RPG Pondering: D&D Stat Generation

[Tetsubo]

I ask the classic gamer geek question: What is the best method of generating D&D character stats? Dice rolls or point buy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZzndDW_JAk

[Drinnik]

2nd or 3rd ed, rolling. 4th ed, point buy. 4th ed breaks if you use rolling.

[Lyinginbedmon]

I go with rolling, leads to more spontaneous and varied results.

[Gordon Fearman]

I'd go with point buy because whenever I roll stats, I invariably get all 10s.

[RytelCSF]

They both have their pros and cons; point buying allows for munchkinly levels of min-maxing, but rolling can cripple a character over the course of a whole session/campaign just because you got unlucky right at the start. Yes, it could also leave you with highly above-average stats, but to me having the gaming equivalent of a Mary Sue is just as unfulfilling as having an underpowered character.

But overall, I'd have to go with point buy, because even though I'm not a fan of min-maxing (in fact, my characters are often a bit below the curve because I tend to roleplay though skills/feats rather than optimize) I still want my character to be capable. If I'm a fighter, I want that 16/18 STR. If I'm a wizard, I want that 16/18 INT, and so on. Besides, a good DM will often discourage min-maxing by putting parties into situations that require all kinds of skills and not just a few specialized ones.

[asrz]

I use dice roll, and rules suggested by, I think, D20 Modern where a character's total modifiers must be greater than +3 but less than +8, if they're not, you re-roll all six.

[Sieg Reyu]

The greater than three less than eight rule was suggesed in 4th ed as well and that's what my group used for it. We also Just started playing gamma world and randomness is required for that.

[TomBrend]

I always do point buy because I am a whore and I like to min/max.

[Tetsubo]

I always do point buy because I am a whore and I like to min/max.

You dirty, filthy point buying whore...

[TomBrend]

Which is why I like my 8/17/8/14/8/18 bard

[Tetsubo]

Which is why I like my 8/17/8/14/8/18 bard

But don't the HP suck?

[TomBrend]

Yes, which is why I can make diplomacy checks at +25, assuming no assistance and no magic.

[Zyxst]

I always roll dice because I am a whore and I like shiny things.

[Tetsubo]

I always roll dice because I am a whore and I like shiny things.

Is having pounds of dice... unusual?

[RytelCSF]

Using "pounds" as a unit of measure for dice, maybe.