Rolling Ability Scores in Every Edition of D&D and Then Some

Every method and what it says about the game. Over 20 methods categorized and compared.

The six ability scores are one of the first things a new D&D player learns about. In every version of the game published by TSR and Wizards of the Coast the six abilities are Strength, Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma. But many methods of determining what scores to give these abilities have been devised over the almost 50 year history of the game.

Despite the title, not all methods require rolling dice. You can learn about the design philosophy and genre of a game in the D&D family by looking at how ability scores are generated. At the end I will consider these design philosophies.

This article covers all of the methods that I could find published in the official editions of the following games:

• Original Dungeons & Dragons (1974; also its retroclones like Swords & Wizardry)

• Holmes Basic D&D (1977)

• Moldvay Basic D&D (1981; also its retroclones like Labirinth Lord, Basic Fantasy RPG, Old School Essentials)

• BECMI (1983)

• Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, 1st edition (1979 Dungeon Master’s Guide)

• AD&D, 2nd edition (1989) including the Player’s Option: Skills & Powers options (1995)

• D&D 3.5

• D&D, 4th edition (including the Essentials line)

• D&D, 5th edition

• Pathfinder, 1st edition

• Pathfinder, 2nd edition

• Starfinder

• Dungeon Crawl Classics

• The Black Hack, 1st edition

• Knave, 1st edition

• Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number

• Cairn

• Castles & Crusades

• Project Black Flag (added 2/22/2024)

Despite my efforts, I’m certain this article misses some methods. I only just remembered that Dark Sun had its own methods using d4s. Please point out any methods I’ve missed in the comments. I’ll add any that feel distinct enough. I hope I’ve hit all of the big ones and then some. I thought about including house methods that I’ve run across but that rabbit hole would be deep. Post any homebrewed methods you favor in the comments.

Every Method in Chronological Order

1. 3d6 six times in order

Roll three six-sided dice. Write the total next to Strength. Then repeat these steps in order for Intelligence, Wisdom, Dexterity, Constitution, and Charisma.

This method is used by Original D&D (OD&D), Holmes Basic D&D, Moldvay 1981 Basic D&D, BECMI, Dungeon Crawl Classics and Cairn. Its also Method 1 of 2nd edition AD&D, the Classic Variant in Pathfinder 1e, and the rolling method for Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number. Its the method of generating “random average characters” in the 3.5 edition Dungeon Master Guide (DMG). This is also the method of retroclones like Swords & Wizardry, Labyrinth Lord, Basic Fantasy RPG, and Old School Essentials. It requires rolling 18 dice.

Variations & rulings:

• Moldvay Basic (B/X) D&D, BECMI and the Rules Cyclopedia let the player raise the prime requisite of their class by lowering certain other abilities by 2, as long as the lowered abilities are not reduced below 9. B/X does not allow Dexterity, Constitution or Charisma to be lowed in this way. Also, thieves cannot lower Strength. The Rules Cyclopedia is similar but without the stipulation for thieves.

• Holmes Basic D&D lets characters lower abilities to raise their prime requisite scores as B/X does but the options and rate vary by class and ability lowered.

• BECMI explicitly allows the player to reroll all their scores again if their highest score is less than 9 if the player desires and it encourages discarding a character with two or more ability scores that are less than 6. Old School Essentials suggests the referee allow the player to do the same. The 3.5 DMG adds that the player may reroll all scores if the total ability modifier of all scores is -3 or lower or if no score is higher than 11.

• The Dark Sun Campaign Setting (1991) player characters roll 4d4+4 instead of 3d6 while nonplayer characters roll 5d4. With Optional Method 1 in the same book, player characters also roll 5d4. I only mention the standard method since the optional methods are variations of other 2nd edition methods that replace d6s with d4s and result in a maximum starting score of 20 rather than 18 but otherwise work similarly.

• Cairn allows any two ability scores to be swapped.

• Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number allow the player to change one score to a 14 after all scores have been rolled.

2. 3d6 six times and assign each total to an ability

Roll three six-sided dice and record the total. Then do this five more times. Assign each of these numbers to one of the six abilities.

This method is Method 3 in 2nd edition AD&D, the method of generating customized average characters in the 3.5 DMG (with the same conditions for rerolling as above), and the Classic method in Pathfinder 1e. Its also the method used by Castles & Crusades. It also requires rolling 18 dice.

3. 4d6, drop the lowest die six times and assign each total to an ability

Roll four six-sided dice. Remove the lowest die and record the sum the of other three dice. Do this five more times. Assign each of the totals to one of the six abilities.

This method is Method 1 in the 1st edition AD&D DMG, Method 5 in 2nd edition AD&D and the rolling method in 4th edition D&D. It is the standard method in 3.5 D&D, Pathfinder 1st edition, 5th edition D&D, and Starfinder. It requires rolling 24 dice.

Variants & rulings:

• 3.5 D&D allows a player to reroll all six scores if the sum of the modifiers is +0 or lower or if the highest score is 13 or lower.

• 3.5 D&D DMG allows a floating reroll. Once during the process of generating the six scores, reroll the lowest die instead of discarding it. After the die is rerolled, remove the lowest die of the four and total the rest normally.

• 4th edition D&D mentions that if the total ability modifiers are lower than +4 or higher than +8 the DM can rule that the character is too weak or too strong compared to the other characters in the group and decide to adjust the scores to fit better within the campaign.

• Project Black Flag adds a final step. The player adds 2 to one score of their choice that is 16 or lower and adds 1 to a score that is 17 or less. This is to compensate for the lack of ability score improvements gained from lineage (their updated term for race). I don’t address lineage or racial ability score bonuses or penalties for the other systems, so I only note it in this case, in case it gives readers ideas for their own homebrewed methods. Since I don’t include lineage modifiers in this article, this variant isn’t comparable to other systems I’m describing.

4. 3d6 twelve times, assign highest six scores

Roll three six-sided dice and record the total. Do this eleven more times. Assign each of the highest six totals to one of the six abilities.

This is Method 2 of AD&D 1st edition and Method 4 of AD&D 2nd edition. It requires rolling 36 dice.

5. 3d6 six times for each ability, retain the highest score from each group

Roll three six-sided dice and record the total. Do this five more times. Write the highest of the six totals next to Strength. Then repeat all of these steps for the other five abilities in order.

This is Method 3 of AD&D 1st edition. It requires rolling 108 dice.

6. 3d6 six times in order for each of 12 characters. Choose which character to play.

Roll three six-sided dice and record the total next to Strength. Repeat this for the remaining five abilities, in order. Then repeat all of the above steps eleven more times, as if creating twelve different characters. Then choose which of these “characters” to play and discard the rest.

This is Method 4 of AD&D 1st edition. This is probably the slowest method on this list requiring 216 dice to be rolled unless a computer is used.

7. 3d6 twice for each ability, assign either result

Roll three six-sided dice and record the total. Repeat this once. Then choose one of the totals and write it next to Strength. Then repeat each of the above steps for the five remaining abilities, in order.

This is Method 2 in the AD&D 2nd edition PHB. It requires 36 dice to be rolled.

8. 7d6, assign each die result to abilities, abilities start at 8

All six ability scores begin at 8. Then roll seven six-sided dice. Assign each individual die to one of the abilities and add its result to the score. No score can exceed 18.

This is Method 6 of AD&D 2nd edition.

9. Allot 75 points among abilities

Allot 75 points to among the six abilities. No score can be below 3 or above 18.

This is Method 7 of AD&D 2nd edition and Method 10 of AD&D 2nd edition Player’s Option: Skills & Powers.

Variants & Rulings:

• Player’s Option: Skills & Powers clarifies that fighters can purchase 10 points of exceptional strength (for fighters with an 18 strength only) for each extra character point spent.

10. Allot 24d6 among the six abilities before rolling, sum the 3 highest for each ability

Assign each of 24 six-sided dice to one of the six abilities. No ability can have less than three dice or more than six dice assigned to it. Then roll the dice and sum the three highest and discard the rest. Record the result next to Strength. Repeat this for the remaining five abilities.

This is Method 8 of AD&D 2nd edition (in Player’s Option: Skills & Powers) and the Pathfinder 1st edition dice pool method.

11. Roll to determine pregenerated ability scores

Roll a one twelve-sided die. Consult the Pregenerated Ability Scores table. Record the results.

This method is suggested in the AD&D 2nd edition Complete Paladin’s Handbook as a way to guarantee that a character will meet the high ability requirements to qualify for the paladin class (minimums of Strength 12, Constitution 9, Wisdom 13, and Charisma 17). Similar tables are presented in other Complete Handbooks of classes that are also difficult to qualify for through the methods in the Player’s Handbook.

Variants:

• The AD&D 1st edition Method V, published in Unearthed Arcana and expanded in Dragon 140, is similar in effect even if it gets there on a different path. The player first chooses a class. Then they consult a table in the book and roll a number of dice shown on the table for each ability according to their class. Sum the three highest dice for each ability. If they roll below the minimum needed for their class, their ability score is increased to the minimum. And if they roll over the maximum allowed for the class, decrease their score to the maximum.

12. 2d6, consult the table, and assign points according to the table

Roll two six-sided dice and total the results. Consult the table to determine how many points to allot to the six ability scores and what the maximum of any score may be. No ability score can be allotted less than three points.

This is Method 9 in AD&D 2nd Edition Player’s Option: Skills & Powers.

13. Point buy, scores begin at 8

All ability scores begin at 8. Then spend 25 (or another number) additional points among the six abilities according to the costs on a table.

3.5 D&D DMG point costs

4th Edition D&D point costs

5th Edition D&D point costs

This is the Standard Point Buy method in the 3.5 DMG and the variant “Customizing Ability Scores” method of 5th edition D&D. D&D 4th edition also uses a variant with different starting scores.

Variants & Rulings:

• The 3.5 DMG suggests changing the number of points available to spend from 25 to: 15 points for a low-powered campaign, 22 points for a challenging campaign, 28 points for a tougher campaign, and 32 points for a high-powered campaign.

• 5th edition D&D characters have 27 points to spend instead of 25 and scores of 14 and 15 cost one more than in the 3.5 DMG method. 15 is the highest possible score using the point buy method (before racial and feat adjustments). To start with scores below 8 or above 15 in 5th edition, one must roll instead of using the standard array or point buy methods.

• The 4th edition D&D method of customizing scores is similar but five scores of the player’s choice begin at 10 instead of 8. Then the player may spend 22 points to increase scores using the costs on its own table.

• Project Black Flag uses the same costs as 5th edition D&D but gives players the option of purchasing scores of 16, 17, and 18 (11, 13, and 16 points respectively). Players also have 32 points to spend instead of 27. I believe both of these changes reflect the lack of ability score improvements gained from choice of lineage (an updated term for race).

14. Assign an array of scores

Assign 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, and 8 among the six abilities.

This is the 3.5 D&D DMG Elite Array method and the 5th edition D&D Standard Array method. The 4th edition D&D Standard Array works the same way but uses different numbers. The Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number also use a standard array but with different numbers.

Variants & Rulings:

• The 4th edition D&D Standard Array replaces the scores with 16, 14, 13, 12, 11, and 10.

• The Stars Without Number and Worlds Without Number array is 14, 12, 11, 10, 9, and 7.

• Project Black Flag’s Standard Array is 16, 14, 14, 13, 10, and 8. The slightly higher scores, compared to its model 5th edition D&D, reflect the lack of ability score improvements gained from the character’s lineage.

15. 4d6, drop the lowest die six times in order, reroll one score, swap two scores

Roll four six-sided dice. Remove the lowest dice, sum the remaining three dice and write the result next to Strength. Repeat for the remaining five abilities. Then reroll any one ability score of your choice and take the new roll if its higher than the old one. Then swap any two ability scores.

This is the 3.5 D&D DMG Organic Characters method. This requires 28 dice to be rolled.

16. 5d6, drop the lowest two dice, assign each total to an ability

Roll five six-sided dice. Remove the lowest two dice, sum the remaining three dice and record the result. Repeat each of these steps five more times. Then assign each of the six generated numbers to one the six abilities.

This is the 3.5 D&D DMG method for making high-powered characters. This requires the rolling of 30 dice.

17. Choose between arrays, assign the scores

Choose between the balanced array of 16, 14, 14, 11, 10, and 10, the specialist array of 18, 14, 11, 10, 10, and 8, and the dual specialist array of 16, 16, 12, 11, 11, and 8. Then assign the scores of the chosen array to the six abilities.

This is the 4th edition Essentials Rules Compendium Standard Arrays method. The Starfinder array method is similar but uses three different arrays.

Variants & Rulings:

• Starfinder’s three arrays are the versatile array of 14, 14, 14, 10, 10, and 10, the split array of 16, 16, 10, 10, 10, and 10, and the focused array of 18, 14, 10, 10, 10, and 10.

18. 2d6+6 six times, assign the totals

Roll two six-sided dice. Sum the result, add 6 to the total and record the new total. Repeat this process five more times. Assign the totals to the six abilities.

This is the Pathfinder 1st edition heroic method. This could be the fastest random method since only 12 dice are rolled.

19. 3d6 six times in order; if 15+ is rolled, 2d6+2 for the following ability; swap two

Roll three six-sided dice and record the sum next to Strength. Repeat this process for the next five abilities, except if a 15 or greater is rolled for an ability, the following ability is determined by rolling two six-sided dice and adding two to the result. Then return to rolling 3d6 until another 15+ is rolled. Then swap any two scores.

This is the method of The Black Hack, 1st edition.

20. 3d6, lowest becomes bonus, in order

Roll three six-sided dice. Remove the two highest dice. Record the number on the remaining die as a bonus to Strength. Add 10 to this bonus to find the Strength defense. Repeat for the other five abilities. Decide whether to swap any to scores.

This is the Knave 1st edition method. It works differently than all of the previous methods since it uses both ability bonuses and ability defenses. Ability bonuses scale with ability defenses on a 1-to-1 basis.

21. Scores start at 10, apply boosts & flaws

Ability scores start at 10. Apply ability boosts and flaws from ancestry, background, and class. A boost increases a score by 2 while a flaw decreases it by 2. Then apply four more ability boosts to any of the abilities.

This is the standard Pathfinder 2nd edition method. A variant method allows rolling 4d6, drop the lowest and assign, as above, and then adding about half the number of ability boosts and flaws as in the standard method for the game.

Families of ability score generation

Looking through the above methods, a few families become apparent to me.

• Rolling in order: Methods 1, 15, 19 and 20. Methods 5, 6 and 7 are supercharged versions.

• Roll, then assign: Methods 2, 3, 4, 8 (with a twist), 16 and 18

• Assign dice, then roll: Methods 10

• Distribute points: Methods 9 and 12

• Point buy methods: Method 13

• Array: Methods 14 and 17

What do the methods mean?

The Human Condition

Method 1 of this list, 3d6 in order, the oldest method, suggests to me that player characters come from ordinary people. Their ability scores fall on the same bell curve as the population at large. They are not assumed to be more talented or have fewer deficits than anyone else. Also Method 1 suggests that your character could begin life as anyone. While some might be quite talented and exceptional in their capacities, they have no greater chance of being so than anyone else in the land. They are not the chosen ones of the story. They have no plot armor. They are not free from the human condition (even if they are not human). They are not destined for great things. They might one day become heroes or villains with enough cunning, judgement, and good fortune. You do not choose who they are or where their strengths and weaknesses lie. That is up to fate. How do you make the best of the capacities you’ve been granted?

The variants where you can lower certain ability scores to raise your prime requisite acknowledge that your life decisions can come a cost. You could have been an athlete but you spent your time in books and your muscles withered somewhat.

The Angel

I envision a player using the lesser known Method 6 as a god-like being keeping tabs on six mortal lives and then choosing which one to incarnate into. Most likely one who is quite capable but the being can choose which capabilities it prefers and at what cost in other areas. With paper, pencil, and physical dice this approach could also be at least six times as time consuming as Method 1.

The Spark of Destiny

Method 3, 4d6 drop the lowest and assign, one of the most widespread from AD&D 1st edition to the present, reflects the idea that most player characters are somewhat more capable and fortunate than the average person. And they aren’t just anyone. As the 3.5 Player’s Handbook states, “That’s right, the average player character is above average.” They have the spark of a great destiny yet there are no guarantees. Fate or luck still play a role. And they are your character with the talents and deficits of your choice. They reflect you in some way even if they are nothing like you because you made the creative choice of where to assign their scores. Method 4 has a similar philosophy as Method 3 but uses a different approach to increasing the average. Method 18 is the more powerful and assured cousin of Method 3.

The Designer Baby

Point buy methods like Method 13 are another widespread method starting with 3rd edition D&D. They descend from earlier methods of distributing points directly on a 1-for-1 basis but they create greater trade offs if a character is to have any high scores (usually 14-15 or higher). In point buy systems, high scores come at the cost of lowering the average of all the character’s ability scores, a goal shared by the earlier Method 12. 5th edition removes the possibility of beginning with more than a 15 in any ability entirely (at least until racial modifiers and feats are applied). Unlike Method 12, fate or luck play no role. It is entirely up to the player to determine everyone of their character’s strengths and weaknesses, within the confines of the allotted points and the costs of higher abilities. This is the designer baby of methods. The player becomes a tinkerer and a character designer. A point buy method enables the player to optimize the character towards goals they choose. An average or below average character is impossible using all the point buy methods that I’ve looked at. Even if you reduced the number of points available to spend, the minimum score is 8 or 10, not 3 like in most rolled methods. Also characters in the party are all equal in some sense. While some could be optimized better than others (or their players just care more about that), their strengths are balanced against their weaknesses.

Standard arrays are another popular method today that arises from the 3rd edition/3.5 era. I feel they share the same design philosophy as point buy methods except they are easier to understand, faster and less granular.

The Gambler

A less common approach is Method 10 in which players assign dice to abilities before rolling. Here the player is something of a gambler deciding on how they wish to hedge their bets. Or it can be compared to a worker placement game. Do they place the maximum number of dice on Intelligence in the hopes of generating a powerful wizard but at the risk of very low rolls in the other abilities? And no real guarantee that the wizard will be brilliant? Or do they distribute the dice as evenly as possible to see where they land and prevent any ability from being too low? This is the player’s character. They cast the bets. But fate gets the final say. The total number of dice is the same as 4d6, drop the lowest (Method 3 on this list) and it likewise tends to produce above average characters.

Hopefully, you can see where these conclusions could be applied to other methods. I have tried to avoid inserting my preferences. Perhaps this overview will help you choose the methods you use at your table or inspire you to create something new. In the spirit of folk roleplaying, you can swap methods you like into the game of your choice without too much trouble.

A Few More Considerations

Another variable in each game is whether the ability scores are modified after the original scores are determined, either during another step of character creation or later in the game. In some editions, a characters race or lineage increases, and sometimes decreases, the ability scores generated by the above methods. The newest iterations of 5th edition let the player increase a couple ability scores regardless of which race or species they choose. In 4th and 5th editions characters can improve their ability scores in the normal course of leveling up.

Games also vary in how ability scores affect other parts of character creation.

• In early editions characters are required to meet a minimum score in order to qualify for class (or a race/lineage in editions that distinguish between the two). In the case of races/lineages, there might also be a maximum score that a character could not exceed in order to choose some races, as in 2nd edition.

Games vary in how ability scores affect rolls, which can make comparing the numbers like comparing apples and oranges.

• In early editions, the modifier associated with each ability score reinforces the bell curve formed by the method of rolling. Modifiers scale at a diminishing rate the further they get from 9-10 rather than at a fixed rate. Positive modifiers don’t start until 13 and an 18 grants a +3 modifier.

• In later editions the modifier associated with an ability score scales at a rate of +/-1 for each two points in the ability. Positive modifiers start at 12 and an 18 grants a +4 modifier.

• In Stars Without Number modifiers are even smaller with positive modifiers starting at 14 and an 18 only granting a +2.

• At the same time in early editions an alternative way that ability scores came into play is rolling the ability score, a sort of general purpose roll the referee can call for if the ability is relevant to the task at hand. A d20 is rolled and if the result is equal or under the ability score, the roll is successful. In this case the chance of success (out of 20) scales at a rate of 1-to-1 with ability scores so in early editions ability scores both mechanically matter more and less than they do to rolls in later editions, depending on the kind of roll.

• At the same time most editions still define average as around 10-11 so most conclusions based on the relative capability of player characters to ordinary people still apply.