D.1 Attributes

D.1.1 Other Methods of Attribute Generation

Point buy offers the fairest and most customizable system for determining attribute scores, ensuring that players can be almost any character they want to be. However, some groups may wish to determine attribute scores differently. Other options are provided below.

Simple Random Point Buy

With this method, you have only a small degree of control over your attribute scores, but all characters generated in this way are equally powerful. As with the point buy method, all your attribute scores start at 0, and you get 15 points to distribute among your attribute scores. However, you do not have full control over how to distribute those points.

For each attribute, starting with the attributes you care about most, roll 1d8. You spend that many points on that attribute, ignoring any extra points that can’t be spent For example, if you roll a 4, you spend 3 points on the attribute, causing you to start with a 2. If you do not have enough points remaining to spend the amount indicated by the die roll, spend as many as you can and move on to the next attribute.

If you have points remaining after rolling all of your attribute scores, you may distribute the points freely among your abilities, using the normal point buy rules. You cannot increase the starting value of any individual attribute by more than 1 during this stage. If any of your attributes start as a 0, you may choose to lower them to gain the normal benefits from having low attributes (see Attribute Penalties).

To further limit your character creation options, you may choose to randomize the order in which you roll your attributes instead of rolling them in an order of your choice.

Smoothed Random Point Buy

This method functions like the Simple Random Point Buy method, except that the resulting attribute values have a smoother distribution, and you can randomly end up with attribute penalties.

For each attribute, starting with the attributes you care about most, roll 4d6. Then, remove any one of the rolls after seeing the results. Sum the results of the remaining three dice and spend the appropriate number of attribute points as indicated in Table D.1: Smoothed Random Point Buy Results. If you do not have enough points remaining to spend the amount indicated by the die roll, spend as many as you can and move on to the next ability.

If you have points remaining after rolling all of your attribute scores, you may distribute the points freely among your abilities, using the normal point buy rules. You cannot increase the starting value of any individual attribute by more than 1 during this stage.

To further limit your character creation options, you may choose to randomize the order in which you roll your attributes instead of rolling them in an order of your choice.

Classic Hardcore

This method is completely random and can generate very overpowered or underpowered characters. It represents the unfairness of the world, where some people are just better or worse than others. For each attribute, roll 2d6, take the average (rounded down), and subtract 2. If you roll a 1 on both dice, treat the average as a 0. The result is your base value for that attribute.