Eberron Ability Stats [Archive] - Wizards Community

Eberron Ability Stats [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Jason_Sunday
04-13-05, 09:38 AM What ability stats methoed fits Eberron best? I usually have my players roll three sets of the 6 ability scores using 4d6 drop the lowest number and then let them chose the set they like the best. Example:

Set 1 Set2 Set3
10 8 11
12 14 9
11 13 16
10 10 13
18 16 15
14 18 17

If the player chooses Set 1 then they have to take the whole column. And then assign them as they would like. I think this might be to powerful for the setting considering that the PC classes are rare. Could this work for Eberron too?
the.eberron.traveler
04-13-05, 07:36 PM It's fine, you just have to take it into account when designing your adventures. Like you said, PC classes are rare, so PCs are special to begin with. Running plausible yet challenging encounters in a low level world is always challenging unless you keep the PCs low level too. So, unless you're going to do that, the extra difficulty of slightly above average stats isn't a major source of problems.
Jason_Sunday
04-14-05, 09:37 PM Only 1 reply and 90 viewed? Can I get a few more thoughts, please?
Alextroy
04-14-05, 09:59 PM I'm not big on rolled attributes as they can lead to drastically different attribute levels between the PCs.

For example, if you assume your three examples are the best results for three different players. Based on the rolls, you end up with one player having a set of attributes equal to a 33 point DMG Point Buy, while the second has a 39 point DMG Point Buy, and the final has a 40 point DMG Point Buy. Player one is going to be inferior and it will be felt over time.

A better bet for Eberron is to use the Point Buy System and pick a number, no matter how generous. It will then allow you to better sculpt encounters without having to worry about diverging power level of characters due to attributes.

Alextroy
PoeticJustice
04-14-05, 10:10 PM I go 32 point build. One of my players is violently opposed to any sort of buy so I let him roll his stats. Once. Before my eyes. No reroll unless the character is helpless. He gets fairly lucky with dice, so he makes out okay. The pont buy is to give somewhat unlucky players an option.
Ath'kethin
04-14-05, 11:14 PM It's all largely dependant on what you do as a DM, and how touch things are going to be for your players. For example, in my current campaign, I used a VERY generous ability score generation method for my PCs: roll 5d6, drop the two lowest, and reroll 1s. Arrange as desired. In addition, I allowed my players to pick two of the rolls and drop only the lowest, in essence making them 4d6 rolls.

Now, the reason I did this was because when the campaign started, it was just me and one player, and he needed to be on the tough side just to survive. When two more players wanted to join, I allowed the same generation method because otherwise my options were 1) making the first guy reroll his stats and/or make a new character, which we didn't want because his character was well fleshed-out and developed, or 2) have one character with substatially higher scores than the other two, which would have been unfair.

The campaign is progressing nicely, and all three players are having fun (as am I). I just need to take into account the higher capabilities they have and adjust my plans and the encounters accordingly. This isn't difficult, it just requires more attention on my part.

So use whatever method you want. As long as you can work with it, and the whole group (players and you) are enjoying yourselves, it makes little difference. Just make sure to scale up major NPCs as well; low-level thugs are OK to have on the weak side, because they're cannon fodder, but major villains should be more memorable encounters.
Ravenscroft
04-14-05, 11:41 PM Oh well , call me a munchkin GM then i guess.

I tell players to put their Primary stat at 18.
Get them to roll 4d6 , take the best 3 , and to re-roll 1's and 2's.
I used to use 2d6+6 , re-roll 1's & 2's.

I also use the 'half effect' dice rule.
So whatever you roll on hit-dice or damage dice does at least half the maximum possible roll (Not! for d20 rolls).
So if you have hit die of d12 , min. is 6.
for a 10d6 fireball , min. on d6 is 3 , so min. of 30pts damage.
This applies to PCs & NPCs.
Gnome_Dragon_Disciple
04-15-05, 02:56 AM I'm powering down my campaigns to put the emphasis more on roleplay than "Hey! lookie what I can do!"... As such, I'm using a modified elite array as follows:
15
15
11
11
8
7

They come to 21 point point buy, but except for the 8, each mod can be upped as characters level up. This also forces characters to cover one party role well rather than everyone doing everything (or worse, everyone min/maxing). Beyond that, it still puts them head-and-shoulders above your normal NPC's while not making them capable of taking on double their number of town guards at level one. My players have made quite playable characters with the stats, and if they REALLY need it, I make resources and items available through backstory and roleplay.

For example, I have a kenku transmuter in my party who is of an old age (and I mean he's taking penalties from his extreme age)... his stength total is 3. The kenku is also of the Esoteric Order of Aureon, so I said an old friend of his in the guild recently passed away and bequeathed an Amulet of Vitality (+2 to strength so he could actually be able to wear clothing and carry a walking stick without falling over from exertion). The amulet also allows him to use Unseen Servant with an exremely reduced duration five times per day... and by "reduced duration", I mean the servant has about enough time to fetch a dish down from a high cupboard before it goes poof, instead of one hour. It's essentially an old person's grabber thingie.
polt
04-15-05, 03:47 AM What ability stats methoed fits Eberron best? I usually have my players roll three sets of the 6 ability scores using 4d6 drop the lowest number and then let them chose the set they like the best. Example:

If the player chooses Set 1 then they have to take the whole column. And then assign them as they would like. I think this might be to powerful for the setting considering that the PC classes are rare. Could this work for Eberron too?

I do exactly the same thing actually.
anthrorob
04-15-05, 04:35 AM Right now the Eberron campaign I play in, it is a 25 point buy.

I personally like to give the players a choice: Roll with my dice, in front of me (3d6, 6 times) and they can take it, or a 30 point buy. Which ever they choose.

It is much easier to account for higher stats in a game than lower ones. (As in: "Wow he killed 20 kobolds and not one did damage...hmm I guess I will have to beef them up" VERSUS "Wow, I didn't expect a kobold to kill off four members of the group!")

Anthrorob
Jason_Sunday
04-15-05, 11:30 AM Good point. It seems my usual way for allowing stats produce slightly more powerful characters than other options. Sometimes it will make a player the star of the game because of unusually high scores. My players rarely get below a ten so they really don't have the oportunity to roleplay weak scores? :doh: But the players usually have great time. :D

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Jason_Sunday 04-13-05, 09:38 AM	What ability stats methoed fits Eberron best? I usually have my players roll three sets of the 6 ability scores using 4d6 drop the lowest number and then let them chose the set they like the best. Example: Set 1 Set2 Set3 10 8 11 12 14 9 11 13 16 10 10 13 18 16 15 14 18 17 If the player chooses Set 1 then they have to take the whole column. And then assign them as they would like. I think this might be to powerful for the setting considering that the PC classes are rare. Could this work for Eberron too?
the.eberron.traveler 04-13-05, 07:36 PM	It's fine, you just have to take it into account when designing your adventures. Like you said, PC classes are rare, so PCs are special to begin with. Running plausible yet challenging encounters in a low level world is always challenging unless you keep the PCs low level too. So, unless you're going to do that, the extra difficulty of slightly above average stats isn't a major source of problems.
Jason_Sunday 04-14-05, 09:37 PM	Only 1 reply and 90 viewed? Can I get a few more thoughts, please?
Alextroy 04-14-05, 09:59 PM	I'm not big on rolled attributes as they can lead to drastically different attribute levels between the PCs. For example, if you assume your three examples are the best results for three different players. Based on the rolls, you end up with one player having a set of attributes equal to a 33 point DMG Point Buy, while the second has a 39 point DMG Point Buy, and the final has a 40 point DMG Point Buy. Player one is going to be inferior and it will be felt over time. A better bet for Eberron is to use the Point Buy System and pick a number, no matter how generous. It will then allow you to better sculpt encounters without having to worry about diverging power level of characters due to attributes. Alextroy
PoeticJustice 04-14-05, 10:10 PM	I go 32 point build. One of my players is violently opposed to any sort of buy so I let him roll his stats. Once. Before my eyes. No reroll unless the character is helpless. He gets fairly lucky with dice, so he makes out okay. The pont buy is to give somewhat unlucky players an option.
Ath'kethin 04-14-05, 11:14 PM	It's all largely dependant on what you do as a DM, and how touch things are going to be for your players. For example, in my current campaign, I used a VERY generous ability score generation method for my PCs: roll 5d6, drop the two lowest, and reroll 1s. Arrange as desired. In addition, I allowed my players to pick two of the rolls and drop only the lowest, in essence making them 4d6 rolls. Now, the reason I did this was because when the campaign started, it was just me and one player, and he needed to be on the tough side just to survive. When two more players wanted to join, I allowed the same generation method because otherwise my options were 1) making the first guy reroll his stats and/or make a new character, which we didn't want because his character was well fleshed-out and developed, or 2) have one character with substatially higher scores than the other two, which would have been unfair. The campaign is progressing nicely, and all three players are having fun (as am I). I just need to take into account the higher capabilities they have and adjust my plans and the encounters accordingly. This isn't difficult, it just requires more attention on my part. So use whatever method you want. As long as you can work with it, and the whole group (players and you) are enjoying yourselves, it makes little difference. Just make sure to scale up major NPCs as well; low-level thugs are OK to have on the weak side, because they're cannon fodder, but major villains should be more memorable encounters.
Ravenscroft 04-14-05, 11:41 PM	Oh well , call me a munchkin GM then i guess. I tell players to put their Primary stat at 18. Get them to roll 4d6 , take the best 3 , and to re-roll 1's and 2's. I used to use 2d6+6 , re-roll 1's & 2's. I also use the 'half effect' dice rule. So whatever you roll on hit-dice or damage dice does at least half the maximum possible roll (Not! for d20 rolls). So if you have hit die of d12 , min. is 6. for a 10d6 fireball , min. on d6 is 3 , so min. of 30pts damage. This applies to PCs & NPCs.
Gnome_Dragon_Disciple 04-15-05, 02:56 AM	I'm powering down my campaigns to put the emphasis more on roleplay than "Hey! lookie what I can do!"... As such, I'm using a modified elite array as follows: 15 15 11 11 8 7 They come to 21 point point buy, but except for the 8, each mod can be upped as characters level up. This also forces characters to cover one party role well rather than everyone doing everything (or worse, everyone min/maxing). Beyond that, it still puts them head-and-shoulders above your normal NPC's while not making them capable of taking on double their number of town guards at level one. My players have made quite playable characters with the stats, and if they REALLY need it, I make resources and items available through backstory and roleplay. For example, I have a kenku transmuter in my party who is of an old age (and I mean he's taking penalties from his extreme age)... his stength total is 3. The kenku is also of the Esoteric Order of Aureon, so I said an old friend of his in the guild recently passed away and bequeathed an Amulet of Vitality (+2 to strength so he could actually be able to wear clothing and carry a walking stick without falling over from exertion). The amulet also allows him to use Unseen Servant with an exremely reduced duration five times per day... and by "reduced duration", I mean the servant has about enough time to fetch a dish down from a high cupboard before it goes poof, instead of one hour. It's essentially an old person's grabber thingie.
polt 04-15-05, 03:47 AM	What ability stats methoed fits Eberron best? I usually have my players roll three sets of the 6 ability scores using 4d6 drop the lowest number and then let them chose the set they like the best. Example: If the player chooses Set 1 then they have to take the whole column. And then assign them as they would like. I think this might be to powerful for the setting considering that the PC classes are rare. Could this work for Eberron too? I do exactly the same thing actually.
anthrorob 04-15-05, 04:35 AM	Right now the Eberron campaign I play in, it is a 25 point buy. I personally like to give the players a choice: Roll with my dice, in front of me (3d6, 6 times) and they can take it, or a 30 point buy. Which ever they choose. It is much easier to account for higher stats in a game than lower ones. (As in: "Wow he killed 20 kobolds and not one did damage...hmm I guess I will have to beef them up" VERSUS "Wow, I didn't expect a kobold to kill off four members of the group!") Anthrorob
Jason_Sunday 04-15-05, 11:30 AM	Good point. It seems my usual way for allowing stats produce slightly more powerful characters than other options. Sometimes it will make a player the star of the game because of unusually high scores. My players rarely get below a ten so they really don't have the oportunity to roleplay weak scores? :doh: But the players usually have great time. :D