Pick Points

Starting from the modified random position, pick points allow players to tinker with the results. This saves players from re-rolling continuously until they get the result they want. They can reduce some values to gain pick points (equivalent to their rating) and spend them on raising other values. Sometimes, not all the pick points initially available will have been spent by the randomizing process, leaving a pool for players to draw from. This is better, because players don’t feel as if they have to harm their character before they improve it; however, it does mean that a “randomly flesh out” option should be available for players who don’t want to waste time messing around.

The cost of attributes and skills will normally increase (and sometimes decrease) disproportionately beyond a mid-range, to stop players from minimaxing. For example, if a character’s default tracking ability is 40, then it may cost one point to rise to 50, another point to rise to 60, but then two points to rise to 70 and a further three to rise to 80.

One of the ways by which classes and races can be made more distinct is to provide different base (and, sometimes, ceiling) values for skills and attributes. A stereotypical elf, for example, may begin with higher defaults for dexterity and archery than a stereotypical dwarf; the dwarf may have higher strength and axe-wielding abilities to compensate. In these cases, pick point costs may be relative to the defaults rather than to some absolute scale: If the elf’s default archery skill is 60 then it would only cost one point to raise it to 70 instead of the two it would cost the dwarf with default 40.

The total number of pick points available to a character may in some systems be increased by taking a flaw (or quirk). The idea here is that the character has some flaw that the player is willing to accept in return for more pick points. For example, if a player is designing a “desert warrior” character, then it might be worthwhile accepting a flaw of “fear of heights” (on the grounds that the character will never encounter any). Were a giant eagle to pick up the character and drop it at the top of a minaret, however, the flaw would kick in; at the very least, the character could expect a catastrophic loss of attribute points while the situation prevailed.

In addition to flaws, some systems have one-off improvements that can be bought for pick points (for example, “language aptitude”). In this case, the improvements are known as advantages and the flaws disadvantages ¹. Because most advantages fit (or can be fitted) into a skills/feats/attributes scheme, though, they are popular.