Hopeless Characters

Sometimes a player will roll for ability scores, look at the ability scores rolled, and declare the character "hopeless." Of course, no player can be required to play a character with less than 9 in the first four scores, since all four classes would be unavailable to that character. However, you as the Game Master might choose to allow the player to reroll a character with scores that are overall below average even if the character isn't as "hopeless" as this. Here's an alternate suggestion: Allow the player to "flip" all of their scores by subtracting them from 21. This will turn a roll of 15 (+1 bonus) into a 6 (-1 penalty) but turn a roll of 3 (-3 penalty) into an 18 (+3 bonus). This will result in a character who previously had mostly penalties becoming one with mostly bonuses. If this is allowed, all scores must be flipped, not just the bad ones! Doing this ensures the character is playable while still allowing the possibility of some penalty scores. It is of course possible to roll all average scores, such that the character has neither bonuses nor penalties and would not gain any benefit from flipping scores. The choice here should be the player's; if they wish to reroll all scores, the GM should probably allow it.