(english is not my first language, please excuse the mis spellings and grammatical errors.)
I've been playing D&D since second edition 1994, and when 3.0 came out, it was good.
but since 2000 till present time, i kind of feel like i'm out of the loop.
in our gaming group, we have experienced nearly none of the issues commonly presented in both the D&D and Pathfinder forums. Namely overpowered classes, feats and balance issues,
one thing our group does that is different from most others is we conduct a strict point array system all the classes.
i have discalcula, so i needed a fast and easy system to look at a character sheet when i DMed and at a glance either confirm or deny an action. and point array stuck from that.
the break down is the common one used in the 3.0/3.5 dmg. every class got:
15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8
with the exception of rogues, monks, and bards. They get:
16, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10
players were allowed to place said abilities as they saw fit.
It gave far more importance to race, age, and ability mod bonuses earned through levels.
my question is this, has anyone else opted for point array? and if so was it favorable to your game?
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So everyone is a bard then?
I like point array a lot better than rolling or point buy, especially since players complain a lot less.
The first time I was exposed to point array I hated it, but that is because the DM gave us terrible stats.
When I was re-exposed to it the DM (who has been playing for 30+ years) gave us the stats 18 16 15 13 12 10 and I've found them to be both not too overpowering in the sense that you really only have 2 really good stats, you get that 15 which pretty much always goes into CON, and then you have your 'dump' stats which get to stay above 10 so you can still do something with your character without having to give up being effective at your classes abilities.
I like giving different point array options rather than only having one array, when I DM I use the above array, but I also like to offer an array of 17 17 14 12 11 10. I've been called out on this forum for it because I am apparently taking away options from the players by not making them do point buy, and I guess people really like having negative stats, but none of my players have complained yet, at least, not about characte building options.
So everyone is a bard then?
Usually we had an even spread of character races and classes.
in 3.0 & 3.5 it was the bard that was the "rogue" of pathfinder, so the group felt the bards needed the extra push.
we just roll up our stats. if someone rolls really bad, they can reroll the whole set. dice averages take care of equality fast
3.5 bards rocked so hard it wasn't funny! Heaven forbid you gestalt them... I kicked so much hieny it wasn't funny... There was an alternate feature that let you roll 1/2 your class lvl + ability for any skill you have ranks in, and a feat that gave you .5 ranks in all your class skills. It was brutal! I used all my points from leveling to get synergy bonuses and a few other key skills. Mithril chain shirt + cha-har aina + dastana gave me more AC than gods.
Everyone wrinkled their nose at me when I would roll up a bard... Then they saw it in play... Nutz!