my homebrew rule is that if they roll lower than half the hit die value on level-up, they can round up to half. So if the cleric rolls a 2 on his d8, it counts as a 4.)
We homebrew that if your roll is less than your CON modifier, you can use your CON modifier instead. Ensures that the tanks are tanky.
I also use point buy. It lets the players customize for their concept. They can have decent stats across the board or focus in one or two areas. Everyone knows that the process is fair and balanced, no one has a great character that outshines everyone else because they were lucky. Finally, point buy involves trade offs. You can't be good at everything, some stats will be weak and others stronger. This ties into the entire bounded accuracy idea that 5e seems to be based on.
Personally; I like leaning more generous with stats. Thus my usual roll system follows:
- Roll 4d6
- Re-roll any 1s
- Drop the lowest
- Repeat 6 times
- Assign as desired
Alternatively: I've also used adjusted point-buy and adjusted standard array. My rational being: if 10 represents "average person", and the average of the 4d6-drop-the-lowest method puts its average roll around 13-14; the "heroes" of D&D are already "exceptional people". The peasant with 8-12 across the board isn't the one chasing the goblins into their caves, they're the one rebuilding the town. But then: I personally don't really see the appeal of "hard mode make-believe" any more than I see the point of "cheating to win make-believe".
I just wanted to pick other's brains on having your players roll their character stats. Do you always just use standard array? Roll 4d6 keep the highest? reroll 1?
Recently I have been using a fairly unique style of rolling stats. I've been having them roll 20d6 drop two lowest and have a pool of 18 dice to assign 3 to each stat. The results have been surprisingly good and not over powered or anything. Seems to encourage a lot more thought from my players in how they design their character too. I wonder, does anyone else use this unique system?
I've done something similar however I make it where you have to group from top down by threes, so the first 3 highest rolls, then next 3, then next 3 and so on. The player is all but guaranteed to get at least a 16 to 18 and likely to get some 5's as well. In addition they can use point buy, standard array or 4d6 drop 1. Plenty of ways to roll up a character.
I only allow Point Buy and Standard Array (which is the same value as Point Buy). Rolling stats is bad. Really bad. It very much unbalances the characters and the gamer overall. Why do you think they don't allow it in league play?
I generally don't like rolling because you want the PCs to be roughly equal in power. If players are finding they want something different to point buy / standard array you can change the point or have one person roll and everyone uses those stats.
As someone said level 1 characters are already far more powerful than commoners. So increasing stats beyond 27 point buy means they are fighting more challenging monsters right from the get go especially if they are getting a free feat or similar), but they don't have any more HP however which makes the first couple of levels more swingly (and they are swingy enough already)
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Hey there fellow DMs,
I just wanted to pick other's brains on having your players roll their character stats. Do you always just use standard array? Roll 4d6 keep the highest? reroll 1?
Recently I have been using a fairly unique style of rolling stats. I've been having them roll 20d6 drop two lowest and have a pool of 18 dice to assign 3 to each stat. The results have been surprisingly good and not over powered or anything. Seems to encourage a lot more thought from my players in how they design their character too. I wonder, does anyone else use this unique system?
Maybe your group of players aren't min-maxers, because having a pool of 18 dice to assign however you like could definitely be used to min-max a character.
We played with 4d6 and keep best 3 for a very long time.
But when switching to 5e we tried the standard array, and it has been a lot better for player harmony, knowing that all characters are based on the same level of ability scores as each other.
You are correct, my group likes a more RP heavy session so min maxing is rarely an issue, they do try to maximize their character is ways though which this roll system really favors. I can see the fear of min maxing being an issue. I don't mind as long as they Role play their weaknesses too. I fear powerful combos from features and feats more then an 18 in one or two stats. A plus 1 or 2 on damage and rolls isn't as strong as combining things like polearm master and sentinel.
Roll 4, keep best 3. If three characteristics or more end up at 10 or less, rerroll everything. That said, we are all fairly new to dnd, so another method might be better but so far nobody raised a stink over stats.
Your method sounds interesting, I would like to give it a try at some point. How often do you see characters with more then one stat at 18?
In my games I use the follow method: roll 4d6 drop the lowest do that 6 times. I allow the players to do that 3 times. so they end up with 3 groups of stats to choose from. they cant mix from one group to the next. I find this works very well to give players some agency in how their character ends up. do they want that 18, 16, 12,12, 7,5 or do they pick the 15, 15, 13, 13 ,13, 12. I find that with three groups of rolls there is usually a good mix. I try to be fair though and if they rolled three really low groups i will let them roll until they get a group with two 15s.
Surprisingly rare! Getting 6 or more 6s means a third or more of the dice were 6s. Out of the few dozen times we've used it so far we've only seen it once. We roll 20 dice so that if too many 1s are rolled a couple get dropped (Some people are really unlucky). My players have been giving me a very positive review on the new way we have been rolling dice. What we've been finding is that those with bad luck can still assign dice in a way to make their character feel strong.
I use Point-Buy and it has been pretty successful what surprised me the most has been my players had not focused on building min-max characters using this method.
All my players use a 35 point buy from..http://chicken-dinner.com/5e/5e-point-buy.html#select&NA&8&8&8&8&8&8&0&0&35&18&8&19&15&12&9&7&5&4&3&2&1&0&1&2&4&6&9&4&4&4&4&4&4
For my current campaign I allowed my players to do whatever. All but one chose rolled stats (4d6 drop lowest), probably because I have a homebrew rule that allows players to reroll their entire stat block once if they don't like the result. (I also allow my players to choose fixed or rolled HP, and my homebrew rule is that if they roll lower than half the hit die value on level-up, they can round up to half. So if the cleric rolls a 2 on his d8, it counts as a 4.)
I want to switch to a modified point buy/standard array next campaign so that everyone is more or less on the same page ability-wise. Rolled stats can be pretty swingy.
I'm starting a campaign soon and I gave this option to my players:
You may roll if you like. 4D6DL - One set, choose which stats.
If you choose not to roll you may use Point Buy instead.
If you do choose to roll and are not happy with the result you may use Standard Array but not Point Buy.
This lets people roll stats and potentially get better (or worse) stats than possible with both Point Buy or Standard Array. For anyone that chooses not to roll they have the option of building their character's stats the way they want them to be (point buy has more flexibility than standard array). For those that do roll but decide not to take the rolled stats, Standard Array gives a decent offering of stats but has less flexibility than point buy so there is a little bit of risk/reward to rolling but without outright punishing a player that isn't happy with their results.
All 5 of my players chose to roll and kept their rolled stats. I'm kinda happy with their thoughts on it as I, myself, like the randomness of rolling but don't want anyone to feel "less good" than anyone else because of bad luck. I also find point buy and standard array get boring since almost every array of stats ends up looking very samey.
I’ve experimented with Point Buy, Rolling, and special arrays. Pure rolling was my least favorite, having year-long differences in character power based on a few rolls at character creation has never sat well with me. Point Buy was good, but sometimes I like more extreme spreads.
My favorite version was Special Arrays, where the characters could pick from any of the sets I picked, or Point Buy. This let people have normal Point Buy, but get the good parts of rolling (more extreme/dynamic stat lines, and ability to get flavor Feats without being behind on ASIs) without the luck-based disparity. If I remember correctly, the options were: (6, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16), (8, 10, 12, 12, 14, 16), (10, 12, 12, 13, 14, 14), or Point Buy.
I love seeing all these different styles of stat rolling! Lot of fans of point buy by the looks of it. I do like point buy system as well.
We homebrew that if your roll is less than your CON modifier, you can use your CON modifier instead. Ensures that the tanks are tanky.
I also use point buy. It lets the players customize for their concept. They can have decent stats across the board or focus in one or two areas. Everyone knows that the process is fair and balanced, no one has a great character that outshines everyone else because they were lucky. Finally, point buy involves trade offs. You can't be good at everything, some stats will be weak and others stronger. This ties into the entire bounded accuracy idea that 5e seems to be based on.
I use the adjusted standard array
17, 15, 13, 12, 10, 8
I find it works really well to give a balanced party while not being OP.
I have also, long before Tasha’s, allowed floating ASIs
Personally; I like leaning more generous with stats. Thus my usual roll system follows:
- Roll 4d6
- Re-roll any 1s
- Drop the lowest
- Repeat 6 times
- Assign as desired
Alternatively: I've also used adjusted point-buy and adjusted standard array. My rational being: if 10 represents "average person", and the average of the 4d6-drop-the-lowest method puts its average roll around 13-14; the "heroes" of D&D are already "exceptional people". The peasant with 8-12 across the board isn't the one chasing the goblins into their caves, they're the one rebuilding the town. But then: I personally don't really see the appeal of "hard mode make-believe" any more than I see the point of "cheating to win make-believe".
I've done something similar however I make it where you have to group from top down by threes, so the first 3 highest rolls, then next 3, then next 3 and so on. The player is all but guaranteed to get at least a 16 to 18 and likely to get some 5's as well. In addition they can use point buy, standard array or 4d6 drop 1. Plenty of ways to roll up a character.
Point buy or standard array. None of this rolling silliness for my games.
I rolled amazing so I get to be more powerful than the other players yay.
I rolled bad so I get to roll again until I like the result yeah?
Nope. Nope. Nope.
If you are going to keep rolling until you get what you like you are basically doing point buy anyway.
I only allow Point Buy and Standard Array (which is the same value as Point Buy).
Rolling stats is bad. Really bad.
It very much unbalances the characters and the gamer overall.
Why do you think they don't allow it in league play?
I generally don't like rolling because you want the PCs to be roughly equal in power. If players are finding they want something different to point buy / standard array you can change the point or have one person roll and everyone uses those stats.
As someone said level 1 characters are already far more powerful than commoners. So increasing stats beyond 27 point buy means they are fighting more challenging monsters right from the get go especially if they are getting a free feat or similar), but they don't have any more HP however which makes the first couple of levels more swingly (and they are swingy enough already)