Dices in PnP

[bjorn]

Many items/spells and such in the game do 1D3 or 1D4 damage (for example).

How is this handled in PnP?

I can't imagine how such a dice would look like?

[Xen]

As this game is based on Second Edition Dungeons And Dragons, it uses dice to determine success and failure. The "d" stands for dice, and 1 indicates that there is one dice, while 20 represents the number of sides the dice has. Therefore, 1d20 simply means one twenty-sided dice, giving you a range of 1-20.

So if a weapon does 1D4 dmg the dice rolls. Rolls are from 1-4.

So it`s acutally:

1x1 = 1 - critical miss
1x2 = 2
1x3 = 3
1x4 = 4 critical hit (double damage IIRC)

So when your roll 1d20, 20 is always a critical hit.

I would look for weapons in ShadowKeeper but I feel lazy.

[ 07-04-2004, 10:35 AM: Message edited by: Xen ]

[Jaradu]

1d4 would be a triangular pyramid, like this:


A 1d3 is impossible to have in real life - it defies the laws of physics. However, the computer can just randomly generate a number between 1 and 3, just like a dice roll. In real life, people would have to work something out. Maybe rolling a d6 and halving it?

[ 07-04-2004, 10:49 AM: Message edited by: Jaradu ]

[Bozos of Bones]

That's what is normally done. Ever wonder why there isn't a d5?

[Dron_Cah]

Cuz there's already too many die to keep up with? [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[Balintherlas]

Im curious, what determines how much damage an attack inflicts, for example a flaming potion says 2d4 fire damage or something like that, what does that mean? By the way dron cah, im a metallica fan too, but dont u think they're new song sucks?

[Bozos of Bones]

Metallica is leaning towards SoaD in the past album, and topic-wise 2d4 means 2-8 fire damage.
If something did 3d6+5 it means 8-23 damage and so on. And remember it's better to have a +3 dagger than a +0 greatsword.

[bjorn]

Originally posted by Jaradu: 1d4 would be a triangular pyramid, like this: A 1d3 is impossible to have in real life - it defies the laws of physics. However, the computer can just randomly generate a number between 1 and 3, just like a dice roll. In real life, people would have to work something out. Maybe rolling a d6 and halving it?

Thats almost exactly what i figured [img]smile.gif[/img]

But one thing bugs me. The D4, do you pick the side thats facing down? That feels wrong, but still the only way it can be done i supose.

B.T.W I'm a huge metallica fan too, but like many others, I mostly like the four first albums. I saw them live a month ago here in gothenburg, it was amazing!

[Illumina Drathiran'ar]

I have a d3. It looks like a d4, only there are three numbers on each side. The idea is to use the number that falls flat in front of you.

[Cerek the Barbaric]

Originally posted by bjorn: quote: Originally posted by Jaradu: 1d4 would be a triangular pyramid, like this: A 1d3 is impossible to have in real life - it defies the laws of physics. However, the computer can just randomly generate a number between 1 and 3, just like a dice roll. In real life, people would have to work something out. Maybe rolling a d6 and halving it?

Thats almost exactly what i figured [img]smile.gif[/img]

But one thing bugs me. The D4, do you pick the side thats facing down? That feels wrong, but still the only way it can be done i supose.

B.T.W I'm a huge metallica fan too, but like many others, I mostly like the four first albums. I saw them live a month ago here in gothenburg, it was amazing! [/QUOTE]You take the number that is at the "peak" of the pyramid. I agree it is very hard to "envision" what a D10, D12 or D20 look like if you've never seen them. My recommendation is to just go to eBay and Search for "AD&D dice". You will get LOTS of hits. Some offer 1lb bags of dice (which is FAR more than you would really need) and the others will offer a "set" of dice. A set typically consists of 7 dice: d4, d6, d8, d10 (marked with single digits 0-9), d12, d20 and d10 (marked with "10's" digits 00-90). This second d10 is used for rolling "percentiles" (such as a thief having 55% in Pickpockets - the DM would secretly roll the two d10 dice (with one die representing the "10's" digits and the other representing the single digit). If the number on the two dice is less than 55, the thief succeeds. If it is greater than 55, he gets caught.

The percentile dice and d20 are the ones used to determine the success or failure of almost every action your PnP character would attempt. If you're trying to attack or hit something, you would roll a d20. The higher the better. A 20 always hits (and is often considered a critical hit, doing extra damage) and a 1 always misses (even if you're 100th level fighter swinging a +1000 sword - you would still miss if you rolled a 1). For non-combat actions, the DM usually assigns a percentage chance for success. Sometimes he/she will roll the percentiles, and sometimes the player is allowed to roll the percentiles.

BTW, you don't have to actually BUY the dice of eBay. Just click on one of the "sets" and you'll get a nice picture showing you what all the dice look like.

{Editor's Note: This impromptu dissertation on the dice of PnP and their uses has been brought to you by a barbarian who suddenly realizes just HOW much older he is than most of the members here - since he had been playing PnP for several years before the 2nd Edition came out. [img]graemlins/blush.gif[/img] )