Alternatives Attribute Generation

These are a few of the homebrew methods I have used to determine my PC’s Attributes at character creation.

Standard Array

These numbers are derived from AnyDice’s research – https://anydice.com/articles/4d6-drop-lowest/

This method involves using a pre-determined set of six numbers and assigning each number to one of the character’s Attributes : STR, AGI, CON, INT, WIL, CHA.

The Numbers Used

My Dragonbane standard array is slightly more powerful than the one from that other Dragon RPG. The array I go with is based on the math presented by on Any Dice for the 4d6 drop the lowest array:

16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9

Key Advantages

• Fairness and Balance: Every player at the table starts with the exact same numerical power level, ensuring a balanced starting point.

• Speed: It’s the fastest way to generate scores, as it avoids the time spent on dice rolling or point calculation.

• Strategic Choice: It forces the player to make meaningful strategic choices about which attributes are most crucial for their chosen profession and character concept.

Card-Based Attributes

This method offers an interesting balance of risk and reward for assigning Attribute scores. The Initiative Deck or a deck of cards valued 1-10 is used for each Attribute.

Initial Draw:

Draw two cards and sum their value.

Press Your Luck:

You may Stand (accept the current sum as your Attribute score) or Hit (draw one more card and add it to the sum).

Maximum Cards:

You can draw a maximum of five cards total for a single Attribute.

Target and Penalty:

• If the sum is 18 or less, the sum is your final Attribute score.

• If the sum reaches 19 or more (Bust), the score suffers a penalty. Your final Attribute score is calculated as:

Score = 18 – Number of Cards Dealt

Note: This penalty reduces your final score based on how many cards you drew trying to hit 18.

Point Buy

My Dragonbane Point Buy system is a structured method for generating a character’s six Attributes. It is designed to ensure fairness and balance among all players by giving everyone the same budget of points to spend, eliminating the extreme highs and lows that can result from rolling dice.

• Starting Point: All six attributes begin at a base of 9.

• Point Budget: Each player receives 28 points to spend on increasing these scores.

• Cost Escalation: Scores become progressively more expensive to purchase as they get higher. For instance, raising a score from 9 to 14 costs 7 points, but raising it just one more point from 14 to 15 costs 2 additional points (total of 9).

Strategic Implications

The Point Buy system forces players to make interesting trade-offs:

• Min-Maxing: A player can choose to put all their resources into a few key attributes (e.g., three scores of 15) for a highly specialised character.

• Balance: A player can opt for a more balanced character (e.g., all scores between 12 and 13) to avoid any significant weaknesses.

This system guarantees every character starts with the same total numerical value, giving players complete control over their character’s strengths and weaknesses.

Point Buy Costs

Score(Cost)

9 (0)
10(1)
11(2)
12(3)
13(5)
14(7)
15(9)
16(12)
17(15)
18(18)

This game supplement was created under Fria Ligan AB’s Dragonbane Third Party Supplement License (https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Dragonbane-License-Agreement.pdf) to be used with the core rules of Dragonbane. This game supplement is neither affiliated with, sponsored, or endorsed by Fria Ligan AB.