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The Oakenshield
2010-11-10, 06:25 PM
How many points do usually use in your games?

My group has only used 4d6 b3, so I'm interested.

Signmaker
2010-11-10, 06:26 PM
28 and 32 have usually been the number in my groups.

Morbis Meh
2010-11-10, 06:37 PM
Normally what I do for my PC's is 4d6 b3 7 times best 6

Crow
2010-11-10, 09:21 PM
We generally do 4d6 b3 with 25-point buy as a fall back.

Amphetryon
2010-11-10, 09:23 PM
4d6b3x7, 29 point buy fallback.

prufock
2010-11-10, 10:17 PM
In the games I run, I use 4d6, best three. I allow the option of a 26 point buy, but no one has ever taken me up on it. My players enjoy the random element of rolling.

When one of my other group members is DM, they assign 4d6, reroll 1s, best 3. No point buy. They prefer slightly higher power levels.

Fishy
2010-11-10, 11:19 PM
I no longer like rolling stats. "You are measurably and objectively better than your teammate, and not because of anything you did" is kind of weird.

Don't get me wrong, I like rolling dice because they make that neat sound, but putting something that will last the entire campaign up to chance feels wrong.

Unless it's MAID RPG.

Godskook
2010-11-10, 11:36 PM
It depends on the campaign, but I'm a big fan of houseruling that you can improve your stats with xp, so I'm more willing to do different stat-generation methods, since they're not as permament as they would be in a standard game. My current RL group is going to generate stats tomorrow using 1d6+7, reroll if the bonuses don't add up to +0. Assuming the average roll(12 point-buy), it'll cost at most 313xp to get a change to one of their stats modifiers.

Dusk Eclipse
2010-11-11, 12:13 AM
My group does 4d6b3, re rolling the complete set if you get a net modifier of +3 or less (has happen to me many times), I really dislike this way of stat generating, but my group loves it so... meh I have to cater to tastes.

In the games I run I usually give 32 point buy as an option though (I like high powered games)

kyoryu
2010-11-11, 12:14 AM
How many points do usually use in your games?

My group has only used 4d6 b3, so I'm interested.

It doesn't really matter that much, so long as everyone gets the same points.

Kerrin
2010-11-11, 12:54 AM
Our group usually uses a 32 point buy, and personally I've really liked that.

DragonOfUndeath
2010-11-11, 01:54 AM
my group uses 4D6B3 with the results being used for every character in the party (even ones that come later) to prevent power disparities

Mystic Muse
2010-11-11, 02:59 AM
40-50, never lower. This is when I'm DMing though and I have a specific DMing style.

BridgeCity
2010-11-11, 03:39 AM
We usually go with a 28 point buy. That way the DM can have fun throwing more difficult stuff at us, and the player's have fun because they can craft the character they actually want to play instead of being hindered by crap rolls. I know people say that rolling is more realistic, but I don't play RPG's for realism.

TheDarkOne
2010-11-11, 03:43 AM
3d6, in order, is the only way to play.

Simba
2010-11-11, 03:48 AM
3d6, in order, is the only way to play.

... to make people play what they roll instead of what they like. True enough.

Killer Angel
2010-11-11, 03:55 AM
3d6, in order, is the only way to play.

I suppose you're still with the first edition, uh? :smallamused:

Anyway, it depends on the DM; usually, 4d6 (keep the 3 higher), OR 28-32 points buy.
My favourite with the 3rd ed. is the point buy.

kyoryu
2010-11-11, 04:34 AM
3d6, in order, is the only way to play.

Depends. If it's a more old-school game, sure. But a more recent style game (like, within the past 20 years), where the characters are the Destined Heroes of Destiny (as well as being Precious Snowflakes)? Nope. Point buy all the way.

Curmudgeon
2010-11-11, 04:42 AM
I used to use 32 point buy to allow enough flexibility to make some of the MAD classes work, but that also cranked up the power of the SAD classes like Druid and Wizard. So I changed the point buy allocation to be different based on class choice.

Here's my suggestion based on the Tier System for Classes (http://brilliantgameologists.com/boards/index.php?topic=1002.0):

15 point buy (This is where the Wizard is.)
22 point buy
28 point buy
32 point buy
40 point buy (This is where the Monk is.)
Just forget it.
You use the point buy for the class with the most levels. If you add higher-tier classes later (switch from Monk to Wizard, say) your abilities drop retroactively. (They don't increase retroactively, though.)

Aharon
2010-11-11, 04:55 AM
Currently, we're using 18, 16, 16, 14, 14, 12 for everybody.

The players demanded high stats, and I yielded. On the plus side, it allows me to throw CR+4 things at them without immediately TPKing them. And they still have problems with equal CR or CR+1 casters :smalltongue:

Sir Swindle89
2010-11-11, 07:32 AM
3d6, in order, is the only way to play.

I did a 4d6b3 in order with a 7th that you could swap with any one score, pick race first in a one shot game. It was tons of fun.

Other wise we do 32 points sometimes 4d6b3 depends on our mood.


My current RL group is going to generate stats tomorrow using 1d6+7, reroll if the bonuses don't add up to +0.

I honestly don't see how this is playable, i've even seen people suggest it without you exp buy thing. A max of 13 in any stat before racials, ewww (does make +mental stat items super valuable for casters since you can't cast 9th level spells w/o them)

Tetsubo 57
2010-11-11, 09:04 AM
28 is the bare minimum. I prefer 32 as both a GM & player.

Esser-Z
2010-11-11, 09:08 AM
Wait, the thread title is point buy, but you're talking about rolling? What?

I almost always use point buy--ALWAYS when I run, prefer to play with it very strongly. For 3.5, tend to default to 32 PB, sometimes a bit more.

Private-Prinny
2010-11-11, 09:19 AM
I have a funny relationship with point buy. When I DM, my players get 32 (I also encourage Tier 3 classes).

When I play, everyone else in my group gets much higher rolls than me (to the point of no one having a negative mod in anything, with a couple +3s), while I end up with something that looks like the Elite Array, so I get 32 points just to stay competitive.

Mongoose87
2010-11-11, 10:05 AM
It depends on the campaign, but I'm a big fan of houseruling that you can improve your stats with xp, so I'm more willing to do different stat-generation methods, since they're not as permament as they would be in a standard game. My current RL group is going to generate stats tomorrow using 1d6+7, reroll if the bonuses don't add up to +0. Assuming the average roll(12 point-buy), it'll cost at most 313xp to get a change to one of their stats modifiers.

I really like this idea. How much XP do you charge per increase?

Erom
2010-11-11, 10:19 AM
in 3.5, 25 or 28 point buy, in 4e we just use the default point buy system or just pick from arrays

Kurald Galain
2010-11-11, 10:24 AM
I no longer like rolling stats. "You are measurably and objectively better than your teammate, and not because of anything you did" is kind of weird.

Heh. I've played Paranoia with the character generation of "roll 1d20 for each stat" :smallbiggrin:

Anyway, I usually go for 22 (4E; well, actually I just use the specialist array all the time) 28 (3E) 75 (2E, this is the sum of your six attributes, and was not used in a high-optimization group)

gbprime
2010-11-11, 10:35 AM
I'm using a 32 point buy for my next campaign. A couple of the players have complained about how low powered it is, but these are the people who always have 4 stats in the 16-18 range after rolling using the "4d6 six times" method.

Elfin
2010-11-11, 10:38 AM
In my group we usually do 40 point buy and 60 for modules; obscenely high, yes, but we're all big fans of really tough encounters, and this provides some insurance against them (and lets the DM go pretty crazy).

DwarfFighter
2010-11-11, 10:44 AM
30 point buy. It was fairly well received by my group.

-DF

thompur
2010-11-11, 12:33 PM
My group gives everybody 78 points to distribute amongst the 6 atributes; no ability under 6 or over 18 before racial adjustments.

Godskook
2010-11-11, 05:17 PM
I honestly don't see how this is playable, i've even seen people suggest it without you exp buy thing. A max of 13 in any stat before racials, ewww (does make +mental stat items super valuable for casters since you can't cast 9th level spells w/o them)

You're ignoring half the post, man. The low starting stats is assuming that the xp->point-buy option is available. By the time they start regularly fighting dragons, they'll have a *much* better point-buy value than what they rolled.


I really like this idea. How much XP do you charge per increase?

Current point-buy squared is the cost for an additional point. Must buy all points at once if you're increasing a stat that requires more than one point. Max point-buy at any level is 30+level.

For example, if someone rolled 13,12,11,10,9,8 That's 12 point-buy, the next point would cost 144xp to earn. If, in the above example, they wanted to go 18 in their primary stat first, that'd cost 3289 xp which is about the same as reaching 4th level, but spread out.

Optimator
2010-11-11, 07:43 PM
My group uses 32-36.

FafnerMorell
2010-11-11, 08:38 PM
We generally use 32, but used 34 for Largest Dungeon (not much magic equipment to boost stats).

I really like point-buy - makes the character creation process more regular, rather than luck. If I had my way, we'd also do a regular HP progression rather than rolling. But I like having a character that will last for a year or so of adventuring (barring death), and it just seems better to have certainty rather than probability.

molten_dragon
2010-11-11, 08:54 PM
I quit using 4d6b3 the first time I had one party member end up with 18 18 17 17 15 9 and another end up with 14 11 11 10 10 8.

I've used 32 point buy ever since.

Endarire
2010-11-12, 02:11 AM
I prefer 32. It lets non-casters have at least 14s in their most important stats.

LordBlades
2010-11-12, 05:27 AM
In my group you are allowed to choose either 32 PB or roll 4d6b3 and if you don't like the roll you can get 28 PB.

We enjoy high PB because it makes MAD chars more attractive (although our current group consists of 3 wizards and 2 clerics :smallcool:).

Duke of URL
2010-11-12, 06:35 AM
I believe 4d6b3 works out to approximately 25 PB. In theory, the game is balanced around that point (*insert snarky comments about game balance here*), so any higher value will throw off the CR system (further).

Amiria
2010-11-12, 06:56 AM
For D&D and Conan D20 my group uses a 100-points system where the costs are as follows:

Ability Score = Cost
8 = 9
9 = 10
10 = 11
11 = 12
12 = 13
13 = 14
14 = 16
15 = 18
16 = 20
17 = 22
18 = 24

That translates into a standard point-buy range of 40 (14 x4, 15 x2) - 49 (18 x3, 9, 8 x 2). We usually don't build such extreme characters and end up with scores that translate to a ~45 point-buy.

Quite high-powered ability scores but on the other hand we don't really optimize our characters. And at least I rarely dump Charisma ... doesn't feel right to be a hero with really low charisma, even if you are a Dwarf Barbarian.


... so any higher value will throw off the CR system (further).

Luckily, Conan D20 - which in most other regards is very close to D&D 3.5 - hath no CR system. It is all up to the GM.

Curmudgeon
2010-11-12, 08:10 AM
I believe 4d6b3 works out to approximately 25 PB. I believe you're actually thinking of the Elite array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8), which is equivalent to 25 point buy. The 4d6 best 3 average value is about 29 or 30, depending on whether you use the 'hopeless character' option.

Tharck
2010-11-12, 10:09 AM
1d10+8, or 2d6+6 any order and 1 set for my game.

Kaww
2010-11-12, 10:14 AM
I'm gonna try something like this for my next campaign: every player rolls ether 2x4d6b3 or 3x3d6. These go in a pool from which all players take rolls for their stats. This way stats are derived from dice and all players have equal stats.

Players will make an arrangement which two tiers will be default.

Example: they agreed to play tier 3-4, in pool they have 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, 9 and 8. Player A wants to play tier 1, player B wants to play tier 2, C, D and E play tiers 3 and 4.
Stats are C, D, E: 18, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13
B has to ignore stats 2 and 5, his stats are: 18, 16, 15, 13, 12, 11
A has to ignore stats 1 and 4, her stats are: 17, 16, 14, 13, 12, 11

calar
2010-11-12, 10:36 AM
I like rolls, it add an element of chance while still yielding balanced characters most of the time. 4d6 to 3 of course.