abirdcall
(she/her)
I have come to the conclusion that 4d6 drop lowest just desn't work in 5e. Especially if feats and/or multiclassing are used. You just hit the ceiling too quickly.
On the flipside, are dump stats too minor?
When using point buy is a 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 or similar array best? With a human or half-elf you can get 3 16s for MAD characters and with other races you can get 2 16s for standard characters.
Would it be best to only allow the standard array? It is the standard ability score generation method along with rolling.
The downside I see is that it makes characters too similar.
But I wonder if it really does. There are only a few ways to do point buy with racial bonuses that are good.
What do you think? Is there more to point buy than I am seeing or are there only a couple right answers that push to high and low stats?
*edit*
Here is a comparison of characters made with point buy vs standard array:
Variant Human: 16, 16, 16, 8, 8, 8 (w/+1 feat) / 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 (+1 feat)
or 16, 16, 14, 10, 8, 8 (w/other feat) / 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 (w/other feat)
Half-Elf: 16, 16, 16, 10, 8, 8 / 16, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8
Mountain Dwarf: 17, 17, 14, 10, 8, 8 / 17, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8
Other: 16, 16, 14, 12, 8, 8 / 16, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8 or 16, 15, 14, 12, 10, 8 (MAD character)
The characters are all weaker with standard array but they do have interesting decisions with their dump stats. Be a bit smarter, a bit stronger, a bit more charismatic? Rather than just having 8s in those stats with the odd 10 or 12.
On the flipside, are dump stats too minor?
When using point buy is a 15, 15, 15, 8, 8, 8 or similar array best? With a human or half-elf you can get 3 16s for MAD characters and with other races you can get 2 16s for standard characters.
Would it be best to only allow the standard array? It is the standard ability score generation method along with rolling.
The downside I see is that it makes characters too similar.
But I wonder if it really does. There are only a few ways to do point buy with racial bonuses that are good.
What do you think? Is there more to point buy than I am seeing or are there only a couple right answers that push to high and low stats?
*edit*
Here is a comparison of characters made with point buy vs standard array:
Variant Human: 16, 16, 16, 8, 8, 8 (w/+1 feat) / 17, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 (+1 feat)
or 16, 16, 14, 10, 8, 8 (w/other feat) / 16, 14, 14, 12, 10, 8 (w/other feat)
Half-Elf: 16, 16, 16, 10, 8, 8 / 16, 16, 14, 12, 10, 8
Mountain Dwarf: 17, 17, 14, 10, 8, 8 / 17, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8
Other: 16, 16, 14, 12, 8, 8 / 16, 16, 13, 12, 10, 8 or 16, 15, 14, 12, 10, 8 (MAD character)
The characters are all weaker with standard array but they do have interesting decisions with their dump stats. Be a bit smarter, a bit stronger, a bit more charismatic? Rather than just having 8s in those stats with the odd 10 or 12.
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