Siranui said:

Thankfully most of my ConX (1st ed) players over the years have gone for diverse but not excessive characters, even when i allowed special character options from the sourcebooks. One player in ConX however is a different story, and with D&D from 2nd ed Skills & Powers onwards way too many players min/max striving for maximum advantage and minimum disadvantage. As quite a few of those played in both systems i think its their previous experience of D&D with other DMs and their expectations of the game that may influence such behaviour.

I'll be encouraging players to roll as much as possible but if a player has a very particular idea of their character i'll allow some leeway where it's needed to keep the character ideal consistent.

Actually, the main rule book covers this. In the boxed text Detailing a History of Valour it states "Players and GM's should also not feel restricted to the list provided. You may wish to negotiate comparable effects that better reflect the particular character of a battle-brothers's most important peice of equipment". This reads to me that the player and the ref can play with the armour history, so long as the stat side of things is not overpowered.

Also, I personally feel that so long as the choice is made because it makes sense for the character it should be fine to choose. After all it is not the marine choosing but the player building the character they want to play. I enjoy both random and points assigned game types, but both can be used as an excuse for bad roleplayers and bad roleplaying. After all, the system is only a mechanic for the story so I would say let the pc's choose but you have the final say.

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How I do Characteristic : Role two sets of nine numbers (2d10), rerolling the lowest in each and then pick one of those sets. Then allocate those numbers to your characteristics as you like. It’s random but there is no real punishment for rolling a few bad numbers in a row because you can put those somewhere you may care as much about. This is the best way to make characteristics IMO, and prevents min/max and such because I’ve done this before and one set’s highest number was 12 and the other sets highest number was 14 (lowest in both was a 3). Then another time I had a set with every number over 10 and two 20’s. It’s random but still you build a character how you like.

How I do anything on a table : Roll twice and pick the one you want (still get the +/- 1 on the armor table). Simple and fast, no muss no fuss. It’s still random and works wonders for shutting people up if after that they didn’t get what they want; because, honestly, if you didn’t get something you can work with after a six point margin you need to stop playing RPG’s cause you is a jerk, lol.

Man oh man, like DW isn't power gamey enough.

Crisarion hit it on the spot with the first post. This isn't something your Marine gets to choose, he gets what's available; you don't get to walk into a store and decide you want that one but would prefer it in green with orange trim. The tables are there for flavour. Min max if you like, but most of the time the armour you will get will enhance your abilities even if it doesn't stack with your primary min maxed abilities.

I think another thing to consider is these suits probably don't have clipboards attached with a list of game bonuses. These are 'quirks' right? So long as your speciality is not getting penalised then it's all gravy. If the player really doesn't like it give them a veto, but don't let them just choose. Letting them choose would be like letting them 'choose' a random mutation as a result of corruption.

Respect the sacred artifacts, off to the Chaplain with you.

I have to agree with the +/-1 thing... It will prevent you from being stuck with something that actively hinders your specialty and gives you a bonus that would be perfect for someone else, but doesn't let you just go ahead and min-max.

I say the +/-1 on the roll idea works because your Chapter's armourers don't just hand out armour at random. They study you while you're a Neophyte/Scout, and thus they have some idea of your basic aptitude, and won't hand someone who's truly gifted with a sword, but not as good a shot as his brethren, a set of armour that's had a proud history serving countless Devastator Marines.