Starting a new character...
Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 8:07 pm
I just wanted to toss this out there and see what folks make of it.
First, if most people are like me they hate rolling horrible starting stats when creating a new character. They hate being forced to choose between two classes they do not want to play when there was a third one in mind they rather enjoy. As part of my ongoing project to create dungeon-mastering tools, and player's reference sheets or more like a player viewer that shows them where they are, what they got, as well as all the nitty-gritty equipment, gold and whatnot. But I digress...
Starting a character.
Oh there are so many ways I've seen this done, with various rules, limitations and in a slew of completely different games. My biggest problem has always been nobody wants to start out with a character that cannot fight his way out of a wet paper bag. Sadly, that will often be true when resorting to a limited number of dice rolls, or applying archaic limits or exceptions to them. I have been mulling around this idea for some time, and came up with what I believe is a sound method that achieves a little bit of everything that a character in a role-playing game ought to be subject to. Namely, a solid stat (or 2) that makes them shine a bit above the average mortals, and in converse a stat (or 2) that is the character's bane stat(s).
Here goes! One caveat... the following numbers are based on SEVEN stats, not SIX. More on that at a later date...
Each character starts out with 82 total points that they can allocate to their stats.
Each character starts out with a flat 3 in each stat.
Each point allocated to a stat will raise it by ONE point until that stat reaches 10.
Each point allocated between 11-12 will deduct TWO points from the total.
Each point allocated between 13-14 will deduct THREE points from the total.
Each point allocated between 15-16 will deduct FOUR points from the total.
Each point allocated between 17-18 will deduct FIVE points from the total.
No more than TWO stats can be above 16.
No more than TWO stats can be below 8.
All stats must fall within the 3-18 range. Race modifiers will be applied afterward.
The bonus of stats themselves will be calculated by using the following formula: (<stat> minus 10 divided by 2 rounded down). A stat of 3 == (3-10)/2 for a bonus (or penalty in this case) of -3. A 15 stat will be (15-10)/2 == +2 bonus for that stat.
Well there you have it! Toss your darts, tear it up, play with the possibilities and let me know if this is something that would have merit to potential players. As I said earlier, the above numbers are based on a SEVEN stat system I am devising, so imagine that there was another stat beside the usual SIX for determining a base characters primary attributes.
First, if most people are like me they hate rolling horrible starting stats when creating a new character. They hate being forced to choose between two classes they do not want to play when there was a third one in mind they rather enjoy. As part of my ongoing project to create dungeon-mastering tools, and player's reference sheets or more like a player viewer that shows them where they are, what they got, as well as all the nitty-gritty equipment, gold and whatnot. But I digress...
Starting a character.
Oh there are so many ways I've seen this done, with various rules, limitations and in a slew of completely different games. My biggest problem has always been nobody wants to start out with a character that cannot fight his way out of a wet paper bag. Sadly, that will often be true when resorting to a limited number of dice rolls, or applying archaic limits or exceptions to them. I have been mulling around this idea for some time, and came up with what I believe is a sound method that achieves a little bit of everything that a character in a role-playing game ought to be subject to. Namely, a solid stat (or 2) that makes them shine a bit above the average mortals, and in converse a stat (or 2) that is the character's bane stat(s).
Here goes! One caveat... the following numbers are based on SEVEN stats, not SIX. More on that at a later date...
Each character starts out with 82 total points that they can allocate to their stats.
Each character starts out with a flat 3 in each stat.
Each point allocated to a stat will raise it by ONE point until that stat reaches 10.
Each point allocated between 11-12 will deduct TWO points from the total.
Each point allocated between 13-14 will deduct THREE points from the total.
Each point allocated between 15-16 will deduct FOUR points from the total.
Each point allocated between 17-18 will deduct FIVE points from the total.
No more than TWO stats can be above 16.
No more than TWO stats can be below 8.
All stats must fall within the 3-18 range. Race modifiers will be applied afterward.
The bonus of stats themselves will be calculated by using the following formula: (<stat> minus 10 divided by 2 rounded down). A stat of 3 == (3-10)/2 for a bonus (or penalty in this case) of -3. A 15 stat will be (15-10)/2 == +2 bonus for that stat.
Well there you have it! Toss your darts, tear it up, play with the possibilities and let me know if this is something that would have merit to potential players. As I said earlier, the above numbers are based on a SEVEN stat system I am devising, so imagine that there was another stat beside the usual SIX for determining a base characters primary attributes.