How about the stat system relies solely on the game-player performing a small series of tests?
STR = The player attempts to physically crush the mouse (or iPad for those using one). The game will detect the amount of newtons of force applied relative to the speed of the destruction relative to the structural integrity of the device.
DEX = Without warning, the game will eject all the keys on the keyboard into the participant's face. Every key that strikes a body part will result in a penalized score. iPads will simply spin off into the air in a random direction and require a swift catch to avoid stat penalties and the tears of its owner.
CON = Hypnotic induction will paralyze the player while the entire discography of Justin Beiber plays until its completion. The time at which the participant feints, vomits or descends into madness will decide the final stat score.
INT = The easiest test to apply and analyze. The subject must solve mathematical equations of increasing difficulty and play a virtual round of Jeopardy.
WIS = The test subject must arm wrestle the current Dalai Lama. Conversations of life, the universe and everything may be analyzed for stat application.
CHA = Another test subject - being a woman or man of random age - appears on the screen. The stat score will be based off of the speed at which the test subject can coerce the opposing player to either: a.) remove their clothing. b:) go to war in their name. Or c.) invest in their stock market portfolio.
In a completely related, yet drastically different note: Does the actual time in which the player spends rolling for a character not factor in to the gameplay experience? Hours spent clicking while doing basic mental math to deduce the final stat scores is a game in itself. Admittedly though, it may be a hopelessly inane waste of time on many levels. Regardless, rolling-for-stats is as integral to Baldur's Gate as eating-the-right-numbers is to Number Munchers or killing-your-entire-family-by-failing-to-caulk-the-wagon is to The Oregon Trail.
Personally, I rolled for a character while subtracting 10 from every stat and adding up the results to form a "baseline" number. The average baseline would be between a lowly 20 to a somewhat decent 28. If I was persistent and the hour of day at which I was rolling did not severely impede my cognitive faculties, sometimes I could achieve highs of 34 to 38. To illustrate what the numbers mean, assuming I was a Human Fighter, a baseline of 24 meant I could have:
STR - 18 CON - 18 DEX - 18 INT - 10 WIS - 10 CHA - 10
As you can see, not ideal stats. But a much more exciting baseline of 38 meant CHA was also 18 with 6 extra points to put in INT and/or WIS. Essentially what I'm getting at is: rolling for a "38" or the elusive "42" or the extremely improbable and possibly impossible "48" was a fun and memorable part of the game for me and perhaps others as well.
In general, I think adding new content is a better idea than adding new rules like point buy. People want more out of an enhanced addition, not less.
For argument's sake, I also think point buy is a bad idea in any 2nd edition game. The reason for this is that the return on stats is very poor. Unless your stat is above 15, you receive no bonuses. The statistic is effectively meaningless. And if it is above 15, you start to receive crazy bonuses. What happens is that most people will heavily skew their stats just to make a viable character (indeed, most people don't pick up an NPC unless they have a handful of 16s). With point buy applied to the 2nd ed rule set, you're leading players to create min-maxed, ridiculous characters and one-dimensional characters. In 3rd ed and beyond, point-buy doesn't have this problem. You're rewarded for any score above 12 and punished for any score below 10. This is a wonderful principle, and has become the norm for later editions of the game.
If you're going to create a realistic character using a small amount of stat points, I don't think you need a rule to do it. This can be done privately. You can enjoy your realism and challenge. Other players can enjoy their power gaming in peace. I have played the game both ways and had a blast. I'd want someone else to have that same chance if they wanted it.
I think that is why everyone I have heard advocate a point buy system has suggested that it be an optional toggle to avoid interfering with those that prefer the classic system. I definitely agree that they need to tweak the attribute bonuses to be more sensible, although there is likely a ton of red tape for that.
Perhaps instead of a point buy system, implement a stat assignment system; you're given a 17, two 15's, two 11's or 12's, and a 9. Or something like that where the abilities are just shy of the best or just shy of not being really bad and a few average stats. Players assign these totals to whichever ability they want and have 1 or 2 points to add to two separate abilities.
However, the original system allowed for the possibility of characters with both extremely low and high stats and everything else in between. There are players that like it one way or the other and neither group should be neglected so, personally, I think it should be left as is and leave it to the players to limit or not limit themselves to their taste. Narrowing the possibilities will only take away from the game's potential.
To approach the issue indirectly might be a better solution: more ability tomes in game. Or some way of permanently increasing your stats. Further, make this something you can buy, but at geometrically or even exponentially increased cost each time. This will also give BG1 a much needed gold sink. There should be tip message on the character gen screens that tells players there will be (expensive/difficult) ways to increase their stats indefinitely during the game, so few players will want to spend hours waiting for just the right roll.
Definately the answer is NOT putting more ways to increase ability scores. As much as I love power gaming there should still be some attempt at balancing the end game. I do not want to see more methods for increasing your ability scores.
Limit ability tomes or training to a max of 18, 17 or even 16 perhaps? It's not impossible to get most abilities to 18 or higher by the end of the game without cheating as it is (unless you consider re-rolling until you get a ton of high stats cheating). I'm imagining one or several locations you can go back to for training that you have to pay out your ear for -- easily the most expensive purchases in the game once you get to ratings past 13 or 14. Perhaps some small quests could be required on top of the price tag once you get to 17 and 18. This would at least put a price on it, make the players go through actual game play to get those stats, reduce the incentive to keep re-rolling, and have several peripheral benefits:
1. It takes little to no effort to have a ton of money you'll never spend by the end of the game; this would give us something to spend it on.
2. Power gamers will feel much more satisfied with high scores they had to earn instead of roll digital dice for an hour to obtain.
3. Hardcore gamers that prefer realism and a greater challenge will feel much more satisfied when they forgo the price and time of the training and can say "I overcame the worst this game had to throw at me without having to spend hundreds of thousands of gold like those power gamer chumps."
Personally, I think power gaming is sort of the dark side of RPG's; it's fun and easy to succumb to, but hardcore gaming is much more rewarding. I've done both and I think making the decision between the approaches hinge on in-game play style rather than meta-game play style would be an improvement.
Granted there will still be players that will just take forever during character creation with the current roll system which is a multiplayer session killer. Your solution in the OP is probably good enough and I hope something like that is done at the very least. But If convincing such players to get on with it is a problem, taking away their ability to re-roll outright will also be a problem. If they know there are ways to increase abilities post-character generation, I think it would be much easier to convince them to just get on with it.
Comments
STR = The player attempts to physically crush the mouse (or iPad for those using one). The game will detect the amount of newtons of force applied relative to the speed of the destruction relative to the structural integrity of the device.
DEX = Without warning, the game will eject all the keys on the keyboard into the participant's face. Every key that strikes a body part will result in a penalized score. iPads will simply spin off into the air in a random direction and require a swift catch to avoid stat penalties and the tears of its owner.
CON = Hypnotic induction will paralyze the player while the entire discography of Justin Beiber plays until its completion. The time at which the participant feints, vomits or descends into madness will decide the final stat score.
INT = The easiest test to apply and analyze. The subject must solve mathematical equations of increasing difficulty and play a virtual round of Jeopardy.
WIS = The test subject must arm wrestle the current Dalai Lama. Conversations of life, the universe and everything may be analyzed for stat application.
CHA = Another test subject - being a woman or man of random age - appears on the screen. The stat score will be based off of the speed at which the test subject can coerce the opposing player to either: a.) remove their clothing. b:) go to war in their name. Or c.) invest in their stock market portfolio.
In a completely related, yet drastically different note: Does the actual time in which the player spends rolling for a character not factor in to the gameplay experience? Hours spent clicking while doing basic mental math to deduce the final stat scores is a game in itself. Admittedly though, it may be a hopelessly inane waste of time on many levels. Regardless, rolling-for-stats is as integral to Baldur's Gate as eating-the-right-numbers is to Number Munchers or killing-your-entire-family-by-failing-to-caulk-the-wagon is to The Oregon Trail.
Personally, I rolled for a character while subtracting 10 from every stat and adding up the results to form a "baseline" number. The average baseline would be between a lowly 20 to a somewhat decent 28. If I was persistent and the hour of day at which I was rolling did not severely impede my cognitive faculties, sometimes I could achieve highs of 34 to 38. To illustrate what the numbers mean, assuming I was a Human Fighter, a baseline of 24 meant I could have:
STR - 18
CON - 18
DEX - 18
INT - 10
WIS - 10
CHA - 10
As you can see, not ideal stats. But a much more exciting baseline of 38 meant CHA was also 18 with 6 extra points to put in INT and/or WIS. Essentially what I'm getting at is: rolling for a "38" or the elusive "42" or the extremely improbable and possibly impossible "48" was a fun and memorable part of the game for me and perhaps others as well.
For argument's sake, I also think point buy is a bad idea in any 2nd edition game. The reason for this is that the return on stats is very poor. Unless your stat is above 15, you receive no bonuses. The statistic is effectively meaningless. And if it is above 15, you start to receive crazy bonuses. What happens is that most people will heavily skew their stats just to make a viable character (indeed, most people don't pick up an NPC unless they have a handful of 16s). With point buy applied to the 2nd ed rule set, you're leading players to create min-maxed, ridiculous characters and one-dimensional characters. In 3rd ed and beyond, point-buy doesn't have this problem. You're rewarded for any score above 12 and punished for any score below 10. This is a wonderful principle, and has become the norm for later editions of the game.
If you're going to create a realistic character using a small amount of stat points, I don't think you need a rule to do it. This can be done privately. You can enjoy your realism and challenge. Other players can enjoy their power gaming in peace. I have played the game both ways and had a blast. I'd want someone else to have that same chance if they wanted it.
However, the original system allowed for the possibility of characters with both extremely low and high stats and everything else in between. There are players that like it one way or the other and neither group should be neglected so, personally, I think it should be left as is and leave it to the players to limit or not limit themselves to their taste. Narrowing the possibilities will only take away from the game's potential.
To approach the issue indirectly might be a better solution: more ability tomes in game. Or some way of permanently increasing your stats. Further, make this something you can buy, but at geometrically or even exponentially increased cost each time. This will also give BG1 a much needed gold sink. There should be tip message on the character gen screens that tells players there will be (expensive/difficult) ways to increase their stats indefinitely during the game, so few players will want to spend hours waiting for just the right roll.
1. It takes little to no effort to have a ton of money you'll never spend by the end of the game; this would give us something to spend it on.
2. Power gamers will feel much more satisfied with high scores they had to earn instead of roll digital dice for an hour to obtain.
3. Hardcore gamers that prefer realism and a greater challenge will feel much more satisfied when they forgo the price and time of the training and can say "I overcame the worst this game had to throw at me without having to spend hundreds of thousands of gold like those power gamer chumps."
Personally, I think power gaming is sort of the dark side of RPG's; it's fun and easy to succumb to, but hardcore gaming is much more rewarding. I've done both and I think making the decision between the approaches hinge on in-game play style rather than meta-game play style would be an improvement.
Granted there will still be players that will just take forever during character creation with the current roll system which is a multiplayer session killer. Your solution in the OP is probably good enough and I hope something like that is done at the very least. But If convincing such players to get on with it is a problem, taking away their ability to re-roll outright will also be a problem. If they know there are ways to increase abilities post-character generation, I think it would be much easier to convince them to just get on with it.