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<blockquote data-quote="AbdulAlhazred" data-source="post: 7336624" data-attributes="member: 82106">And yet then none of Gygax's rules follow through on this at all. Its not ACTUALLY true. Method I (by far the most common in my experience) produces a 23% chance of 0 15s, and only an 28% chance of 2 15s. Of the other methods only Method III produces a majority of characters of the type that are claimed to be NECESSARY, and it doesn't allow them to be arranged as desired (though chances are you'll be able to sub-optimally join most all classes with such a character). Method I at least lets you arrange things as you wish.Now, what difference in survival does two 15s make? Is it really that much? It could be somewhat handy depending on the stats in question. A 15 STR does almost nothing, a 15 WIS is pretty good for a cleric, a 15 DEX raises your AC by 1 (nice), 15 CON is good for 1 HP/level, 15 CHA gives +15% reaction/loyalty and 7 henchmen max. All of these are useful, though the CON and DEX are probably the best. None of them is going to transform a character into one that is profoundly more survivable though. Obviously an extra hit point (or 3) or point of AC MIGHT save your skin. Clearly if you factor in 16-18s you might also get those are even more useful. Seems to me that its kinda oversold though. Ability scores in AD&amp;D are just not THAT critical.As an aside, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9 is the average array of Method I, almost identical to the standard array in 4e and the expert array in 3e. So for anyone thinking that stats have inflated, not since 1979... Now, the VALUE of those stats has increased considerably, since a 15 in any stat in 3.x, 4e, and 5e is worth a +3 bonus.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="AbdulAlhazred, post: 7336624, member: 82106"] And yet then none of Gygax's rules follow through on this at all. Its not ACTUALLY true. Method I (by far the most common in my experience) produces a 23% chance of 0 15s, and only an 28% chance of 2 15s. Of the other methods only Method III produces a majority of characters of the type that are claimed to be NECESSARY, and it doesn't allow them to be arranged as desired (though chances are you'll be able to sub-optimally join most all classes with such a character). Method I at least lets you arrange things as you wish. Now, what difference in survival does two 15s make? Is it really that much? It could be somewhat handy depending on the stats in question. A 15 STR does almost nothing, a 15 WIS is pretty good for a cleric, a 15 DEX raises your AC by 1 (nice), 15 CON is good for 1 HP/level, 15 CHA gives +15% reaction/loyalty and 7 henchmen max. All of these are useful, though the CON and DEX are probably the best. None of them is going to transform a character into one that is profoundly more survivable though. Obviously an extra hit point (or 3) or point of AC MIGHT save your skin. Clearly if you factor in 16-18s you might also get those are even more useful. Seems to me that its kinda oversold though. Ability scores in AD&D are just not THAT critical. As an aside, 16, 14, 13, 12, 10, 9 is the average array of Method I, almost identical to the standard array in 4e and the expert array in 3e. So for anyone thinking that stats have inflated, not since 1979... Now, the VALUE of those stats has increased considerably, since a 15 in any stat in 3.x, 4e, and 5e is worth a +3 bonus. [/QUOTE]

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