So I'm starting a new campaign and contemplating some 'fun' with character stats for my group... My thoughts, I've played both 1st Edition with 6 characters in my binder 'just in case I had a bad session', and I've played 2nd Edition with more expanded rules than you can throw a rule lawyer at, and 3.5 Epic level campaigns where dimensional travel starts becoming a requirement because you've run out of gods to kill.
I want to bring back some of that older edition insanity to this new group in 5e (it feels far to flat and 'normal'),by making things not as average, but wondering what the community thinks, should I cripple or demi god them?... I am definitely not opposed to TPKing the party with a single rat, or them killing 'the villain' outright, just trying to figure out which way to go with making things a bit more 'fun' with outlandish situations of success/failure with 5e.
Toying with the idea of the following stat generation rules:
Unpleasantly Peasant - 6 sets of "2d6 + 2, re-roll 1 dice only for the entire set of stats, can only keep complete sets of stats"... means the absolute best they can do is a 16, worst is 6. going to be a lot in the 8-12 range. i.e. hard mode as there'll be a lot of -1's.
Mundane Merc - 6 sets of "3d6+1" there's a chance for 19, but there's also going to be someone with 4 for a stat :D Normal but less likelihood of power houses
Heist Heroes - standard 6 sets of "4d6 drop lowest" usual 'heroes' of normal hero size and strength.
Epic Escalators - 6 sets of "5d6, re-roll 1's, drop lowest 2 dice" Infinite cosmic power.
Chaos Creators - 7 sets of "2d10+2, re-roll 1's, pick 6 sets" Ye' got yer highs and yer lows... and yes this means they could get a 22 / 4.
I'd go 4d6 drop lowest, but I'd keep the First Edition rule where you couldn't switch them around. Then I might also ask players to pick races (not classes) before rolling.
Ohh yeah, definitely engaging players once I get things going and making it clear that this campaign will see a lot of death (PCs and otherwise), madness, and mayhem. Just wondering what the DM community thinks would bring some livelihood into characters with stats that would make the run of the mill content less normal because of unbalanced characters. My thought, with 5e the -/+ ranges are so much smaller and make a much bigger impact so having stats out whack should cause ‘issues’ with the rest of the game balance/structure with varying impact... and also helps with having unusual characters to make the RP elements be equally weird.
So I'm starting a new campaign and contemplating some 'fun' with character stats for my group...
My thoughts, I've played both 1st Edition with 6 characters in my binder 'just in case I had a bad session', and I've played 2nd Edition with more expanded rules than you can throw a rule lawyer at, and 3.5 Epic level campaigns where dimensional travel starts becoming a requirement because you've run out of gods to kill.
I want to bring back some of that older edition insanity to this new group in 5e (it feels far to flat and 'normal'),by making things not as average, but wondering what the community thinks, should I cripple or demi god them?... I am definitely not opposed to TPKing the party with a single rat, or them killing 'the villain' outright, just trying to figure out which way to go with making things a bit more 'fun' with outlandish situations of success/failure with 5e.
Toying with the idea of the following stat generation rules:
Unpleasantly Peasant - 6 sets of "2d6 + 2, re-roll 1 dice only for the entire set of stats, can only keep complete sets of stats"... means the absolute best they can do is a 16, worst is 6. going to be a lot in the 8-12 range. i.e. hard mode as there'll be a lot of -1's.
Mundane Merc - 6 sets of "3d6+1" there's a chance for 19, but there's also going to be someone with 4 for a stat :D Normal but less likelihood of power houses
Heist Heroes - standard 6 sets of "4d6 drop lowest" usual 'heroes' of normal hero size and strength.
Epic Escalators - 6 sets of "5d6, re-roll 1's, drop lowest 2 dice" Infinite cosmic power.
Chaos Creators - 7 sets of "2d10+2, re-roll 1's, pick 6 sets" Ye' got yer highs and yer lows... and yes this means they could get a 22 / 4.
Campaign starts in a prison... that's on fire...
You are asking the wrong people, ask your group...
I'd go 4d6 drop lowest, but I'd keep the First Edition rule where you couldn't switch them around. Then I might also ask players to pick races (not classes) before rolling.
Wizard (Gandalf) of the Tolkien Club
Make sure your players actually think this is fun.
I've been the one with dramatically lower stats than other characters, and it was the opposite of fun.
Ohh yeah, definitely engaging players once I get things going and making it clear that this campaign will see a lot of death (PCs and otherwise), madness, and mayhem. Just wondering what the DM community thinks would bring some livelihood into characters with stats that would make the run of the mill content less normal because of unbalanced characters. My thought, with 5e the -/+ ranges are so much smaller and make a much bigger impact so having stats out whack should cause ‘issues’ with the rest of the game balance/structure with varying impact... and also helps with having unusual characters to make the RP elements be equally weird.
You want chaos? Do my own invention of 2d20/2, rounded down. You can get any score from 1 - 20.
<If it didn't die the first time, you didn't kill it hard enough> and <If percussion maintenance isn't working, you didn't hit it hard enough>