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15:46, 28th March 2024 (GMT+0)

have you ever had a random statline create a character.

Posted by vads
vads
member, 7 posts
Fri 15 Jan 2021
at 20:21
  • msg #1

have you ever had a random statline create a character

Recently I rolled up a Call of Cthulhu character and it was pretty abysmal.  The GM had us roll 3d6 for 5 stats and 2d6 +6 for 3 stats.  Then we rolled a d10 to distribute through the stats as we wished.

My rolls averaged slightly below average -- for a simple take what you get with 8 3d6 rolls.

So Lucky was created.  Health got a roll of 4?  Born near the dump  -- Intelligence rolled a 11 while Education a 16.  Did poorly in school to start because mom didn't care met a librarian became very educated.

To feel like I actually did my own creation rather than just the rolls themselves Lucky is agendered.

Anybody else roll up a character and say, "Wow -- this has to be a  ... Done with character creation?"
Drackler
member, 147 posts
That is not dead
Which eternal may lie
Fri 15 Jan 2021
at 20:30
  • msg #2

have you ever had a random statline create a character

I feel like there are games out there with a philosophy that you don't build a character, you roll one up. In my experience they tend to be older games. Classic Traveller, for example, has you roll for everything from your ability scores to your previous experience with little player input. Same with older versions of Runequest - the system CoC is based on.

It certainly isn't for everyone. But I like taking what gets generated and interpreting it into an interesting character. Yes, I may not play what I originally "planned" but then I won't fall into a rut of playing the same character over and over (which I sometimes do with games like Pathfinder).
Korentin_Black
member, 568 posts
I remember when all
this was just fields...
Fri 15 Jan 2021
at 20:37
  • msg #3

have you ever had a random statline create a character


 A lot. Most often with CP2020, as the Lifepath charts were amazing - the number of times I'd start with nothing more than 'I want to play one of this class' and then, after a few dice rolls was looking down at playing a guy who got a loan from his grandmother who's a mob boss to start his garage band so that no-one in the family would know he was dating a police officer.

 Good times. ^_^
ShadoPrism
member, 1360 posts
OCGD-Obsessive-Compulsive
Gamer-Disorder
Fri 15 Jan 2021
at 20:50
  • msg #4

have you ever had a random statline create a character

I played a lot of old school AD&D. 2cd edition, got Lots of characters like that (file folders Full of them in fact, my inner horder will not let me throw them out even though I have not played in decades.)
Though I got a few whose rolls were on the other end to, including 3 who did not have a score under 16. I recall those cause someone always accused me of cheating, even though they were present when I rolled them up (I had wierd luck when it comes to dice, especially when I was younger.)
But I rarely picked a class first.
I think my favorite character was an elven mage. Int 18 wisdom 9 - he got drunk one time and then got his horse drunk, then road him through a cave full of monsters - was fun and lots of very confused rolls, no fatalities, not even the horse. Its one of my happier 'insane campaigns' from my mid teen years.
facemaker329
member, 7301 posts
Gaming for over 40
years, and counting!
Sat 16 Jan 2021
at 08:40
  • msg #5

have you ever had a random statline create a character

I remember creating a Star Trek character...I don't even remember for sure which rules system it was under.  My best friend had just bought the rules and wanted to try it out...I was intrigued, but unlike everyone else in the group, I didn't have any concept in mind...nothing just jumped out at me as an exciting option...

So I ended up going through character generation rolling results every time a table of possible results came up.  I ended up with a Vulcan who had been orphaned and raised by Klingons...he was a Starfleet cadet going into Command.  And while we didn't play that game for long (I think it only ended up running three or four game sessions), he was and still is one of my favorite characters I've created in any game.
Isida KepTukari
member, 375 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Sun 17 Jan 2021
at 14:30
  • msg #6

have you ever had a random statline create a character

Not quite a full roll-up, but I have done some games where I've played stats as rolled, or chosen an array I rolled up and made my character inspired by the stats.

The second one, we could pick from a couple of rolled arrays. I had two arrays with very similar, bland stats, and one with both spectacular highs and lows. I picked the wacky array and made a cleric who was wise, personable, and if you topped him over in his armor he couldn't get back up again, his strength was so low. He was an absolute hoot to play!
Starchaser
member, 825 posts
Shoda mo tsumoreba taibok
Mon 18 Jan 2021
at 09:55
  • msg #7

have you ever had a random statline create a character

A long long time ago I played a half-orc warrior in an AD&D game that had 3 CHA, 9 Str, 6 dex (and I forget the other stats). I also rolled for 1 hp. I called him Douglas Dogsbottom. He died in his first encounter with a group of Kobolds.

In general I prefer systems that have a points generation system. I do play and run Call of Cthulhu a lot, but I have my own custom points-based generation system for that.
facemaker329
member, 7303 posts
Gaming for over 40
years, and counting!
Mon 18 Jan 2021
at 13:21
  • msg #8

have you ever had a random statline create a character

In reply to Starchaser (msg # 7):

Stories like that are why most of my GMs through the years, in systems where you rolled for stats, would have me roll five or six sets of stats and then pick one.  It was too easy to get saddled with a character that was truly fatally flawed...and while such characters can have their own specific appeal to play (they're kind of like most of X-Force in Deadpool 2, contribute pretty much nothing to the actual progression of the plot but they can make a highly entertaining departure from the story), the GM was interested in building a group that could work together for an extended game, not just entertain for an evening...
Isida KepTukari
member, 376 posts
Elegant! Arrogant! Smart!
Tue 19 Jan 2021
at 22:43
  • msg #9

have you ever had a random statline create a character

Our groups, as well, have mostly moved to point-buy because sometimes someone would end up with abysmal stats.  Or we had one fellow who had utterly uncanny luck with rolling stats.  We tested him with his dice, our dice, even one time buying brand new dice from the gaming store we were at, closely watching him (he was not a professional gambler, nor had any special rolling tricks), and no matter what he always rolled a truly abnormal amount of 18s. His dice luck elsewhere in the game was utterly average, it was just his character stat generation that was weirdly lucky.

There's no doubt that an interesting random stat array can make for fascinating storytelling, and as long as everyone is cool with that, there's no problem.  But when someone else up with a blatant disadvantage, that can get less fun for all involved.
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