Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Spinhx Nov 02, 2014 8:53:16	Iam a little in doubt if this belong in the GM or player section but here is my question anyway.   I have a group of 3 players that is about to make some lvl 1 characters for 5e but already here there is a minor complication. 1 of them want to roll the dices to determent his ability scores, another want to use the pointbuy to create his character and the 3rd dont care, either will do.   Personaly I would like to have all characters to be created in the same manner so either all roll or all use points, but this will make an early conflict that can be avoided if iam large and say create it in the way you want.   But how do you out there normaly solve this? in the end I guess it is up the the GM (in this case me) but would like some opinions, on the matter on how you would solve it.
#2 Llenlleawg Nov 02, 2014 12:01:06	This is actually easy; just let each one do what he wants. That is, it really costs you nothing to have the ability scores be generated in different methods. Just make sure that everyone understands what's at stake. That is, the one who wants to roll needs to know that he might not get any 15s, and might indeed end up with a bunch of 12s or 11s. Odds are, he won't, but he needs to know this might happen. Likewise, the one who wants to use point-buy needs to know that the one who rolled might end up with scores higher than he could get by point buy. He probably won't, or at least not by much, but it might happen. If everyone's cool with that, the math works out fine any way you like. So, if there is a lucky roller with an 18 and a 17, the math is still fine to play with someone with point buy or standard array. Likewise, he's not going to be prevented from having fun if his highest score is a 14.
#3 paulstrait Nov 02, 2014 12:29:41	I always let the players choose, and even give them some extra options from previous edition rulebooks (like roll 6d6 for each score in order, taking the best 3 -- will give you better scores on average than 4d6 drop the lowest & assign, but you have to be flexible in what you make b/c you don't get to pick which scores go where).  Honestly it doesn't really make much of a difference what method they choose.  Occassionally with random methods you get a character that is especially 'good,' but at best it is generally like finding one good magic item.  Some people like the luck element, others don't, and I've found it is best to let individuals opt for their preference.  The same is true for rolling for hp when levelling up vs. taking the average.
#4 abs1nth Nov 02, 2014 13:09:10	I think rolling for stats is awesome for a one-shot, for a longer campaign I'm not sure I like the implications of either poor or too high abilities. I've used the standard scores so far. It definitely makes the characters feel more cookie-cutter. Basically, I want a middle ground of randomization and not having to deal with 19 in a main stat (including racial bonuses) on a 1st lvl character or really poor stats across the board.   As for your conundrum, it depends on how much the players want to do it their way. Is there a good reason to not allow it though? I guess I also would prefer everyone using the same method but does it really matter in the end?   Edit: I think what I want would be a randomly determined point buy but not capped at 15 or 8. Stats can be above average or below but adding everything up it's still balanced. Wouldn't know how to roll for that from the top of my head though.
#5 AaronOfBarbaria Nov 02, 2014 13:21:24	Let the players do what they want to get their ability scores (so long as they aren't insisting that point buy needs more points or that they should be rolling with some other method).   The game is no so fragile as to collapse just because the players didn't use the same ability score generation method. Nor is it so fragile that it will collapse just because the player(s) that roll scores have higher or lower overall scores than the point buy player(s) have.   The point is to have fun, and there is no point in impinging on that fun right from the start by forcing a player to play a character with ability scores they don't like.
#6 Coredump00 Nov 02, 2014 18:48:46	Just make sure you cover all of the bases and that every player knows all the details.   Trickiest part... what do you do if the player rolls poorly?  Will you end up letting him reroll? Wil you insist he sticks with them?  If a 'poor stats' character dies, what do you do about the next character?
#7 iserith Nov 03, 2014 5:21:22	I prefer the players use whatever rules legal method they want. Any stat rolling, however, must be done in front of the group (or in a VTT so that the rolls are "on the record") so that nobody can accuse someone else of cheating. Whatever method the player chooses, they agree to stick by the results.
#8 OoftaMeg Nov 03, 2014 7:39:48	Personally I'm not a fan of rolling stats in part because people tend to roll until they get a character with high stats.  It also tends to lead to a lot of variation of character abilities that affect the entire life of the campaign.   If they insist have them roll in front of the group.  If the character is suicidal because of bad rolls let them create a replacement character with a point buy.   But then again I've DMed for a long time and one of my rules has always been that if you want to join the campaign you have to use a point buy.  You're the DM and you're going to have to make decisions about all sorts of rulings and you have to be comfortable with what you decide.