Rolling the stats in PnP?

[uss]

How do you roll stats in D&D? I don`t know if it`s like all DMs do but mine(yes, the "Killer DM" [img]smile.gif[/img] ) does it like this - The player rolls a 1d6 dice 5 times for every stat(5 X 6 times). The three highest rolls for each stat are added(For examlpe - I roll five times with a 1d6 dice and get 1, 4, 5, 3, 6. The three biggest numbers are 4, 5 and 6. 4 + 5 + 6 = 15 which means that the stat is 15.). Note: If you`re not comfortable with the stats you rolled you can do it again only once and with 4 rolls per attribute.
Sorry if thats how ALL DMs do it but i wanna know.

[Ar-Cunin]

You have a very generous DM

last game I played (AD&D 3ed), we rolled 3d6 six times - after that we were allowed to reroll one result

I was lucky and got 16, 15, 13, 13, 13, 13 (without the reroll)

but some of the others had to live with stats of 6 and 7

[andrewas]

Thats how the rulebook for DnD and I think Earthdawn say to do it. Except you forgot to mention that you dont roll STR, DEX .. you roll six stats and allocate them later. That way you can choose your strengths.

One DM I know lets newbies roll 6 discard 3 to give them a help for the first character - however he has a talent for disposing of overpowered characters and wont let it get too over the top.

Also theres a points system that lets every character spend points on stats, with 18 costing over the odds to favour more well-rounded characters who tend to give a good game. This is in the rulebooks of 3rd ed and is detailed in the NWN forum somewhere. That thread'll be well buried by now though.

[uss]

Originally posted by andrewas: Thats how the rulebook for DnD and I think Earthdawn say to do it. Except you forgot to mention that you dont roll STR, DEX .. you roll six stats and allocate them later. That way you can choose your strengths.

I didn`t forget. Im just too lazy right now [img]tongue.gif[/img]

i usually use the "4d6 and pick highest dicee" but sometimes we do campaigns with straight 3d6 rolls (our Star Wars one for instance)

[Cerek the Barbaric]

I always used 5d6 per stat and re-rolled the lowest stat.

With my super-ranger (18,17,17,17,17,18), I actually rolled two 18's, three 17's and one 16. I thought my roommate was gonna croak when I said "Hey, I still get to re-roll the lowest stat (I was REALLY hoping for a 3rd 18)".

One interesting side-note though. Even though this ranger had much better stats than ALL of the other characters I ever rolled.....HE was the only character I ever had that was permanently killed.

Great strategy will beat great stats any day.

stats are a waste of space IMO. I think the Amber system had a better idea on that matter

Not just strategy, but actual character interaction in the game are better than "ooh look at my 18s"