When to Re-roll Stats - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 Novama Sep 01, 2014 12:26:45	When rolling ability scores (the stats) using the standard method (4d6, drop lowest number), when is it okay or necessary to reroll? In forums, I have seen it said that if total ability mod of all stats put together is 0 or less, then the character needs rerolled. I have also seen where if all player stats are 13 or less, then the character should be rerolled. Also, are the suggested times to reroll ever supported by official dnd sources? (ex: book X states to reroll when character doesn't meet Y requirements OR Situation W requires stats of at least Z so characters not meeting this cannot be adventurers)
#2 Plaguescarred1 Sep 01, 2014 12:39:44	Novama wrote:
#3 alienux Sep 01, 2014 12:42:39	This is really up to the DM. There are no official rules for rerolling bad stats. In the games I run, we let the dice do what they're supposed. The point of rolling 4 and dropping 1 is to help negate some of the bad rolls, otherwise it would just be roll 3 and take what you get. I always let my players know that whatever we roll, we use. And I've had some very good characters in my games that were a result of someone doing a great job of playing a character with less than stellar stats, and they enjoyed overcoming the odds this way. Now, I'd never try to tell anyone else to do it that way, and there are all kinds of house rules that people use for rolling their stats. I've seen the roll 4 drop 1 used, but done 7 times and dropping the worst. I've heard of people rolling, and they if they don't like what they got, they switch to the standard array or point buy. Honestly, even though I know it's possible, I've never had anyone have a really bad character by sticking to using what is rolled. You're just as likely to get an extra powerful character this way, too. My philosophy is that if you're going to use the dice, then use the dice. If you don't like what you get with the dice, then there isn't much point in using them. Again, this is just how I run my games, and I've never had a complaint from anyone in my games, but there are plenty of acceptable ways of getting around bad stats if that's what you prefer.
#4 Kentus Sep 01, 2014 12:54:02	Normally, I'd just look at the entire stat-line and decide, if it's doable. More of a gut-feeling here, since there are many reasons why and why not to allow some stats. But recently I'll use simply point-by, because one player rolls always above average for abilities and one always below. That's too much of a bummer for the low-rolling one, after enduring it over several campaigns and systems.
#5 Novama Sep 01, 2014 13:15:41	With game statistics set aside, what about the stats themselves representing various levels of skill and competence? There are animals and beasts with scores as high as around 5. Heroes with mental stats like those would be nearly impossible to play right unless played like the mindless beast they are like. Specifically what I'm getting at is isn't there a chart of sorts that compares creatures and beings stats in the 6 catagories that would put adventures at slime levels of inability?
#6 baronspam Sep 01, 2014 13:21:32	I hate rolling stats and would personally have to question my participation in a game that did not give me the option of point buy or an array. Here is why: DnD is not just a role playing experience, it is also a mechanical game with rules and numbers. The rules and numbers, for many of us, are at least part of the fun. I am ok with randomness for particular actions. A few bad rolls in a row may frustrate you for a particular combat, but you will have more rolls and there will be other combats where you hit a critical at a key moment or otherwise shine. The problem with randomness at character creation is that there is not going to be any more stat generation later to let random distribution balance out some bad rolls. A set of bad stats will hamper you FOREVER with that character. I know there are some role playing fanatics who really beleive that its ok to have a fighter with an 11 str or a rogue with a 9 dex, but it makes you suck at your job. I don't think its fun to suck at your job and its not fair to other players in the party who are counting on you being good at your job. If held hostage and foced to play in a game with random stat rolls I would say that if your final line up did not have at least one stat at a 14 or better before racial mods, and that your overall modifiers did not add up to +3 or more, then you should get a chance to reroll. Otherwise, you are just getting shafted with no way for that to balance out later.
#7 Jbickley00 Sep 01, 2014 13:33:19	I usually re roll anything below an 8. I'll saddle a character with a 9 or two, because it absorbs those racial increases ans forces choices. That way not every character comes into my game optimized with 18s or better in primary abilities. I'm not nuts about the array because it homgeonizes characters in my experience, and point buy (again in my experience) often produces charisma 7 fighters with high con, st, and dex., which the player then says he has cone up with a creative way of playing an asshole fighter who acts like House MD.... on the other hand, I don't want player crippled by mediocrity, unless I am laying scrub dnd, so they should have dome advantage. I'd give a player with all 10s or 11s a d4 or d6 worth of free poits to put where they want. Ultimately levels should matter more than stats.
#8 CorwynnMaelstrom Sep 01, 2014 13:53:40	I tend to do it when there's total mods for one of my players of somewhere near 0. (Sometimes that means +1 or +2 depending on their concept.) In my current campaign I have a player with a 6 Con. He didn't ask for a reroll, he just concieved his backstory as being a former slave who was continually beaten and kept locked up and in chains as a child. Honestly, low scores (below 8) are not a great reason to reroll IMO. Where you run into problems it is usually not because someone has a pretty hideous dump stat. It's when they have no strengths to offset it.
#9 rettekram Sep 01, 2014 14:07:27	I seem to remember an official guideline where if the average of all the stat bonuses was only +1 the player should re-roll. As a DM I have, on occasion, allowed the players a "power stat" where they replace their lowerest number with a d20 roll. Depends on the campaign though.
#10 Plaguescarred1 Sep 01, 2014 15:57:59	FWIW The D&D 3.5 PHB said the following about rerolling; REROLLING: If your scores are too low, you may scrap them and roll all six scores again. Your scores are considered too low if the sum of your modifiers (before adjustments because of race) is 0 or lower, or if your highest score is 13 or lower.
#11 Plaguescarred1 Sep 01, 2014 15:57:59	FWIW The D&D 3.5 PHB said the following about rerolling; REROLLING: If your scores are too low, you may scrap them and roll all six scores again. Your scores are considered too low if the sum of your modifiers (before adjustments because of race) is 0 or lower, or if your highest score is 13 or lower.
#12 AaronOfBarbaria Sep 01, 2014 16:08:46	I advocate re-rolling only if you feel that you would not at all enjoy your character with the scores that you have rolled. Of course, the other side of that equation is me encouraging players to be reasonable about how high their scores need to be in order to be enjoyable (such as my players not feeling like they need 18s or a trio of 16s just to be any good).

Post/Author/DateTime

Post

Novama

Sep 01, 2014 12:26:45

When rolling ability scores (the stats) using the standard method (4d6, drop lowest number), when is it okay or necessary to reroll?

In forums, I have seen it said that if total ability mod of all stats put together is 0 or less, then the character needs rerolled.

I have also seen where if all player stats are 13 or less, then the character should be rerolled.

Also, are the suggested times to reroll ever supported by official dnd sources? (ex: book X states to reroll when character doesn't meet Y requirements OR Situation W requires stats of at least Z so characters not meeting this cannot be adventurers)

Plaguescarred1

Sep 01, 2014 12:39:44

Novama wrote:

alienux

Sep 01, 2014 12:42:39

This is really up to the DM. There are no official rules for rerolling bad stats.

In the games I run, we let the dice do what they're supposed. The point of rolling 4 and dropping 1 is to help negate some of the bad rolls, otherwise it would just be roll 3 and take what you get. I always let my players know that whatever we roll, we use. And I've had some very good characters in my games that were a result of someone doing a great job of playing a character with less than stellar stats, and they enjoyed overcoming the odds this way.

Now, I'd never try to tell anyone else to do it that way, and there are all kinds of house rules that people use for rolling their stats. I've seen the roll 4 drop 1 used, but done 7 times and dropping the worst. I've heard of people rolling, and they if they don't like what they got, they switch to the standard array or point buy.

Honestly, even though I know it's possible, I've never had anyone have a really bad character by sticking to using what is rolled. You're just as likely to get an extra powerful character this way, too. My philosophy is that if you're going to use the dice, then use the dice. If you don't like what you get with the dice, then there isn't much point in using them.

Again, this is just how I run my games, and I've never had a complaint from anyone in my games, but there are plenty of acceptable ways of getting around bad stats if that's what you prefer.

Kentus

Sep 01, 2014 12:54:02

Normally, I'd just look at the entire stat-line and decide, if it's doable. More of a gut-feeling here, since there are many reasons why and why not to allow some stats.

But recently I'll use simply point-by, because one player rolls always above average for abilities and one always below. That's too much of a bummer for the low-rolling one, after enduring it over several campaigns and systems.

Novama

Sep 01, 2014 13:15:41

With game statistics set aside, what about the stats themselves representing various levels of skill and competence?

There are animals and beasts with scores as high as around 5. Heroes with mental stats like those would be nearly impossible to play right unless played like the mindless beast they are like.

Specifically what I'm getting at is isn't there a chart of sorts that compares creatures and beings stats in the 6 catagories that would put adventures at slime levels of inability?

baronspam

Sep 01, 2014 13:21:32

I hate rolling stats and would personally have to question my participation in a game that did not give me the option of point buy or an array.

Here is why: DnD is not just a role playing experience, it is also a mechanical game with rules and numbers. The rules and numbers, for many of us, are at least part of the fun. I am ok with randomness for particular actions. A few bad rolls in a row may frustrate you for a particular combat, but you will have more rolls and there will be other combats where you hit a critical at a key moment or otherwise shine.

The problem with randomness at character creation is that there is not going to be any more stat generation later to let random distribution balance out some bad rolls. A set of bad stats will hamper you FOREVER with that character. I know there are some role playing fanatics who really beleive that its ok to have a fighter with an 11 str or a rogue with a 9 dex, but it makes you suck at your job. I don't think its fun to suck at your job and its not fair to other players in the party who are counting on you being good at your job.

If held hostage and foced to play in a game with random stat rolls I would say that if your final line up did not have at least one stat at a 14 or better before racial mods, and that your overall modifiers did not add up to +3 or more, then you should get a chance to reroll. Otherwise, you are just getting shafted with no way for that to balance out later.

Jbickley00

Sep 01, 2014 13:33:19

I usually re roll anything below an 8. I'll saddle a character with a 9 or two, because it absorbs those racial increases ans forces choices. That way not every character comes into my game optimized with 18s or better in primary abilities. I'm not nuts about the array because it homgeonizes characters in my experience, and point buy (again in my experience) often produces charisma 7 fighters with high con, st, and dex., which the player then says he has cone up with a creative way of playing an asshole fighter who acts like House MD....

on the other hand, I don't want player crippled by mediocrity, unless I am laying scrub dnd, so they should have dome advantage. I'd give a player with all 10s or 11s a d4 or d6 worth of free poits to put where they want. Ultimately levels should matter more than stats.

CorwynnMaelstrom

Sep 01, 2014 13:53:40

I tend to do it when there's total mods for one of my players of somewhere near 0. (Sometimes that means +1 or +2 depending on their concept.) In my current campaign I have a player with a 6 Con. He didn't ask for a reroll, he just concieved his backstory as being a former slave who was continually beaten and kept locked up and in chains as a child.

Honestly, low scores (below 8) are not a great reason to reroll IMO. Where you run into problems it is usually not because someone has a pretty hideous dump stat. It's when they have no strengths to offset it.

rettekram

Sep 01, 2014 14:07:27

I seem to remember an official guideline where if the average of all the stat bonuses was only +1 the player should re-roll.

As a DM I have, on occasion, allowed the players a "power stat" where they replace their lowerest number with a d20 roll. Depends on the campaign though.

#10

Plaguescarred1

Sep 01, 2014 15:57:59

FWIW The D&D 3.5 PHB said the following about rerolling;

REROLLING: If your scores are too low, you may scrap them and roll all six scores again. Your scores are considered too low if the sum of your modifiers (before adjustments because of race) is 0 or lower, or if your highest score is 13 or lower.

#11

Plaguescarred1

Sep 01, 2014 15:57:59

FWIW The D&D 3.5 PHB said the following about rerolling;

REROLLING: If your scores are too low, you may scrap them and roll all six scores again. Your scores are considered too low if the sum of your modifiers (before adjustments because of race) is 0 or lower, or if your highest score is 13 or lower.

#12

AaronOfBarbaria

Sep 01, 2014 16:08:46

I advocate re-rolling only if you feel that you would not at all enjoy your character with the scores that you have rolled.

Of course, the other side of that equation is me encouraging players to be reasonable about how high their scores need to be in order to be enjoyable (such as my players not feeling like they need 18s or a trio of 16s just to be any good).