Post/Author/DateTime	Post
LGMoses 01-06-07, 06:26 PM	I bet everybody has their own system to calculate ability scores. What I always do is take 15,14,13,12,11,10 and arrange them in the priority I would like for the character. Then I tweak them arround until they feel right. What system do you use?
Mommy was an Orc 01-06-07, 07:12 PM	I bet everybody has their own system to calculate ability scores. What I always do is take 15,14,13,12,11,10 and arrange them in the priority I would like for the character. Then I tweak them arround until they feel right. What system do you use? That's a bad system - it encourages you to potentially have 2 odd scores, something that you never want to have unless forced to for some feat reason or because you have a 17. I generally look to see what I must have due to feat prereqs and try to aim for 16/14/14/14/8/8, 16/14/14/12/10/8, or 15/14/14/12/10/10 depending on the goals of the build. I don't generally like 17s or 18s in most builds - they seem a little tweaky in practice.
Puggle Halfwine 01-06-07, 07:21 PM	I tend to do what Mommy does; I take either 18 16 10 8 8 8, or 16 14 14 14 8 8, or 16 16 14 10 8 8 and rearrange them to suit the character. I find I rarely have to deviate from this pattern.
LGMoses 01-06-07, 07:30 PM	That's a bad system - it encourages you to potentially have 2 odd scores, something that you never want to have unless forced to for some feat reason or because you have a 17. I generally look to see what I must have due to feat prereqs and try to aim for 16/14/14/14/8/8, 16/14/14/12/10/8, or 15/14/14/12/10/10 depending on the goals of the build. I don't generally like 17s or 18s in most builds - they seem a little tweaky in practice. ooo, i tweak them a LOT. the bard i'm building is currently: 8/14/10/14/12/16. So i take that and turn it around. It just lets me see my priorities as far as mechanics are concerned.
bhale187 01-06-07, 07:47 PM	I tend to use 14/14/14/14/10/10 or sometimes 16/14/14/14/8/8. On a couple simpleton tanks I have used 18/14/14/8/8/8 (for me those can be a challenge to RP).
Lomiat 01-06-07, 08:13 PM	Let's see. Before racial modifiers, my characters have: 8/12/14/18/10/8 - Wizard 16/14/14/14/8/8 - Fighter 12/16/12/16/8/8 - Arcane Trickster 8/8/8/10/18/16 - Cleric 8/10/14/12/8/18 - Sorceror 10/14/12/14/8/16 - Bard
Arvagor 01-06-07, 10:14 PM	Taking Lomiat's cue, my PCs are: 13/16/12/14/10/9 - Human rogue (yeah, I know; not ideal, but he was my first LG PC. Amusingly enough, he has since picked up an inherent +1 to Cha, and has also picked up a +1 level adjustment, so his remaining stat bump will probably go into Str) 14/14/12/12/14/10 - Asherati ranger 10/12/12/12/16/12 - High elf druid (after racial mods) 14/14/14/10/15/8 - Human monk
LachlarlanIII 01-06-07, 10:41 PM	I always make sure I have no more than 1 odd ability score, and I usually try to make that one a 15 or more. I also don't like to have more than 2 ability scores that are the same after racial modifiers.
jstorrie 01-07-07, 04:15 AM	I'm running a 16/10/14/8/8/16 paladin and he's treating me nicely, since I'm multiclassing out and won't miss the spells. Being a flighty, absent-minded but very willful and outgoing knight errant is much more fun than lawful stupid, too.
Mommy was an Orc 01-07-07, 10:36 AM	Here's my main characters: Human Bard/Marshal = 10/12/14/14/8/16 Wood Elf Rogue Archer = 16/17/12/10/12/8 Human Monk/Sorc/Paladin = 16/14/14/8/8/14 Human Wizard = 8/14/14/16/14/8 Yes, I could have taken an 18 Int with my Wizard, likely with no practical game effect. But I wanted this very life-oriented Wizard, who uses Magic of the Land and possibly Healing domain to cast spells to heal the party(as well as qualifying for Earth Dreamer). That also puts with his Bat Familiar and Earth Dreamer which has Listen as a class skill, the ability to really get a super-high Listen score. Finally, he's a Summoner, so he's not really hugely DC oriented. The Bard - I just don't really like an 8 Str for a Bard - it causes encumbrance problems and it has actually saved him from unrecoverable death from shadowy things.
bhale187 01-07-07, 11:18 AM	Human Cleric 14/14/14/10/14/10 (Hvy Infantry Healer) Human Rogue 14/16/14/14/8/8 (Rogue who is not afraid of frontline) Human Fighter 14/14/14/14/10/10 (Lt Infantry Triper) Human Barbarian 18/14/14/8/8/8 (Lt Infantry/Guerilla) Dwarf Wizard 14/14/16/16/8/6 (high defense Mage-weares chain shirt)
GorTeX 01-07-07, 02:54 PM	My 1st was my Dwarven Barbarian/Figther. 17/10/14(16)/10/13/8(6) planning on going into battlesmith (wisdom bonus to damage) and Deepwarden (con bonus to AC instead of dex). Got an inherent bonus to Wisdom (and a inheirent penalty to cha) along the way, so the 2 odd numbers aren't that bad at all.. besides, you can only add 3 to any stats over the life of your PC anyway..now I can get them all into str for a 20 by the time I'm 12th. Not sure I'd recomend it to others, tho it's workd for me so far. Others are generally 14/14/14/14/12/8 variety...
Jay_Ibero_911 01-07-07, 05:58 PM	I have a few general rules with determing my character's scores...first of all I ALWAYS put at least a 14 in CON before modifiers, and I try to tailor DEX to fit whatever armor I intend the character to use. As far as other stats, prioritize by what the build actually needs. CHA is almost always a dump stat, except for my sorcerer and cleric. Just can't justify the points with no significant mechanical use. I like to put at least a 10 in INT if I can so I at least have normal skill points, and 12 WIS if I can, cause I do like having SOME will save...STR also gets at least a 10 so the PC can carry a backpack at least...
NeSoDak 01-07-07, 07:58 PM	I've decided that my next character's stats will be "rolled" randomly using the Three Dragon Ante card deck. It works pretty good, but it's like rolling dice. You may or may not get something. But unlike using dice, you can actually get it to work for a point system. It's mentioned in the Dragon magazine. I can't remember right off hand which one. I've tried a couple set of stats this route and you really do get a unique character.
_m_ 01-07-07, 09:12 PM	i go with alot more 8's. like, 8 on 3 or 4 stats.
LGMoses 01-07-07, 09:14 PM	as many times as cha is the dump stat as I've seen anything that drains charisma would pretty much screw over most pcs.
Sieylianna 01-08-07, 08:23 AM	I generally avoid less than 10 in any stat. I always put six points into Constitution. My highest stat is never more than 16 and most of the time it is 14/15. I think the majority of my builds have are 14, 14, 14, 14, 10, 10. Ed
Reylance 01-08-07, 03:53 PM	It varies on the character's goal. Will the character be the stereotypical strong fighter? Then a 17 or 18 is appropriate. Will the fighter make use of other abilities? Then use more balanced stats. A lot of my characters were built off balanced arrays like 14/14/14/14/10/10, 15/14/14/14/10/8, 14/14/14/14/12/8, or 14/14/14/12/12/10. Primary spellcasters, though, usually have a 15 or 16 in the casting attribute. The most skewed arrays I've used include 18/12/12/12/8/8 and 16/16/14/10/8/8. I'm using a 15 in the starting array more, now that retirement is 16th level.
kenobi65 01-08-07, 04:19 PM	I typically put a 16 into the primary attribute for the class, a 14 into one or two secondary attributes (into Con if I can help it), with the others falling out with however many points are left. Usually, I wind up with one dump stat at 8. :(
CrystalBlue 01-08-07, 04:41 PM	Most of the time, I try to justify having a higher stat in one area or another. I'll only put an 18 into something if I can maximize it to it's fullest potential. Like a specilized wizard or a BDF. Most of the time, I try to go with a 16 into a stat that's going to be used by multiple classes. Like my new build, the Bard/Marshal/Paladin. He's getting a 16 in charisma because so many things from the three classes just click into it nicely.
clannagh 01-08-07, 05:23 PM	to be honest it depends a lot on the build I do use 15/14/14/12/10/10 a lot but also often a "needs to be good at everything" build might end up 14/14/12/12/12/12. I even occasionally do the "stat maxed to 20 with racial mods" builds just for the hell of it (my primary ranger character is one of these, cant cast ranger spells, no hitpoints and no skills at all but stupidly high dex) . The interesting thing is these builds are seriously nobbled and ineffectual and after the first level the benefit of teh bumped stat is minimal yet the characters continually attract criticism as being "power gamed". One thing that continually confounds me is people putting double points into a stat and then turning around and taking soemthing else as their stat bump at level 4 :)
_m_ 01-08-07, 09:18 PM	iirc, my wizard had, at level 8 (wit item and bumps) 6 str 8 dex 18 con 25 int 12 wis 8 cha i'll quite hapily take 8's, or even 6's, in my dump stats.
Japangirl 01-08-07, 10:28 PM	I have mostly maxed stats on my characters, because I want them to be good at what they do. I also find that if they are good at what they do, they live a lot better. Also, even on my elf I have a 14 Con. Hitpoints are living, and I find it important to make sure my characters live. So my halfling rogue, at 13 (with gloves of dex +2 and an inherent bump to Con), has Str: 10 Dex: 22 Con: 16 Int: 14 Wis: 8 Cha: 10 My Grey Elf wizard, at 6 my most min/maxed toon (with headband of int +2), has Str: 8 Dex: 10 Con: 14 Int: 23 Wis: 8 Cha: 8 My half-elf bard, at 3, has Str: 9 Dex: 10 Con: 14 Int: 14 Wis: 8 Cha: 17
cycloptic_squirrel 01-09-07, 01:25 AM	I guess I'm an odd duck here. I start with 8's and just start adding numbers to scores, starting with the most relevant ability and working down to least relevant. It helps me put priority on the important stats and makes me question what I can get away with at the low end of the spectrum. Sometimes I get a few points left over and I use those to have fun with. That said I almost always throw my Con to a 14. So far it's given me these arrays: 10/10/14/14/14/14 - bard/cleric 16/12/14/12/12/8 - barbarian/wizard 6/16/16/16/10/8 - wizard (yeah, some lucky shadow will bring me to tears on this one)
Alpha_Nerd 01-09-07, 11:02 AM	My Wood-Elf Abombination has STR 16 DEX 16 CON 12 WIS 12 INT 10 CHA 10 My Dwarf Wizard has STR 8 DEX 8 CON 18 INT 18 WIS 10 CHA 8 My Halfling Outrider has STR 14 DEX12 CON 15 INT 10 WIS 14 CHA 8 I don't know if this helps at all, but I don't really like having "standard" stat distribution. It seems too vanilla. Some characters I make extremes, some I make well-rounded, it's just more interesting that way.
JamesMaissen 01-09-07, 02:29 PM	I bet everybody has their own system to calculate ability scores. What I always do is take 15,14,13,12,11,10 and arrange them in the priority I would like for the character. Then I tweak them arround until they feel right. What system do you use? I typically consider which stats that I want to invest in for the character. I put 6 points into that (for a base 14 before racial adjusts). I then tweak from there (either with 4-10 extra points, or with a deficit). This seems to obtain the majority of the popular stat distributions when there is no pressing need for other abilities. In general I always consider CON a stat to invest in (I like my characters to live and have options in combat), James
Morgen 01-09-07, 03:47 PM	Personally I have an excel spreadsheet I made with all the different races so I can see what the stats look like with a woof elf versus a gnome or a dwarf. Ususally I start by putting everything at 10 and then seeing what needs to go up or down. I don't particularly like to have 8's if I can help it. My characters: 12th Sorc - 10,14,12,12,10,19 9th Pally - 18,10,13,14,12,16 (he's a dragon diciple and got a +1 con somewhere.) 2nd illusionist - 8,14,16,16,10,10 (gnome)
kenobi65 01-09-07, 04:56 PM	woof elf I wouldn't play one of those. That race is a dog. :D
denny1824 01-10-07, 11:16 PM	I usually start with 18/14/14/8/8/8, 16/14/14/10/10/10, or 14/14/14/14/10/10 depending on what type of character I want to make. I then add in racial stats. I also like to plan out what my 3 stat bumbs are going to be in. By default one of the 14s is going to go into CON. Unless I am going to start one stat at least at 18, I usually dont have any below 10. If I do have any below 10 they will be a dump stat in INT, WIZ, or CHA. I hate STR penalties, even for a wizard. In the end, I end up "tweaking" my character where the final stats I choose may be very different than where I started, may be exactly the same, or anywhere in between.
_m_ 01-10-07, 11:23 PM	I usually start with 18/14/14/8/8/8, 16/14/14/10/10/10, or 14/14/14/14/10/10 depending on what type of character I want to make. I then add in racial stats. I also like to plan out what my 3 stat bumbs are going to be in. By default one of the 14s is going to go into CON. Unless I am going to start one stat at least at 18, I usually dont have any below 10. If I do have any below 10 they will be a dump stat in INT, WIZ, or CHA. I hate STR penalties, even for a wizard. In the end, I end up "tweaking" my character where the final stats I choose may be very different than where I started, may be exactly the same, or anywhere in between. i like str penalties with a wiz. adds flavour imo, a gnome who, if she wanted to, could blow up your house... but she couldnt open the front door... its too heavy for her to push. i also always try for 1 or 3 uneven bump stats, ending with a stat on an uneven number is no good unless you have an ioun stone or some of those crazy books lying around, but you cant plan around those. i only have 1 even statted (u know, like 14ish of all stats) toon, the rest are 18s and 8s.
clannagh 01-11-07, 12:44 AM	i like str penalties with a wiz. adds flavour imo, a gnome who, if she wanted to, could blow up your house... but she couldnt open the front door... its too heavy for her to push. i also always try for 1 or 3 uneven bump stats, ending with a stat on an uneven number is no good unless you have an ioun stone or some of those crazy books lying around, but you cant plan around those. i only have 1 even statted (u know, like 14ish of all stats) toon, the rest are 18s and 8s. the stat ioun stones are all +2 old boy ... only the luck one is +1
_m_ 01-11-07, 04:52 PM	old boy :uh-huh: ok, so just the books and random ar stat buffs to change non evens then.