Character Generation

May 2007

First, let’s review the character generation rules in the Dungeon Masters Guide (DMG) on page 11. These four methods are paraphrased here, along with a fifth one from Unearthed Arcana (UA, page 74):

1. Roll 4d6, discarding the lowest, for each ability score. Arrange in the order desired.
2. Roll 3d6 twelve times, keeping the best six rolls. Arrange in the order desired.
3. Roll 3d6 six times for each ability score, retaining the best roll for attribute. Attributes are rolled in this order: Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, Charisma.
4. Roll 3d6 six times, in the same order as Method #3. Do this 12 times and choose the set desired.
5. Choose a class and roll a specified number of d6 for each attribute, retaining the best 3 for each attribute. The number of dice to roll for each attribute are listed on page 74 of UA.

Please note that rolling 3d6 in order is NOT an AD&D character generation method — this is an OD&D method.

In the Players Handbook (PH) on page 9 in the first paragraph, it is noted that player characters are exceptional and strongly recommends that player characters have at least two scores of 15 or higher.

Over the years I’ve tried all 4 of the DMG methods and discovered that to achieve a character with at least two scores of at least 15, it normally took numerous tries. I ran numerical analysis using Microsoft Excel, and no method had a success rate on the first try higher than 50%.

Rolling a specialized class such as paladin or monk was nigh to impossible. The basic rolling averages 10.5 points for each attribute, not the thing that heroes are made of!

I developed the following 2 methods to simplify and shorten the character generation process.

They player can choose either method, but must decide which before starting.

Method I

This method produces the best general characters on the first try, those who do not have tough attribute requirements to meet. For rolling a class that has tough requirements this one may not produce the desired results, so Method II should be used.

1. Roll six attribute values, using this method: For each value roll 4d6, re-rolling 1’s, and then drop the lowest die. Example: four dice are rolled, producing 6, 1, 3, 2. The “1” is re-rolled, producing a 4. Since the “2” is the lowest value so it is dropped, and the sum of the remaining dice is 13.
2. Choose a class.
3. Arrange the values for the attributes Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. The player may decide where to place the values to create the class desired.
4. Choose a race and apply racial adjustments. No values above 18 can be achieved.
5. The player may add three additional points where desired, e.g., all 3 points can be added to a single attribute or divided as desired. No values above 18 can be achieved.
6. Roll for Comeliness: roll 3d6, re-rolling 1’s, and sum the result.

Method II

This method allows the player to create a character of the class desired, and is generally used for those with difficult requirements, e.g., monks, bards, etc. It does not produce the best attributes, but guarantees that the desired class will be created.

1. Choose the character’s class.
2. Roll six values — in order — for the attributes Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma, e.g., the first roll is Strength, second Intelligence, etc. Use the process described in Step 1 of Method I.
3. Decide upon the desired race and apply racial adjustments. No values above 18 can be achieved.
4. If any attributes are below the minimum for the class decided in Step 1, increase the attribute to the minimum.
5. Roll for Comeliness: roll 3d6, re-rolling 1’s, and sum the result.

This page last revised March 2020

Copyright 2007-2020 Bryan Fazekas