Rolling a full set of scores
The table opens with 24 dice: six groups of 4d6kh3, which means four six-sided dice, keep the highest three. Press Roll once and all of them are thrown together. Under the result, the Ability scores panel lists the six totals in the order they were rolled, each with its modifier, then the same six sorted from highest to lowest and their sum. In the dice list above it, the dropped die of every set is crossed out, so anyone at the table can check the arithmetic.
This is the “Random Generation” method of the fifth edition rules: roll four d6s, record the total of the highest three, and do this five more times. Your game master may prefer one of the other two methods from the same rules, the standard array (15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8) or point cost, where you spend 27 points and a 15 costs 9 of them.
Reading your scores
Add each score’s modifier to the rolls that use that ability: the table runs from −4 for a 3 to +4 for an 18. A useful quick check is the sum. The standard array adds up to 72, and the average 4d6 drop lowest set to about 73.5, so a set in the high 70s is generous and one in the low 60s is weak. Some tables let a player reroll the whole set below an agreed total; agree on it before anyone rolls, and roll in front of everyone.
Assign the highest score to your class’s main ability (Strength for a fighter who uses heavy weapons, Dexterity for a rogue, Intelligence for a wizard), and keep Constitution away from the bottom, because it adds to your hit points every level.
Odds of one score
| Score | Chance per score |
|---|---|
| 18 | 1.6% |
| 16 or more | 13.0% |
| 13 or more | 48.8% |
| 8 or less | 10.5% |
| 3 | 0.08% |
Each score is independent of the others, and every combination comes from your browser’s cryptographic random generator before the dice are animated.
Sources
Rolling method, standard array, point costs and the ability modifier table are from the System Reference Document 5.2.1 (Wizards of the Coast, CC BY 4.0), “Character Creation”. The odds are counted exactly from the 1,296 equally likely rolls of four d6.
This page always opens with 4d6kh3 + 4d6kh3 + 4d6kh3 + 4d6kh3 + 4d6kh3 + 4d6kh3 on the table: dice you change here aren’t saved, while your colors, sound and roll history are. To start from your own dice every time, use the dice roller.