Alternative Dice-Rolling Methods

Method I creates characters whose ability scores are usually between 9 and 12.
If you would rather play a character of truly heroic proportions, ask your DM
if he allows players to use optional methods for rolling up characters. These
optional methods are designed to produce above-average characters.

Method II: Roll 3d6 twice, noting the total of each roll. Use whichever result you prefer
for your character’s Strength score. Repeat this for Dexterity, Constitution,
Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. This allows you to pick the best score from
each pair, generally ensuring that your character does not have any really low
ability scores (but low ability scores are not all that bad any way!).

Method III: Roll 3d6 six times and jot down the total for each roll. Assign the scores to
your character’s six abilities however you want. This gives you the chance to
custom-tailor your character, although you are not guaranteed high scores.

Method IV: Roll 3d6 twelve times and jot down all twelve totals. Choose six of these
rolls (generally the six best rolls) and assign them to your character’s abilities
however you want. This combines the best of methods II and III, but takes
somewhat longer.

As an example, Joan rolls 3d6 twelve times and gets results of 12, 5, 6, 8,
10, 15, 9, 12, 6, 11, 10, and 7. She chooses the six best rolls (15, 12, 12, 11,
10, and 10) and then assigns them to her character’s abilities so as to create
the strengths and weaknesses that she wants her character to have (see the ability descriptions following this section for explanations of the abilities).

Method V: Roll four six-sided dice (4d6). Discard the lowest die and total the remaining
three. Repeat this five more times, then assign the six numbers to the
character’s abilities however you want. This is a fast method that gives you a good
character, but you can still get low scores (after all, you could roll 1s on all
four dice!).

Method VI: This method can be used if you want to create a specific type of character. It
does not guarantee that you will get the character you want, but it will
improve your chances.

Each ability starts with a score of 8. Then roll seven dice. These dice can be
added to your character’s abilities as you wish. All the points on a die must
be added to the same ability score. For example, if a 6 is rolled on one die,
all 6 points must be assigned to one ability. You can add as many dice as you
want to any ability, but no ability score can exceed 18 points. If you cannot
make an 18 by exact count on the dice, you cannot have an 18 score.

(See also Choosing a Character Creation Method in the Dungeon Master Guide)

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