Alternative Rolls For Attribute Generation

 By Felipe Lohan Pinheiro da Silva

Older RPG systems prefer the method of rolling 3d6. Newer ones prefer [4d6 – drop lowest]. Below I present some alternatives to random attribute generation; the numbers inside the parenthesis are the minimum and maximum values. All These ones have an average value of 10. If your game system uses the base value of 50, just multiply the result by 5.

d2:
2d2+7 (09 to 11)
4d2+4 (08 to 12)
6d2+1 (07 to 13)
8d2-2 (06 to 14)
10d2-5 (05 to 15)
12d2-8 (04 to 16)
14d2-11 (03 to 17)
16d2-14 (02 to 18)
18d2-17 (01 to 19)

d3:
2d3+6 (08 to 12)
3d3+4 (07 to 13)
4d3+2 (06 to 14)
5d3 (05 to 15)
6d3-2 (04 to 16)
7d3-4 (03 to 17)
8d3-6 (02 to 18)
9d3-8 (01 to 19)

d4:
2d4+5 (07 to 13)
4d4 (04 to 16)
6d4-5 (01 to 19)

d5:
2d5+4 (06 to 14)
3d5+1 (04 to 16)
4d5-2 (02 to 18)

d6:
2d6+3 (05 to 15)

d7:
2d7+2 (04 to 16)
3d7-2 (01 to 19)

d8:
2d8+1 (3 to 17)

d9:
2d9 (2 to 18)

d10:
2d10-1

The methods with a 8 to 12 range of values (4d2+4 or 2d3+6) may be preferred by GMs who want to run "sober" games.

Keep in mind that many of the options above suppose you have access of exotic physical dice, or use a digital electronic dice roller.