What is the logical assignment of attribute rolls for a Barbarian?

Question

When rolling a new character for DnD, I roll (SUM 4 * D6) 6 times:

• [15, 15, 13, 12, 9, 8]

then throw the lowest one away leaving me with 5 numbers:

• [15, 15, 13, 12, 9]

If my class is a Barbarian, my primary ability is Strength, and my saving throw proficiencies are Strength and Constitution.

Is it most logical to assign the 15 to Str and 15 to Con, and the rest don't matter so much?

Answer 1

You aren't quite rolling your ability scores correctly

From Determine Ability Scores:

You [can] generate your character’s six ability scores randomly. Roll four 6-sided dice and record the total of the highest three dice on a piece of scratch paper. Do this five more times, so that you have six numbers.

So for each ability score, you should be rolling 4d6, then removing the lowest die roll to get to the total for that one ability score; so if you roll 4d6 and get 2, 3, 4, 5, you drop the 2 to get 3, 4, 5 = 12. That is your first ability score.

You then repeat that five more times, so that you end up with 6 ability scores, not 5 ability scores as per your question.

STR and CON are usually the most important for a Barbarian

From Creating a Barbarian, the Quick Build sidebar specifically:

You can make a barbarian quickly by following these suggestions. First, put your highest ability score in Strength, followed by Constitution. Second, choose the outlander background.

The recommendation is that STR and CON are the most useful two ability scores for a Barbarian. I'd recommend DEX as your tertiary stat due to this ability:

Unarmored Defense. While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

After that, INT, WIS and CHA aren't as important; you can assign those based on who you think your barbarian character is from a roleplay perspective (I usually go WIS, CHA, then finally INT as the "dump stat").