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Maxymiuk
2007-04-10, 07:06 PM
Alright, first some background.

For the past half a year or so I've been slowly developing an idea for an atypical campaign, involving eight people, while still being limited to a 4-character party.
Namely, there would be four bodies, but each one would be inhabited by two "souls" - for each of those people it would've been this way since the day they were born. At a given point in time only one of those souls would have conscious control of the body, while the other would remain dormant. At seemingly random intervals (determined by where a game session would end) there would be a switch... and the other soul would take over, with no knowledge of what happened in the interval - basically, I'd run interchangeably for one group, then the other.

Obviously there's a lot more to this idea, along with an entire mountain of problems to resolve. However I'm slowly beating them all back. Except one: the distribution of attributes between each soul in a body. Here is what I have so far:

1) I decided to go with a point buy rather than rolling for stats. I'm too proud of my game concept to leave so much up to luck. However, this would be the simplest solution.
2) Since this is a single body, I decided that physical stats (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution) will be the same for each pair sharing the body. Mental stats (Intelligence, Wisdom, Charisma) will differ. Secondary and derivative stats (feats, base saves, BAB, skill ranks, etc.) will still depend on the class adopted by the individual soul.
3) With point buy this immediately presents a problem of how to ensure fair distribution, while at once preventing the possibility of twinkage. Physical stats would obviously make a better deal for a melee type, while any wizard worth his salt would sink 16 points into getting that 18 Intelligence (originally I thought about letting the players have 16 "private" points for mental stats and 16 "mutual" for physical, then did the math and realized how bad of an idea that is).
4) I have considered the idea of letting each of the two players buy an entire stat array as if making a typical character and then averaging either just the physical scores or the entire array. I sort of like this, since it would accurately represent the diffusion of learning and development two souls living in a single body on what amounts to a timeshare would experience. The downside I see there is the possibility that one of the players decides to play a wizard and another a fighter, they both stat out appropriately, and end up gimping one another once I average them out. Suddenly not being able to qualify for certain feats could also be an issue.
5) Yet another idea would be to simply present them with a pre-generated stat array that they would have to share, with at least two good scores to keep everyone happy (for example 16, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10 - first both players mutually decide what goes into the physical stats, say Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, and then they're each left with 16, 12, 10 to distribute among their own mental stats). The problems are foresee here is arguments over who gets what, conspiracy to twink, and a lot of characters with virtually the same stats.

At this point I ran out of ideas, so I turn to my fellow Playgrounders for help.

Thank you in advance.

Jasdoif
2007-04-10, 08:38 PM
Number 5 is alive...I mean, option 5 is a good start. I do have something...odd to suggest though.

Decide their Con score for them. Say, 15. Everyone loves extra hit points.
Decide which player gets to pick Strength, and which gets to pick Dexterity. If one of the their classes favors a physical stat and the other doesn't, it should be easy to decide. If it's not, roll dice to pick who picks what.
Let them pick the physical stat and their own mental stats from an array like the following: 16, 13, 10, 8.

Ashdate
2007-04-10, 08:40 PM
Why not have a 'base' statistic for the character, and simply modify it depending on the 'soul' inhabiting it?

For example, player A might have +2 to Int, -2 to Con, while player B has -2 Wis, + 2 Cha. Yes, this allows the physical stats to change but I think it's fairer that way to those who don't want to play a magic user of some fashion.

How I might do it is by determining all the stats by a ballot; Each player rank orders their stat preferences from 'most wanted' (1) to 'least wanted' (6), then assign the points such that you feel the players will be most happy with.

So player A, who wants to play a fighter ranks his stats Str (1), Con (2), Int (3), Dex (4), Wis (5), Cha (6), while the guy who wants to play the Sorcerer ranks his stats Cha (1), Con (2), Dex (3), Wis (4), Int (5), Str (6).

So the stats get ranked and you get Str = 7, Dex = 7, Con = 4, Int = 8, Wis = 9, Cha = 7. With stat rolls of 16, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10 , you know that the the Int will be a 12, and the Wis a 10. Both players picked Cha and Str as top stats, so throw the two 16's into there, and the 14 into Constitution, leaving the Dex at 13.

Then let the players add +2 to any stat, with a -2 to two other stats or something while the 'soul' inhabits the body. I figure that's about as good a way as any of balancing it. I mean, if the CLASS is changing I think you could allow some 'physical' change too. Maybe the first character doesn't know how to lift with his back, or the second character is a little clumsy.

Really, I think the biggest danger you'd have is pairing ONE class with another that doesn't match well, like a fighter / Sorcerer or Barbarian / Bard. They'd have a rougher time on their stats compared to say, a Cleric and Druid who got paired up or a Rogue and Ranger.

- Eddie

Kel_Arath
2007-04-11, 12:01 AM
the best way to do this is to divide up classes into physical and mental classes. not by specific needed stats, but by just the two main groups. that way say a fighter and ranger wouldnt be too bad, but while a ranger wants wisdom and fighter wants charisma (mm... intimidate) they will be fine, same for wiz vs cleric and the works

Maxymiuk
2007-04-11, 11:48 AM
So player A, who wants to play a fighter ranks his stats Str (1), Con (2), Int (3), Dex (4), Wis (5), Cha (6), while the guy who wants to play the Sorcerer ranks his stats Cha (1), Con (2), Dex (3), Wis (4), Int (5), Str (6).

So the stats get ranked and you get Str = 7, Dex = 7, Con = 4, Int = 8, Wis = 9, Cha = 7. With stat rolls of 16, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10 , you know that the the Int will be a 12, and the Wis a 10. Both players picked Cha and Str as top stats, so throw the two 16's into there, and the 14 into Constitution, leaving the Dex at 13.


I actually like this idea very much. Thanks.