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Post by Melegaunt on Sept 24, 2003 23:11:51 GMT -5
For those of you who have (or have thought about) using the standard point buy system to create character's stats (p 19 in 3.0 DM's guide and p 169 in 3.5 DM's guide), what do you think of the system? Good or Bad? Does it make Characters too planned or make them too average? And If you do use this, what is a good number for the point buy? 28? 32?
[glow=red,2,300]Melegaunt[/glow]
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cryptangel
Peasant
The Keeper of the Key
Posts: 11
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Post by cryptangel on Oct 2, 2003 15:52:35 GMT -5
Recently, one of us DMed a game, and we used a point-based system to create the characters; I don't know if it's the one of the DM or even if it's official, but we got a 9 in all the stats, and get 20 points to buy stats as follows:
10 to 14 - 1 points 15 to 16 - 2 points 17 to 18 - 3 points
as result, you could get one 18 and five 10 stats, four 14 and two 9, or several combinations, but I think THIS system gives very average characters, and you (almost every time) get better stats with dice. Althought it's true this system almost garanties no penalties, I prefer the dice (very high or very low gives good roleplaying hooks). Then again, I've never tried the one in the DM, so...
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Post by ShonenSenshiDave on Oct 3, 2003 9:35:08 GMT -5
i hate the point buy system. i know, kinda harsh, but that's how i feel. i think it creates very average characters, which is ok, but they can be TOO average, if you know what i mean. you usually end up with one really good score, and a lot of sub par scores, or a slew of average scores, and to me, if you're a PC, you should have mostly average with one above average score. that's what separates PCs from everyone else, IMHO.
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Post by Gnome on Oct 5, 2003 15:17:58 GMT -5
I like the point buy system. I can always get a great character with some planning. It also keeps people from coming to the table with characters that they claim to have rolled 18's for all of their stats.
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Post by ShonenSenshiDave on Oct 6, 2003 14:33:27 GMT -5
he he he.. that's why I always have ppl roll in my presence. of course, I got a new set of dice that likes to roll high <grumble>
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Post by Sharess on Oct 7, 2003 10:47:06 GMT -5
I think that if your going to play a hero type chactor you can't do it by the piont system unless you really know how to rape the rules. In all honstly I'm not quiet that good. Not to memtion I like the randomness of rolling dice. If I get a low score then it not that bad (not) The only advantage of the point system is that your GM doesn't have to watch you roll dice.
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Post by Hussar on Oct 8, 2003 2:15:44 GMT -5
In all honesty, I've never used a point buy system. As long as a player comes to the table with reasonable scores, I don't have a beef.
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Post by MrLemurBoy on Oct 10, 2003 10:48:15 GMT -5
I haven't used point buy in D&D, but I have in other systems (ie: EarthDawn) and while it worked decently enough (all the characters created were quite viable) I still prefer the randomness of rolling dice. I like trying to create something viable from what I've been dealt.
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Post by Sharess on Dec 19, 2003 22:35:33 GMT -5
If you must ues the cured pint buy system then go and give your players 42 or 52 points
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Post by AtlanteanAscendant on Dec 20, 2003 22:04:16 GMT -5
in the current 3.5 campaign im running ive used the point buy system, but with the max of 32 points. ive played in other games but not where theyve gone with the standard point buy or lower. basically, the low-end point buy guarantees that at least two or three stats are going to stay at 8 or 9 guaranteeing a penalty to the stat, where the rest will barely be average or just above. (for those keeping score, human average is 10-11, everything else is above average)
the two high end values arent too bad really. in general you get two maybe three really good stats (15 or better) with everything else ending up at average. or you can have slightly above average stats across the board. i.e. 12 or 13 all over.
now, while im a big fan of die rolling and love the shot at having 18s across the board (come on, its happened. by some miraculous or weighted die roll, youve ended up with all your stats being impossibly excellent), the point buy system does even the playing field. because this means no one ends up with a horrid stat of 6 or less (unless youre a complete idiot by playing a non-human race and didnt compensate your stats appropriately) and no one ends up with the somehow miraculous 17s and 18s for all stats, despite the fact theyve rolled them in plain sight of everyone.
while i wouldnt let it dominate every campaign i play in DnD, it is an interesting option to bring into play.
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