D&D 5E - Why I like to roll stats in order

In this case, I rolled a pretty poor array. I had two 8s (Str and Wis), two 10s (Dex and Cha); a 12 (Int); and my high stat- a 16- was in Constitution. "Wow!" I thought. "This is going to be pretty hard to make into something, but it should be interesting!" The rules for

So I'm playing a character in a 5e game right now, which is a pretty rare thing for me; 98% of my D&D time is spent DMing. I've always preferred rolling stats in order, so I did, and I ended up with a character who is a perfect example of why I enjoy it so much: because sometimes you end up having to come up with a weird concept to fit the stats.

In this case, I rolled a pretty poor array. I had two 8s (Str and Wis), two 10s (Dex and Cha); a 12 (Int); and my high stat- a 16- was in Constitution.

"Wow!" I thought. "This is going to be pretty hard to make into something, but it should be interesting!" The rules for stat generation for the campaign don't stop you from rearranging stats to taste, but like I said, my personal preference is to keep them in order. So I thought about options. The obvious one- suggested by other players- was some kind of tank.

But no.

I ended up making Friendo the Mediocre Mage, a rock gnome. He's a personal fitness trainer whose favorite spell is Personal Lubrication (aka Grease). Until he hit 3rd level, his only damage-causing spell was Ray of Frost. He is all about long distance running: he might not have the strength to be many types of athlete, but he's got the endurance, oh yes, he's got the endurance. Also, he has a custom cantrip that lets him change gender; the other pcs, and players, aren't sure what his true gender is even after several sessions.

Now, I recognize that he's not the most combat-effective pc, but he's useful enough to not be a burden to the party, and he's entertaining enough to bring teh funney to the games he's in. He has also prevented some pc-on-pc conflict, defusing it by offering a free month's personal training (a 25 gp value!) to the pcs in question. And he's a blast to play. So I call him a win- and that is why I like rolling for stats, and doing it in order. Yes, it means you can't really go into the process with a concept at the start; instead, you end up developing very interesting characters to match what the dice have said.

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