Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
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Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
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Perhaps—and I'm just spitballing here—but just maybe 3d6 down the line was not very popular even back then, which is why 4d6k3 was an option as early as the 1st edition DMG...?
During the 90's when we played AD&D 2nd edition 3d6 down the line wasn't common practice. We always preferred to assign score as desired, and usually involved some reroll, either 1s, if not luck roll.
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Moderator3d6 down the line wasn't any of the methods in 1e. 4d6 drop lowest was and rearrange as needed. Closest was Method III and even then it wasn't one 3d6 roll per stat- you rolled 6x(3d6) and picked the highest result. It gave you the highest average. Or there was Method IV where you rolled 3d6 down the line... to make 12 characters. 72 rolls of 3d6. You then picked one of those 12 characters to play.
(I'm just stealing these notes from my current game)
Method I
All scores are recorded and arranged in the order the player desires. 4d6 are rolled, and the lowest die (or one of the lower) is discarded.
Note: This generates a character with stats similar to later editions. Typically having stats around 13 (72% of 11-15). Fairly balanced. Highly unlikely to get a character with a stat below 5.
3 0.08%
4 0.31% -
5 0.77% --
6 1.62% -----
7 2.93% ---------
8 4.78% --------------
9 7.02% ---------------------
10 9.41% ----------------------------
11 11.42 ----------------------------------
12 12.89 --------------------------------------
13 13.27 ----------------------------------------
14 12.35 -------------------------------------
15 10.11 ------------------------------
16 7.25 -------------------
17 4.17 ------------
18 1.62 -----
Method II
All scores are recorded and arranged as in Method I. 3d6 are rolled 12 times and the highest 6 scores are retained.
Notes: A variation of Method I, but reduces even further the chance of low or high stats, and more likely to be around 12.
4 0.03
5 0.18
6 0.64 --
7 1.77 -----
8 4.10 ------------
9 7.34 ----------------------
10 10.94 ---------------------------------
11 14.06 ------------------------------------------
12 15.81--------------------------------------------------
13 15.35 ----------------------------------------------
14 12.12 ------------------------------------
15 8.62 --------------------------
16 5.38 ----------------
17 2.75 --------
18 0.92 ---
Method III
Scores rolled are according to each ability category, in order, STRENGTH, INTELLIGENCE, WISDOM, DEXTERITY, CONSTITUTION, CHARISMA. 3d6 are rolled 6 times for each ability, and the highest score in each category is retained for that category.
Note: I don't even know how to begin to calculate this without way too much time. But it should make it near impossible to get a stat below 10, average around 14-15. From my own experimentation rolling one stat x 6 times, 100 times:
10 2% --
11 6% ------
12 9% ---------
13 15% --------------
14 21% ---------------------
15 24% ------------------------
16 13% -------------
17 8% --------
18 2% --
Method IV
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IIRC it was a method in the AD&D 2nd editions PHB.
EDIT Method I
It was also the only given option in Basic/Expert, and probably in pre-AD&D versions.
One other method I've seen bandied about a bit -- roll six 3d6 keep 2, and then either the player or the DM adds a 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 (only using each one once) to each stat as the third die based on your backstory. i.e., if your character grew up on a farm, you might put the 4 or 5 in STR -- even if your character grew up to become a wizard
Active characters:
Edoumiaond Willegume "Eddie" Podslee, Vegetanian scholar (College of Spirits bard)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Peter "the Pied Piper" Hausler, human con artist/remover of vermin (Circle of the Shepherd druid)
PIPA - Planar Interception/Protection Aeormaton, warforged bodyguard and ex-wizard hunter (Warrior of the Elements monk/Cartographer artificer)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Interesting, but man I would probably personally hate that. Still there are a 1000 different ways to get to an answer...the question, which is the one the table wants to use....everything else, everyONE else, is a non factor.