After rolling up 1992 Gamma World character and playing for a couple of hours, a lot of stats and mutant powers use 4d6-L which means roll six sided dice four times and drop the lowest.
But that stat is almost never used. Just like in 5E D&D. The stat that is used is the modifier.
So, that got me to thinking.
Couldn't you just roll up the modifier instead of rolling a stat and a modifier?
You could roll 4d6, but instead of adding them up...
A dice that is
1-2 = -1
3-4 = 0
5-6 = +1
(also known as a Fudge dice)
Drop the lowest.
Then, add up the -1, 0, +1 and that is your stat.
The probability distribution is not exact, but close.
(also, I half expect some game is already doing this as I rarely have an idea that is not already out there).
#dnd #rpg #osr #ttrpg #probabilities #gametheory