What Ability Score Generation Method do you use?

[Flexor the Mighty!]

The joy of rolling three sixes out of four dice is one of the greatest moments in one's d&d career. The point buy methods robs one of that joy.

 

[Ace]

Well in my high magic campaigns the slightly unusual method I use is this. All stats start at 18. A player then rolls a d10 five times and subtracts that amount from the five 18s.
so it would be
18
18-(1-9) x 5

This gives each character 1 18. I count a roll of 0 "10" as being a zero so it is possible to have more then one 18. The benefit of this is no score will be lower then 9. This usually creates a high powered character.

Interesting. I may try that in my next game.

 

[Skywalker]

I just allow players to assign attributes they think fit the concept of the PC. If you trust the PCs this works.

 

[Bran Blackbyrd]

Totally Nuts!

*sigh* I'd might as well post this.
I invented this one afternoon, I was playing around with different methods on a lark and this is what it resulted in.


Roll 4d6 7 times dropping the low die each time and dropping the lowest score.
Always reroll 1s.
You may reroll 2s, if two or more of them are rolled.
You may reroll 3s, if three or more of them are rolled.
You may reroll all 4s if four or more of them are rolled.
You may reroll all the dice if you get a straight.
If you roll identically with two consecutive rolls, the scores from the two rolls can be traded for an 18 and the lost score is rerolled. This applies only to the final numbers and not what they were before certain numbers get rerolled. It can also apply when you roll a straight, identical to the straight you are rerolling.

Of course this "method" of rolling scores is nutty as hell and not to be taken seriously. The worst you can get is a 9 unless one of your dice spontaneously combusts. My lucky *grumble* players rolled high enough for my campaign without using this, so I don't think I'll be letting them use it. It's just for fun.

Interestingly enough, when I showed this to a friend of mine it gave him the seed of an idea for a fantasy board game, which he's currently working on.

 

[Zappo]

In the old days of OD&D, I would have each character roll 3d6 six times in order, and then roll 1d6 of 'free' points that could be placed anywhere (max. 18 in any single stat). The whole procedure is repeated three times, and the player chooses a set. At this point, he can swap two points in a stat for one point in another.

Of course, now I have point buy, and I would never ever go back to random.

 

[nsruf]

I can't vote because my "session is invalid" whatever that means

However, I use 28 pt buy in my own campaign and have seen 28 pt buy and 32 pt buy in the RttToEE campaign I play in (DM raised the score after wiping out the party). Both seem adequate and fair.

I might try random ability scores the next time a new party is created in my game and go with either 4d6, drop lowest and arrange as desired, or 5d6, drop 2 lowest and take in order.