I seem to remember that you could only find one tome for each stat. Or was there a way to glitch additional tomes?

It sure was, took me two hours and do you realise how clicks that was? But that wasn't the bad news, I clicked that fast that I had 18/00 and clicked again before it registered with the brain (and swore several times):)

You could create a MP game, import your character multiple times, add all tomes to the main char, rinse and repeat, export character with all stats 25. I know it's soft cheating, but hey, it works.

And this was before save editors like gatekeeper & co

Now I remember the multiplayer glitch. Thanks.

You could also kill Gorion and never leave Candlekeep :)

I managed that for my Paladin for BG1.. To achieve that, I had to get by with 3 int.

That wasn't a problem in BG1 - it made no difference.

Sadly BG2 had special language options for ultra-low intelligence characters.. I couldn't bring myself to finish the mess that I started.


In hindsight, the time I spent rolling 18/00 for that munchkin paladin was pointless given the +1 strength tome.

The probability of that happening (no stat with a 9+) would be really scarce, under 2.5%. Even less if you consider elves and halflings get a +1 to dexterity, allowing them to become thieves with a max roll of an 8 (although races also have stat requirements)
Personally, I've always enjoyed playing characters with low stats, they always lead to funny roleplaying situations, but computer RPGs tend to encourage stat maxing over interpretation/roleplaying (contrary to the original goal of RPGs). This tendency has somehow spread to modern pen and paper roleplaying. Sadly, no player nowadays enjoys underpowered characters anymore.
Sorry for grumpy derailing :P

That and the alignment violations.

I expect the majority of paladins in Baldurs Gate dutifully stood guard while the party thief broke into every house and stole everything that wasn't nailed down.

Also, hacking can have side effects if you aren't careful.

For example, in classic Wizardry, you can't continue past stat allocation unless you have 0 bonus points remaining; if you somehow have all your stats maxed out and still have bonus points left, you won't be able to proceed, and depending on the game (and version) you may be softlocked (without further hacking).

Of course, while OCRing the game could be fun, if the game is on an easily emulatable console, how about writing a bot that generates an input sequence that yields a maximum bonus point roll? Would eliminate the need to OCR (just check in memory), would avoid having to modify the game or its memory in any way, and (with the right hardware setup) would be possible to port to the actual console.

I would say it's not as much of a problem if it's guaranteed that you can eventually max your stats (including HP) regardless.

However, when you add in level caps (even if the cap is higher than feasibly reachable) and don't provide a way to level down your characters, and the game doesn't make it practical to create new characters, then it results in the "missable stat" problem.

Also, D&D has other issues, like having accuracy, rather than damage, be the primary thing that's affected by things like level and armor. The result is that you have a system that does not scale. In D&D, for example, attacks miss too often at the start (on both sides), and (barring Power Attack, which first appeared in 3e) accuracy becomes pointless at higher levels. I also note that, in 3.x at extreme epic levels, a small level difference has too much of an effect; around level 4000, for example, a 1% difference in level can mean the difference between a 5% hit chance and a 95% hit chance. (Contrast that to something like Disgaea, where a 1% level difference, even at that level, has only a minor effect.)

Or one particular paladin in BG2 who is racist against darker skinned elves.

The probability, however, is not 0.

Also, keep in mind that only 4 stats need to be 8 or less for the character to get stuck unable to choose a class, as Constitution and Charisma alone do not qualify the character for any class in early editions.

I made an approximate calculation using method III (3d6 arranged to taste), with method I (3d6 in order) the probability of an unqualified character would be higher... Never happened to me, but in that case I guess a reroll should be allowed. Although some wicked DM could force you to play a 0-level character.

After the first roll. Then either hack the game (which reminds me, why isn't The Summoning here yet?) or play something else.

Since almost all of them (even the great BG series) are focused on combat and lack the sensetive hands on approach of a human DM I reroll/rollscummed the hell out of it (... or just used gatekeeper; but only within the rollable possible though).

Bonus points for irony: the half a fistful of games that are good at emulating a DM (FO1/2/Arcanum; most of Bloodlines) do not need random rolls for stat creation.

If it is possible to re-roll, i do.
But not for ages. I tend to become too fast if i re-roll often and then sometimes it happens that i see the greatest roll of all time, but my brain has already decided to click... and that roll is gone... *groan*

If it is a game, like BG, where i can redistribute after rolling, i will cheese it. Who needs Charisma :p
Also, in general, though that is rare nowadays, in the past i read the manuals, especially BG comes to mind again, over and over and over again, so that i know what makes a good roll and what stat is not required to be at 18.

I know that feeling.

Of course, there's also games like Wizardry, where you get a random number of bonus points to distribute as you wish (the only thing you reroll is that random number).

And then you play the game with your carefully chosen stats, only to run into a couple issues:
* Enemy attacks Charisma, and the game kills you when a stat reaches 0.
* When an enemy attacks you, the enemy uses *your* Strengh bonus, making higher Strength characters more vulnerable. (Yes, I have encountered this sort of bug before; SaGa 1 is probably the one game I've played with the highest concentration of such bugs.)