This past Tuesday I ran part one of two part D&D 5E 0-level Dungeon Crawl Classic inspired character funnel adventure (i.e. many enter far fewer leave). I’m not going to go into a session recap, but I will go through the character creation.
Character Creation
Each player created 4 characters by rolling the following:
- Random Stats
- Random Race
- Random Background
- Random Extra Languages (Optional)
- Random Hit Points (1d4+CON)
Random Stats
Players could choose one of two methods for each character they created:
Method #1
Roll twelve (12) sets of 3d6 straight down keeping order (Str, Dex, Con, Int, Wis, Cha). This method is by far my most favorite method for D&D stat creation.
Method #2
Roll 4d6 straight down keeping order and optionally replace one stat with an 8.
Here is the Ruby script used to generate the simulation data.
A visual distribution of the likely modifiers based on each of the stat methods.
Random Race
Based on the results of a group poll, we wanted a plurality of races. The following tables generated that.
| 1d20 | Race | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 9 | Human | Player’s Handbook |
| 9 – 18 | Common non-human | Roll on Table 1A (d20) |
| 19 – 20 | Uncommon non-human | Roll on Table 1B (d120) |
| 1d20 | Race | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 2 | Dwarf, Hill | Player’s Handbook |
| 3 – 4 | Dwarf, Mountain | Player’s Handbook |
| 5 – 6 | Elf, High | Player’s Handbook |
| 7 – 8 | Elf, Wood | Player’s Handbook |
| 9 – 10 | Half-Elf | Player’s Handbook |
| 11 – 12 | Half-Orc | Player’s Handbook |
| 13 – 14 | Halfling, Lightfoot | Player’s Handbook |
| 15 – 16 | Halfling, Stout | Player’s Handbook |
| 17 | Dragonborn | Player’s Handbook |
| 18 | Gnome, Forest | Player’s Handbook |
| 19 | Gnome, Rock | Player’s Handbook |
| 20 | Goblin (Eberron) | https://goo.gl/eYjUk9 |
| 1d20 | Race | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1 – 5 | Aasmir | Dungeon Master’s Guide |
| 6 – 10 | Tiefling | Player’s Handbook |
| 11 | Changeling | Unearthed Arcana: Eberron |
| 12 | Elf, Eladrin | Dungeon Master’s Guide |
| 13 – 14 | Elf, Drow | Player’s Handbook |
| 15 | Genasi (1d4 for element) | Elemental Evil Player’s Companion |
| 16 – 17 | Gnome, Deep | Elemental Evil Player’s Companion |
| 18 | Goliath | Elemental Evil Player’s Companion |
| 19 | Shifter | Unearthed Arcana: Eberron |
| 20 | Warforged | Unearthed Arcana: Eberron |
Random Background
My 0-level adventure is set by the sea in a small community. So the table reflects that distribution.
| 1d20 | Background |
|---|---|
| 1 – 3 | Guild Artisan |
| 4 – 5 | Sailor |
| 6 | Acolyte |
| 7 | Sage |
| 8 – 9 | Criminal |
| 10 | Entertainer |
| 11 | Folk Hero |
| 12 | Hermit |
| 13 | Noble |
| 14 | Charlatan |
| 15 | Soldier |
| 16 – 17 | Urchin |
| 18 – 20 | Outlander |
Random Extra Languages
Some of the players wanted help choosing their language. So we referenced the following.
| 1d8 | Language |
|---|---|
| 1 | Dwarvish |
| 2 | Elvish |
| 3 | Giant |
| 4 | Gnomish |
| 5 | Goblin |
| 6 | Halfing |
| 7 | Orc |
| 8 | Exotic – Roll on Table 3A |
| 1d10 | Language |
|---|---|
| 1 | Abyssal |
| 2 | Celestial |
| 3 | Draconic |
| 4 | Deep Speech |
| 5 | Infernal |
| 6 | Primordial |
| 7 | Sylvan |
| 8 – 10 | Undercommon |
Was it my imagination… or did method 1 end up much more swingy than method 2 in spite of your data?
It looked like method 1 had higher stats. I know that Jaron’s character is in the top 0.085% of all possible characters.
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