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- Jan 28, 2011
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- 97,590
The randomness of IE/AD&D chargen annoys me. When should one give up on re-rolling stats? How many stat points is too much? How many is too little?
Here's how stat rolling in Baldur's Gate works: http://www.playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats
Following these rules, we can enumerate all possible stat rolls, discarding the ones with a total below 75 and the ones that fall outside the race and class limitations. Then, adding up the sum of each remaining roll weighted by its probability of being rolled, and normalizing the result, we arrive at the Expected Total Points value for that Race/Class combination.
That value represents the average roll for that race and class - an average character, not too powerful, not too weak. So you can reroll until you have that many points, or just use the CTRL-8 cheat, and be guaranteed an optimal gameplay experience.
Unless of course, the games are actually balanced around excessive rerolling for higher-than-average values.
Here's how stat rolling in Baldur's Gate works: http://www.playithardcore.com/pihwiki/index.php?title=Baldur's_Gate:_Races_and_Stats
Baldur's Gate determines each stat by rolling 3 dice that are all 6-sided, and summing these. It then applies race and class modifiers, and rerolls if the value falls outside the minimum or maximum for the race or class. After determining each of the six stats in this way, it checks to see if all six scores add up to at least 75. If not, it scraps the scores it has found, and begins over again.
Following these rules, we can enumerate all possible stat rolls, discarding the ones with a total below 75 and the ones that fall outside the race and class limitations. Then, adding up the sum of each remaining roll weighted by its probability of being rolled, and normalizing the result, we arrive at the Expected Total Points value for that Race/Class combination.
That value represents the average roll for that race and class - an average character, not too powerful, not too weak. So you can reroll until you have that many points, or just use the CTRL-8 cheat, and be guaranteed an optimal gameplay experience.
Unless of course, the games are actually balanced around excessive rerolling for higher-than-average values.