Before 4e I never made characters by myself. It doesn’t just add a new step that requires you to rolls the dice a few times, it encourages community. Rolling for ability scores changes how you make a character. Because of this there is no need to make the character creation process social. It’s certainly easier if the four roles are represented, but an experienced group can be just as effective with an unbalanced party. There is such balance in 4e that a party can get by with almost any group of characters as long as their all optimized. When I make a character in 4e I don’t need to consult with the other players in my group about what everyone’s playing. The social atmosphere that used to accompany character creation has long since disappeared, assuming it was ever present in 4e. Today if I’m making a character I do it on a laptop, in the comfort and privacy of my game room. Rolling your abilities randomly really added something to the character creation process that has disappeared with 4e. Even two scores of 16 or more was practically unheard of. It was extremely rare to have an 18 in any ability score at level 1. There were a few variations but in the end the ability scores were determined by random rolls and the luck of the dice. You rolled 3d6, added them up, and that was your ability score. When I first began playing D&D everyone made characters using the old 3d6 method. We didn’t assign ability scores, we rolled them. All of these characters were created using older D&D mechanics. Some of the most memorable characters I’ve ever played have not had exceptional ability scores. A character with a 14 in his main ability will be less powerful than his allies. If you want to be on par with the game’s power baseline you have to optimize the numbers. It’s not to your advantage to play a PC with sub-optimized ability scores. The mechanics of 4e almost demand that this be the case.
The base foundation on which characters are built (the six ability scores) will be similar, if not identical, when comparing characters of similar classes. All Wizards will have exceptional Intelligence. All Fighters will have exceptional Strength. Add to that racial bonuses and there’s really no reason you’d even have to play a character with a low score in their primarily ability.Īs long as players use point buy to assign scores we’re always going to see fully optimized stats. Why would you? The game assumes that you’re going to have a decent score (16+) in your primary ability from the outset and to ensure this we use the point buy system to assign the numbers as we deem appropriate. Have you ever played a character in 4e D&D without optimized stats? A Fighter with a Strength score below 14 or a Wizard with an Intelligence under 14? I think it’s safe to say that none of us have done it.
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