Determining Ability Scores: Munchkin Points
Your character's ability scores can be determined using a variation of the "point buy" variant rules described on page 13 of the Player's Handbook, but with added flexibility to obtain scores below 8 and above 15. If you want to keep it simple, you can just follow the variant rules in the Player's Handbook, or even use this set of scores: 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8. You won't be losing out on overall power if you choose not to follow the extra rules detailed below. As always, follow these rules to determine your scores before applying any changes to ability scores from other sources (such as from your race).
You are allowed to obtain bonus "munchkin points" to spend on scores by reducing the starting value for some of your scores. Munchkin points can be used like normal points to buy scores, but higher scores require that you specifically spend some munchkin points in order to take them.
Choose one of the following sets of ability scores. Regardless of which set you choose, you will have 27 regular points to spend.
Starting Ability Score Arrays
| Scores | Munchkin Points |
|---|---|
| 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8 | 0 |
| 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 6 | 1 |
| 8, 8, 8, 8, 7, 7 | 1 |
| 8, 8, 8, 8, 6, 6 | 2 |
| 8, 8, 8, 7, 7, 6 | 2 |
| 8, 8, 7, 7, 7, 7 | 2 |
| 8, 8, 8, 6, 6, 6 | 3 |
| 8, 8, 7, 7, 6, 6 | 3 |
| 8, 8, 6, 6, 6, 6 | 4 |
Once you've selected your set, you can buy a single increase for each score (you can also leave any scores as they are). The increases are applied like any ability score increase, so buying a +3 for a score that's starting at 7 will result in a score of 10. Note that on the Ability Score Point Cost table, the munchkin point cost is in addition to the point cost. That means buying +8 for a score costs 11 points (of which some can be munchkin points), plus 1 munchkin point.
Once you've determined your 6 scores, you can arrange them however you like before applying any other ability score modifiers.
Ability Score Point Cost
| Score Increase | Point Cost | Munchkin Point Cost |
|---|---|---|
| +1 | 1 | 0 |
| +2 | 2 | 0 |
| +3 | 3 | 0 |
| +4 | 4 | 0 |
| +5 | 5 | 0 |
| Score Increase | Point Cost | Munchkin Point Cost |
|---|---|---|
| +6 | 7 | 0 |
| +7 | 9 | 0 |
| +8 | 11 | 1 |
| +9 | 14 | 1 |
| +10 | 17 | 2 |
Designer's Note: Why Use These Rules?
The groups that I generally play with are mostly composed of players that are as far from the traditional image of a "power gamer" as you can get. They care about making sure their character accurately embodies the roleplaying concept they have in mind, not that they can deal the most damage per round. However, this actually made the need for these alternate rules more obvious to me.
You see, when the player has a clear idea in their head, they will often want to use point buy to fine-tune all the knobs - how are you supposed to play the socially awkward wizard or the stupid barbarian if you don't roll any scores below 10? While in the past I simply allowed the players to lower any of their scores if they wanted, that isn't fun to do. The biggest draw of this system, at least at my table, is the option to have a score of 6 if you want, and being able to get a (disproportionately) small boost elsewhere doesn't hurt either!
If your campaign is combat-centric, these rules might break the game a little bit, especially at lower levels where a score of 20 is impossible from point buy under normal circumstances. If you think your players are going to abuse these rules (and that prospect does not excite you), then they aren't really meant for your table. If you want your players to have a higher degree of optimization than the Player's Handbook rules allow without drastically changing the underlying math of that system, these rules can help you do just that!