Not really. You have the same chance to get exactly the same character in that situation. Each roll is independent. Order doesn't matter.
D&D General Order of ability scores
Not really. You have the same chance to get exactly the same character in that situation. Each roll is independent. Order doesn't matter.
teitan
Legend
Kinda, but in one order, the now classic S,D, C, I, W, Ch, if you rolled a 10, 16, 12, 13, 11, 8 you would probably default to a Thief. In classic or AD&D 1e with S, I, W, D, C, Ch, you would be a Magic-user.
Any other class would be very sub-optimal, almost extremely so.
Your stats will modify your class choice if there is random assignment, sure! But the order of stats on the page doesn't affect the numbers assigned to those stats.
Like Fallout adjusted them to spell SPECIAL!
teitan
Legend
If the order has a standard progression then 2 different sets of order would most certainly affect the number assigned to those stats!
Str 10
Int 16
Wisdom 12
Dex 13
Con 12
Cha 8
Is very different numbers-wise than
Str 10
Dex 16
Con 12
Int 13
Wis12
Cha 8
And then depending on if you are talking about OD&D, BX, or AD&D it would be very different bonuses. Less impactful in OD&D where you can only ever get a +1 for a high ability score vs the bonuses granted in BX and AD&D/OD&D plus supplements. While the numbers are the same, the order of arrangement is very impactful to the game overall.
Your argument is much stronger if it is 3d6 arrange as desired which it seems was the default playing style anyway. Arranged as rolled the option comes down to races as a choice, if your rolls even qualified for a non-human race. The default rule for OD&D and AD&D was that you took them in the order you rolled them, not arrange them as desired and I think that is where your disagreement seems to lie.
If you have a sheet arranged SIWDCCh and roll randomly and assign in order and another sheet arranged SDCIWCh and do the same, you have exactly the same chance of getting exactly the same stat in each characteristic. The arbitrary order does not present a variation in probability or population distribution for characteristics. Any individual character would be impacted by the random assignment, but the player cannot make any future plans based on which blank sheet they are handed. Each roll is independent. Order does not matter.
teitan
Legend
When I played Shadowrun 2e we called the stats BISQUICK but I can't remember the names of the stats.
teitan
Legend
See my argument isn't based on any of that but the impact that a different order has in the default supposition of 3d6 arranged in order and how it affects what sort of character is made not on the randomness of the numbers and equality of chance. This based on my observation of in OD&D the stats were presented in order based on class, Fighting-man, Wizard and Cleric in the White box and how that pushed down Dex, Con and Cha to a secondary tier of importance. Meaning that those first six rolls would define your character class options, relegating the other three to be of lesser importance. With the Thief being introduced it relegated Con and Charisma to less important stats in the original order. With the revised order the distribution changes things dramatically compared to the previous arrangement depending on how you roll. The order of the stats has a definite impact while keeping the variables the same for each stat. So yes you are right but it wasn't part of my point and I apologize if I am unclear.
Essentially I am positing that in OD&D and 1e, the order did default to some stats were of less importance than others.
Yes, but consider rolling many characters. No matter what order you choose, you'll wind up getting as many that are good thieves as good magic users. The order doesn't make one character more likely than another.
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