Quick, RANDOM, and BALANCED abilities for 5e D&D

This idea is adapted to fifth edition from Dark Fantasy Characters; I also wrote about this before. 

However, this time the table is simpler, faster and perfectly "legal" in 5e - it means you could achieve the same results from the standard "point buy" system. 

Here is how it works: roll 1d20 three times, using the table below. Each roll defines two ability scores.

d20	Ability scores
1	15, 8
2	8, 15
3	14, 9
4	9, 14
5	13, 12
6	12, 13
7	15, 8
8	8, 15
9	12, 12*
10	12, 12*
11	11, 13*
12	13, 11*
13	9, 14*
14	14, 9*
15	8, 14**
16	14, 8**
17	13, 10**
18	10, 13**
19	12, 11**
20	11, 12**

One suggestion: the first roll defines Strength and Intelligence. The second, Wisdom and Dexterity. And the third for Constitution and Charisma. 

This creates strongly archetypal characters, but not necessarily optimal for 5e - specially if you want a specific class, such as Monk or Eldritch Knight. It also creates some odd results from time to time. Because of that, it should be OK to swap some abilities around or even assign them at will.

After getting six scores, can raise one ability score for each asterisk you got. Raising an ability score from 13 to 14 or from 14 to 15 takes two asterisks. You cannot start beyond 15 at this point (although races, feats, etc., might allow you to do so). 

If you want to give a player some incentive to use random rolls instead of point-buy, just give him an extra asterisk or two.

Example: if you roll 3, 17, and 5, you'd get Strength 14, Intelligence 9, Wisdom 13, Dexterity 10, Constitution 13 and Charisma 12, plus one asterisk (allowing you to raise Int, Dex or Cha by one point). A decent fighter, probably some kind of leader.

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If you like this post, you might enjoy Dark Fantasy Characters.

It contains a collection of tables to inspire the creation of characters.

It includes tables meant for player characters, non player characters, or (frequently) both.

The focus is on dark fantasy tropes: flawed heroes, terrible villains, corrupting magic, ominous ruins and damned wastelands.

This is system-less book, to be used with any game of your choice (except for one table, which is similar to the one in this post, but with some additional suggestions for "epic" or "gritty" games, and so on).