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rickvoid
2007-11-23, 07:43 PM
A buddy of mine recently asked me if I wanted to join a D&D group he's putting back together. They haven't played in a long time and want to get back into the game.

My questions revolve around character generation. Stat wise, what ways do you guys find best for determining ability scores? I know about 3d6, 4d6 (throw out lowest), and point-buy. Also, I've seen the backgrounds from D20 Modern (and Future) and like those. Do you think those could be modified to work well in a D&D game?

Azerian Kelimon
2007-11-23, 07:49 PM
Can't comment on the modern issue, but ont he other one, yeppie.

There are two other basic methods: one-by-one point buy, and bundles of dice, both mostly highpowered.

One-by-one is just that, you get a number of points, your stats are all started at zero, and you spend your points as you want. If you dole out the maximum points (108, which equal 6 18's), you'll end with supermen, and with low points, you'll end with nobodies. Really fun and simple, in my opinion.

Bundle is throwing sets of dice, say, 6 sets of 6 4d6, drop the lowest, and take the set you want, or when you want people to scream in fear of high power, drop 'em 6 sets of 6 5d6, drop two lowest. Happened once to me, facing mobs 4 CR higher than a 4 men party was no fun.

expirement10K14
2007-11-23, 07:50 PM
For stat generation, if you are looking for something different you could try the grid method (http://invisiblecastle.com/help.py?p=grid). It is different, but its fun to watch the sorcerer balance his charisma against dexterity and constitution.

rickvoid
2007-11-23, 08:03 PM
Grid method looks interesting, I may have to introduce that to them.

About the backgrounds, they're used to make small changes to your characters, to make them more "unique". The Wealthy background means that your family was monied, and gives you 1 or 2 extra dice to roll when determining starting cash. It also give you two extra skills that count as class skills (or give you a +1 bonus on the skill, if already a class skill) chosen from a list of skills (such as diplomacy, knowledge: court ettiqute, etc.). The poor background is the opposite, and you have one or two less dice for stating wealth, and rough-and-tumble stats like survival and knowledge: streetwise. That kinda thing.

The idea behind them is that characters can get a benefit from having a history, and since their chosen from a DM approved list, they aren't whining about wanting to be half-gods.

Vael Nir
2007-11-23, 08:06 PM
I would recommend being fairly generous with the ability scores early on... makes gaming easier for people if they don't have to decide between having a horribly low HP total and being terribly clumsy/stupid. We generally used point buy (our current session was conceived as fairly high power... we got 60 points) or 4d6, 1's rerolled. Exception is our Dragonlance campaign, where we stuck with 3d6, no rerolls. My character there (Fighter 1 Noble 1) has STR 14 DEX 8 WIS 13 CON 10 and CHA 14... this campaign is based much more on diplomacy and moral decisions rather than heavy combat.

Really depends on how role-playing heavy the group is and how much of a challeng they want. :smallsmile:

Azerian Kelimon
2007-11-23, 08:17 PM
Personally, I prefer one to one, with scores rangin' from 78 to 100, or 108 for powergamey campaigns. It's REALLY balanced, and less complicated than normal point buy.

Mantid
2007-11-23, 08:21 PM
I've really have come to favor the weighted point buy (http://nwn2.wikia.com/wiki/Point_buy) you find in many of the current DnD computer games. It seems like it gives you the freedom to make your character how you want it while maintaining a balance with high ability scores.

Course, I've never been a fan of random stats. I have had a few characters that the DM took pity on and let me reroll a couple scores despite the lack of rerolls... :smalleek:

WrstDmEvr
2007-11-23, 08:26 PM
I've also seen 1d20, but that can really screw you up sometimes, so I would suggest not using it.

Tequila Sunrise
2007-11-24, 06:05 PM
This one is a nice balance between random stats and customization:

1. Take two 4s, two 5s, two 6s, two 7s, two 8s and two 9s out of a deck of cards.

2. Shuffle and then deal these twelve cards out in pairs.

3. Arrange as desired.