An excellent rule -- it only makes sense for a stat that describes how well you exert your personality over others. Wisdom has evolved to a description of how perceptive a character is, not a measure of willpower.
That was my thinking exactly, Charisma is "strength of personality" in the rules after all. I'd even considered looking at saves that might relate to Strength and Intelligence but there's not as clear a delineation there.
I went with 28 point buy in the campaign I just started. I like the humanity of low point buys rather than making super-hero characters, but I also wanted my players to have the option of taking one stat to 18 and still have some flexability left to have one or two other above-average stats.
The campaign is planned to start on a heavily modified version of the Savage Tide Adventure Path (our playgroup agreed we wanted a gritty, brutal, low-magic world, so the magic and the monsters are getting toned down, and there are a shortage of truly 'good' factions other than the PCs) and transition at 5th or 6th level to Expedition to Ravenloft.
In campaigns with adventures primarily written by me I usually go with a 32 point buy. My games tend to be on the tough side and it gives the player characters a little more edge. However, I'm running the STAP right now and went with 28 point buy. It makes the PCs slightly better off than most of the NPCs (which use the elite array or 25 point buy), but not enough to get cocky over.
Baudot, if/when your group gets to Expedition to Castle Ravenloft in your campaign I would be really interested to read about their experiences in that adventure in a Campaign Journal if you're up to it. The original was my all-time favorite module and I'd love to hear about this new spin on an old classic.
We played AOW with a point buy and everyone died horriable, in a fight in the Whispering Carin, Point buy may be for some people but it isn't for our group. We play careful but alot of the group already have the vengence of the dice gods upon there heads, for some slight in a past gaming life, I assume.
For us the roll of the dice was far more exciting to mathamatics. (One of our players has a learning disability, but role plays marvolously.)
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Holy crap there are some stingy DM's in here!
Personally, I prefer the 5d6 drop the two lowest and arrange as desired. The is probably comparable to a 36 or 40 point buy.
I'm not a 'killer DM' but I don't hold the players' hands. The PC's are put in extraordinary situations, and in my games they need extraordinary abilities to survive, not alone succeed.
For people who clearly think 'outside the box', I find the general consensus of this thread somewhat surprising. I can understand the 40-point-buy-is-too-powerful argument; however, those making that argument should keep in mind that it would be too powerful in THEIR campaign.
Enemies have the same desire to live as the PC's. If kobolds drop the wizard PC, they'll administer the coup de grace as soon as possible rather than wait for the cleric to patch him back up. They'll stay away from the beefy 18-str fighter until all his support has been wiped out.
If the PC's are clearing out a place way too easily, adjust the CR downward. You don't have to keep an encounter at the suggested CR just because Dungeon told you to. If an encounter would clearly present no challenge to a PC, why reward him as if it had?
New players at my table are sometimes put off by what they perceive as me being overly generous during character creation. This usually wears off around the fourth of fifth encounter when they discover that my NPC's don't pull any punches. If the sky is falling and you missed that DC10 reflex save, well, show's over for Bigboned the Barbarian.
Baudot, if/when your group gets to Expedition to Castle Ravenloft in your campaign I would be really interested to read about their experiences in that adventure in a Campaign Journal if you're up to it.
I'll try to keep one up to date...
Small thread hijack:
Hi Baudot!
Anything new in Dungeon from you anytime soon? I very much liked "Within the Circle". Hope you are still sending adventure proposals to James and his team!
Bocklin
Holy crap there are some stingy DM's in here!
Personally, I prefer the 5d6 drop the two lowest and arrange as desired. The is probably comparable to a 36 or 40 point buy.
Hey, I'd call us normal, and others in the 33+ camp "generous," that way nobody comes out looking bad... ;^)
Seriously, I've found running games at that high a point value entirely un-fun. The DM has to throw crazy-powerful monsters at the party just to keep things going, and the power curve never gets better as the game progresses.
This is not to say others can't play it that way, but really 25-28 point buy is "standard" not stingy. The game is designed around these values.
...I can understand the 40-point-buy-is-too-powerful argument; however, those making that argument should keep in mind that it would be too powerful in THEIR campaign...
To each their own, of course. I share the point of view of an earlier post -- too many points makes PCs too superhuman for enjoyment.
For me, 40-pt buys are for the Steven Seagal RPG. As time goes by, I lose patience with his movies -- the bad guys never really stand a chance against his characters from the beginning. I'm left wondering what the point of the movie was :/
Regards,
Jack