Hriston
Dungeon Master of Middle-earth (He/him)
I’m sure this has probably come up before but has anyone tried 1d12 +5 for rolling Ability Scores?
What is the downside of this?
It results in a lower average score (11.5) than either 4d6 drop lowest (12.24) or standard array (12), so characters created with this method will be generally lower powered than those created with the default method. Point buy, on the other hand, can result in arrays with an average score ranging from 12.5 to 11.5, so while your method falls within that range, it’s on the lower end.
Also, as others have pointed out, it increases the frequency of extreme scores because it results in a linear distribution. That isn’t a bad thing in itself, but if your goal is to emulate the default method while allowing for a higher chance of extreme scores, I think 2d6 + 5 is your best bet.