Hopeless Characters, Aren't Hopeless..

 

Can a character with bad stats still matter in D&D? In this episode, I talk about “Hopeless Characters” in old school D&D, using the Holmes Basic blurb and AD&D as the starting point. Bad ability scores do not always mean a bad character. Sometimes the weak fighter, the fragile magic-user, or the average nobody becomes the one everyone remembers. This is about 3d6 character creation, survival, risk, and why old school D&D did not need every character to start as a hero.

The idea of hopeless characters is nothing new. Old school players are very familiar with the idea of it as many of DMs would say, you can roll up your character, and you only get three chances to roll your stats. We also had to deal with the 3d6 down the line method, which as time went on, most DMs allowed you to place it how you wanted or moved to the 4d6, drop the lowest place how you want. 

So there were times you'd get a character that wasn't ideal, and you had to live with it. Did we like it? no, did we bitch and complain? sometimes, but its a game after all, there is no "winning D&D". The game was meant to be a challenge and not a walk in the park. You are not superheroes, you are people who decided to give up the boring life to venture out for gold, glory and fame.