I believe it's the Dungeon Masters Guide that says a character without at least 2 15s is going to have a pretty hard time getting through AD&D.

With that said, an NPC party member gamed with a group I ran years back for a long, long time and had just abysmal stats, comparatively speaking (his highest stat was an 11 or 12, I believe).

Quote from: mhensley;739515Yeah, it works really well as it produces stats about as good as the 4d6 method but with a much lower standard deviation, 18's are still rare, and scores have a minimum of 6.  This way everyone in your group will probably have pretty similar stats and nobody will have some stat at a functionally retarded level.

With the option to swap 2 scores my set of numbers pretty much allowed for any class/race and dual/multiclassing without stupid justification if that's what your; concept requires.

Quote from: S'mon;739492It can work, but remember that 6-8 gives a -1, and it's very easy to have more penalties than bonuses. Indeed it's not uncommon to roll a PC with no bonuses and several penalties. I think characters need to have at least a net +0 to be worth playing. My Labyrinth Lord Cleric does ok with +1 STR -1 CHA, even though she considers herself a leader of men, but I would struggle to enjoy playing a character who looks like she should have just stayed home.

Probably one of the worst characters I ever got with the 4d6h3 method.
ST:4, IN:9, WS:5, DX:7, CN:6 CH:9
That was the order they rolled in and as oft was the case I just left them as was and played it. Played as a magic user viably to level 3. Were it not for a pit trap he would have been viable to level 15.

Quote from: ptingler;739566Technically, 3d6 is the default, but in practice 4d6 drop the lowest was default because the DMG said not to use 3d6.

DMG p. 11 states:

"While it is possible to generate some fairly playable characters by rolling 3d6, there is often an extended period of attempts at finding a suitable one due to quirks of the dice. . . it is recommended that the following systems be used. Four alternatives are offered for player characters:"

Thing is. The PHB doesnt tell you what method. It specifically tells the player that the DM will determine the method. And the DMG says roll 4 and keep highest 3 is the suggested way to go.

The entry about 3d6 useage before the methods are presented seems to be saying "We could have defaulted to 3d6. But it was found a little lacking. So go with the following way."

Quote from: Omega;739653Probably one of the worst characters I ever got with the 4d6h3 method.
ST:4, IN:9, WS:5, DX:7, CN:6 CH:9
That was the order they rolled in and as oft was the case I just left them as was and played it. Played as a magic user viably to level 3. Were it not for a pit trap he would have been viable to level 15.

In BX? He's not legal in AD&D ("Here or lower you can only be..." doesn't allow 2 stats under 6, as I recall). Looking at it, he has a -2 save vs spells, -1 reaction/AC, average 1.5 hp per level. And with STR 4 he's not even useful for porting stuff.

Quote from: S'mon;739661In BX? He's not legal in AD&D ("Here or lower you can only be..." doesn't allow 2 stats under 6, as I recall). Looking at it, he has a -2 save vs spells, -1 reaction/AC, average 1.5 hp per level. And with STR 4 he's not even useful for porting stuff.

oops, yeah, Wisdom 6, not 5. And indeed was pretty useless. Though did contribute in combat as even with the to-hit range penalty he could still toss darts at opponents with a chance to score a hit.

Quote from: Gabriel2;739312The important thing to remember is that most people back in the day didn't read the AD&D1e books.  They CLAIMED they played AD&D, but what they really played was "Basic" with race separated from class and magic resistance tacked on.  The AD&D1e books themselves were just a nerd status symbol in order to show how superior they were to the "Basic Box retards."

I did read the AD&D books.  I hated Gygax's writing, and it was a laborious slog, but I have read the core AD&D1e books from cover to cover.  Still, I have to admit that I never noticed that 3d6 six times in order wasn't an attribute method listed.  I had gotten the impression that 3d6 six times in order was specified somewhere early in the PHB and the methods listed in the DMG were alternates.  

When I roll, I use the 4d6 drop low die arrange to preference method.

Since I don't play for competition/risk/challenge or any other nonsense, and I play with another mature adult, I often don't even roll.  I just write up some stats that seem good, we go over them, and then play.  I call this the Modeling Method.

I don't really have an opinion on Methods 2 throguh 4.  I've probably used them once or twice in the past, but they seem to me to be a lot of rolling for little to no advantage over the 4d6 drop low method.  I remember feeling Method 5 was a bit overboard.  When you go that far to stack the odds, you might as well just Model and be done with it.

I started with basic and the advanced books happened to come out the next year. But I literally met almost no one who played basic let alone the versions older than basic. Not a scientific analysis, but virtually every dnd player I ever met until 2E came out played 1E AD&D.

Age may be a factor; I am 46, so perhaps a lot of people a bit older than me did not switch to 1E ad&D?

I played it with my siblings. It made for a great family game due to its relatively more user friendly set up.

Mainly we just wandered around in the wilderness. May still even have the map that built up from it.

Since we are talking about stat generation; one thing that drives me crazy is when people claim that their lopsided, cracked, cheap ass plastic dice are somehow more "random" than even the pseudorandom numbers most computers give.  They can be, but they probably aren't.  Vegas dice are probably better*, but nothing you keep in a bag is for very long, even if it was originally "vegas" style.

Now, thanks to Roll20** going to it (and bringing it to my attention), I can get as random a set of numbers as there are:

http://qrng.anu.edu.au/Lucky.php

TLDR:
Put in 6,3,1,6 in each field respectively for 3d6
and
6,4,1,6 in each field respectively for 4d6


*technique can matter for one thing.
** I am a free member who has yet (as of this post) to run or play a game with it.  I'm NOT advertising Roll20, just giving them credit for the info.

Did anyone use 5d6 drop two lowest as a character generation method?

If so, what are the results?

The new Gamma World said "here's an 18, here's a 16, roll 3D6 for the rest" and in my experience, the players seem pleased enough.

All the options outside of 3D6 down the line is all about taming the dice to facilitate the max power / build of the character. So why not just go with the GW method if high prime stats are so important to the player?

Quote from: Spinachcat;740164All the options outside of 3D6 down the line is all about taming the dice to facilitate the max power / build of the character. So why not just go with the GW method if high prime stats are so important to the player?

It's like asking why you'd ever do vanilla and chocolate when you can have all vanilla or all chocolate instead. Why the fuck not? *shrug*

People like different stat generation methods. That's all there is to it.

Quote from: Benoist;740166It's like asking why you'd ever do vanilla and chocolate when you can have all vanilla or all chocolate instead. Why the fuck not? *shrug*

People like different stat generation methods. That's all there is to it.

I made this comment the other day on teh WoTC forums.  I get why some people prefer point buy or array.  What I don't get is the mentality that all players have to have the same everything (starting stats, money, etc) or they feel like they've been cheated.  Some of the arguments I've heard is that a player will be "butthurt" or quit the game if you use random rolls and another player rolls better than you.

I literally cannot grok that for any other reason than immature jealousy.  I'd like to think that that isn't the case and it's something I'm missing.

Quote from: Benoist;740162Did anyone use 5d6 drop two lowest as a character generation method?

If so, what are the results?

ST: 13
IN: 13
WS: 16
DX: 13
CN: 11
CH: 12

Peak of the bell is 14-15. 3.5% chance to get a 18 each time. 4 in 20 chance per character.

Quote from: Benoist;740162Did anyone use 5d6 drop two lowest as a character generation method?

If so, what are the results?

I've had two DMs use that particular method. It tended to produce characters with mid-to-high level stats, with two 18s not being uncommon. No one that I recall had a score less than 12 or so. It was enjoyable given the opposition we had to face.

I'm kinda torn on this method, since I know it produces powerful heroes right off the get-go. Some part of me though still likes 3d6 (in order, though I can be flexible) to prove that stats aren't what make the hero, it's play that does.

Ah, decisions, decisions. Fortunately I have a while to mull things over yet before I start a BECMI D&D game either late this year or early next (whenever we can fit it into our schedule). If I go 3d6, I'll probably allow either x8 keep best 6, or multiple sets of 6, take yer pick.