Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - Suggestions & Feedback Rolling for character stats

In BG1 & BG2, rolling for character stats was a core part of character creation (and I really miss it). Stat spreads could be so much more varied and interesting with that as an option in my opinion. Of course rolling high stats is fun, but there is also great comedic opportunity with low rolls as well. Imagine playing as a 5 INT barbarian or 4 STR wizard!

I understand some folks worry about that causing issues with game balance, which I understand, but I don't see an issue with having it be one of many options at character creation. Folks can always choose to not use it. Maybe just include it as an option in the custom game mode?

Anyway, thanks. Amazing game!

It's just one more of the many things that Larian originally said would be in the game, which they then didn't deliver on. No word of why, but it's definitely not a balance issue: the concept of balance is alien to Larian design, and they love broken and overpowered things with a passion shared by few other developers.

Roll for stats = roll until you have at least 15/16 in everything.
I prefer the point buy - saves me time as I don't roll until I 85 points or so

Many prefer point buy - as boring and conducive to bland, sameish, cookier-cutter distributions as it is - and fortunately for those who prefer it, point buy is in the game!

That's pretty much unrelated, however, to the issue in this thread, which is the request for - and the hitherto undelivered promise of - the ability to roll for our stats as well, if we prefer that.

I, for one, LIKE having a couple of weak stats. Do I usually roll until I get at lest one 17/18 on the dice? Yeah, usually, but I like to make sure that's complimented by something under 10 as well (I like to have a 6, if I'm lucky enough, and I'm longing for the day when I roll a natural 3 I can keep, for one of my actual play games ^.^), and whatever else there is to surprise or inspire me in the middle.

Solasta's system is actually ideal; it's got point buy, it's got rolling ,and it's got setting scores as well, for when you want to remake a pen and paper character, or when you get a spread you're mostly happy with but want to adjust something up or down slightly to suit the character you have in mind... and the best thing is, you can choose which method you prefer using (don't bother mentioning 'balance in multiplayer' - as already touched on, the concept of balance is alien to the game already, and player attributes are mostly reduced to insignificance against the universal mechanics and broken magic items, if a multiplayer player truly wishes to power game or abuse them; controlled scores won't stop or even put a dent in that behaviour).

As pointed out, this was a promised option that was dropped. It does not need to be the default method but at least give gamers the choice of which method they prefer to use.

I would love the option to roll for stats.

Rolling would rock !
But with fair dies (rng) please.

I'm of two minds about rolling for stats, because IN PRINCIPLE I think that as a design mechanic it's absolutely garbage and a point buy system is far more fair for everyone involved and more balanced.

On the other hand, it's also true that RAW D&D may very well have the WORST point buy system I've seen in multiple rulesets. It seems almost purposefully designed to make every other alternative look more desirable.

There are several issues with it:

- it's too tight with the amount of points it offers to begin with (or at least with the way they scale at higher values, which is functionally the same thing in the end).
- there are senseless restrictions on how the points can be distributed compared to "rolling for stats" (i.e. why can I roll a 18 in a main stat but I can't put more than 15 points in an "Ability" with point buy before the racial modifiers are applied?)
- the entire subsystem pairs AWFULLY with the already incredibly-stingy distribution of Feats in the game. The fact that more flavorful Feats have to compete with ASI (aka "ability score improvements") on top of it really doesn't help.

In short, I'd be in favor of having rolling for stats as an option in this game more because the default Point Buy system is discouragingly punishing and depressingly restrictive than because I think rolling for stats is a good design principle in general (it isn't).

The game is way too easy right now. I can only imagine what it would be like with an excellent stat spread. As such, I'm not at all interested in rolling for stats. As for it being an option for those who want it... I could see several multiplayers being annoyed by it.

Basically, I just want to follow the rules and have a challenging experience. The game isn't built to offer a challenging experience as is, and with rolling stats thrown into the mix, it would be even more lopsided.

*

I love BG3. Great game. I've spent a lot of time playing it.

I like some parts of 5e, but...

--but there are also some glaring issues with the system, imo. Stats are a problem, in general. The stats have to balance with themselves, meaning there are plenty of character builds you just can't make. Say you want a really charismatic wizard. Okay, but you're gonna suffer in some other stats! Trying to put flavor into your character often damages their functionality. That's a problem that's baked into the whole system. It needs to be reworked. Possibly allowing a "point buy" system for stats that couples with class abilities, meaning you can have higher stats at the cost of some class abilities, or more class abilities at the cost of some stats. Increasing the pool makes it possible to consider more options.

--the feat scarcity is terrible. It's fine to not have too many "S" tier feats. But what about the plethora of flavor feats that are rarely chosen? The ones that, if you choose them, keep you from being as effective in combat? More of those should be available to create more interesting, well-rounded characters.

--in general, plenty of feats and spells could stand to be reworked, imo.

It's not about difficulty to begin with.

I remember rolling stats in TES: Arena and rerolling until I got the best spread possible. Rolling for stats doesn't make the game more interesting for me, it just makes character creation more tedious and lengthy. You have dice, in theory you could do some rolling and redistribute your points to be more in line with rolled stats, but in practice, Larian doesn't allow stats lower than 8 or higher than 15 (without bonuses). Rather than changing the system entirely, I'd rather they unlock the caps and let people play more creatively with point distribution if they want to. But I imagine that it is that it is the way it is to avoid letting true newbies create totally broken characters without understanding the consequences and/or to avoid "death by 0 stat" caused by debuffs that was mentioned in another thread.