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New to point-buy

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
squibthepirate
Apr 15, 2008 12:34:31 My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points.

I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated.
#2
dead_pool
Apr 15, 2008 12:36:50
My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points.

I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

allow me to help you point buy games suck don't do it
#3
kelvinaw273
Apr 15, 2008 12:56:54
allow me to help you point buy games suck don't do it

Point buy is the fairest, most balanced way of creating characters - some people have a problem with this.

OK, Aasimar Paladin is pretty strong, because you can get past the basic MAD problem by spreading your points well. At 32 point buy, you have five 14s and one 10 to place. You need Good physical stats, decent wisdom and high charisma - and the Aasimar helps a lot.

Str 14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 10
Wis 14 + 2 = 16
Cha 14 + 2 = 16

You can play with this of course - reduce Dex to 10 and your strength can go to 16, or you may figure you don't need great Wisdom and drop it to 12 + 2 = 14 (still enough for all your spells) and instead take Int to 12 for more skills, or Con to 15 etc.

Point is here that point buy works better for MAD characters because it is easier to get a spread of good stats than one or two exceptional ones, and Aasimar plays to the paladin's strength.
#4
lsmft
Apr 15, 2008 12:58:29
My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points.

I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated.

In a point-buy, every thing starts at 8; you spend points to increase. 9 to 14 cost 1 point for each increase; 15-16 cost 2 points; 17, 18 cost 3.

8 costs 0 points
9 costs 1 points
10 costs 2 points
11 costs 3 points
12 costs 4 points
13 costs 5 points
14 costs 6 points
15 costs 8 points
16 costs 10 points
17 costs 13 points
18 costs 16 points

Easy. You have 32 points to spend.

You’re playing an Aasimar. The +2 to Wis and Cha cost nothing.
If you are starting at higher levels, the stat boosts for leveling cost nothing either.

After that, it is just a matter of arrangement. I would have Str first, followed by Cha and with a Wis of at least 14.

You might go for:
[INDENT]16
10
14
12
12
14[/INDENT]before your adjustments. But it is up to you. You might trade str for a better Dex or more Int for the skill points. Whatever you want to do.
#5
kerelis
Apr 15, 2008 15:31:33 I know people say it's the fairest thing....but it is just soooo blah.

I really miss the anticipation of rolling up a new character. You never knew if you were going to be lucky or not. It was like gambling and added to the excitement.

Everyone is soooo worried about 'being fair' and 'being balanced' nowadays. Who cares if someone rolled better than you did? Even if they have higher stats, having an effective character is still influenced a lot by "who's in the driver seat." I've seen people (who I think cheated btw) who had mostly 17's and 18's in their stats who totally sucked at playing the game because they had no idea when it comes to strategy, etc.

Besides, in the games where everyone rolled characters most people didn't begrudge someone when they lucked out on rolling stats because they knew they always had a chance to roll powerful stats on a future character.

Currently, all the games I play in use point buy. While I am having fun, I still feel like the characters are a little blah compared some of my randomly rolled characters (which admittedly were somewhat more powerful than my point-buy characters). I personally would rather have higher stats rather than have to rely on attribute-boosting magical items so much, which is rather cheesy and boring imo.
#6
kouk
Apr 15, 2008 16:25:29 Regardless of any personal preferences or anything (of which the OP is free to look up with the Search function) LSMFT summarized the costs nicely.

He mentioned this but it bears repeating: Apply racial adjustments after you allocate points.

Don't forget also that you get to add a single point to any attribute at every 4 levels as normal.
#7
bujio
Apr 15, 2008 16:41:41 In my campaign, I have my players roll their characters out in front of me so I know they are not cheating. If they wanted to roll up characters somewhere else, I would require that they used a point-buy to be fair to the others so that everyone knew that they weren't cheating because their stats would add up.

It's pretty much whatever you want to do.
#8
shaggy_shaggs
Apr 15, 2008 17:25:48 I tend to just default to a 28 point buy of 16 14 14 14 8 8 arranged however seems most useful, and then tweak it a bit if the available points are different or if the character has weird requirements. Aasimar paladin with the LA buyoff option and 32 points? I'd probably take 16 16 14 14 8 8, and arrange it Str 16 Dex 8 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 8 (10) Cha 16 (18), myself. But then I'd be making a paladin that eventually looked like bard 8/paladin 2/sublime chord 2/abjurant champion 4/sacred exorcist 4. +Charisma items would make me happy in the pants.
#9
StevenO
Apr 15, 2008 18:48:49 Using PB 32 for payed of Aasimar Paladin can give you GREAT stats. Even 28 points would provide good enough stats. For 32 points this is what I'd buy:
STR 15, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 12(+2=14), CHA 14(+2=16)

There is plenty of room for variation in there as well. That 15 I have in STR (to maximize melee potential with stat increases) could easily migrate to something else. If you plan on using heavy armor DEX can easily drop to 12 giving you another 2 points which can increase a 14 to a 15 or boost one of the other stats. I'm only putting a 12 into WIS which gets adjusted to a 14 because I don't see a Paladin as using spells offensively thus I'd be more than happy with just being able to hit those spells eventually.

For an Aasimar using 32 points I'd very seriously consider playing the great Paladin-gish archtype. That is Pal2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/AbjurantChamp5/Sacred ExorcistX. For that build I'd focus less on STR and WIS and more on DEX, CHA, and INT. For Stats I'd use STR 12, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 17; if desired STR could be lowered to boost another stat but WIS isn't really important as your using Sorcerer spells although a higher INT may be nice for additional skill points.
#10
danielinthewolvesden
Apr 16, 2008 22:31:33 I'd go for:
Str14
Dex 14
Con 14
Int 12
Wis 12+2
Cha 14+2

kelvinaw273's set up works too. I like a couple more skp myself.

With Point buy, it is usually better to never Buy more than a 14.

Note that Pious Templar wroks very nice as a Pally Prc. Or go for a Fighter who becomes a Pious Templar.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 squibthepirate Apr 15, 2008 12:34:31	My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points. I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated.
#2 dead_pool Apr 15, 2008 12:36:50	My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points. I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated. allow me to help you point buy games suck don't do it
#3 kelvinaw273 Apr 15, 2008 12:56:54	allow me to help you point buy games suck don't do it Point buy is the fairest, most balanced way of creating characters - some people have a problem with this. OK, Aasimar Paladin is pretty strong, because you can get past the basic MAD problem by spreading your points well. At 32 point buy, you have five 14s and one 10 to place. You need Good physical stats, decent wisdom and high charisma - and the Aasimar helps a lot. Str 14 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 10 Wis 14 + 2 = 16 Cha 14 + 2 = 16 You can play with this of course - reduce Dex to 10 and your strength can go to 16, or you may figure you don't need great Wisdom and drop it to 12 + 2 = 14 (still enough for all your spells) and instead take Int to 12 for more skills, or Con to 15 etc. Point is here that point buy works better for MAD characters because it is easier to get a spread of good stats than one or two exceptional ones, and Aasimar plays to the paladin's strength.
#4 lsmft Apr 15, 2008 12:58:29	My group had decided to swap from dice rolling to point buy, because we all roll really high every time giving us really powerful characters. Now I know with point buy you will have a low stat or two, but I am not sure how to place my points. I am playing an Aasimar paladin (LA buyoff) and we are being eased into point buy by using 32 points. Any help would be greatly appriciated. In a point-buy, every thing starts at 8; you spend points to increase. 9 to 14 cost 1 point for each increase; 15-16 cost 2 points; 17, 18 cost 3. 8 costs 0 points 9 costs 1 points 10 costs 2 points 11 costs 3 points 12 costs 4 points 13 costs 5 points 14 costs 6 points 15 costs 8 points 16 costs 10 points 17 costs 13 points 18 costs 16 points Easy. You have 32 points to spend. You’re playing an Aasimar. The +2 to Wis and Cha cost nothing. If you are starting at higher levels, the stat boosts for leveling cost nothing either. After that, it is just a matter of arrangement. I would have Str first, followed by Cha and with a Wis of at least 14. You might go for: [INDENT]16 10 14 12 12 14[/INDENT]before your adjustments. But it is up to you. You might trade str for a better Dex or more Int for the skill points. Whatever you want to do.
#5 kerelis Apr 15, 2008 15:31:33	I know people say it's the fairest thing....but it is just soooo blah. I really miss the anticipation of rolling up a new character. You never knew if you were going to be lucky or not. It was like gambling and added to the excitement. Everyone is soooo worried about 'being fair' and 'being balanced' nowadays. Who cares if someone rolled better than you did? Even if they have higher stats, having an effective character is still influenced a lot by "who's in the driver seat." I've seen people (who I think cheated btw) who had mostly 17's and 18's in their stats who totally sucked at playing the game because they had no idea when it comes to strategy, etc. Besides, in the games where everyone rolled characters most people didn't begrudge someone when they lucked out on rolling stats because they knew they always had a chance to roll powerful stats on a future character. Currently, all the games I play in use point buy. While I am having fun, I still feel like the characters are a little blah compared some of my randomly rolled characters (which admittedly were somewhat more powerful than my point-buy characters). I personally would rather have higher stats rather than have to rely on attribute-boosting magical items so much, which is rather cheesy and boring imo.
#6 kouk Apr 15, 2008 16:25:29	Regardless of any personal preferences or anything (of which the OP is free to look up with the Search function) LSMFT summarized the costs nicely. He mentioned this but it bears repeating: Apply racial adjustments after you allocate points. Don't forget also that you get to add a single point to any attribute at every 4 levels as normal.
#7 bujio Apr 15, 2008 16:41:41	In my campaign, I have my players roll their characters out in front of me so I know they are not cheating. If they wanted to roll up characters somewhere else, I would require that they used a point-buy to be fair to the others so that everyone knew that they weren't cheating because their stats would add up. It's pretty much whatever you want to do.
#8 shaggy_shaggs Apr 15, 2008 17:25:48	I tend to just default to a 28 point buy of 16 14 14 14 8 8 arranged however seems most useful, and then tweak it a bit if the available points are different or if the character has weird requirements. Aasimar paladin with the LA buyoff option and 32 points? I'd probably take 16 16 14 14 8 8, and arrange it Str 16 Dex 8 Con 14 Int 14 Wis 8 (10) Cha 16 (18), myself. But then I'd be making a paladin that eventually looked like bard 8/paladin 2/sublime chord 2/abjurant champion 4/sacred exorcist 4. +Charisma items would make me happy in the pants.
#9 StevenO Apr 15, 2008 18:48:49	Using PB 32 for payed of Aasimar Paladin can give you GREAT stats. Even 28 points would provide good enough stats. For 32 points this is what I'd buy: STR 15, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 10, WIS 12(+2=14), CHA 14(+2=16) There is plenty of room for variation in there as well. That 15 I have in STR (to maximize melee potential with stat increases) could easily migrate to something else. If you plan on using heavy armor DEX can easily drop to 12 giving you another 2 points which can increase a 14 to a 15 or boost one of the other stats. I'm only putting a 12 into WIS which gets adjusted to a 14 because I don't see a Paladin as using spells offensively thus I'd be more than happy with just being able to hit those spells eventually. For an Aasimar using 32 points I'd very seriously consider playing the great Paladin-gish archtype. That is Pal2/Sorcerer4/Spellsword1/AbjurantChamp5/Sacred ExorcistX. For that build I'd focus less on STR and WIS and more on DEX, CHA, and INT. For Stats I'd use STR 12, DEX 16, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 10, CHA 17; if desired STR could be lowered to boost another stat but WIS isn't really important as your using Sorcerer spells although a higher INT may be nice for additional skill points.
#10 danielinthewolvesden Apr 16, 2008 22:31:33	I'd go for: Str14 Dex 14 Con 14 Int 12 Wis 12+2 Cha 14+2 kelvinaw273's set up works too. I like a couple more skp myself. With Point buy, it is usually better to never Buy more than a 14. Note that Pious Templar wroks very nice as a Pally Prc. Or go for a Fighter who becomes a Pious Templar.