Why do you like rolling stats?

[farothel]

I prefer point-buy, but I don't mind rolling stats, as long as it's not in order. Because I often come to the table with a vague concept (like, I want to play a ranger, or a rogue) and you need to have some stats to match that. Also there are types of characters I find very difficult to play, so I don't like being pushed in that direction. So if I can roll and I can assign my rolls to the stats, I'm okay with it. And most systems have options when you roll poorly. My only recent experience with rolled stats is warhammer fantasy second edition and there you have Shallya's mercy (pick average for one roll) or even Ranald's mercy (reroll one).

 

What I don't like in warhammer is rolling for starting career. Like I said, I come to the table with an idea and that doesn't fit with roll for career (or very difficult). Or you roll three times and pick one. There should be at least one of the three options that works.

 

The main reason why I prefer point-buy is one of my first characters I ever rolled up (25 years ago or something) in AD&D 2nd. My lowest stat was a 14 and I had two 18s. Very fun for me, not so much for the guy stuck with two 8s.

[cybersavant]

remembering the early games, i think i know why the stat range and bonuses were changed with 3.x ed - str had the extra range if you rolled 18, the percentiles

to incorporate that without adding it above 18, to be fair every other stat also had to be lowered

 

[cailano]

While I like 3D6 down the line from a purism standpoint, it does create some wonky characters. 17 Strength and 5 Constitution, for example. You can dream something up to explain that, but you're probably not going to end up with the sort of character that is suited to adventuring.

Some early D&D editions had systems for fixing that kind of thing. They'd allow players to swap two stats (with DM permission, but I assume that usually wasn't a problem), or they'd allow you to subtract two from one attribute to add one to another. They also suggest DMs allow players to toss "hopeless" characters.

It's a system that works for a certain kind of game. Think Wheel of Time, where your party is going to be a bunch of villagers who get swept up in an epic quest. They didn't start out to be adventurers. They just had to make do with whatever talents they had.

Or any other starting point where you have a "League of Ordinary Gentlemen" who find themselves stuck in a highly dangerous situation.

[cailano]

But this is why I like rolling characters:

Vanya is a character I'm playing in a BECMI campaign here on the Weave. The image below is right from the game. She's got a nine strength! That would never happen in a point-buy system. Her only above-average stat was in Constitution, which isn't a prime requisite for any class.

But I built a concept around the stats I rolled, and I like her. Do other warriors in the party have better stats? I'm sure they do. But Vanya's got heart and she steps up to the line when it's time to throw down.

[rorytheromulan]

The 'in order' mention reminds me of that one Spoony video about it, how at the end of the day they're just numbers, and you can build a character around whatever crap hand you're dealt, and that's the true spirit of the game. A friendly DM isn't going to force you to play with a character whose rolls set him up to die early. I haven't rolled in order before, though. I prefer to roll and then assign.

[Sellsword]

Eowyn! Love that artwork.

I had a cleric with a 5 constitution in an AD&D 2e game, the rest of his physical stats were otherwise normal. I justified the low score as the character having rickets. Low scores are a great opportunity to pursue roleplaying paths I wouldn't even consider otherwise.

[Feirgon]

I think I like to delineate between TTRPGs and Video Games. I can definitely understand wanting a character that is enjoyable to play, where the gameplay is the draw and who the character is can be ignored for the sake of some good mechanics.

That said, I do truly enjoy rolling stats and even "in order". Not so much because I have to now work how these stats can make sense mechanically, but how this informs who the character is. This is the Roleplay approach that I feel can often be swept to the side in a lot of games (crunch vs. fluff). But I don't play TTRPGs (especially PbP) because I want to play a game. I want to develop a character and explore who they are in the world that's been drafted by the DM. In a way, rolling primary attributes can create a more cinematic experience.

This is probably why I have shifted my TTRPG gaming to more rules lite systems (PbtA, Cortex, Cypher) or OSR with it's lower dependency on crunch (unless you are talking about bones). Give me a system that helps me tell a story, not play a game and I am all in.

[Aavarius]

I appreciate all the rolled stat perspectives. It's giving me a lot to think about.

[gatorized]

 

On 2/16/2024 at 11:44 PM, matt_s said:

 

- point buy/standard array are often "solved" problems: e.g. in dnd 15/15/15/8/8/8 is very strong and characters can feel "samey"

 

 

That's because D&D just isn't a very good system. There are plenty of point buy systems in which there is no optimal build and every character feels different.

  

On 3/4/2024 at 5:49 PM, Feirgon said:

That said, I do truly enjoy rolling stats and even "in order". Not so much because I have to now work how these stats can make sense mechanically, but how this informs who the character is. This is the Roleplay approach that I feel can often be swept to the side in a lot of games (crunch vs. fluff). But I don't play TTRPGs (especially PbP) because I want to play a game. I want to develop a character and explore who they are in the world that's been drafted by the DM. In a way, rolling primary attributes can create a more cinematic experience.

 

None of this follows. Using point buy or rolling has no effect on whether you can have a cinematic experience, nor does either prevent you from developing and exploring a character.

Edited March 11 by gatorized (see edit history)