How many times do you roll?

[Zerkai]

I was curious. *shrug* Somtiems I will spend hours rolling a single character's stat, whether Monster or PC. Although I do it alot for the villain characters too.

[Jack Mann]

If you're going to roll that much, you might as well just pick a number and use that.

[tannish2]

If you're going to roll that much, you might as well just pick a number and use that.

ya... its like baulders gate, roll until you get all 18s

[illyrus]

We use 28 point buy. For villians with class levels or the "elite array" I use 28 point buy for them as well.

In games I'm a PC and we do it with an infinite amount of rerolls instead of point buy I limit myself to 3 sets of rolls. I don't mix and match, I roll 3 whole sets and chose the one I want.

[Quietus]

This is the reason many DMs refuse to accept rolls that aren't overseen by them, themselves. Because some people WILL roll for hours left unchecked. At least it gets tedious for them if they have to keep killing off the characters that they "didn't roll well enough for".

We have a method among my group that involves three sets of rolls, with lowering amounts of customizability. But when you roll each new set, you're giving up your last one, and when you hit that third, you're stuck with it, period. And even that is pretty bloody lenient.

[Lord Tataraus]

I never roll. I use 32 point-buy. In fact, my group always assumes 32 point-buy unless otherwise stated. Though I have run a 28 and 40 point-buy. As for monsters and NPCs, I use the same point-buy as the players. The players are all optimizers so, they are more heroic in that manner, though their stats might be closer to the enemies they fight.

[Tallis]

I usually roll once. When I DM I set a minimum net bonus from the scores. The player can roll until they get that minimum, but once they do they have to keep what they roll. For NPCs I usually assign ability scores, no rolling involved.

[Dausuul]

Zero. My group uses point buy. 32 is our usual standard.

[crimson77]

As a DM I have given up on stat rolling for players. I prefer to have my players use 25 point stat buy, or more recently using the elite array of stats arranged to taste (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8).

I know a 2nd edition DM that allows his players to roll (3d6 straight down, not arrange to taste) as many times as they want but they have to write down each roll and they cannot take any previous rolls.

[Kurald Galain]

None. I used a point buy system even back in 2E. My first experience as a player was one guy who rolled 16+ six times in a row, and another who rolled nothing above a 12, so my first decision as a DM was not to do it that way.

[bosssmiley]

In chargen? Never - I'm a point buy player.
In game? As often as the GM will let me. Rolling dice is one of the sacraments of the gamer faith after all.

[Winterwind]

In chargen? Never - I'm a point buy player.
In game? As often as the GM will let me. Rolling dice is one of the sacraments of the gamer faith after all.

Objection!
In one of the groups I play in, we never roll any dice - neither for character creation, nor during gameplay. It has its share of both dis- and advantages.

[Kiero]

I don't do randomness in chargen, so obviously I don't roll at all.

[Swooper]

Untill I'm happy with the rolls, meaning it depends on the character in question. My group's regular DM is usually very stingy with treasure, so we players compensate by rolling untill we have stats we like (using 4d6, reroll ones, keep three dice).

Edit: Forgot to mention: starting a new set forfeits the last one.

[Krimm_Blackleaf]

Once the rolls stop being terrible.

I have the strangest luck, I usually roll using an online dice roller and end up with set after set of the worst rolls ever. Until the luck decides to shift and I get something around... 18, 15, 16, 14, 12, 10. It's insane, I think I'm a weird combo of lucky and cursed.... luckursedy... yeah.

[AKA_Bait]

If I'm making a PC I roll once, or use whatever point buy we are doing. If I'm DMing, I just make the stats up to suit whatever purpose the NPC I care enough about to actually stat out is around for.

[Totally Guy]

Just once. Same for hit dice.

[Shas aia Toriia]

I roll as much as possible, due to the fact that I usually end up with rolls like (from my last character):

17, 17, 16, 14, 12, 7

I managed to get my DM to reroll the 7, and got another high teen!

[Threeshades]

If we werent using buy system i wouldnt let my player roll for more than 3 times. maybe if all their rolls are terrible they can have some more. Because an infinite number of rerolls is just like Jack Mann said. Why not pick a number immediately instead of waiting until you got the 18/18/18/18/18/18 rolled?

[UserClone]

I like to let players choose between taking the set of stats they rolled with 4d6b3x6, or the "Elite Array" of 15,14,13,12,10,8.
As a player, I like to go with whatever method the DM decides and trust that they know what they're doing...until they give me reason to think otherwise.
In a realted-ish story, in one game, I played a Dvati Monk with like 2 10's, 2 11's, and a 12 and 13. It was pretty much the minimum scores you can't toss, per the PHB, so maturally I was bummed. Later on I and myself was/were meditating (anybody who knows what a Dvati is/are knows what I'm talking about), when the GM says "You gain some insight" (or some such nonsense and hands me a slip of paper with a not that says, "You immediately gain 6 points to add to your ability scores, any way you see fit."
"Fair?" asks the DM. "No. Of course it's not fair. Nobody else got this. But I'll take it." I couldn't help it...I was a monk.

[martyboy74]

We usually only roll once (the obvious exceptiong being godawful scores; no one in our group enjoys playing the guy with straight 13s), but in a very weird way. We roll 24d6, drop the lowest, and there're you're points to divvy out as you please. Purportedly, this is to save time, but I'm pretty sure that everyone realizes that it raises the average score.

[Dubie]

One time (unless thier scores are terible. Then I give them a pitty roll). Also, for hit points on level, I give them the option to either keep thier roll, or I roll thier hit dice and they take my number even if its lower.

[ranger89]

For PC's and NPC's, I follow my group's standard house rule: Roll 2 sets of ability scores (4d6, drop lowest). If one of both of the sets are RAW "too low" (must total modifier >=0 and 13 cannot be your highest score), it can be rerolled. If you're just not happy with either set, you can roll a do-or-die third set that you have to use no matter how crappy it is. The only time I fudge this rule a little bit is if I'm creating a key NPC.

As much as I prefer to roll every aspect of the game (I rarely even "take 10"), I agree that if you're rolling endlessly to get the scores you want that you should just do a point-buy.

[Pegasos989]

Untill the following criteria are met:
-Stats are playable
-They aren't boring.


An array of 17, 16 ,10, 7, 8, 7 would be fine with me. An array of 16, 14, 15, 13, 14, 10 wouldn't. While the latter array is more powerful, it is very boring. However, the first one is interesting.

I never want to see if stats are good or bad. When I roll, it is because I want interesting and varying stats that are something completely diffrent than I would choose myself. This is normally 3-7 sets before I find one that I like.

However, most of the time I would rather take pointbuy.

[Firefingers]

once I normally average at least 1 18 if not 2 with 4d6 drop lowest

last 2 chars rolled

18,15,14,14,10,17 (in that order for ST to CHA played as a battle sorc)

18,15,18,13,11,12

(in that order played as a half-celestial stone giant one word for this insane used a ring of enlarging to make him huge with a +14 ST mod and 6 AOO with a greatsword sized for a huge creature fortunately it was a ECL 20+ game so not an issue but still quite scary)

[Talya]

40 point buy, generally. Rare heroic villains will also get 40 point buy.

In a SW Saga Edition game I'm a player in, the DM did 5d6, drop the two lowest--but in order, you didn't pick and choose which abilities got which rolls. After rolling (once), you could either swap two scores of your choice, or reroll one. It worked alright.

[Funkyodor]

First of all, to explain the system that worked best for us, we added a stat. Comliness represents the characters physical appearance, and Charisma changed to the characters force of personality and inner drive. We start with 9D6 pick the highest and subtract a dice till you are rolling 3D6 for your seventh stat. Assign where you like. You get 3 sets, but you can't go backwards. If you don't like the rolls then you scrap them to get another chance. DM didn't have a problem with powerful characters, because the PC's are suposed to be heroic (and his campaign was rather deadly).

[Fax Celestis]

My players usually roll 4d6, best three, eight times, keeping the best six, though recently I've been pondering a 2d8+1d4 system.

The difference there (with 2d8+1d4) would be that the range of a character's stats would be 3-20, averaging 11.5 instead of 10.5.

Similarly, another I've pondered is 1d12+1d8, which'd have a range of 2-20, and average 11, instead of 3d6's 10.5.

Obviously, each of these has a different feel in mind.

[Curmudgeon]

I don't roll. Rolling repeatedly is a way to eventually get a character with numbers signficantly above the average.

32 point buy, if spent most efficiently (no stat above 14) yields a character with statistics averaging 13.333. 4d6 drop lowest averages 12.245, but will have some stats above 14. Since 32 point buy averages significantly better than rolling, I don't feel that I'm penalizing my players by insisting on point buy -- and I am ensuring fairness.

[crimson77]

Untill the following criteria are met:
-Stats are playable
-They aren't boring.


An array of 17, 16 ,10, 7, 8, 7 would be fine with me. An array of 16, 14, 15, 13, 14, 10 wouldn't. While the latter array is more powerful, it is very boring. However, the first one is interesting.

I never want to see if stats are good or bad. When I roll, it is because I want interesting and varying stats that are something completely diffrent than I would choose myself. This is normally 3-7 sets before I find one that I like.

However, most of the time I would rather take pointbuy.

I agree with Pegasos, I think that it is important for players and characters to have a stat (or two) that is negative. It adds a area of humility to the character. A character with a week area needs other characters to balance out the party.