Higher stat arrays

[hymer]

Greetings, playgrounders!
I'm trying to construct a set of stat arrays for a future campaign. They should be a little higher than standard array and point buy. Slightly worried that I'm staring myself blind, I'd like anyone who would to cast a glance or two, and pronounce their opinion. The idea is that you pick one of the following arrays, and you may reduce your highest (leftmost) number by two, and receive a feat in return (but not any feat; and there are no variant humans).

So, are any of these arrays blatantly useless or too good compared to the others? Is there an array 'missing', as it were?

16 16 13 11 11 8
16 16 13 11 10 9
16 16 11 11 11 10
16 15 14 13 11 8
16 15 14 11 11 10
15 15 14 14 13 8
15 15 14 14 11 10
14 14 14 13 13 13

Thanks in advance. :smallsmile:

[Zman]

I don't think any of them are blatantly over powered, at least not by a terrible degree. I'm not terrible happy seeing each array have 3 odd, and having 2 16s is pretty good. 16 15 14 13 allows a Half elf to start with 18 16 14 14 which is quite good for anything needing Cha. There are definitely ways for classes to start with 16 16 16 which is solid.

If you are looking for them to be a bit better than average, then you succeeeded.

With the game capping out at 20s, I wouldn't be too worried at all.

[hymer]

Thank you! :smallsmile:


I'm not terrible happy seeing each array have 3 odd

Would you elaborate on that?

[JNAProductions]

Odd numbers are useless, basically.

[Zman]

Thank you! :smallsmile:



Would you elaborate on that?

Basically, having lots of odds helps human and an even number of odd helps out races like half elf, or any class chat choose a 2x+1 stat boost over a 1x+2. For instance, being a normal human if you can get all your abilities odd before racial, you get a pretty big boost. Like turning 13 13 13 13 13 10 into 14 14 14 14 14 11. It isn't a huge deal IMO, it just makes it harder to choose a race and end up with all evens.

[Tanarii]

Except if he's not allowing Variant Humans, he really wants to encourage Humans somehow. I'd even go 4 odds ... Highest *or* 2nd highest, and then 3 lowest. The biggest problem with odds is having 2 of the top three be high odds. Stat arrays like 15, 15, 14 are pure candy for Half-elves. Meanwhile +2/+1 only need one high odd to take advantage of.

[Kane0]

I like to use 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10. It works really well at my table, and for some games we add in a feat (subject to DM approval) if we're going for a higher starting point.

[Safety Sword]

Odd numbers are fine. Lots of races have +1's to throw around.

Since the players get to choose where the stats go, it makes for a wider spread of stats if there are evens and odds.

[Officer Joy]

I have also tried to do something cool with the starting stats, and after thinking about it a lot decided to just let my future players start with my self-titled "Hero-Array"

16-15-14-12-10-9

Slightly better than standard array, but not incredibly so.

[rollingForInit]

Another reason that odd numbers are fine is the number of feats that give +1 to a stat that might not be your primary. Maybe you want the Observant feat, even though you're a Rogue with 11 or 13 in Wisdom, for instance.

[hymer]

Thanks, all!
As for odds and evens, for reasons mentioned I think it'll be okay. I want the standard humans to get some sort of edge they can feel from the beginning. I'm not that worried my campaign will be flooded with half-elves, either. :smallsmile: Worse things could happen, though.

[Logosloki]

Don't worry about odd numbers, most races have a +1, feats usually give a +1 and I'm away from book but i believe you can split an ASI into two +1s.

[hymer]

you can split an ASI into two +1s.

You can indeed. Thanks!

[Spacehamster]

Elite array: 16 15 14 12 12 10
Hero array: 18 16 15 12 12 10