What are the odds?
William Keely


 
- - - - -
Dragon #39 - 1st Edition AD&D - Dragon magazine

In the last three years I have had approximately 220 characters in
D&D. Never once have I rolled one with 18 Strength. I have always
thought this odd until I did a little mathematics. These charts are what I
came up with.

Column A tells you what your chances are of getting that score or
lower and the percentage of the populace with that score or lower.
Column B tells you what your chances are of getting that score or
higher and the percentage of the populace with that score or higher.
Column C tells you the average number of times you will roll each
number out of 216 rolls. Column D is the percentage chance of rolling
each score.
 
Ability score A B C D
3 0.46% 100% 1 0.46%
4 1.9% 99.5% 3 1.4%
5 4.6% 98.1% 6 2.8%
6 9.3% 95.4% 10 4.6%
7 16.2% 90.7% 15 6.9%
8 25.9% 83.8% 21 9.7%
9 37.5% 74.1% 25 11.6%
10 50% 62.5% 27 12.5%
11 62.5% 60% 27 12.5%
12 74.1% 37.1% 25 11.6%
13 83.8% 25.9% 21 9.7%
14 90.7% 16.2% 15 6.9%
15 95.4% 9.3% 10 4.6%
16 98.1% 4.6% 6 2.8%
17 99.5% 1.9% 3 1.4%
18 100% 0.46% 1 0.46%