Probabilities and Statistics of AD&D CharGen Methods

Ever wondered which of the six methods described in the Player's Handbook is the "best" method? Here is a table of the percentages for getting each possible result as well as some relevant statistics that will hopefully help you decide which method is the best for your campaign.

Method I (3d6)
Method II (2-3d6, pick higher result)
Method III (3d6, arrange as desired)
Method IV (3d6 x12, pick highest 6 results)
Method V (4d6, pick highest 3)
Method VI (stat=8; roll 7d6, add entirety of each dice to a stat, max 18)
tot = total percentage (should be 100%)
avg = mean/average result
dev = standard deviation (range within which most results fall)

   3
   4
   5
   6
   7
   8
   9
  10
  11
  12
  13
  14
  15
  16
  17
  18
tot:
avg:
dev:

Method I
 .462963
 1.388889
 2.777778
 4.62963
 6.944445
 9.722222
 11.57407
 12.5
 12.5
 11.57407
 9.722222
 6.944445
 4.62963
 2.777778
 1.388889
 .462963
 100%
 10.5
 2.95804

Method II
 2.143347E-03
 3.215021E-02
 .1800411
 .6430041
 1.768261
 4.095936
 7.340964
 10.9375
 14.0625
 15.80718
 15.34851
 12.12063
 8.616255
 5.375515
 2.745628
 .9237826
 100%
 12.17631
 2.437207

Method III
 .462963
 1.388889
 2.777778
 4.62963
 6.944445
 9.722222
 11.57407
 12.5
 12.5
 11.57407
 9.722222
 6.944445
 4.62963
 2.777778
 1.388889
 .462963
 100%
 10.5
 2.95804

Method IV
(Info.
 Unavail.)

Method V
 7.716049E-02
 .308642
 .771605
 1.62037
 2.932099
 4.783951
 7.021605
 9.413581
 11.41975
 12.8858
 13.2716
 12.34568
 10.10802
 7.253087
 4.166667
 1.62037
 100%
 12
 3

Method VI
 0
 0
 0
 0
 0
(Further
 Info.
 Unavail.)
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