Dice Based Character Generation

[Old Geezer]

"The problem with random character creation is that you don't get the character you want, you get the character the dice give you. End of discussion. Other than cheating the dice (which is a strong temptation when using random-roll systems), you've got very limited control over who and what you'll be playing. I have no idea why this process got started in original D&D"

Because we liked rolling dice.

And we liked rolling dice and discovering what kind of character we'd get.

And if we didn't get a character we liked we'd reroll because it took all of three minutes.

[Tarafore]

To be honest, I mostly said that to try to stir up some responses. I'd rather the controversy of Columns 4 and 5 than the chirping crickets I've heard since then :)

Seriously, though, what would you say would be the best way to do quick random chargen in a non class-level system?

I don't want is a ridiculous set of possibilities (like CP2020's lifepaths, in which you could be an only child with a feud against your brother or an orphan with a great relationship with your parents), or one that gives too-huge swings of attribute levels (since a difference of 3 points basically doubles a character's actual ability).

You seem to have a good bit of positive experience with random roll systems: what advice would you have?