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  1. #1

    Alternet Starting array. Is it so bad? what would you set for starting characters?

    Are stats all that important? with the standard array. my var human be level 8 before i can get my 20 base stat.

    If you had a different standard array, what would it be?
    please set down a standard array that would be acceptable to you. Thanks.

    is this to wild? 18, 16, 15, 13, 11, 8

  2. #2
    It's a matter of opinion but I'd say those starting values are too high.
    15-14-13-12-10-8 is fine and well tested. To be honest, from a player perspective, 5E it's already the easiest D&D edition to date by far. If you play vanilla you don't even need a healer.
    The monsters and NPCs are just too weak and easy to hit. I had to tinker the game heavily just to put back some of the grit this edition is missing.
    I don't even allow multiclassing and PCs roll feats randomly (2 tables, one for magic users, one for arms classes) to minimize munchkinism
    So, you don't really need a 20 to have a good PC, at level 5 a +7 bonus is enough to hit reliably more than half the monster manual.

  3. #3
    I agree with arkanis. Only way I would use an array like that would be if the group was small and the challenge was very high, like using the alternate hard core rules.
    That being said - whatever works at your table is great.

  4. #4
    If you want a high powered game, go for it. The issue becomes characters with high stats are able to take feats without any 'repercussions' in that they built the system to be a push-pull decision point of getting better stats or adding a feat and potentially increasing power that way. Thus, if your stats are already high, the choice would be to get a feat at every level an ASI is available. Factor in racial bonuses to the stats above and you have PCs starting with a 20 in one stat from the beginning which is a huge boast at lower levels. However, there are a lot of people that like that type of play and that's fine. I'd say, if you're looking for super heroic, go for it but realize that 'standard' types of encounters will probably need to be beefed up.

    What we have been doing is standard array + racial bonuses + 3 points. You cannot have a starting statistic above 18. This seems to work OK for us as it gives a few extra points to some sub-stats and helps a bit with those classes that are a bit more "MAD". We also don't play with the human variant.

  5. #5
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    Too high for me. Lots of variables, but one that I haven't seen mention yet is what level are the PCs going to achieve at the end of the campaign? 8 is pretty low, most of mine end somewhere between 12 & 16. So for the characters to max out their primary stat well before the game ends... well, that just really limits their choices in character growth, imo.

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  6. #6
    I'm not going to go into detail about the concept, but 5e is based around this idea of Bounded Accuracy. One of the core ideas is that it is way more fun to hit things, and hitting things does damage, so in order to have combat be "challenging" you have to basically have a giant bag of hit points. There is a curve on bounded accuracy and CR, basically saying that the higher you go in level, the higher you bonuses, the more you'll hit, and the more damage you'll do, so the monsters have to have more and more hit points. This is all based off of that initial, default array. So, if you do change it up, that means you are going to be making some changes to how often players hit and the amount of damage they do, and how long battles last.

    Basically, unless you want them to just cut through swaths of monsters and laugh about it the entire way, don't do it. If you still want them to, then why not just bring in 1HP minions? Matt Colville has a great video about using 4E rules to make 5E combat more fun!

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