So my DM gave me 50 point-buy to work with because we're bringing in a totally overpowered character for a few sessions (it makes sense for story reasons, this character is fast approaching godhood), but I'm curious how the point buy table would function past 18 in an ability score. Do you guys happen to have any ideas on what this would look like? Any advice is much appreciated.
Brendan Missio's answer is the correct one; the calculator follows a strictly predictable progression: every point costs a certain amount more to purchase than the previous point, and every two points, the incremental point cost increase is raised by 1. To get to 26 in a stat, you would have to spend an absurd 65 points--but then, 26 is an absurd ability score at creation, so I guess that's fair.
You didn't ask for advice on how to actually spend these points, but the point buy system was clearly designed to quickly punish you with diminishing returns. Sure, you could give a character superhuman base strength (24) but they would be squarely average (10) at every other stat, hardly a worthy candidate for near godhood.
You asked specifically about going beyond 18 in an ability score, but I don't think it's worth it, numerically. On the other hand, if you're willing to avoid the obvious lure of 20 in the primary stat (which is spending 9 of your 50 points for a mere +1 gain over the 18 stat), you could instead go 18/16/16/14/14/13 (before race, level and equipment modifiers), which is a set of stats that just about any character I can envision would kill for.
Just because your GM gave you 50pts doesn't mean he gave you permission to point-buy any stat higher than 18 (before racial adjustment), so you should check on that.
That said, point buy is very inefficient, and increasingly so, by design, the higher the stat you want.
martial character, 50pt
str+ 20 (17)
dex: 18 (17)
con: 18 (17)
int: 13 (3) *
wis: 16 (10)
cha: 7 (-4)
(*Never raise INT in this build; it's at 13 solely to qualify for Combat Expertise. If you want a smarter character, reduce one of the 18s to a 16 and raise INT to 16: [17+3] = [10+10] point-buy.)
martial character, 50pt
str+ 20 (17)
dex: 18 (17)
con: 18 (17)
int: 13 (3) *
wis: 16 (10)
cha: 7 (-4)
Just wanted to point out that you listed a 60-point character, not a 50-point character. The three 17's on their own are 51 points.
(red-pencils my test)
Hmm....
str+ 20 (17)
dex: 16 (10)
con: 18 (17) ...or 20 w/Dual Talent human
int: 10 (0)
wis: 16 (10)
cha: 7 (-4)
1. (any rage class), FEAT(g)
...
n. (any class offering a combat feat), Dirty Fighting (if Combat Expertise is needed as a feat-tax)
str: 18 (17)
dex: 16 (10)
con+ 20 (17) ...dwarf version
int: 10 (0)
wis+ 18 (10)
cha- 5 (-4)
No point on playing a martial when you have 50 point buy. Play a gish if anything since they're the hardest to get good stats for. Stats above 18 and honestly 17 cost too much to be worth it. With strength and a twohander each point of str is actually 1.5 but its not really worth it.
No point on playing a martial when you have 50 point buy. Play a gish if anything since they're the hardest to get good stats for. Stats above 18 and honestly 17 cost too much to be worth it. With strength and a twohander each point of str is actually 1.5 but its not really worth it.
Maybe it's just me, but "totally overpowered character" screams full caster. Or even gestalt - that would be more impactful than high point buy.
No point on playing a martial when you have 50 point buy. Play a gish if anything since they're the hardest to get good stats for. Stats above 18 and honestly 17 cost too much to be worth it. With strength and a twohander each point of str is actually 1.5 but its not really worth it.Maybe it's just me, but "totally overpowered character" screams full caster. Or even gestalt - that would be more impactful than high point buy.
I may be misinterpreting what you're saying but I suggested gish not to break the game but because OP has a chance to play a really good gish with such high stats.
No point on playing a martial when you have 50 point buy. Play a gish if anything since they're the hardest to get good stats for. Stats above 18 and honestly 17 cost too much to be worth it. With strength and a twohander each point of str is actually 1.5 but its not really worth it.
You can already make a thoroughly broken enchanter with 20pt buy; at that point, having an even higher number in the prime stat is kind of pointless, and the other stats the minmaxer typically is unconcerned with.
High point-buy rewards playing martials because they are normally at least moderately MAD (aside from charisma and intelligence).
I may be misinterpreting what you're saying but I suggested gish not to break the game but because OP has a chance to play a really good gish with such high stats.
And normally, that would make sense, but in this case, "totally overpowered character" is the actual goal. A goal that you don't really reach with a tier 3 class, no matter the point buy.
Of course, overpoweredness is relative by definition, so if the party is all martial classes (maybe even all tier 5), or simply severely unoptimized characters, a well constructed gish could indeed be considered OP.