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Message: <blockquote data-quote="EzekielRaiden" data-source="post: 9834952" data-attributes="member: 6790260">This is accounting for the variance.When you roll six sets of 4d6k3, there will be a range for what "the highest stat of that set of six" is. That range will be narrower than the range for just any result of 4d6k3, because you're specifically selecting for the largest one. The peak will be further right and narrower than the peak of just any general roll would be. Likewise, the peak for the single lowest stat will be narrower and further left.Here's the chart, if you want the variance component added in.<img src="https://anydice.com/articles/4d6-drop-lowest/6_abilities.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="500x250" style="" />The chart only explicitly lists the average values. The SDs, in order 1, 2, etc., are 1.43, 1.44, 1.46, 1.53, 1.66, and 1.95.This chart, by comparison, shows the difference between 3d6 and 4d6k3.<img src="https://anydice.com/articles/4d6-drop-lowest/4d6dl_vs_3d6.png" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " data-size="500x250" style="" />The SD for 4d6k3 is 2.85--significantly greater than even the distribution for the worst stat, and almost double that of the highest stat.What definition would that be? I'm genuinely curious.My problem is the "of some sort" here. I believe "dump stat" is a fairly strong term. Not like ironclad unequivocal, but for it to be a "dump stat" it has to be more than "I ended up having to choose something for the 7 I rolled to go in".To me, "dump stat" means that you actively picked something to pull points out of, knowing the cost would be minimal. Merely having some lowest score is insufficient for that. Rolled stats are not totally immune to having a "dump stat", but they have at least a little bit of protection against that simply because you can't pull points out of anything to put into anything else. At least not with current rules. There were, I'm given to understand, ways to massage the old strict rolling method, where you could pull points out of stat X to put into stat Y, but at a 2-for-1 rate.So...yeah it's the "of some sort" that I'm having issues with here. I see the term as being pretty clear in meaning, requiring some degree of minmaxing to qualify, even if it's just a little bit. Regardless of method, but especially if you roll stats, something is going to have to be the lowest number (possibly multiple somethings). Like if I roll and get {18, 15, 14, 13, 12, 10}, is it really warranted to say that if I put the 10 in Dex that Dex is my "dump stat"? Or Cha or whatever. It just feels...off to refer to something you absolutely have to assign at some point as being a "dump" stat solely because every ordered set of numbers necessarily has a least element (though there may be multiple instances of that least element). The {4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 3} array, or its twin, the {18, 18, 18, 18, 18, 17} array, illustrate what I mean by this--can we honestly call something a "dump stat" if you put a 17 into it?</blockquote>

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