Rolling up a PC [pen and paper vs. NWN(2)]

[AlmightyTDawg]

Well, with the possibility of caps as Cipher suggested, you can start to see a rolling system on marginal par with a point buy system.

For example, in terms of total modifiers, excluding racial mods, the highest you can go is +9 (four 14s, one 12, one 10) and the lowest you can go is +2 (two 17s, four 9s). If we were to cap things off in terms of total modifier, you could exhibit marginally similar control without having idential stats. The possible argument against is that it makes it easier to allow for top end stats (for example, the +9 above requires no mod above +2), particularly if you allow obscenely bad dump stats to throw off the system.

I gotta tell you, the first time I see a take-charge, I know what to do everyone follow me 2 CHA, 20 STR/ 20 CON PC, because of course Charisma's less important than competence, I'm gonna want to throw a brick at whoever devised the rolling system. And the PC's player, too, for good measure.

Still, I don't think it'd be impossible to establish some rolling limitations as Cipher suggests. I guess it's less "cookie cutter" than point-buy, but I guess that would end up being aesthetic at best. Where I'm going to have an objection across ALFA as a whole is where mediocre RP gets covered up by massive stat disparities, in what is nominally a stat-intensive environment. As people have pointed out elsewhere, you don't always have DMs there to enforce the obvious drawbacks.

But as long as we put bounds on the rollers, it'll be close enough that I don't think anyone would care in the end on account of total power. I would keep point buy around for those who preferred to set their stats rather than adjust to the die roll, though.

[Valhoun]

As a noob, has this issue been resolved yet?

Personally, it seems to be that it would be easy to keep the point buy system in place but also to have guidelines on rolling a character. So, if a player wished, a DM could help generate the dice rolls and the player could go from there.

If I don't have a concrete character concept in place, going by the luck of the dice is fun and jars the creative juices. Other times, a point buy is great when I do have a precise concept in mind. But, there is just something about the craziness and risk associated with dice rolling that has always appealed to me.

For example, if there were, say, 5 sets of numbers generated and each number was assigned an attribute, it allows for interesting character concepts (this by no means should be taken to mean that a point buy system churns out nothing but boring clones) and the odd character trait.

I just don't see the harm in having a compromise. Keep the point buy since it will likely be impossible to fiddle too much with some aspects on the NWN2 engine but allow a player to use one of the methods outlined in the players handbook for the rolling of stats (Or ALFA house rules, whatever they may be.) Actually, it wouldn't even be a compromise since everybody wins, in my opinion.

It seems to me that this really isn't/shouldn't be a problem but I know there are people here who have a crapton more experience than I do in these matters so, If I'm selling crazy, set me straight.

[Ronan]

Due to scripting (stacking effects, specifically) issues with altering ability scores, we'd need a system which altered PC bics directly. Unless someone wants to tackle this (and the other shortcomings of rolling in an environment where PC creation is automated), I suppose they could. But it looks like we are staying with OE's default 32-point buy.

[HEEGZ]

I just thought I'd weigh in that I'm fine with using the OE system. Given the overall lack of volunteers, and the fact that the system works well, we'd be better off putting our energies somewhere else.

- HEEGZ

[fluffmonster]

if you really want to use rolling, then roll the dice and shoe-horn the result into point-buy. You can preserve the relative score distribution from die results and buy points on that basis.