Interesting Way To Generate Ability Scores

[Scorponok]

Do you guys think this way to generate ability scores would work? Here's what I'm thinking...

Say you have a group of friends ready to play D&D. Each person sits down and in secret, writes their opinion of what the other player's ability score is in real life. So if you think one guy in your group is dumb, you'd write down you think their ability score for INT should be 8. If a person in your group is stronger than the average person, you'd write down you think his STR should be a 14. If your friend is more handsome or pretty compared to the average, maybe you'd write that this person's CHA should be 16. Each person does this for everyone else in the group. Then the estimations are added up and the person gets the average score of what the group thinks their abilities are. The table then plays themselves in a game of D&D!

It'd be nice to try this one day.

[Khedrac]

There's a problem with this, one if done honestly it can result in imbalance between the characters, and in a stereotypical group of nerds, no fighter-types.
If not done honestly, and people know that this is how they will be generated, then straight 18s for all characters becomes a strong possibility...

[Arbane]

It'll be wonderful for someone's self-esteem when their 'friends' decide they have all scores at 9 or less!

[johnbragg]

This....seems like a great way to not have friends anymore.

[flappeercraft]

If you are going to do this I would recommend to at least do it anonymously

[Crake]

If you are going to do this I would recommend to at least do it anonymously

He did mention doing it in secret in the OP, though if you did this honestly, and critically, based on how the ability scores work, I think most groups would struggle to have anything more than a 14.

Also, some people don't quite understand how all the ability scores work, for example, charisma is not just attractiveness and likability. You can easily have high cha and be hated by everyone, but it's about your ability to influence and affect people. If people hate you, but you can still get them to do what you want, or convince them to think differently, then that just means you're an ass with high charisma. If people love you, but you couldn't get anyone to change their mind about a topic, then you're just a nice person with low charisma, but people will still rate the ass as having low cha, and the nice person as having high cha.

[weckar]

'Interesting' certainly is one way to put it. Straight 10s for everyone.

Although I Always have to wonder... Who actually wants to play themselves in a game? Isn't that entirely against the point?

[P.F.]

There's a problem with this, one if done honestly it can result in imbalance between the characters, and in a stereotypical group of nerds, no fighter-types.

I dunno, every group of stereotypical nerds I've played with has had at least one player suitable to a fighter-type in terms of physical ability, if not skill and inclination.


If not done honestly, and people know that this is how they will be generated, then straight 18s for all characters becomes a strong possibility...

I can definitely see that happening, but again, most of the stereotypical nerds I game with would at least try to play the game, even if they use perhaps more charitable estimates than they otherwise might.


'Interesting' certainly is one way to put it. Straight 10s for everyone.

Perhaps the stereotypical nerds I play with are more exceptional than I thought?


Although I Always have to wonder... Who actually wants to play themselves in a game? Isn't that entirely against the point?

Well of course as myself I can't cast spells or cleave skulls, so it's kind of like a fictional autobiography.

Personally I would take a look at the arrays and decide if they are worth playing with.

I might also want to use some second-level statistical wizardry on them and normalize the scores to a standard point-buy cost while I'm aggregating and averaging anyway.

[Goaty14]

I dunno, a group with stats of all 10s would be pretty cool
Or maybe even all 10s, but 1 supernatural/spell-like ability of their choice.\
Would that even be balanced? I don't have much experience.

It would also be hard to gauge how much everybody is, the average commoner has scores of 10 or 11, but everybody isn't average in a lot of ways.

[Baby Gary]

I dunno, a group with stats of all 10s would be pretty cool

Or maybe even all 10s, but 1 supernatural/spell-like ability of their choice.\


Would that even be balanced? I don't have much experience.

I do not think so, what about a supernatural Wish at will? Miracle? Gate?

[weckar]

PSh. Supernatural Polymorph any Object at will :P

[BearonVonMu]

You can balance the scales by taking the ability scores the players have, calculating the point buy cost of those scores, and setting the bar where you want their scores to be. Give everyone who was under that bar the remainder of their point buy ... points to raise their scores as they see fit.
Either set the bar at the highest cost of the table, or at the usual 28 or 32.

Alternately, have an array and let the players simply put each others ability scores in descending value. Assign the array based on that. When we did it at my table, the array was 16,16,14,14,12,12. People seemed pleased by this, especially once they added their Human +2 as they saw fit.