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Elton Robb
01-05-2002, 04:33 AM
Okay, so far 80% of those polled want a Book of Guildcraft. So that will be a future Release.

Okay, here is a new poll. If you were a BR developer, what would you say is the official stat generating system?:)

Dosiere
01-06-2002, 12:05 AM
I would have to recommend rolling 4d6, drop the lowest die on each roll and arrange the scores as you wish. Another alternative might be to roll 4d6 as above, dropping the loest die on each roll and placing the scores in the order rolled, but permitting 1s or even 1s and 2s to be rerolled for all "prime requisites".

Raesene Andu
01-06-2002, 01:10 AM
I believe that the 4d6 option listed in the poll is the 3E standard roll 4d6 drop the lowest roll. Perhaps a couple of other systems could be mentioned as alternative versions.

Lord Eldred
01-06-2002, 04:26 PM
It is not new but it is reliable...4d6!

JD Lail
01-30-2002, 04:00 AM
4d6 can only work in a tabletop game. It is very
inappropriate for online games. Of course YMMV
but if it does then something else (strange) is
going on.

doom
01-30-2002, 07:14 PM
I've never been a fan of randomly generated statistics. It has always seemed unreasonable (to me) for two different starting characters to be potentially completely unbalanced in relationship to each other just because one player rolls well during character creation and another rolls poorly.

In long running campaigns it is often the case, in fact, that characters with low (or sometimes even AVERAGE) stats tend to die (due to balace issues) or simply be dropped by the player and replaced with a different character. Thus, in my opinion, using 4d6 tends to generate "mega-characters" since only the characters at the higher end of the distribution last throughout the years of the campaign.

My general feeling is that a non-random generation system is better. It allows the DM to specify the relative power level of the characters (If you _want_ mega-characters, give 'em lots of points) and promotes balance between the PCs.

Do YOU have mega-characters in your game? Take the stats of the characters in your game and figure out how many points you would need in the point buy system to purchase those statistics. I would almost guarantee that many of the characters in a 4d6 generation scheme will be above the 32 ability buy points that is used as a metric for a character in a "High Powered" campaign

Novice players, of course, will definately prefer to roll up stats. It is faster, provides (potentially) more powerful characters, and has an element of excitement (during the die rolling). But as a DM, it has been my experience that non-random character systems are always preferable for the long-term viability of the campaign.

When I have a player that would prefer to have some randomness in their character creation, I generally recommend that they "roll up" a character using 4d6, convert it to a point buy total, and then "adjust" up (if they rolled poorly) or down (if they rolled well) to the "standard" point buy total for the campaign.

- Doom

Raesene Andu
01-31-2002, 05:54 AM
Personally, I have never used a point-buy system for creating characters. I prefer the randomness of rolling dice. Anyway, unless you roll really badly, you ability scores don't have too much influence on your actual character, unless you are the sort of person who focuses solely on stats, and I've never been that sort of person. I'm always willing to forget a rule for a game if it means the campaign runs that way I want it to.

Kerio
01-31-2002, 01:08 PM
Point buy or 4d6; not an easy question...

... however, my personal preference is a 'built' character rather than one that is 'rolled' -- including all aspects from attributes, bloodlines, etc. As a player, I like having the control to determine exactly what my character will be like while, as a DM, I know that every player's character is equivalent in strengths and weaknesses to any other.

Birthright is a high-powered (low magic) campaign and, while the 4d6 method produces appropriate characters, statistically speaking only 84% of attributes will be between 9 to 16 -- and 29% of characters will have _all_ of their attributes in that range. On top of that you have the bloodlines ... a lucky character could easily have significantly above average attributes _and_ a great bloodline with powerful bloodabilities. It doesn't take much before one character is an army into and of themselves ...

Green Knight
02-06-2002, 10:15 AM
Let the players decide on an individual basis. Either roll 4d6 (possibly w/floating re-roll) or use the 32 point buy. Do you risk it or play it safe? Keeps everyone happy.