point buy or roll for stats?

[nikolokolus]

Rulings not rules the majority of the time. Every now and again it's left to the whims of the dice.

[nikolokolus]

dm/gm is not limited to rolls to determine outcome of encounters... is why we said "rolls or encounters." and dumping back in the lap o' the players is equal foolhardy.   

 

HA! Good Fun!

 

One more thought: In sandbox style play it's always up to the players. I lay lots of bread crumbs and I let them decide which ones they'd like to follow. I give plenty of hints about what kind of dangers might lay ahead and retreat is usually an option. 

 

I don't run railroad adventures, I build the world, set the factions and then my players tell the story in play. If they're really clever and really lucky they get to tell a long story instead of a short one.

[Amentep]

 

If people get to reroll ad infinitum there's no point in rolling at all, just let them write in whatever stats they want.

 

Kind of reminds of those characters we "rolled" up when I was about 13 and first discovered the AD&D game and got to take home my buddy's copy of the PHB and practice creating some characters.

 

"Well sure I rolled up this paladin with 18/00 Str, 17 Dex, 18 Con, 12 Int, 14 Wis and 17 Cha, with 4d6 drop lowest. Why would I lie about something like that?"

 

We did 4d6 drop the lowest BUT everyone rolled in front of all the other players, so we tended to have what we had. We also did 3d6 but 7x rolls and you place the 6 totals you wanted to keep.

 

Although in Gamma World we did allow the scrapping of useless characters after rolling mutations.

[nikolokolus]

Those megamen characters rolled on our own didn't last very long. The DM would just kill them off at his earliest convenience or we quickly learned that our survival (and enjoyment of the game) had very little to do with those stats.

 

It was always far more important to stock up on caltrops, flaming oil, holy water and get yourself a couple of vicious guard dogs.

[darthdraken]

Rolling works for me regardless of game or system. But a play gets no more than 2 rerolls and is stuck with the final roll.

If a player is going for a certain class or roll plays a type of character then i can edge towards stats in that direction by adding a feat or special one off skill. Depending on the campaign and when that character enters.

Also i am flexible with background stories the more detailed and better the more points they get for the effort. Its important to enjoy creating as well as playing.

 

And if a player is killed they create a new character slightly below a level or skills of other players.

 

Remember the rules in books are a guide more than the set rule. But a good foundation to start from. Make sure to be flexable and realistic.

[Aldalar]

As a GM I allow my players to roll the stats and then distribuite de points as they want...but as a player, I roll my stats in order and accept my luck. It's a lot of fun to play with someone with huge flaws, like a wizard stronger than the warrior.

[Bryy]

If people get to reroll ad infinitum there's no point in rolling at all, just let them write in whatever stats they want.

Yeah, never before has there been such a "Why Can't We Have Both?" question.

[Hiro Protagonist II]

You can usually min-max in both cases. Point buy makes it easier imo. eg. Playing a rogue and I can allocate points in DEX? Okay I'll just max DEX. With playing D&D, Traveller and 40K over the last few years and depending on which class you're playing in those systems, it can be easy to know which points to allocate over other stats.