[PnP] noob questions part IV - Bride of Noob Questions

[Scott Adams]

At 03:37 PM 9/20/07, you wrote:
>ok, starting to wrap it up here I think, but a few other questions:
>
>1) Do any of you use variations of character generation? I love the
>complete randomness of it and I like that everybody usually gets
>something about their character they don't like but have to role play
>around. Yet occasionally, someone wants to make some kind of magic
>user and gets a 3, 4, 5 in Intelligence, Will, and Empathy
>respectively. Have you guys had a lot of problems with over powered
>characters if, for example, you allowed your players to swap one score
>with any other score? Or allowed two sets of rolls and allowed them to
>choose the better?
>
>I like the generation ssytem as is.  As to attribute rolls I usually let the players decide their choice in majority.  So if most want to allow X rolls and Y rerolls they can.  Or some might roll all and then allocate as they want.  Or all might want to roll as is and assign as is.  So many variations.  I personally find that tweaking characters to get that 20 in X and Y stat and become a natural magician on that 'lucky' event roll and such is less challenging.  Some of my best characters weren't powerful ones.  I had a player who ran a simple beggar with a bad leg.  No one suspected him but he got more action, more experience and more role playing than the big mages and wizards :)
I of course balance such characters to the high and mighty ones. 


>2) When creating magic users, as they buy their initial spells, do
>they buy that at the "instructed" rate or the "alone" rate? Oddly, the
>book does not specify. On the one hand, characters would start with a
>whole lot of spells if they bought them all at the discount rate, yet
>the apprenticeship does seem like the very definition for instructed.
>So I'm curious what you all are doing.

I personally don't like instructed stuff during generation.  After it is fine and use it all the time.  The main thing is in balance in the spells/expertise and such from it.  If 3 characters do it at the alone rate the one with instructed gets a slight advantage.  So basically all should decide one way or another.  To be fair.  IMHO.  
Plus one has to look at background.  What's to say most masters don't prfer you to learn on your own after the EL0 is learned.  Etc.