If you rolled only 13s during character creation, what would you play?

[Tanarii]

Valor Bard, Strength Ranger, or Bladelock. All of those require Str, Dex 14, Con 14, and Wis or Cha. And you can pump Str to 18 at first and get away with a little Cha/Wis later on.

Of those, Ranger is least likely to use Cha, whereas Bard and Warlock can both find use for Int and Wis. Of course, the Ranger could take a background with Persuasion and take the lead interacting with their Favored Enemies.

So Bard: S15, Dex/Con/Cha 14, and Int 13 Wis 14 or vice versa. First ASI Str and Int or Wis. 2nd ASI Str. 3rd and 4th Cha. (After that the campaign is probably over.)

Warlock I'd probably go Moderately Armored, Observant, Cha, then Str or Cha depending on how much I've been using melee vs spells.

[Ogre Mage]

Moon Druid.

[JellyPooga]

Rogue 12/Fighter8

Milk those extra ASI's

[Kane0]

Whatever id normally play i guess. Lower than average stat rolls would probably not even shift my ASI allocations until level 8-12

[Dualight]

With stats that let you multiclass into anything, go for everything. I would use a build that dips pretty much all classes. Do try to make sure that the campaign does not expect high power before committing. Lean into that "jack of all trades, master of none"opportunity. (So something like Artificer/Barbarian/Bard/Cleric/Druid/Fighter/Monk/Paladin/Ranger/Rogue/Sorcerer/Warlock/Wizard by level 13)

[Tanarii]

Moon Druid.

Moon Druid seems like a waste of three stats that are actually fairly high (14s).

[Psyren]

Moon Druid seems like a waste of three stats that are actually fairly high (14s).

I wouldn't call it a waste necessarily - it's not like you'll spend every minute of the day shapeshifted, so 14 Dex and Con are still handy to have for your humanoid form, especially if you're maintaining concentration on something between combats.

[Omni-Centrist]

Moon Druid X/Paladin 4, easy. I want me a Smiting Scorpion empowered by bless.

[Quietus]

Hey, if the dice are going to align so perfectly as to give you the jack-of-all-master-of-none array, might as well lean into it and recreate Puffin Forest's Absurd

A modern take would be interesting, the power creep we've experienced would deliver a still rather serviceable character.

I've seen someone do this in Adventurer's League. It was underwhelming, we were in tier3 and they established fairly early on that they were mediocre at best at all things.

[Schwann145]

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need an 18 or 20 in your primary stats.
13s across the board makes you better than average at everything. You have zero weak points, and room to grow into your strong points. It may not be an exciting stat array, but it's a very good one.
You could play anything with this and do well.

[Amnestic]

Contrary to popular belief, you don't need an 18 or 20 in your primary stats.
13s across the board makes you better than average at everything. You have zero weak points, and room to grow into your strong points. It may not be an exciting stat array, but it's a very good one.
You could play anything with this and do well.

That doesn't mean much if you don't have a way to take advantage of it. A +1 int instead of a -2 is all well and good, it'll help with the occasional int check or save, but its effective power is going to be less than if those stat points were shifted into primaries better.

It's by no means unplayable, but you won't "do well" with these stats compared to people with 'proper' allocations. You'll do adequate.

[Schwann145]

That doesn't mean much if you don't have a way to take advantage of it. A +1 int instead of a -2 is all well and good, it'll help with the occasional int check or save, but its effective power is going to be less than if those stat points were shifted into primaries better.

It's by no means unplayable, but you won't "do well" with these stats compared to people with 'proper' allocations. You'll do adequate.

If you play D&D as a combat simulator where you only ever use class abilities, then sure, this is true.
If you play D&D as a roleplaying experience where your character will be placed into a large variety of situations where they'll have to rely on skill, cunning, experience, and strength of arm/spell, then the difference between traditionally dumping a stat vs having a 13 will be very noticeable.

[Luccan]

I'd play a standard human and if I were really concerned about numerical effectiveness, play a support Cleric. Straight 14s, boosting the relevant stat at 4 and 8. Don't need to multiclass. Alternately, play a +Wis Moon Druid. Then I can just ignore my base physical stats when necessary. Wouldn't be the best character but I'd be perfectly functional.

If I don't care about effectiveness, I'd play my theoretical subclass-less character, an "ex"-paladin who got cold feet before his oath (didn't get to level 3) and bounces around from class to class, dipping out just before selecting a subclass (he joined a druid circle for a year seeking something spiritually familiar but left when people started turning into animals, tried to center himself as a monk but found the ascetic lifestyle didn't suit him, bummed a cheap spell book off a traveling merchant but didn't really commit to study, had to live as a Bard and a thief for a little while, etc.)

[Ganryu]

Dear heavens, I'd be drooling to play a bard non-variant human with those stats. Think about it, without a single proficiency, by endgame you get +5 in every single check, including initiative. You are king skill monkey.

[animorte]

If I don't care about effectiveness, I'd play my theoretical subclass-less character, an "ex"-paladin who got cold feet before his oath (didn't get to level 3) and bounces around from class to class, dipping out just before selecting a subclass (he joined a druid circle for a year seeking something spiritually familiar but left when people started turning into animals, tried to center himself as a monk but found the ascetic lifestyle didn't suit him, bummed a cheap spell book off a traveling merchant but didn't really commit to study, had to live as a Bard and a thief for a little while, etc.)

Thank you for this. I’ve had a couple ideas of obscene amounts of multi-classing and this just nailed it. I already had a concept similar to this, but haven’t been able to play it yet.

[Luccan]

Thank you for this. I’ve had a couple ideas of obscene amounts of multi-classing and this just nailed it. I already had a concept similar to this, but haven’t been able to play it yet.

The real problem is you don't really get to see the full monstrosity until level 18 (16 if your table doesn't allow Artificer). Even if you got ASIs I don't know how you'd build this into a mechanically coherent PC. But it would be fun

[Telok]

If you play D&D as a combat simulator where you only ever use class abilities, then sure, this is true.
If you play D&D as a roleplaying experience where your character will be placed into a large variety of situations where they'll have to rely on skill, cunning, experience, and strength of arm/spell, then the difference between traditionally dumping a stat vs having a 13 will be very noticeable.

Eh, outside of rolling the d20 the stats only really affect hp, carry cap, and the number of times you can do class relevant stuff like bard dice. The difference between 8 and 13, or 13 and 17, only happens 10% of your rolls. People don't really notice that, you have to get up to about 20% to notice it naturally in play. 10% is only noticed if you're looking for it or running stats on a large enough sample. What will be noticed is having half the usual bard dice uses or another class stat mod based resource.

It's not an interesting stat line to me. Not good at anything, utterly forgettable. Dull. If you could nab all proficencies, including all tools, then it'd be interesting since your ability to do stuff besides generic fight blah would actually meaningfully increase.

[Tanarii]

It's a great stat line for a Str based GISH in medium armor who gets expertise in skills for their two non-casting mental stats. So Valor Bard, with skills in Int and Wis. Particularly good as a scout warrior if you have Stealth, Investigation, and Perception. Maybe with Nature and Survival if you want to be the wilderness specialist of the party.

And as someone else noted, Bards have JoaT which makes those Int and Wis checks you don't have prof in a bit juicier.

Some builds are just MAD as all heck, wanting 14 in at least 4 stats as a starting point, especially Str based Medium armor wearers who also cast. Usually with point buy or standard array making a Bard like this means dumping Int and Wis to 8 or 8/10.

[Gignere]

Eh, outside of rolling the d20 the stats only really affect hp, carry cap, and the number of times you can do class relevant stuff like bard dice. The difference between 8 and 13, or 13 and 17, only happens 10% of your rolls. People don't really notice that, you have to get up to about 20% to notice it naturally in play. 10% is only noticed if you're looking for it or running stats on a large enough sample. What will be noticed is having half the usual bard dice uses or another class stat mod based resource.

It's not an interesting stat line to me. Not good at anything, utterly forgettable. Dull. If you could nab all proficencies, including all tools, then it'd be interesting since your ability to do stuff besides generic fight blah would actually meaningfully increase.

It’s interesting to me as an exercise on how to build an effective character if all your stats are mediocre. In fact I may just roll one up with point buy, not quite 13 in all abilities but starting with 13 in 5 abilities and a 10 in the last one. I might try and roll one up for my next character.

[Unoriginal]

It's not an interesting stat line to me. Not good at anything, utterly forgettable. Dull. If you could nab all proficencies, including all tools, then it'd be interesting since your ability to do stuff besides generic fight blah would actually meaningfully increase.

ItÂ’s interesting to me as an exercise on how to build an effective character if all your stats are mediocre. In fact I may just roll one up with point buy, not quite 13 in all abilities but starting with 13 in 5 abilities and a 10 in the last one. I might try and roll one up for my next character.

14 in all stats, or 14 in three stats and 13 in three others, is far from mediocre stats.

Sure, for the three first levels your biggest advantage over a different statline is "doesn't have a weak stat", which I understand can feel boring compared to other adventurers who are very good at one thing and pretty bad at another, but at lvl 4 you got your first 16 and suddenly that statline is plain awesome.

Like, just compare a lvl 4 PC who got 14 STR, 16 DEX, 14 CON, 14 INT, 14 WIS, 14 CHA to a lvl 4 PC who got 8 STR, 18 DEX, 16 CON, 10 INT, 13 WIS, 12 CHA.

The second one may be better by a +1 at the DEX stuff (and +6 to checks where proficiency applies at lvl 4 is nothing to sneeze at), and with 4 more PVs/+1 to CON save, but they also got -4 to all STR stuff compared to the first one, and are unremarkable in their mental stats.

Meanwhile the first statline still got +3 to their DEX (+5 with proficiency being nothing to sneeze at either), with no check/save they should try avoiding, and being good with any check where they get proficiency.

[arnin77]

I think I’d go with the Standard Human, get 14s in all stats then make a Bard… maybe splash Paladin for the Aura? Lore Bard 14/? Paladin 6 maybe…

[KorvinStarmast]

I would probably play a vHuman Moon Druid.
13 13 13 13 13 13 yields 13 14 14(ResCon) 13 14 13
Level 4 13 14 14 13 16 13
Level 8 13 14 13 13 18 13
level 12 13 14 14 13 19 13 (fey touched feat)
level 16 13 14 14 13 20 13
Level 19 Pick a Feat or a stat boost
What I like about the vHuman is the added skill proficiency.

Or, depending on what the rest of the party chooses, standard human life cleric.
All 14's, lean into support role. Wis 16 at 4, wis 18 at level 8, then see where the campaign goes from there.
Life cleric doesn't need feats, and Goodberry cheese is nice but not necessary.

[Tanarii]

Or, depending on what the rest of the party chooses, standard human life cleric.

For a Cleric, I'd be tempted to do Str/Wis Trickery Cleric. Dex 14 for medium armor, Con 14 for melee, Str for spear stabbing with bonus poison damage, and Int and Cha for ... uh ...

[JellyPooga]

I like the idea, but if I was going to do this I'd go with Rogue-1/Fighter-x with expertise in Athletics & Perception, proficient in Persuasion, Insight, Stealth and Sleight of Hand (assuming Urchin background). Be a semi-reformed criminal who doesn't mind breaking the law in the cause of good.

Rogue/Fighter or Rogue/Ranger makes for a good Bounty Hunter or Thief-taker archetype too. Thief Rogue has Fast Hands to utilise manacles, rope and mantraps as a bonus action, Medium Armour and Shield proficiency combined with Uncanny Dodge at Rogue 5th makes you remarkably resilient.

Well-rounded Ability Scores with a focus on Str (for Athletics) really supports this kind of character; no weaknesses. Stealth, Perception, Intimidation and Athletics, from Rogue, plus Investigation and Medicine (or your flavour skill of choice; Animal Handling for dealing with guard animals could be a fun choice) from Background give you the standard adventuring package while being on-point for theme. Having across-the-board Ability Scores means all of those skills are strong rather than making up for a lack. Expertise is gravy on top.

Resilient (Wis) is always a solid choice for an ASI but Con can be a (literal) life-saver if, like me, you prefer taking Rogue at 1st for the additional Skill prof and Int Saves (to see straight through any illusions). Mage Slayer is weak, but can be thematic, as can be Dungeon Delver, depending on your flavour of bounty hunter, but I tend to gravitate toward Medium Armour Master (sneak in Half-plate and allow for higher Dex), Sentinel (to protect your buddies and stop your prey from escaping) and Mobile (because it's just that good paired with Cunning Action).

It's not a character I'd play with Standard Array and have always struggled to make PB work with it. 13's across the board though? Yeah, that'll do.

[White Blade]

Standard Human Phantom Rogue, dip out into Lore Bard after 11. Very easy to play up the channeler of the dead angle when you’re actually talented at everything and you can adjust your utility every day.

[animorte]

Standard Human Phantom Rogue, dip out into Lore Bard after 11. Very easy to play up the channeler of the dead angle when you’re actually talented at everything and you can adjust your utility every day.

I would instead pair Phantom Rogue with Spirits Bard. Maybe that’s just because it’s my favorite Bard subclass, but the theme matches.

[Yakmala]

A Rogue Scout with a 1 level dip into Knowledge Cleric.

Having at least 8 Expertise proficiencies goes a long way towards mitigating mediocre attributes.

[Unoriginal]

A Rogue Scout with a 1 level dip into Knowledge Cleric.

Having at least 8 Expertise proficiencies goes a long way towards mitigating mediocre attributes.

That character wouldn't have any mediocre attribute, though.

[Amechra]

A Human Barbarian with a Celestial Warlock dip named Sir Lancelot.

That character wouldn't have any mediocre attribute, though.

One of the awkward things about how D&D handles ability scores is that there's a mismatch between how the game presents ability scores, and how those ability scores work mechanically. As far as the game is concerned, a 14 in your your main, "my class wants me to be good at this" ability score is mediocre, with a 16+ being "good". What the character wouldn't have are any bad attributes.

As for why... while "normal people" might have "rolled" 3d6 for their ability scores (avg 10.5)¹, player characters rolled 4d6b3 (avg. 12.24) — this is actually built in to point-buy (where the most "balanced" array you can set up is 13/13/13/12/12/12), which was used to create the "standard array". If you look at it from this perspective, and take racial bonuses to ability scores into account, a character with a 14 in every ability score is only a touch above average as far as PCs are concerned.

¹ Look at the Commoner statblock, which is supposed to represent an average person.

[JellyPooga]

only a touch above average as far as PCs are concerned.

I think it's worth pointing out that even a touch above average is far better than merely mediocre.

The term "mediocre", at best, represents average and is usually used as somewhat lower than that. "Mediocre" is...substandard, boring, uninteresting, second rate, even inferior. To be even a little over average in every aspect is, by definition to be much more than merely mediocre. Some might even call it unusually proficient, or perhaps great.

The expectation of having your primary ability score at 16 at level 1 char-gen is often misplaced in my opinion, let alone 18 any sooner than level 12, or 20 sooner than level 16. Yes, if there's nothing else you want than to boost your primary, go ahead and bump it, but for myself I would much rather go broad than narrow; bolster the weakness or take the feat to add additional function over increasing the prime number by a little. 13's across the board is only basically my ideal standard array/roll; it offers options without entirely borking the expectations of what can be done with a character.