Roll 4D6 Drop 1 Guide | Pros And Cons of Rolling Your Character

In Dungeons & Dragons 5E, you have many different ways to get your statistics. You can go with more predefined methods, like Standard Array or Point buy. However, if your DM asks you to roll statistics, you’re probably going to be using one method in particular; 4d6 drop 1. This is the standard randomized statistic design, and it’s a lot of fun to play around with. In this guide, we’ll teach you how to use Roll 4d6 Drop 1 for your 5E character.

Roll 4d6 Drop 1 in 5E

When you are told to use 4d6 Drop 1, you are going to roll 4 6-sided dice. This will give you 4 results, and you get rid of the smallest result. Then, record the number, and roll 5 more times, so that you have 6 total numbers from the dice. Then, organize your numbers into whatever statistics you want, add your racial bonuses, and bam! You have your character’s base statistics.

For example, let’s say we’re rolling for Em’ric the High Elven rogue. We roll 4d6, and get 4 numbers; 3, 4, 6, and 2. We drop the 2, then add the other numbers together, getting a total of 13. We do this 5 more times, recording the result of the highest numbers.

We end up with 6 total numbers; 13, 11, 15, 8, 9, and 13.

Since we want our Dexterity to be high, we put the 15 in Dexterity. Then, if we want Em’ric to be an Arcane Trickster, we’ll want good Intelligence. So, we put a 13 in Intelligence. Then, we can organize our other stats based on whatever we consider important.

Then, Em’ric ends up with:

• Strength: 8
• Dexterity: 15 + 2
• Constitution: 13
• Intelligence: 13 + 1
• Wisdom: 11
• Charisma: 9

Some DMs tell you to reroll until you get a total of a certain number. This is typically around 70. If your DM implements that rule, then make sure you count up your total before you start assigning statistics.

Pros

Compared to other types of rolling, 4d6 Drop 1 is probably the most common for a reason. 2d6+6 ensures you can’t roll below 8, but reduces interesting statistics and makes things a little less fun. 3d6 raw can roll a 3 much more often than you might expect. 4d6 Drop 1 makes for very fun characters, while not being as likely to make a completely garbage character that 3d6 might do.

And hey, if you get lucky, you could be significantly stronger than Point Buy or Standard Array. It’s fun to play with superpowered characters!

Cons

While 4d6 drop 1 will probably not make your character a peasant, it’s not guaranteed. You could roll poorly, and then you’ll not feel as impactful in fights. Please talk to your DM about this; you might be told to reroll. No matter what, you are probably not going to be as guaranteed to be useful as your Standard Array or Point Buy would allow you to. 

Conclusions

4d6 drop 1 happens a lot, and can be fun to try out. No matter what happens, please make sure you tell your DM about your stats, and be honest. The game is less fun if you lie and say you got all 18s!

We hope you enjoyed rolling up your character for your DND 5E campaign!