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12/18/2017 6:16 pm  #21


Re: Rolling Attributes

My players are mostly newer players.  A guy that started with 4e and still considers it his favorite.  A guy that plays mostly 5e outside of my game.  A guy that plays lots of story games.  And one guy that was entirely new to RPGs but has happily latched onto the OSR games I introduced him to.

We've played our share of DCC funnels, but overall they do prefer to be able to play the characters they want to play.  I strongly prefer a certain amount of randomization in chargen, so it's a compromise.

 

12/18/2017 7:59 pm  #22


Re: Rolling Attributes

Don’t forget the 2:1 attribute adjustment. One can roll 3d6 or 4d6 in order and still modify the character to be closer to his desired ideal—just at a cost compared with a player who takes what the dice give him.

 

12/19/2017 2:06 am  #23


Re: Rolling Attributes

...or you can go really old-school: 3d6 in order, with the 2-for-1 adjustments, and completely ignore ability bonuses/penalties - the benefit being that players don't obsess over scores as much.
 


"I, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, shall write with my left hand, since I have no longer any other, the tale of everything that befell Tirouv Ompallios and myself in the shrine of the god Tsathoggua..."
 

12/19/2017 5:57 am  #24


Re: Rolling Attributes

mabon5127 wrote:

Interesting story. I wonder how often players are successfully converted to OSR from the newer games?

Well, to be fair, it took me quite a while, and a couple of things stand out: a successful introduction to Classic Traveller (which I also run for them), and the ability to highlight how AS&SH accomplishes similar effects with much less overhead than PF. For example, Fighters are the best at fighting, without having decision trees (feats) at every level; the non-standard task resolution allows them to leverage their backgrounds to attempt just about anything, without a prescriptive list (skills) to consult; and tactics are easier, since there are fewer tactical factors to consider, though the chief one is still one's imagination. 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

12/19/2017 5:58 am  #25


Re: Rolling Attributes

DMPrata wrote:

Don’t forget the 2:1 attribute adjustment. One can roll 3d6 or 4d6 in order and still modify the character to be closer to his desired ideal—just at a cost compared with a player who takes what the dice give him.

Yes, I often forget about this, and will remind them next time.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

12/19/2017 1:41 pm  #26


Re: Rolling Attributes

Grimmshade wrote:

I guess I'm the hippy, although I prefer punk. Even though I come from the dawn of the RPG, I generally allow point spread assigned Attributes.

I am another point-spread DM responsible for the slow decline of Western Civilization. 

Rolling for stats is great for grognards looking for a challenge. There is nothing new under the sun for these veteran gamers; adding the extra layer of challenge and verisimilitude with random stats and 0-level character funnels totally makes sense. 

Personally, I feel that it's important that players have characters that match the vision in their mind's eye rather than being assigned a character by the dice. I've found that most players design characters who are idealized alter-egos, branching out to more novel and challenging concepts as their experience grows. 
 

 

12/19/2017 3:19 pm  #27


Re: Rolling Attributes

One idea I liked from the old DragonQuest game was rolling to see what your point total was, with fewer points allowing a higher max in any attribute, and more points having a lower max in any attribute. Something like that would be interesting to try, and still sort of grognardish. 


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

12/19/2017 4:12 pm  #28


Re: Rolling Attributes

rhialto wrote:

I think it's important to discuss this before the game begins: I did with my group, knowing they were more familiar with Pathfinder and it's stultifying build process (IMO, of course ) and attribute budget.

Yeah, it is extremely important to discuss player expectations and house rules during session zero. It's frustrating to join a game and regret it because of a misleading elevator pitch or because the DM keeps all the house rules in his head. 

Last edited by Brock Savage (12/19/2017 4:26 pm)

 

12/19/2017 8:03 pm  #29


Re: Rolling Attributes

rhialto wrote:

One idea I liked from the old DragonQuest game was rolling to see what your point total was, with fewer points allowing a higher max in any attribute, and more points having a lower max in any attribute. Something like that would be interesting to try, and still sort of grognardish. 

I remember that system and that mechanic!  Played a lot of Dragon Quest back in the day. Lots of fun but it did read like a legal document.


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 

12/19/2017 8:24 pm  #30


Re: Rolling Attributes

rhialto wrote:

mabon5127 wrote:

Interesting story. I wonder how often players are successfully converted to OSR from the newer games?

Well, to be fair, it took me quite a while, and a couple of things stand out: a successful introduction to Classic Traveller (which I also run for them), and the ability to highlight how AS&SH accomplishes similar effects with much less overhead than PF. For example, Fighters are the best at fighting, without having decision trees (feats) at every level; the non-standard task resolution allows them to leverage their backgrounds to attempt just about anything, without a prescriptive list (skills) to consult; and tactics are easier, since there are fewer tactical factors to consider, though the chief one is still one's imagination. 

Neat insight! Thanks! 


“How can I wear the harness of toil
And sweat at the daily round,
While in my soul forever
The drums of Pictdom sound?” 
 

12/19/2017 8:58 pm  #31


Re: Rolling Attributes

I guess I'm super lucky in that none of my players ever played the newer-school games. But to me this sounds awful. Maybe I just embrace a higher-lethality game, but I find that the blowback is worse when the carefully crafted character dies an hour an in than when the third or fourth "set of stats waiting for a post hoc story" makes it to second level.

I don't know. I feel like even my letting them roll 4d6 is super indulgent and obviates even having dice at all!

It's possible I'm a bad person?

All I know is I like every bad dice roll more than any bad person.

 

12/20/2017 12:23 am  #32


Re: Rolling Attributes

Handy Haversack wrote:

I guess I'm super lucky in that none of my players ever played the newer-school games. But to me this sounds awful. Maybe I just embrace a higher-lethality game, but I find that the blowback is worse when the carefully crafted character dies an hour an in than when the third or fourth "set of stats waiting for a post hoc story" makes it to second level.

I don't know. I feel like even my letting them roll 4d6 is super indulgent and obviates even having dice at all!

It's possible I'm a bad person?

All I know is I like every bad dice roll more than any bad person.

Well said! And no, you're not a bad person. It's just a classic approach. There's nothing wrong with point-buys and superheroes either, it's just a different approach.


"I, Satampra Zeiros of Uzuldaroum, shall write with my left hand, since I have no longer any other, the tale of everything that befell Tirouv Ompallios and myself in the shrine of the god Tsathoggua..."
 

12/20/2017 5:36 am  #33


Re: Rolling Attributes

mabon5127 wrote:

rhialto wrote:

One idea I liked from the old DragonQuest game was rolling to see what your point total was, with fewer points allowing a higher max in any attribute, and more points having a lower max in any attribute. Something like that would be interesting to try, and still sort of grognardish. 

I remember that system and that mechanic!  Played a lot of Dragon Quest back in the day. Lots of fun but it did read like a legal document.

Indeed, and yet still a solid game for a particular style.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

12/20/2017 5:44 am  #34


Re: Rolling Attributes

Handy Haversack wrote:

I guess I'm super lucky in that none of my players ever played the newer-school games. But to me this sounds awful. Maybe I just embrace a higher-lethality game, but I find that the blowback is worse when the carefully crafted character dies an hour an in than when the third or fourth "set of stats waiting for a post hoc story" makes it to second level.

I don't know. I feel like even my letting them roll 4d6 is super indulgent and obviates even having dice at all!

It's possible I'm a bad person?

All I know is I like every bad dice roll more than any bad person.

Yes, carefully-crafted characters are simply one way to play, but they're as old-school as Call of Cthulhu or RuneQuest. But the blowback consequence is spot on, and the chief reason I don't run that style of game.


"It is all very well to point out that the man lacks facility; as he asserts, sheer force can overpower sophistication."
Jack Vance, Rhialto the Marvellous
 

12/20/2017 8:38 am  #35


Re: Rolling Attributes

Whew!

And sure, for Champions of Marvel, I get it. But for just another walking Khromarium corpse that doesn't have the sense to know it's dead yet? There's no time to get attached!

 

12/21/2017 9:12 am  #36


Re: Rolling Attributes

foxroe wrote:

Handy Haversack wrote:

I guess I'm super lucky in that none of my players ever played the newer-school games. But to me this sounds awful. Maybe I just embrace a higher-lethality game, but I find that the blowback is worse when the carefully crafted character dies an hour an in than when the third or fourth "set of stats waiting for a post hoc story" makes it to second level.

I don't know. I feel like even my letting them roll 4d6 is super indulgent and obviates even having dice at all!

It's possible I'm a bad person?

All I know is I like every bad dice roll more than any bad person.

Well said! And no, you're not a bad person. It's just a classic approach. There's nothing wrong with point-buys and superheroes either, it's just a different approach.

No, I've met Handy face to face, he is in fact a bad person ;-)

I mean, at least he isn't an &*#%@ *and* a bad person :-)


What? Me worry?
 

12/21/2017 9:13 am  #37


Re: Rolling Attributes

gizmomathboy wrote:

foxroe wrote:

Handy Haversack wrote:

I guess I'm super lucky in that none of my players ever played the newer-school games. But to me this sounds awful. Maybe I just embrace a higher-lethality game, but I find that the blowback is worse when the carefully crafted character dies an hour an in than when the third or fourth "set of stats waiting for a post hoc story" makes it to second level.

I don't know. I feel like even my letting them roll 4d6 is super indulgent and obviates even having dice at all!

It's possible I'm a bad person?

All I know is I like every bad dice roll more than any bad person.

Well said! And no, you're not a bad person. It's just a classic approach. There's nothing wrong with point-buys and superheroes either, it's just a different approach.

No, I've met Handy face to face, he is in fact a bad person ;-)

I mean, at least he isn't an &*#%@ *and* a bad person :-)

Yeah!

 

12/21/2017 4:28 pm  #38


Re: Rolling Attributes

I remember 25 or so years ago, a guy who used to run Palladium fantasy had us roll 9d6, and arrange the face results as you like on a tic-tac-toe. Your stats, in order, were the sums of the rows and columns.

Last edited by Jimm.Iblis (12/21/2017 4:38 pm)


"Role-playing isn't storytelling. If the dungeon master is directing it, it's not a game."  ~ Gary Gygax
 

12/21/2017 4:30 pm  #39


Re: Rolling Attributes

They say there's nothing new under the sun, but I've honestly never heard that one before Jimm.

     Thread Starter
 

12/21/2017 4:37 pm  #40


Re: Rolling Attributes

It honestly produces some interesting results. That is to say, you can optimize a stat or two while the rest of your abilities come out... interesting. Try it out.

Last edited by Jimm.Iblis (12/21/2017 4:41 pm)


"Role-playing isn't storytelling. If the dungeon master is directing it, it's not a game."  ~ Gary Gygax
 

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