Stat Generation - your wierd and wacky ways

[Psychic Warrior]

I think the ability generation method varies with the type of campaign. Most of my campaigns are the "little guy swept up in the big events" model and I always toy with the idea of rolling 3d6 and assigning the first to Strength, second to Dex, etc. I've never had the courage to force my players to do it, though, and was wondering if anyone actually has. I think it's fairly realistic and players would then put a lot more thought into what they would be effective as, but I imagine it creates unbalanced parties. If no one has a high Wisdom, for example, the party is without a cleric, which is doable, but a party without a fighter, for example, or any spellcasters is in trouble. I think it might work a lot better in a d20 Modern game and if I ever GM one of those I might try it out.
My question got a little lost in the middle so I'll repeat it here: Has anyone actually ever tried the 3d6 (or 4d6, drop lowest) roll six times and apply the first to Str, second to Dex, etc. method?

I'm quite certain people have. There are several on this board that play older editions where 3d6 in order (although the order would have been Str, Int, Wis, Dex, Con, Cha) is very common place. I wouldn't do it myself as it can make some pretty hopeless characters.

 

[Ferret]

I would liek to use 2d6+4. If I ever get a game together.

 

[Thanee]

I've never had the courage to force my players to do it, though, and was wondering if anyone actually has.

We did that once, quite recently actually, but in addition to the 3d6 we all got some generous bonuses derived from the parents' stats (playing the children of our old characters in that campaign).

Bye
Thanee

 

[Tinker Gnome]

My way is very different: I let the players pick their stats. They can't pick numbers that the dice can't give them, so no starts with a 30 for instance. But if a player wants all 18's, more power to him. Though in practice I have never had a play choose higher then a 16 and all of the players so far have choosen at least one stat 8 or below.

I think I would go crazy and put all 18s.

 

[Shane_Leahy]

My group has used two different ways in the past.

1) 25 point buy. Then roll 3d6 in order for each stat. Keep the higher of the point buy or the 3d6. Some interesting characters have been made this way, Wizard that put 8 into strength then rolled a 15 for it.

2) 4d6 rolled in order. Pick any one stat, reroll with 6d6 keeping the new result. Switch any 2 stats with each other, not including the reroll. This was done to allow the player to influence his rolls but still have an organic character.

 

[Primitive Screwhead]

Back in 2e days I used an odd system that was pretty fun.

Stats were a two stage process, you had a pool of 26 dice to apply to each stat. You assigned the dice in whatever groupings you wanted, then rolled and took the highest 3.


In this manner you could guide the character towards an intended goal by placing more dice against a given stat.
In play it was occasionally funny, like the time my 2D6 CHR rolled higher than my 6D6 STR!
Oh well, made for a fun Half-Orc weakling thief anyway

 

[Man in the Funny Hat]

Anyone have any other ways that are different? Or any comment on the method presented here? Point buy, to me, puts too much cost onto getting an 18 while random rolling can lead to 'superhero' characters fighting alongside 'joe average'.

http://home.earthlink.net/~duanevp/dnd/stat_generation.htm

One way I am considering goes like this.

Make you stat bonuses come out to a certain, pre-assigned number. By that I mean your stats can be anything you want (up to a maximum of 18 and minimum of 3) but the bonus, when added together, add up to a certain number (about 4 or 5 might be a good number). Half of your stats are designated odd and half even as well. I hope that makes sense.

It's interesting enough. I don't think I have anything quite like it on the above list. I might just add it on.

 

[Sadrik]

This is a method I came up with that works well but I have never actually used it.

Card method: A semi-random way to generate the ability scores of a character utilizing a deck of cards. Pull out one suit king through ace (K Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A) and remove the king then shuffle the rest. Deal the cards out face down into six piles in the following order Strength, Dexterity, Constitution, Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Flip them up and add their totals using the card values listed below. Place the king in the stat of your choice. If a piles value go over eighteen it is considered eighteen.

The card values
A	1
2-10	as indicated
J	8
Q	8
K	5

Variation: Place the king down on the stat you want before you flip up the six piles. For instance if you make a fighter you would probably place the king in strength, a rogue dexterity etc.

This method I found on a message board years ago and it has stuck with my gaming group as the prefered method of stat generation. We also say your stats cannot go above +11 or below +7 that way the characters are not too far off.

Grid system: A semi-random way to generate ability scores that allows for very good ability scores but not necessarily in the occupation that you have chosen. To do this, choose a class. Then draw a tic tac toe grid and along the top place Strength, Dexterity and Constitution along the side place Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma. Roll 4d6 nine times filling in the nine squares. Finally assign the six by cross referencing from the appropriate columns and rows. You can only use six of the nine ability scores rolled.

 

[Ace]

This is pretty much what we call the "we're all adults here" method. We use it with pretty much any game we play.

I use this method too --

alternately if people insist on a system I use 32 point buy modified (or occasionally 36)

8 base

9-14 1 per
15-18 2 per

 

[the Jester]

One thing I tried out back in the 2e days was to let a player roll 24d6 and assign any three to each stat.