Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Rowan_Whispercloak 11-08-06, 07:03 PM	:P Disclaimer: I am not the biggest fan of point buy, the only reason I have even wanted to use it as been a Dragon Magazine article about using Three Dragon Ante cards as a way to randomize the point buy characters. :P So I was reading some of the threads about point buy and which amount to use and the advantages and disadvantages of the system and the idea came up. For the most part primary casters (ones who get 9th level spells) only need one (some cases two) good score (usually calls single attribute dependence) and the rest just are there to add benefits. So how much would it effect the game if such character received a lower point buy amount than other character. I do see the potential for abuse in taking a class for a higher point buy and building a gish character, but I am curious has anyone tried this and what was the results? If you haven’t tried this method what do you predict the outcome to be?
Xeviat-DM 11-08-06, 11:49 PM	Class balance should start, first and foremost, with classes. And wizards don't just need a high Int; they need a high Dex so they're not arrow bait and so their Reflex save isn't horrible (xd4+4 HP vs. x+1d6 fireballs ...?), and they want a reasonable Con so they aren't doomed by area affect spells (same as above). Heck, I made a rogue/wizard who was headed for Arcane Trickster, and I quickly was regretting my Str of 8.
Mitchell 11-09-06, 12:09 AM	If all classes are created equal, then punishing someone for choosing a SAD class as opposed to a MAD class by giving them fewer points isn't a satisfactory answer, in my mind. I realize that all classes will not always be equal, no matter how much care is taken in their creation, simply because of the customization factor... Even two characters of the same class won't always be equal. Every class would benefit from 18s across the board. As long as that is true, then this system doesn't work for me.
makeshiftwings 11-10-06, 04:31 AM	Also you'd be tying someone into figuring out their entire character progression to level 20 before they even roll their level 1 character for the first game. If someone said they wanted to be a wizard and you gimped them so that all they could do was put points into intelligence, then there's no way the character can ever feel alright about multiclassing into rogue or fighter even if it made sense in character five months down the road. On the opposite side, there's nothing stopping someone from saying "I'm going to be a paladin" at level 1, getting a whole bunch of high ability scores from you, and then switching to sorceror for levels 2-20, which would make him vastly better than the poor chump who told you he wanted to be a sorceror at level 1 and has nothing but Charisma.
User5127 11-10-06, 09:02 AM	Point buy is meant for characters to role play their character with its iconic strengths and weaknesses, instead of relying on rolls. this way the wizard always has a high int, a fighter a high str, a cleric a high wis and a rogue a high dex. I'm very much in favor of point buy. but it can become to crazy if you hand out to many points. also: to give the players a sense of control in the system; I had each of the four players make open rolls (4d6 and drop lowest) then I rolled the other two in the open. got my six scores, reversed them in the point buy system to calculate the points needed to get those scores and handed out that many points to each player. this way the players still get that "rolling dice feel" but they also can choose where to put their high stat. They also get a group effort feeling since every one contributes to the overall groupds ability scores. so it helps pull the group together (in a mentality sence) before you even start to play.