Roll Stats or Manually Allocate
perfectblue
Member Posts: 10
Does anyone else hope the developers will include both the ability to roll stats for character creation and to manually allocate points?
Otherwise for those that would otherwise manually allocate stats they can potentially spend 30min + rolling stats.
Otherwise for those that would otherwise manually allocate stats they can potentially spend 30min + rolling stats.
0
Comments
In my current D&D tabletop game for instance I allowed both. At first I offered them all a standard set of values but one of my players was adamant that she wanted to roll (despite the risk of rolling low - a negative you don't suffer in BG as you can roll infinitely) while the other three players rather went with the set values.
Personally I'd rather see them do something with the skills part of the character creation. It would be nice if I was making or importing a mage character (specifically in BG2), and I could freely go between mage spell choices. As it stands now, if I were say selecting level 3 spells for a new mage and I wanted to go back to looking over level 2 spells I'd actually have to go through the entire skill section all over again. It is a tremendous pain.
For me it's a no brainer as you can cater for everyone easily then we can all play how we want. I can re-roll if I want, others can play with the first rolled stats or allocate by a set value as in 3e if they want. There's no reason to insist anyone's approach is wrong and block it as all of those approaches can be handled with the old set-up. For example if you want a fixed value allocated just determine what it is and re-roll till you've got that number of points to play with
i prefer to roll, but they have the cheat for people who want to allocate stats. But i think rolling in a game like this makes it *Your Character*. Kinda like only a mom would love you enough to take care of you when you were sick as a child, you grow to love the char by sacrificing so much to prepare him/her for the world.
I know this sounds stupid, but that's the point where you bond/meld with your char. If i roll high stats from the start (more the i wanted/excepted) i'll take them, but i'm never quite as interested with that char as one i had to work for.
Sometimes too, I'll roll the stats by hand following the book rules and then set up the game with the ones I rolled.
I am actually looking forward to spending hour upon hour rolling and rerolling to get good enough stats...
Its probably a sign that I need help.. but its okay.. its for BG
One time I decided to go with the first roll I got and then solo the game. That playthrough was hell to complete!
The 2nd edition rules do not really penalize you so much for having lower than average scores. Nor do you get that many benefits for above average scores. Besides that some restrictions / abilities which are based on the ability scores (e.g. casting penalties for clerics with below 12 wisdom, bending bars for high strength characters, maximum spell levels for cleric depending on wisdom, etc.) aren't implemented. With 3rd edition rules things look quite different, though.
The combat mechanics as they are implemented allow for some (some would say cheesy) tactics like the character that got aggro is going to kite while the rest of the party ranges the opponent (works well vs ogres and other melee opponents on early levels). No need for a high hit points & low AC meat shield.
Rolling for stats is a waste of time and therefore it would with certeinty drive me away of BG:EE. What I like most about AD&D is the fact that we can allocate a given amount of points to the stats, without restrictions of class (some race restrictions like higher CON and lower INT (or was it CHA?) for dwarves, but those make sense). However, if I am to waste an unknown amount of time pressing a "roll" button until the stats are what I want (which, by the way, creates the same result as just allocating them) I will not.
It is interesting... I have no memory of having to roll for the stats from BG. Probably I just pushed that unliked memory aside, only keeping the good ones.
Ah well, we'll see what happens... I preordered so I'll take a look for sure. After that I'll decide on the future.
I love rolling for stats, but I would like options such as limited re-allocation (+- 2 max or something), "keep the first roll", distribution of a standard array or point buy as well. They may not be 2E, but if their use is "gamers discretion advised", then I don't see why it'd hurt. It would just be additional game modes, so to say. Of course, you can always discipline yourself or just Keeper it, but I personally can't do the former if no one is forcing me (although I would enjoy it) and think of the latter as cheating. It's just not the same if it isn't provided by the game.
Putting in a one-glance stat total would be ace, however.