There's more than one reply recommending - seriously - that Turtle make a squishy wizard character who charges into battle punching things in an attempt to get himself killed as swiftly as possible so he can reroll. That's the kind of sabotage I was talking about - going out of your way to play a character designed to do nothing other than die so you can get a chance at better stats. I've seen that suggestion crop up many times in threads like this - 'the quickest way to fixing your bad stats is a low CON modifier and a helpful orc warband' - and personally I find it repugnant.
If you're perfectly content to take the 90+-point Superhero Array, you have no business carping about rolling the 61-point Village Idiot array instead. Turtle, to his credit, made no mention of dumping the array and was looking for ways to make it work. The Life cleric idea, a couple of the utility caster ideas, the notion of a human fighter burning all seven ASIs, all are decent possibilities. Suicide-by-orc is a trollish move for ********, however, and needs to be slapped down.
Okay maybe I did miss that, that's fair. I personally would rather roleplay the low level, but would ask the DM to change an 8 or a 9
I would like to mirror Yurei1453’s comments. I had once played Descent into Avernus and one of our players had made a wizard. The stats were not great and he just didn’t enjoy playing the halfling wizard. When we arrived at the villa, the wizard made a wildly out of character decision to dive into the middle of the guards, who he had provoked into killing him while we were exploring non-lethal options. Anyone who has played this one should know how this scene could have gone sideways for the whole party, especially with one person actively working against us.
It was a sour experience for the entire party, the DM included, because it burdened the entire party with trying to save him while he was intent on killing himself so he could roll out a new character. It also destroyed the immersion because it made no sense why he would do this in-game.
I feel was a selfish and lazy decision that could have been better addressed with an honest conversation with the DM on how they could work together to make the character more enjoyable, or seek an exit for the character that was less jarring for the party.
Not everyone will roll titan stats but if that is important to you, talk with your DM about options. Maybe the character can stumble upon a magical item that can help in this area if the deficiency is ruining your own enjoyment. There are options besides seppuku.
I would like to mirror Yurei1453’s comments. I had once played Descent into Avernus and one of our players had made a wizard that they found they didn’t really care for. The stats were not great and he just didn’t enjoy playing the halfling wizard. When we arrived at the villa, the wizard made a wildly out of character decision to dive into the middle of the guards, who he had provoked into killing him while we were exploring non-lethal options.
It was a sour experience for the entire party, the DM included, because it burdened the entire party with trying to save him while he was intent on killing himself so he could roll out a new character. It also destroyed the immersion because it made no sense why he would do this in-game.
I feel was a selfish and lazy decision that could have been better address with an honest conversation with the DM on how they could work together to make the character more enjoyable, or seek an exit for the character that was less jarring for the party.
Not everyone will roll titan stats but if that is important to you, talk with your DM about options. Maybe the character can stumble upon a magical item that can help in this area if the deficiency is ruining your own enjoyment. There are options besides seppuku.
I can't speak for others but, in my defense and as I suggested, first and foremost, talk to your DM.
Heck, not even suggesting superhero stats but at least let OP use point-buy or standard array would be the bare minimum IMO. I hadn't thought about the Artificer idea though, that is pretty clever and is quite doable if he's starting at level 10+. If he's not, however, and if he and/or his allies don't enjoy the character at all, I don't see why OP would need to suffer in silence for the enjoyment of the others. He should prioritize his own fun first and foremost while making sure he doesn't impede on the fun of the other players as well.
Being forced to play a commoner in a fantasy world of swords & sorcery and hiding behind his fellow allies is not going to be what most people call fun.
I can't speak for others but, in my defense and as I suggested, first and foremost, talk to your DM.
Heck, not even suggesting superhero stats but at least let OP use point-buy or standard array would be the bare minimum IMO. I hadn't thought about the Artificer idea though, that is pretty clever and is quite doable if he's starting at level 10+. If he's not, however, and if he and/or his allies don't enjoy the character at all, I don't see why OP would need to suffer in silence for the enjoyment of the others. He should prioritize his own fun first and foremost while making sure he doesn't impede on the fun of the other players as well.
Being forced to play a commoner in a fantasy world of swords & sorcery and hiding behind his fellow allies is not going to be what most people call fun.
Level is definitely a factor. How many ASI's they've gotten so far helps with the build. We can preach all we want about how they just need to suck it up and use their terrible stats, but agreeing with Kilthor here, most people would hate that. As with any dilemma, there are two ditches we can fall into on either side. One is to say that no one should ever have to deal with these stats, and it's a terrible idea, and if you don't like your rolls, commit stat suicide. The other is to say that what you roll is law, and you should quit whining about them because not everyone gets superhero rolls. Talk to the DM, and go from there
There's more than one reply recommending - seriously - that Turtle make a squishy wizard character who charges into battle punching things in an attempt to get himself killed as swiftly as possible so he can reroll. That's the kind of sabotage I was talking about - going out of your way to play a character designed to do nothing other than die so you can get a chance at better stats. I've seen that suggestion crop up many times in threads like this - 'the quickest way to fixing your bad stats is a low CON modifier and a helpful orc warband' - and personally I find it repugnant.
If you're perfectly content to take the 90+-point Superhero Array, you have no business carping about rolling the 61-point Village Idiot array instead. Turtle, to his credit, made no mention of dumping the array and was looking for ways to make it work. The Life cleric idea, a couple of the utility caster ideas, the notion of a human fighter burning all seven ASIs, all are decent possibilities. Suicide-by-orc is a trollish move for ********, however, and needs to be slapped down.
I think the just throw the character away and jeopardise the game for others would be stupid. But at the same time all things should be balanced. I pretty much exclusively roll my stats but work with the dm to balance them. If I roll god mode (and I have. 18 17 15 15 12 10) I nerf some of the higher ones leaving a good peak stat. At the same time if I roll like this guy did. I bring one stat up to usability. A 15/16. Ill absolutely keep some of the terrible rolls. Having both strengths and weaknesses is fun.
but just saying you rolled bad/good deal with it isn’t a good solution. It isn’t fun. And the point of the game is fun. It’s why people lean towards high stats more. Regardless of which method people use they should have at least one high stat and one low stat. And dms should work with players to have fun with their skill array, but also help balance it
I would just make a plain old human fighter. Human adds +1 to all stats and fighter has the most ASIs.
With the +1 from Human you are now only 14 behind the rest of the group.
Put the 14 in STR and the 13 in CON. At levels 4 and 6 you use the ASI to put 2 points in strength. Now you already have 18 in your main stat. Get heavy armor, so you don't need to care about dex. You're gonna be able to wear Ring at level 1, Chain at level 4 and Plate at level 6. With a Shield that gives you 20AC at level 6.
HP-wise you're still gonna be squishy due to low con, but... If you die you get to make a new char. If you live long enough, you can use the ASIs to increase your CON.
Honestly, I think rolling stats sucks if people just re-roll bad chars. That just leads to HP inflation. Might as well just give everyone the standard array +4 if you're gonna accept the good rolls and not the bad rolls.
"only" lol. 14 stat points, that's more than any character can produce from their path to level 20.
I just did a quick simulation, and with the standard "roll 4d6 drop lowest" strategy, there is a 51% chance that in a 4-player campaign the character with the lowest stats will be 14 points or more below the character with the highest stats. That's hardly a rare occurrence. Even the original 20 points difference (or more) has a 19% chance. And a difference of 14 points (or more) from the lowest to the second lowest has a 5% chance. Much lower, but still one out of 20 games.
I just did a quick simulation, and with the standard "roll 4d6 drop lowest" strategy, there is a 51% chance that in a 4-player campaign the character with the lowest stats will be 14 points or more below the character with the highest stats. That's hardly a rare occurrence. Even the original 20 points difference (or more) has a 19% chance. And a difference of 14 points (or more) from the lowest to the second lowest has a 5% chance. Much lower, but still one out of 20 games.
Out of curiosity: What is the % chance of a 20 points (or more) difference between the lowest and second lowest as that is what had happened here if I read the original post correctly.
While these Stats are significantly lower, the higher ones aren't that far behind Point Buy or Standard Array's peak. A PC could have primary Stats 15 & 14 and be +1 modifier behind Stats 16-17. His other Stats' modifier would vary by 1 too. Overall a 1st level character would have Attack +4 / DC 12 as opposed to Attack +5 / DC 13 for Point Buy or Standard Array. It would still be viable to me, i'd even see a challenge in playing such character. I personally find something gratifying in proving such chanarcter worthwhile against all odds!
While these Stats are significantly lower, the higher ones aren't that far behind Point Buy or Standard Array's peak. A PC could have primary Stats 15 & 14 and be +1 modifier behind Stats 16-17. His other Stats' modifier would vary by 1 too. Overall a 1st level character would have Attack +4 / DC 12 as opposed to Attack +5 / DC 13 for Point Buy or Standard Array. It would still be viable to me, i'd even see a challenge in playing such character. I personally find something gratifying in proving such chanarcter worthwhile against all odds!
While these Stats are significantly lower, the higher ones aren't that far behind Point Buy or Standard Array's peak. A PC could have primary Stats 15 & 14 and be +1 modifier behind Stats 16-17. His other Stats' modifier would vary by 1 too. Overall a 1st level character would have Attack +4 / DC 12 as opposed to Attack +5 / DC 13 for Point Buy or Standard Array. It would still be viable to me, i'd even see a challenge in playing such character. I personally find something gratifying in proving such chanarcter worthwhile against all odds!
The biggest problem as I see it is having 3 negative modifiers (unless you nerf your primary stat by putting ASIs into the 8s /9s.
I can be fun to play a character with one negative stat but having three means that:
you would be scarred of doing anything that might require an abilty check in anything other than your primary stat (Con, which is extremely rare to be used in ability checks is almost certainly going to be this characters second stat), in most non-combat encounters they would have minimal contributions
It is frustrating when a character who dumped Wis can not do anything in battle because they keep failing against hold person or a character with low strength can't move and attacks with disadvantage becasue they can not get out of entangle. With 3 dump stats this would happen often enough for the game not to be fun.
The best solution is to either not roll for stats in the first place or make up houserules that ensure a reasonable level of balance but if the DM sticks to the rules that is not an option. The alternatives are play a game you don't enjoy, don't play at all or find a way to get a new character.
There is a difference between this and Erikku's case. The wizard there made amn "out of character" decision to attack the guards and had presumably been with the party for a considerable time. To have a character not much different to a commoner meet the rest of the party in a tavern and then have an NPC come in say a bunch of kobalds are attacking the village, it would be quite within his character to cower in the tavern with the NPCs not set up for combat while the rest fo the party fight off the kobalds. It could also be in character to believe onself to be a might warrior when one clearly isn't.
Yes such events will be annoying to the group but at least in session 1 they haven't built up a friendship with the PC that died / ran away, but it might be less annoying than playing without a friend becuase they wouldn't have fun playing with such a weak character.
I swear half the time I see posts like this it’s followed by them listing a 20 and ONLY 3 18s. I personally lucked out with 8 8 11 12 9 13. One more point than a commoner. Despite the next lowest player having 20 more points than me I don’t think im gonna be given a chance to reroll. So how do I maximize this characters potential? I’m thinking my best bet is moon Druid but the party already has one and I’m joining late.
You can try pointing out to your DM that this wouldn't even be a legal character in 3rd edition. Back then, the minimum for a legal character was one roll of 13 or better and a net +1 ability modifier. You have a character with a 13, but their net modifier is -1. Heck, even in Critical Role they have a minimum total roll of 70. Yours is 61.
In 4E, we were given an acceptable range where our net modifier could fall between +4 and +8 with the standard array being +6. In 5E terms, that's more like +3 to +7 with the standard array being +5. And back in 4E, the DM could make you reroll or adjust your scores to bring them in line. But you could also add +1 to every one of those scores and still only be at a +2. That's still too weak in my book. Better than a commoner, but no better than a CR 1/2 NPC. Sidekick material, basically.
And you could just be a sidekick. Pick a suitable NPC and tack on one of those classes. But I get why that doesn't sound fun.
Rolling for stats (abilities scores and hit points) isn't bad. The game is more forgiving than it used to be, and having some variety helps to keep things interesting. It does suck when things get too low. We like the "feel" of big numbers and rolling large amounts of dice. But we don't always get what we want. I rolled a barely legal character once, using 3.5 math, and still managed to have a mildly successful rogue. I think he had 14 or 15 dexterity after his racial ability score improvements. Everything else was meh.
I just did a quick simulation, and with the standard "roll 4d6 drop lowest" strategy, there is a 51% chance that in a 4-player campaign the character with the lowest stats will be 14 points or more below the character with the highest stats. That's hardly a rare occurrence. Even the original 20 points difference (or more) has a 19% chance. And a difference of 14 points (or more) from the lowest to the second lowest has a 5% chance. Much lower, but still one out of 20 games.
Out of curiosity: What is the % chance of a 20 points (or more) difference between the lowest and second lowest as that is what had happened here if I read the original post correctly.
About 0.8% chance (about one in 125 campaigns).
I'm not sure if that is actually what happened, though. OP said they are joining late, so they probably don't know what the other players' original unmodified stats were. I suspect OP is referring to their current stats (including race modifiers and - if they are beyond level 4 - including ASIs).
The biggest problem as I see it is having 3 negative modifiers (unless you nerf your primary stat by putting ASIs into the 8s /9s.
True, but Standard Array or Point Buy usually has at least 1 already, leaving you with two Stats that has a modifier of -1 instead of 0 or +1, which will usually be tertiary, quaternary, quinary or senary Stats so no big deal really.
I would play that character but it depends on your table. If you are RP heavy and don’t rely on rolls as much as RP your fine I think. But if you are at an optimized table then you are going to be disappointed and the party will have to carry some of your weight.
The stats aren't the main issue, but the massive gap between this character and the rest of the party. Don't bother with the "ASI's can help improve" because the rest of the party will be getting them too, meaning you will always be well behind the rest of your group. Short term, it's funny sometimes, offering a chance for a chuckle. Full campaign, you will, in short order, start to feel like dead weight, since you can't do much of anything that someone else can d much better.
Talking to the DM is the only viable option, if you intend to run in this campaign and enjoy it. I know many folks have the holier-than-thou tone at times, hat THEY could and would play a sidekick stat character, alongside hero types, but I call BS, because that novelty wears out pretty quick, either for the player, the rest of the group or, most often, both. The DM needs to throw you a bone, as several have pointed out, ONE stat he/she can make a 15, and then you have a myriad of character options that will be useful over the course of a campaign. You'll also have a bunch of crap stats behind it, so RPing such a one-dimensional character can and should be fun, while still allowing you to actually contribute and be useful to the party as a whole.
Rolled stats can be fun, for sure, but there must be a cap, IMO at BOTH ends, so no superman types and no useless lumps of flesh. Point buy is the most rounded, "even" method to build the party under, with standard array a close second. Rolling opens the door to all kinds of idiocy and imbalance, which is why it's not used at our table.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
The stats aren't the main issue, but the massive gap between this character and the rest of the party. Don't bother with the "ASI's can help improve" because the rest of the party will be getting them too, meaning you will always be well behind the rest of your group. Short term, it's funny sometimes, offering a chance for a chuckle. Full campaign, you will, in short order, start to feel like dead weight, since you can't do much of anything that someone else can d much better.
Talking to the DM is the only viable option, if you intend to run in this campaign and enjoy it. I know many folks have the holier-than-thou tone at times, hat THEY could and would play a sidekick stat character, alongside hero types, but I call BS, because that novelty wears out pretty quick, either for the player, the rest of the group or, most often, both. The DM needs to throw you a bone, as several have pointed out, ONE stat he/she can make a 15, and then you have a myriad of character options that will be useful over the course of a campaign. You'll also have a bunch of crap stats behind it, so RPing such a one-dimensional character can and should be fun, while still allowing you to actually contribute and be useful to the party as a whole.
Rolled stats can be fun, for sure, but there must be a cap, IMO at BOTH ends, so no superman types and no useless lumps of flesh. Point buy is the most rounded, "even" method to build the party under, with standard array a close second. Rolling opens the door to all kinds of idiocy and imbalance, which is why it's not used at our table.
I don’t agree with this. Again, depends on the table and party makeup. If you are trying to go toe to toe alongside the PAM, GWM, fighter then yeah you won’t complete. But if your party doesn’t have someone that can buff (Bless doesn’t require a high casting stat and is good all tiers) or someone who can control the battlefield (you just have to boost your primary stat) or any variety of roles in a group, then it can be doable.
Not saying it’s ideal but not non-viable in many instances.
There's more than one reply recommending - seriously - that Turtle make a squishy wizard character who charges into battle punching things in an attempt to get himself killed as swiftly as possible so he can reroll. That's the kind of sabotage I was talking about - going out of your way to play a character designed to do nothing other than die so you can get a chance at better stats. I've seen that suggestion crop up many times in threads like this - 'the quickest way to fixing your bad stats is a low CON modifier and a helpful orc warband' - and personally I find it repugnant.
If you're perfectly content to take the 90+-point Superhero Array, you have no business carping about rolling the 61-point Village Idiot array instead. Turtle, to his credit, made no mention of dumping the array and was looking for ways to make it work. The Life cleric idea, a couple of the utility caster ideas, the notion of a human fighter burning all seven ASIs, all are decent possibilities. Suicide-by-orc is a trollish move for ********, however, and needs to be slapped down.
Those posts are clearly not straight up advice, and anyone who thinks that they are really needs to take a class on reading subtext because it's not difficult to grasp. They are intended as absurdity. The point of the "make a wizard who punches until he dies" highlights that nobody can force a player to run a character with a stat array that they don't want to, and therefore no DM is going to force a player to do that. Rather than coming out hostile against posts that are clearly intended tongue in cheek, I suggest you calm down, take a step back from the computer, and try to remember what jokes are.
You're imagining a world of combative, Captain Internet Forum RAW DM's who force players to stick with rolls they don't want. That doesn't happen in practice.
most of the tables I play at the first choice we make(individually choosing) is roll for stats or standard array.
so if i rolled bad stats I would stick with them because that's what I get for choosing to roll stats.
There are actually several routes I might try.
moon druid.- go high wisdom and try take and spells that require no saves.
Ranger. Max dex -
Choose 1:
archery fighting style for a respectable attack.
a blind fighting go fogcloud build
take defensive measures.... "hiding/backrow play" or shield builds with darts, get good defensive equipment.
. Possibly go PHB beastmaster or Drakewarden as the "pets" have attacks that are boosted off of proficiency rather than a base score. rangers have Lots of spells that don't require saves based off of your spellcasting modifier and you can free up party druids from certain spells known
Go cleric and Become a support player. Bless will boost self attack rolls and help out two other party members. many cleric spells are ok without max wisdom
Go trixy wizard. max int.... take illusionist spells and defensive ones and try and just come up with creative solutions. Use a familiar, take unseen servant for spreading traps and caltrops(yes you can have more than one). plan be creative and have fun if all else fails waste enemy turns till your team can finish off the rest and then come help.
Okay maybe I did miss that, that's fair. I personally would rather roleplay the low level, but would ask the DM to change an 8 or a 9
Updog
Hello,
I would like to mirror Yurei1453’s comments. I had once played Descent into Avernus and one of our players had made a wizard. The stats were not great and he just didn’t enjoy playing the halfling wizard. When we arrived at the villa, the wizard made a wildly out of character decision to dive into the middle of the guards, who he had provoked into killing him while we were exploring non-lethal options. Anyone who has played this one should know how this scene could have gone sideways for the whole party, especially with one person actively working against us.
It was a sour experience for the entire party, the DM included, because it burdened the entire party with trying to save him while he was intent on killing himself so he could roll out a new character. It also destroyed the immersion because it made no sense why he would do this in-game.
I feel was a selfish and lazy decision that could have been better addressed with an honest conversation with the DM on how they could work together to make the character more enjoyable, or seek an exit for the character that was less jarring for the party.
Not everyone will roll titan stats but if that is important to you, talk with your DM about options. Maybe the character can stumble upon a magical item that can help in this area if the deficiency is ruining your own enjoyment. There are options besides seppuku.
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agree. definitely not suggesting stat suicide
Updog
I can't speak for others but, in my defense and as I suggested, first and foremost, talk to your DM.
Heck, not even suggesting superhero stats but at least let OP use point-buy or standard array would be the bare minimum IMO. I hadn't thought about the Artificer idea though, that is pretty clever and is quite doable if he's starting at level 10+. If he's not, however, and if he and/or his allies don't enjoy the character at all, I don't see why OP would need to suffer in silence for the enjoyment of the others. He should prioritize his own fun first and foremost while making sure he doesn't impede on the fun of the other players as well.
Being forced to play a commoner in a fantasy world of swords & sorcery and hiding behind his fellow allies is not going to be what most people call fun.
Level is definitely a factor. How many ASI's they've gotten so far helps with the build. We can preach all we want about how they just need to suck it up and use their terrible stats, but agreeing with Kilthor here, most people would hate that. As with any dilemma, there are two ditches we can fall into on either side. One is to say that no one should ever have to deal with these stats, and it's a terrible idea, and if you don't like your rolls, commit stat suicide. The other is to say that what you roll is law, and you should quit whining about them because not everyone gets superhero rolls. Talk to the DM, and go from there
Updog
I think the just throw the character away and jeopardise the game for others would be stupid. But at the same time all things should be balanced. I pretty much exclusively roll my stats but work with the dm to balance them. If I roll god mode (and I have. 18 17 15 15 12 10) I nerf some of the higher ones leaving a good peak stat. At the same time if I roll like this guy did. I bring one stat up to usability. A 15/16. Ill absolutely keep some of the terrible rolls. Having both strengths and weaknesses is fun.
but just saying you rolled bad/good deal with it isn’t a good solution. It isn’t fun. And the point of the game is fun. It’s why people lean towards high stats more. Regardless of which method people use they should have at least one high stat and one low stat. And dms should work with players to have fun with their skill array, but also help balance it
@Gh0styy thanks!
An eldritch blast genie warlock could work. Fly around and go chain so your imp familiar can carry your ring you can rest in, while invisible.
Or go artillerist artificer and take some good ranges spells and blast away with your eldritch cannon.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
I just did a quick simulation, and with the standard "roll 4d6 drop lowest" strategy, there is a 51% chance that in a 4-player campaign the character with the lowest stats will be 14 points or more below the character with the highest stats. That's hardly a rare occurrence. Even the original 20 points difference (or more) has a 19% chance. And a difference of 14 points (or more) from the lowest to the second lowest has a 5% chance. Much lower, but still one out of 20 games.
Out of curiosity: What is the % chance of a 20 points (or more) difference between the lowest and second lowest as that is what had happened here if I read the original post correctly.
While these Stats are significantly lower, the higher ones aren't that far behind Point Buy or Standard Array's peak. A PC could have primary Stats 15 & 14 and be +1 modifier behind Stats 16-17. His other Stats' modifier would vary by 1 too. Overall a 1st level character would have Attack +4 / DC 12 as opposed to Attack +5 / DC 13 for Point Buy or Standard Array. It would still be viable to me, i'd even see a challenge in playing such character. I personally find something gratifying in proving such chanarcter worthwhile against all odds!
The biggest problem as I see it is having 3 negative modifiers (unless you nerf your primary stat by putting ASIs into the 8s /9s.
I can be fun to play a character with one negative stat but having three means that:
The best solution is to either not roll for stats in the first place or make up houserules that ensure a reasonable level of balance but if the DM sticks to the rules that is not an option. The alternatives are play a game you don't enjoy, don't play at all or find a way to get a new character.
There is a difference between this and Erikku's case. The wizard there made amn "out of character" decision to attack the guards and had presumably been with the party for a considerable time. To have a character not much different to a commoner meet the rest of the party in a tavern and then have an NPC come in say a bunch of kobalds are attacking the village, it would be quite within his character to cower in the tavern with the NPCs not set up for combat while the rest fo the party fight off the kobalds. It could also be in character to believe onself to be a might warrior when one clearly isn't.
Yes such events will be annoying to the group but at least in session 1 they haven't built up a friendship with the PC that died / ran away, but it might be less annoying than playing without a friend becuase they wouldn't have fun playing with such a weak character.
You can try pointing out to your DM that this wouldn't even be a legal character in 3rd edition. Back then, the minimum for a legal character was one roll of 13 or better and a net +1 ability modifier. You have a character with a 13, but their net modifier is -1. Heck, even in Critical Role they have a minimum total roll of 70. Yours is 61.
In 4E, we were given an acceptable range where our net modifier could fall between +4 and +8 with the standard array being +6. In 5E terms, that's more like +3 to +7 with the standard array being +5. And back in 4E, the DM could make you reroll or adjust your scores to bring them in line. But you could also add +1 to every one of those scores and still only be at a +2. That's still too weak in my book. Better than a commoner, but no better than a CR 1/2 NPC. Sidekick material, basically.
And you could just be a sidekick. Pick a suitable NPC and tack on one of those classes. But I get why that doesn't sound fun.
Rolling for stats (abilities scores and hit points) isn't bad. The game is more forgiving than it used to be, and having some variety helps to keep things interesting. It does suck when things get too low. We like the "feel" of big numbers and rolling large amounts of dice. But we don't always get what we want. I rolled a barely legal character once, using 3.5 math, and still managed to have a mildly successful rogue. I think he had 14 or 15 dexterity after his racial ability score improvements. Everything else was meh.
Again, talk with your DM.
About 0.8% chance (about one in 125 campaigns).
I'm not sure if that is actually what happened, though. OP said they are joining late, so they probably don't know what the other players' original unmodified stats were. I suspect OP is referring to their current stats (including race modifiers and - if they are beyond level 4 - including ASIs).
True, but Standard Array or Point Buy usually has at least 1 already, leaving you with two Stats that has a modifier of -1 instead of 0 or +1, which will usually be tertiary, quaternary, quinary or senary Stats so no big deal really.
I would play that character but it depends on your table. If you are RP heavy and don’t rely on rolls as much as RP your fine I think. But if you are at an optimized table then you are going to be disappointed and the party will have to carry some of your weight.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
I find that the worst character is a low dex low con berserker barbarian
the party will be forced to drop you due to exhaustion- and you absolutely need to rage to keep your meager hp worth while .
The stats aren't the main issue, but the massive gap between this character and the rest of the party. Don't bother with the "ASI's can help improve" because the rest of the party will be getting them too, meaning you will always be well behind the rest of your group. Short term, it's funny sometimes, offering a chance for a chuckle. Full campaign, you will, in short order, start to feel like dead weight, since you can't do much of anything that someone else can d much better.
Talking to the DM is the only viable option, if you intend to run in this campaign and enjoy it. I know many folks have the holier-than-thou tone at times, hat THEY could and would play a sidekick stat character, alongside hero types, but I call BS, because that novelty wears out pretty quick, either for the player, the rest of the group or, most often, both. The DM needs to throw you a bone, as several have pointed out, ONE stat he/she can make a 15, and then you have a myriad of character options that will be useful over the course of a campaign. You'll also have a bunch of crap stats behind it, so RPing such a one-dimensional character can and should be fun, while still allowing you to actually contribute and be useful to the party as a whole.
Rolled stats can be fun, for sure, but there must be a cap, IMO at BOTH ends, so no superman types and no useless lumps of flesh. Point buy is the most rounded, "even" method to build the party under, with standard array a close second. Rolling opens the door to all kinds of idiocy and imbalance, which is why it's not used at our table.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I don’t agree with this. Again, depends on the table and party makeup. If you are trying to go toe to toe alongside the PAM, GWM, fighter then yeah you won’t complete. But if your party doesn’t have someone that can buff (Bless doesn’t require a high casting stat and is good all tiers) or someone who can control the battlefield (you just have to boost your primary stat) or any variety of roles in a group, then it can be doable.
Not saying it’s ideal but not non-viable in many instances.
EZD6 by DM Scotty
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/397599/EZD6-Core-Rulebook?
Those posts are clearly not straight up advice, and anyone who thinks that they are really needs to take a class on reading subtext because it's not difficult to grasp. They are intended as absurdity. The point of the "make a wizard who punches until he dies" highlights that nobody can force a player to run a character with a stat array that they don't want to, and therefore no DM is going to force a player to do that. Rather than coming out hostile against posts that are clearly intended tongue in cheek, I suggest you calm down, take a step back from the computer, and try to remember what jokes are.
You're imagining a world of combative, Captain Internet Forum RAW DM's who force players to stick with rolls they don't want. That doesn't happen in practice.
most of the tables I play at the first choice we make(individually choosing) is roll for stats or standard array.
so if i rolled bad stats I would stick with them because that's what I get for choosing to roll stats.
There are actually several routes I might try.
moon druid.- go high wisdom and try take and spells that require no saves.
Ranger. Max dex -
Choose 1:
take defensive measures.... "hiding/backrow play" or shield builds with darts, get good defensive equipment.
. Possibly go PHB beastmaster or Drakewarden as the "pets" have attacks that are boosted off of proficiency rather than a base score. rangers have Lots of spells that don't require saves based off of your spellcasting modifier and you can free up party druids from certain spells known
Go cleric and Become a support player. Bless will boost self attack rolls and help out two other party members. many cleric spells are ok without max wisdom
Go trixy wizard. max int.... take illusionist spells and defensive ones and try and just come up with creative solutions. Use a familiar, take unseen servant for spreading traps and caltrops(yes you can have more than one). plan be creative and have fun if all else fails waste enemy turns till your team can finish off the rest and then come help.