Fey Square

Point buy is boring. The concept that every adventurer is crafted from the same cookie-cutter “Acme Adventurer Kit” is ridiculous. Heroes in fiction aren’t born from the same mold. Some people are clearly superior to others, but point buy completely eliminates this. All fighters have 16 strength. All wizards have 16 intelligence. Everyone has a stat they just don’t care about and likely bumped up to 10 only so they couldn’t claim a penalty.

BORING

Some people legitimately enjoy point buy because they prefer to have control over the character’s creation.  Other people hate roll-for-stats because they can’t handle a character with a prime ability score below 15 or having, heavens forbid, an 8 in an ability they don’t rely on. This system, which I dub Prime Attribute Method, is an attempt to allow the variance in characters while satisfying those who don’t get what they want.

Step 1: Pick an ability score you want for your character concept. We’ll call this his Prime Attribute.

Step 2: Pick your race as normal. Humans are awesome, so humans get an additional prime attribute.

Step 3: Choose your class. Each class has one or more prime requisite. The prime requisite determines what ability score a character is expected to excel in while he’s training for his class and allows you to tag that ability score as a Prime Attribute. While anyone can choose any class, it’s understandable that strapping young lads would apply for fighter and crafty minds would take up the pointy hat of the wizard.

Step 4: Roll 4d6b3 in order. That’s right, in order: strength, dexterity, constitution, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, then apply racial bonuses/penalties. This is you, Adventurer Jr., at the tender young age of puberty. This represents your ability scores when you begin training in your class of choice.

Step 5: Remember those ability scores you tagged earlier? Take half the difference from that ability score and 18 (round it down) and add it in (an 18 changes nothing). If your ability score before step 5 is above 18 then no change is made; you’re already a racial paragon with an 18. You can’t be a super paragon!

Example: If you rolled a 10 for a prime attribute, then the difference is 8 / 2 = 4. Your final ability score for that prime attribute is 14. If you rolled a 16, you would have a final score of 17 (2 / 1 = 1). Basically, the more naturally gifted you are the less you learn from your Adventurer School ™.

You can tag an ability score as a prime attribute more than once. Each time you tag an ability score, you add a +1 bonus after Step 5. Yes, this allows humans to have a 20 and demihumans to have a 21 but at the cost of a potentially lower ability score somewhere else.

Core Classes and their Prime Attributes

Barbarian: Constitution and strength or dexterity
Bard: Intelligence and charisma and dexterity.
Cleric: Wisdom
Druid: Wisdom
Fighter: Strength and constitution or dexterity
Paladin: Strength and wisdom and charisma
Monk: Strength and dexterity and wisdom
Ranger: Wisdom and strength or dexterity
Rogue: Dexterity and intelligence
Sorcerer: Charisma and constitution
Wizard: Intelligence

Why don’t the classes have equal prime attributes?
Because nobody’s equal. The prime attributes of each class reflect what they would realistically train at. Strong men are expected to apply to the fighting position but they also train in bows and physical endurance. Bards are expected to be fleet of foot, knowledgable, and charismatic. Wizards, on the other hand, are expected to study, study, study. Druids hug trees and talk to beavers. Clerics pray all day and study their clerical duties.

In a way, you could say this system is designed to “nerf” the core casters. Shoot, I’ll come out and say it: I designed this to give a handicap to core casters! Magic is powerful and world shattering. Such studies should require dedicated and devoted focus at the expense of everything else.  Casters are normally older than other starting adventurers and their focused, intense training reflects that.

Rerolls: No! Learn to accept your lot in life or do what every weak character in fiction does; use tactics to your advantage. Did Paris complain that Achilles was near-invincible and could beat him down in a one-on-one fight? No! Paris launched a poison tipped arrow into Achilles’ heel and dropped that sucker like a bad hat. Likewise, a “weak” fighter (strength <14) should stick with sword and board, polearms, or ranged attacks. Average intelligence rogues should focus on what they like best and provide flanking bonuses for their allies. Dull wizards should crossclass when they hit their magic limit and take feats like practiced spellcaster to ensure their low level spells at least remain potent for a few extra levels.

If you can’t deal with a 13 intelligence wizard, then the DM should allow you to change your character class to something more suitable to your skills (modifying your prime attribute score). If you really, really don’t want to play anything else and throw a tantrum then the DM should allow characters who don’t have at least a 13 in their class’ prime attribute to reroll ALL OF THEIR ABILITY SCORES.

Yeah, in Dungeons and Dragons you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Deal with it or toss the cake aside.

—–EXAMPLE CHARACTER CREATION—–

I want to create a human fighter called Bob the Basher. I decide strength is important so I pick it as a prime attribute. I’m a human so I choose constitution as my second prime. As a fighter I choose strength and constitution again as a prime attribute. I now roll for my ability scores.

Strength: 11
Dexterity: 13
Constitution: 11
Intelligence: 6
Wisdom: 15
Charisma: 12

Constitution is a prime attribute so it gets bumped up to 14 (difference between 18 is 7; 7 / 2 rounded down equals 3). My strength likewise gets bumped up to a 15; 14 from one prime attribute and +1 because I tagged it a second time. Bob the Basher’s final ability scores are

Strength: 15 +2
Dexterity: 13 +1
Constitution: 15 +2
Intelligence: 6 -2
Wisdom: 15 +2
Charisma: 12 +1

Bob is essentially a 31 point buy character. He’s an effective fighter, clearly exceptional if a little dull in the brains, and he’s got some common sense.