D&D 5E What is your current way to roll stats

[jrowland]

Standard Array. No rolling.

 

[Miladoon]

For the longest time I was a fan of 4d6 drop the lowest. But now I swear by the Standard Array method. It makes people make tough decisions on their stats, and completely eliminates cheating without me needing to watch everyone roll their dice.

The standard array is a solid choice. Eliminating cheaters from my table is also a solid choice.

EDIT: Just thought I would add, that in the 30+ years of DMing I have not caught anyone cheating at rolling stats. Everyone at my table watched. We gave lots of applause for any 18s. Never saw an 18/100 STR.

 

[bedir than]

Does that method include putting the scores where you want them or is the order set?

Oddly, none of my players asked about that. Now I'll have to check. I'd probably give a +1 if they accepted them in order.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

Eliminating cheaters from my table is also a solid choice.

Cheaters notwithstanding, there's also something to be said for eliminating improbable luck. One long-time friend of mine always seems to end up with an array like [18, 16, 14, 14, 13, 12] when we roll the standard way. He's definitely not cheating -- it's antithetical to his nature, and in any case he's rolling in plain sight or even having the DM do the rolling -- but nevertheless, every time, instant demigod.

 

[Miladoon]

Your friend needs to be handed some of my dice. But then again, that might be cheating since I know those dice be shyte.

EDIT: In order to rerail my derailment I want to just say that I would like to see more methods of statgen and not flailabout in the realm of associating cheating with any specific method.
[MENTION=6789971]bedir than[/MENTION], I was trying to picture your method and I find it is not much different than picking the stat array in the book, but I could see it getting interesting if everyone took the array that was 'rolled' and even more interesting if they took it in order.

 

[discosoc]

We usually just use stat blocks or maybe a point buy system. I used to love rolling back in the day, but the truth is it sucks if you don't roll too well, or even if you just roll average (a bunch of 12 and 13's). So you can easily end up at a table where one guy got lucky and can overshadow other people as a result. So the people who didn't roll too well tend not to care as much about their characters, sometimes even playing recklessly to speed up their deaths.

If I did do a group with rolled stats, I'd probably just use the old 4d6/top 3 method.

 

[bedir than]

[MENTION=6789971]bedir than[/MENTION], I was trying to picture your method and I find it is not much different than picking the stat array in the book, but I could see it getting interesting if everyone took the array that was 'rolled' and even more interesting if they took it in order.

Well that stat array is firm. This could wind up with 4 13s and 2 averagey scores. What do you build with a generalist?
Or maybe you get 2 15s and 2 8s?

 

[zombiecube]

4d6, drop the lowest, 6x. Repeat so you have two independent sets of 6 scores. Keep whichever set you prefer, arranging them in any order you wish. Or throw both away and roll a third set that you must use (again, in any order).

 

[Miladoon]

4d6, drop the lowest, 6x. Repeat so you have two independent sets of 6 scores. Keep whichever set you prefer, arranging them in any order you wish. Or throw both away and roll a third set that you must use (again, in any order).

I recently saw a variant of this method on a mythweavers chargen post. They rolled three sets and kept the newest set, not having an option to choose earlier sets.

 

[dregntael]

I do a roll-around. The player to my left rolls 4d6 (drop lowest) and records the entry on a 6x6 grid. Then the next player rolls. Then the next, until each of the 36 squares is filled in.

Then, once the grid is full, each player chooses a column, or row, or diagonal array of 6 numbers. They may not select the same array, so once it's claimed its gone.

With these numbers, you put your stats in order, you may then swap two numbers.

Anyway. It sounds complicated, but we roll together as a table, then individualize the results.

I used this method for a new campaign I'm starting, and the players love it. Here's the grid we rolled:

11 |  9 | 12 | 10 | 12 |  9
13 | 15 | 10 | 14 | 12 | 11
10 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13
15 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 11
 7 | 18 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 16
12 | 16 | 14 |  9 | 10 | 14

As you can see, there are some really tough choices to make. I also love the fact that you sometimes get a 'superfluous' high stat that you don't really need, i.e. the wise fighter or the strong wizard. So far I haven't allowed switching two stats, though I might do so if it's important to a specific character concept.