@Drenius There's this...

@David: Happy Birthday!

One thing concerning the RP: Why give us 60 points to customize with if it's mandatory to spend at least 6 of them on each stat?

edited 5th Apr '12 1:46:08 PM by gingerninja666

Because it's easier to say that way.

I'd assume so you have to prioritize what skills you want, Ginger but I agree 60/65 seems a bit low if we're trying to discourage stat dumping.

Thanks, crowlover!

edited 5th Apr '12 1:49:52 PM by Drenius

Oh yes, I remember you counting down to that last night. Happy Birthday, David!

It's the standard amount - 10 for each skill off the start. It's used so you have to balance your skills more carefully. Creates a fair character, instead of someone who's good or average at everything. You're either the perfect Mario, or you prioritze one or two stats and have low other stats.

edited 5th Apr '12 1:51:49 PM by kegisak

Someone explain stat dumping and why 60/65 is too low?

but why make any stats mandatory at all, just start off with less points

edited 5th Apr '12 1:51:51 PM by gingerninja666

@Drenius Curious. What are you making Stinging Nettles for? And I'm assuming this OC's an Earth Pony...

@Ginger 10 is the "neutral" value. Stat dumping is decreasing certain stats by a large amount in order to increase your other stats.

edited 5th Apr '12 1:54:27 PM by crowlover

Stat dumping is putting the bare minimum into any stats you don't want to optimise the stats you do want. Since 10 is the average, there are 6 stats and there are 60 points on offer any none Earth Pony needs to dump to get an advantage.

I'm thinking about dumping Charisma and Intelligence.

edited 5th Apr '12 1:53:57 PM by Badwolfwho

@ginger: Stat dumping is when you completely ignore a single stat in order to use points from it in another. A good example is charisma - charisma doesn't have any fight benefits, so I could use it as a dump stat and, in this case, get 4 extra points to add to my strength or dex, putting it at 14, very close to the natural cap.

60/65 isn't really too low, it's the standard amount that's been used in most Dn D-based systems for a reason. As I said, it creates a good balance.

And we make stats mandatory because without them you will fail hard at any roll that comes up - and they will come up. Put it this way: STR zero makes you too weak to stand up. INT 0 makes you too stupid to stand up. Expand from there.

edited 5th Apr '12 1:55:04 PM by kegisak

@ keg

Sweet, you're back!

Can you help me make Pendulum?

Yeah, I'm fairly sure it's going to be up to 70 for starting stats, at least for now.

@Ginger Stat dumping is when you completely ignore one or more "useless" stats to pump everything into another "more useful" stat. The best way to prevent it is to keep any stats from being useless. Having too low a starting amount, though, means that to get a decent score in a stat you have to stat dump.

@Kegi That's a good point. I haven't played D&D in a good while, but I remember the starting amount being somewhere in the 60's. It's always better to err on the side of making things more powerful, though, because the GM can always make things more difficult for more powerful characters.

edited 5th Apr '12 1:57:11 PM by PerpetualLurker

And 75 for Earth Ponies?

Stat dumping is consciously putting as few points into a stat as possible o that you can boots what ever your class's key attributes are. It's a common practice among some role players when they are trying to min/max their characters and Charisma is a common target because some people feel that it's a superfluous statistic. 60 points is a bit low in my opinion because it'd be hard to avoid stat dumping in order to have a respectable score somewhere else. The other option is to spread your points relatively evenly which leads to somewhat lackluster statistics overall with perhaps one or two high stats.

@crowlover: I'm considering making Stinging Nettles as a character for the RP or alternatively make him a character in one of the stories I'm working on. And yes, I was planning for him to be an Earth Pony though I was also considering a Unicorn.

edited 5th Apr '12 2:06:49 PM by Drenius

@Apple: Pendulum? how do you mean?

edited 5th Apr '12 1:56:19 PM by kegisak

Long story short, negative numbers look bad on a character sheet. Players don't like playing with minuses. It leaves a bad feeling.

But what if one WANTS a character that focuses on certain things?

Won't discouraging stat dumping lead to loads of samey characters who are all Jack Of All Stats?

Sorry, I have no idea what I'm saying, as I've said, NO FUCKING idea how to make games!

@ keg

Pendulum. He's the Clockpunk Inventor Chronomancer I want to make for the RPG. He's a unicorn with an affinity for machines and a passion for messing around with time.

A unicorn of course.

@Ginger Nothing is stopping you from dumping a stat. There just have to be consequences for doing so.

Well yeah if it works for your character dump some stats. That's what I'm going to do.

Uh, what??? In 4ed at least, characters are intentionally above average. I believe 12 is considered the base.

I don't understand how I ever got by without tabbed browsing back in the day. And I thought It Will Never Catch On.

I should by the D&D book...even if I never get to play a game.

@ginger: No, you're actually right. Games like this create averages for a reason. Having enough base stat points to make everything above average leads to a set of overpowered characters, especially at low levels. Having characters with no weaknesses means there's no reason for teamwork or strategy - the key features of a tabletop RPG like this.

@Apple: Oooh, I see. Sure! what do you need help with?

@Story: Never seen four. I don't know what edition Never Winter Nights 2 was based on, but that's what I'm basing this off of.

edited 5th Apr '12 2:02:02 PM by kegisak

Just one is £20.

And there are 3 of them bare minimum. For 4th edition at least.

edited 5th Apr '12 2:01:24 PM by Badwolfwho