My understanding of the Point Buy mechanic the max a person can "buy" is 15.
You're background can add another +2 to a stat (and +1 to a different stat). Meaning the highest would now be 17.
At level 1, or even up to level 3, I don't understand how a person (without magic items) could have an 18. A one shot I was in tonight had 2 level 3 characters with a stat that was 18, and a level 4 character had a 20 INT. (I can understand the 20 if he had a level 18 INT before level 4... but I don't think that is possible according to PHB.
Am I misinterpreting something? Or is there some other way to get an 18?
(As a side note I know the stupid character builder on this will allow you to add +2 to a stat and then +1 to the same stat... but that seems like a bug to me because even the builder clearly tells you to "Increase one of these scores by 2 and another one by 1..." Really wish WotC cared enough about their products to follow their own rules.)
The 2024 PHB gives 3 ways of getting your stats. Two out of the three will make an 18 on creation impossible. "Random Generation" (roll 4d6, drop lowest), however, does allow for an 18.
Did the DM question how they achieved 18? As this is important enough to post here, did you ask them how they got those stats?
I agree, if you use 27 point buy, 17 is the max. Some DMs do allow a higher amount to get above 15, but no idea how much 16+ costs and I assume they have more then 27 points to spend.
The 2024 PHB gives 3 ways of getting your stats. Two out of the three will make an 18 on creation impossible. "Random Generation" (roll 4d6, drop lowest), however, does allow for an 18.
Just because I felt like doing some math this morning, with the "4d6 drop lowest" method, each ability score has about a 13% chance of being at least a 16 (and therefore capable of becoming at least an 18 with the background ability score bonuses).
There is about a 57% chance that at least one of the six will hit this, so it's not totally out there.
If your DM had everyone use point-buy and exclusively 2024 rules, with no magic items at level 3 or lower, the only way to get an 18 is, well, cheating. If they're new players this might not have been intentional, as - as you pointed out - DnDBeyond doesn't prevent you from putting your +2 and +1 in the same stat, even though that's not allowed per RAW.
If you're planning to play with this group/DM more in the future, might be worth asking them about it.
If you are the DM you should definitely ask them how they achieved that. It is possible that they misunderstood and added +3 to a single stat, since Character Builder allows that. It is also possible that they rolled 4d6 and dropped the lowest. As the DM I would have no problem saying 'we aren't using that method'. The only time I encounter it is with groups of friends where the rolls were typically done in front of the DM or where the DM has a very high degree of trust in the players. One-shots almost never use that mechanic because it is far too problematic (even if the player is being 'honest' it is way too easy to spend 30 minutes rolling up 50 complete sets of stats using 4d6 and dropping the lowest and then taking the best set of those 50 stats).
On the other hand, if you're the player, beyond a polite 'wow, how did you get those stats?', I would just let it go. The downside of pick up games is that sometimes you end up playing with people who you will find a bit on the problematic side, whether it is because they are min-maxing, super into roleplay, constantly looking up rules to make sure every i is dotted and t crossed, or something else*. Sometimes the groups just don't work out. If you find someone wildly problematic (and it doesn't sound that way in this case, just that they you found them somewhat problematic) then it is probably best to just make up an excuse and move on.
*To be clear, I said 'who you find' because I'm not making any judgements on people who do these activities. Everyone has different preferences for their play and all of these are valid as long as they don't degrade the experience of the group as a whole. That's why I said you should move on if you find the player extremely problematic, because if it just you and you make an issue of it, you are now the one degrading the experience of everyone else. Sometimes people just aren't compatible with a given group. It's not reflection on their character. They are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Was it changelings that allowed +3 to a single stat?
No, neither 5e version of the Changeling species allows that, nor does any other background or species as far as I'm aware.
In some scenarios, D&D Beyond's character builder allows you to separately put a +2 and a +1 in the same stat for a total of +3, but that's a flaw in the implementation of the tool; it isn't actually allowed by the rules.
One possible explanation is if the game allowed older expanded rules. In that case, you can select custom lineage and pick a feat that comes with a stat increase.
Under 2014 rules, this was possible (with point buy or standard array) with the Custom Origin race, choosing a "half feat" with a +1 that matched your chosen +2 ASI.
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My understanding of the Point Buy mechanic the max a person can "buy" is 15.
You're background can add another +2 to a stat (and +1 to a different stat). Meaning the highest would now be 17.
At level 1, or even up to level 3, I don't understand how a person (without magic items) could have an 18. A one shot I was in tonight had 2 level 3 characters with a stat that was 18, and a level 4 character had a 20 INT. (I can understand the 20 if he had a level 18 INT before level 4... but I don't think that is possible according to PHB.
Am I misinterpreting something? Or is there some other way to get an 18?
(As a side note I know the stupid character builder on this will allow you to add +2 to a stat and then +1 to the same stat... but that seems like a bug to me because even the builder clearly tells you to "Increase one of these scores by 2 and another one by 1..." Really wish WotC cared enough about their products to follow their own rules.)
The 2024 PHB gives 3 ways of getting your stats. Two out of the three will make an 18 on creation impossible. "Random Generation" (roll 4d6, drop lowest), however, does allow for an 18.
Did the DM question how they achieved 18? As this is important enough to post here, did you ask them how they got those stats?
I agree, if you use 27 point buy, 17 is the max. Some DMs do allow a higher amount to get above 15, but no idea how much 16+ costs and I assume they have more then 27 points to spend.
Just because I felt like doing some math this morning, with the "4d6 drop lowest" method, each ability score has about a 13% chance of being at least a 16 (and therefore capable of becoming at least an 18 with the background ability score bonuses).
There is about a 57% chance that at least one of the six will hit this, so it's not totally out there.
pronouns: he/she/they
If your DM had everyone use point-buy and exclusively 2024 rules, with no magic items at level 3 or lower, the only way to get an 18 is, well, cheating. If they're new players this might not have been intentional, as - as you pointed out - DnDBeyond doesn't prevent you from putting your +2 and +1 in the same stat, even though that's not allowed per RAW.
If you're planning to play with this group/DM more in the future, might be worth asking them about it.
If you are the DM you should definitely ask them how they achieved that. It is possible that they misunderstood and added +3 to a single stat, since Character Builder allows that. It is also possible that they rolled 4d6 and dropped the lowest. As the DM I would have no problem saying 'we aren't using that method'. The only time I encounter it is with groups of friends where the rolls were typically done in front of the DM or where the DM has a very high degree of trust in the players. One-shots almost never use that mechanic because it is far too problematic (even if the player is being 'honest' it is way too easy to spend 30 minutes rolling up 50 complete sets of stats using 4d6 and dropping the lowest and then taking the best set of those 50 stats).
On the other hand, if you're the player, beyond a polite 'wow, how did you get those stats?', I would just let it go. The downside of pick up games is that sometimes you end up playing with people who you will find a bit on the problematic side, whether it is because they are min-maxing, super into roleplay, constantly looking up rules to make sure every i is dotted and t crossed, or something else*. Sometimes the groups just don't work out. If you find someone wildly problematic (and it doesn't sound that way in this case, just that they you found them somewhat problematic) then it is probably best to just make up an excuse and move on.
*To be clear, I said 'who you find' because I'm not making any judgements on people who do these activities. Everyone has different preferences for their play and all of these are valid as long as they don't degrade the experience of the group as a whole. That's why I said you should move on if you find the player extremely problematic, because if it just you and you make an issue of it, you are now the one degrading the experience of everyone else. Sometimes people just aren't compatible with a given group. It's not reflection on their character. They are just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Was it changelings that allowed +3 to a single stat?
No, neither 5e version of the Changeling species allows that, nor does any other background or species as far as I'm aware.
In some scenarios, D&D Beyond's character builder allows you to separately put a +2 and a +1 in the same stat for a total of +3, but that's a flaw in the implementation of the tool; it isn't actually allowed by the rules.
pronouns: he/she/they
One possible explanation is if the game allowed older expanded rules. In that case, you can select custom lineage and pick a feat that comes with a stat increase.
Under 2014 rules, this was possible (with point buy or standard array) with the Custom Origin race, choosing a "half feat" with a +1 that matched your chosen +2 ASI.