ShadeRaven's Valley of Shrouds
Character Creation: Rolling Up Your Attribute Scores
With some time off, I gave some significant thought to the importance of character stats and the balance that is maintained with a fair system. I am a big fan of the Standard Array and Point Buy methods of character creation. It creates relatively equal characters for everyone. That said, though, I still prefer seeing a little random element and diversity within a character’s stats. The standard array/point buy system, while good, inevitably leads to cookie cutter builds with clear development paths. Everyone looks nearly the same. So with that in mind, I came up with a method of my own to add in some diversity to stats while still allowing players to still control who they are assigned and even tweaked.
To start with, I need everyone to simply assign numeric values to their character score, rating them from most valued to least. Do this without applying racial bonuses as the +2(s) would only confuse the situation. Give a 6 to the stat you wish to see assigned to the highest score, 5 to the second most valued attribute, and so forth, down to the 1 you put on your least important score. This will all be done within Fantasy Grounds 2 with my guidance over Skype, so don’t worry if you forget anything. I’ll be there to remind you how this works. After that, you’ll be rolling 2d6+6 seven times, dropping the second lowest, and then, based on your numeric value assignments, those scores will be applied to your character.
I’ve also decided that, to ensure everyone is generally as strong as each other, total Stats for a character’s initial die rolls must fall within a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 88. This still allows for some variability, but no so much that any one character is that much better than the rest (I am looking at you, Darrin) or worse than the rest (-wave Tim-). If you are over 88, you must adjust starting stats down to fall within the maximum range. On the bright side, it still leaves you plenty of control over your character’s final build that other’s will not have. If you are under, you have the choice of rerolling or adding points (in some cases, each will be more attractive than the other).
Furthermore, you can do a +1 for -1 adjustment on any stats but you must leave yourself with at least 2 odd scored attributes (9, 11, 13, etc.). I’d like to see a little variety and thought go into the stat bonus levels.. and having odd stats to consider improving adds to the decision process. However, if your initial rolls include no or just 1 odd number, you don’t have to change them to comply to the requirement. But I don’t want to see people dropping a 13 to a 12 and raising a 15 to a 16 simply to twink the character out. Dropping the 13 to 11 and raising the 15 to 17 is acceptable (encouraged, even).
No stat can start out above an 18 or below an 8 (though I might be talked into a 6 with a compelling RP reason).
Please don’t go crazy with this.. such as starting with 4 18s and 2 8s. The (2) +1/-1 adjustment is intended for minor tweaks… not min/maxing mayhem. If you’d like a strong, durable fighter who’s a bit light on the book education side but with a smattering of common sense, pushing that CON roll from 15 to 17 while dropping INT from 11 to 9 (while maintaining that 12 WIS and 18 STR… along with a 13 DEX and 12 CHA) is perfectly acceptable. However, if you said you wanted a 17 CON, 17 DEX, 18 STR while dropping down to an 9 INT, 10 CHA, and 10 WIS), I’d probably veto because it’s a little too min/max.
Racial adjustments thereafter are can allow you to break the 88 and 18 maximum rules.
Example: If you are planning on playing a Dwarven Paladin and you put 6 into STR, 5 into CHA, and 4 into WIS and your three highest stats from the die rolls come up as 17, 15, 14, then the 17 will be assigned to STR, the 15 to CHA, and the 14 to WIS. Then the dwarven racial bonus to WIS would be added for a 16 WIS total. And so forth. If you decide that you’d really like to see that CHA boosted to 17 to reflect his leadership qualities in the coming storm, boosting that up while dropping his DEX down from 11 to 9 (to reflect is rigid dwarven nature) would be acceptable. However, if you also wanted to raid WIS to 18 while dropping INT down, I’ll veto that as it will be more adjustments towards min/maxing than I’d like to see.
Players will find that their ability scores are going to be higher than norm but this will be measured against the fact that Vrathia will be a very tough world to live in, little in the way of starting gear, no merchants to buy potions at, craftsmen to get magic from, and cities to find respite.
I also rather prefer the non-cookie cutter feel that comes with more random ability scores that don't always round out nicely and sometimes produce surprising results that can even lend itself towards roleplaying.
To start with, I need everyone to simply assign numeric values to their character score, rating them from most valued to least. Do this without applying racial bonuses as the +2(s) would only confuse the situation. Give a 6 to the stat you wish to see assigned to the highest score, 5 to the second most valued attribute, and so forth, down to the 1 you put on your least important score. This will all be done within Fantasy Grounds 2 with my guidance over Skype, so don’t worry if you forget anything. I’ll be there to remind you how this works. After that, you’ll be rolling 2d6+6 seven times, dropping the second lowest, and then, based on your numeric value assignments, those scores will be applied to your character.
I’ve also decided that, to ensure everyone is generally as strong as each other, total Stats for a character’s initial die rolls must fall within a minimum of 80 and a maximum of 88. This still allows for some variability, but no so much that any one character is that much better than the rest (I am looking at you, Darrin) or worse than the rest (-wave Tim-). If you are over 88, you must adjust starting stats down to fall within the maximum range. On the bright side, it still leaves you plenty of control over your character’s final build that other’s will not have. If you are under, you have the choice of rerolling or adding points (in some cases, each will be more attractive than the other).
Furthermore, you can do a +1 for -1 adjustment on any stats but you must leave yourself with at least 2 odd scored attributes (9, 11, 13, etc.). I’d like to see a little variety and thought go into the stat bonus levels.. and having odd stats to consider improving adds to the decision process. However, if your initial rolls include no or just 1 odd number, you don’t have to change them to comply to the requirement. But I don’t want to see people dropping a 13 to a 12 and raising a 15 to a 16 simply to twink the character out. Dropping the 13 to 11 and raising the 15 to 17 is acceptable (encouraged, even).
No stat can start out above an 18 or below an 8 (though I might be talked into a 6 with a compelling RP reason).
Please don’t go crazy with this.. such as starting with 4 18s and 2 8s. The (2) +1/-1 adjustment is intended for minor tweaks… not min/maxing mayhem. If you’d like a strong, durable fighter who’s a bit light on the book education side but with a smattering of common sense, pushing that CON roll from 15 to 17 while dropping INT from 11 to 9 (while maintaining that 12 WIS and 18 STR… along with a 13 DEX and 12 CHA) is perfectly acceptable. However, if you said you wanted a 17 CON, 17 DEX, 18 STR while dropping down to an 9 INT, 10 CHA, and 10 WIS), I’d probably veto because it’s a little too min/max.
Racial adjustments thereafter are can allow you to break the 88 and 18 maximum rules.
Example: If you are planning on playing a Dwarven Paladin and you put 6 into STR, 5 into CHA, and 4 into WIS and your three highest stats from the die rolls come up as 17, 15, 14, then the 17 will be assigned to STR, the 15 to CHA, and the 14 to WIS. Then the dwarven racial bonus to WIS would be added for a 16 WIS total. And so forth. If you decide that you’d really like to see that CHA boosted to 17 to reflect his leadership qualities in the coming storm, boosting that up while dropping his DEX down from 11 to 9 (to reflect is rigid dwarven nature) would be acceptable. However, if you also wanted to raid WIS to 18 while dropping INT down, I’ll veto that as it will be more adjustments towards min/maxing than I’d like to see.
Players will find that their ability scores are going to be higher than norm but this will be measured against the fact that Vrathia will be a very tough world to live in, little in the way of starting gear, no merchants to buy potions at, craftsmen to get magic from, and cities to find respite.
I also rather prefer the non-cookie cutter feel that comes with more random ability scores that don't always round out nicely and sometimes produce surprising results that can even lend itself towards roleplaying.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by ShadeRaven on -
Having decided upon the above, I went back and reviewed the current characters that people were good enough to create a while back. Everyone looked pretty good except a couple of over 88ers that I had to adjust down some. It won’t change their awesomeness, but it will make them a little more balanced. The net results is as follows:
• Zett: Wolvar Storn (Human Cleric) – STR 18, CON 15, DEX 10, INT 13, WIS 19, CHA 15
• Viking: Unnamed (Human Fighter) – STR 18, CON 18, DEX 16, INT 10, WIS 13, CHA 13
• Phantom: Jax’Raith (Elven Ranger) – STR 15, CON 14, DEX 20, INT 14, WIS 17, CHA 10
• Tim: Vergrond (Dwarven Fighter) – STR 15, CON 19, DEX 14, INT 10, WIS 17, CHA 12
• Tim: Varsh-Teu (Solborn Cleric) – STR 18, CON 15, DEX 14, INT 10, WIS 16, CHA 17
• Darrin: Belar (Human Wizard) – STR 9, CON 15, DEX 15, INT 20, WIS 16, CHA 12
• Darrin: Ivar Sethyg (Solborn Paladin) – STR 20, CON 14, DEX 9, INT 13, WIS 15, CHA 20
• Marcus: Maerglim (Brallkin Warlock) – STR 11, CON 16, DEX 14, INT 17, WIS 10, CHA 20
• Nicz: Nicritim (Elven Ranger) – STR 15, CON 14, DEX 19, INT 10, WIS 18, CHA 13
With racial adjustment, there are still some pretty amazing characters there, but even the lower end on the rolls still look pretty darned good.
Keep in mind that those are just initial character generated a while back and are not necessarily those who will be playing in the campaigns. Availability has changed quite a bit in recent months. There are also some folks who will be added to the list who want in as well.
The above, though, does give a good sampling of what characters will look like to start.
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