[RPG] Is one of the characters in the group overpowered

character-creationdnd-4enew-gmproblem-players

I'm starting my first stint as a DM, in DnD 4E, and one of my players insisted on rolling dice for his stats. I was ok, provided, as I said, "that the character was balanced with the rest of the group".

Problem: his rolls were something like '13, 13, 14, 14, 15, 17' (final stats, after discarding the worst value of 7 4d6 rolls). The other two players who rolled today, both newbies to 4E and, in my wife's case, newbie to role-playing, were "normal", with a few 11s, 12s, 14s, and 16s (I misremembered. I must have been really worried about this).

What I wanted to know is: should I make him reroll, or the other characters reroll or select some "better" values from standard arrays or using the point-buy system? Or am I worrying over nothing? He's playing a striker, but apart from possibly doing tons of damage, I'm worried that every skill challenge will be too easy to him. I was thinking of applying some hard DCs to his rolls, because hey, You Asked For It You Got It.

Bonus points on detailed advice on how to handle it. I am, as I said, new at this, and he's an experienced player who talked a lot. He might be a problem player (at least for me), or I might be wrong. I'm a bit afraid of becoming a doormat or overreacting.

As it is possible that the particular player might read this: please don't take offence. It's my first time at this, we just met, and I'm just trying to create the best game I can. As I said, it's possible that I am completely wrong.

Best Answer

I don't think this character will be overpowered. In fact, I suspect that the other characters will be underpowered — the math of D&D 4E is engineered for characters who have at least a 16 in the score most related to their class: Strength for fighters, for example.

As for the question of whether this character will be a "Mary Sue," the question is difficult to answer in terms of roleplaying games — characters in RPGs often are hypercompetent and well-loved by the populace, even those hard to convince. It's the portrayal, not the mechanics, that determines Mary or Marty.