I have collected some really unique dice and want to thinknof ways to use them regularly in sessions as the dm. Other than just assigning them as damage dice.
The dice in question are as follows.
D2 in the shape of a spell book
D3
D0-4 it's six sided with a 0 1 2 2 3 4 for the faces
D14
D30
-d6 from mtg each face has a negative value from 1-6
The last dice I have, I have no name for. It is a six sided die and the faces are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
I am trying to find ways to use these dice regularly in my games.
I’ve heard of folks who use weird dice when rolling for Aberrations or other monsters which do not quite fit in with the natural order. It is a way of saying “these things operate differently than you or I do” mechanically. You might have to play around to get everything to work out, but you could probably toss together some monsters which use the dice or do things like substitute a d6 for your d6(0-4).
I’ve heard of folks who use weird dice when rolling for Aberrations or other monsters which do not quite fit in with the natural order. It is a way of saying “these things operate differently than you or I do” mechanically. You might have to play around to get everything to work out, but you could probably toss together some monsters which use the dice or do things like substitute a d6 for your d6(0-4).
How did they use the dice? Can you give an example?
You could homebrew some magic items that require the use of those dice. Just make sure to take the average roll into account when balancing them. I would also call your last die a d2^. Below is an example of a magic item I just made up.
Weapon of Duality
Weapon (any), rare
This weapon is magical. Whenever you make a damage roll with this weapon, roll 2d0-4 instead of the weapon's standard dice. If you roll a 2 on both dice, you instead inflict damage equal to twice the maximum roll of the standard weapon this magical weapon is based on. In case of a critical hit, the first and second pair of dice are rolled separately. You can't combine 2s from different pairs to inflict the aforementioned maximum damage.
Proficiency with the weapon allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
I chose its rarity based on the increase in its average damage. I'll be using a longsword of duality used with only one hand as an example to calculate the damage output. Here are all of the 36 possible combinations when rolling 2d0-4: (0+0), (0+1), (0+2), (0+2), (0+3), (0+4), (1+0), (1+1), (1+2), (1+2), (1+3), (1+4), (2+0), (2+1), (2+2), (2+2), (2+3), (2+4), (2+0), (2+1), (2+2), (2+2), (2+3), (2+4), (3+0), (3+1), (3+2), (3+2), (3+3), (3+4), (4+0), (4+1), (4+2), (4+2), (4+3), (4+4). Once we replace every (2+2) by 16, which is the maximum roll of 2d8, and add up the rest, we get: 0 + 1 + 16 + 16 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 16 + 16 + 4 + 5 + 2 + 3 + 16 + 16 + 5 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 16 + 16 + 6 + 7 + 4 + 5 + 16 + 16 + 7 + 8 + 5 + 6 + 16 + 16 + 9 + 10. Once we add everything up, we get a total of 302 and an average of 8.38 with 8 as a repeating decimal. Compared to the regular longsword's average of 4.5, that's an increase of 86.4198% in damage. The closest magic weapons in terms of damage output are considered rare. Those that require attunement tend to be slightly more powerful in terms of damage and/or additional effects. This is why my creation doesn't require it.
Bear in mind that it's an all or nothing weapon. You either do very little damage or very high damage. The odds of rolling two 2s are 11.11% with a repeating decimal. If it's a critical hit, you roll 2d0-4 twice, not 4d0-4 all at once. If you roll (2+3) with the first pair and (0+2) with the second pair, you only inflict 7 damage. Doing it any other way would completely break the game, as it would more than double the odds of getting maximum damage. That said, it's possible to inflict a ton of damage if you roll four 2s. For example, the maximum damage that can be inflicted with a greatsword of duality is 48 plus your proficiency bonus if you get a critical hit and only roll 2s.
You can devise tables that would use them such as random encounter tables, treasure tables, trinket table, moral check etc...
Many years ago, The Armory, a company that made 30-siders, published a couple of collections of tables to justify having one. You can probably find them on the internet. IIRC, they were fairly silly, but you might find some of them useful, or at least entertaining.
The last dice I have, I have no name for. It is a six sided die and the faces are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
This is a doubling cube from the game backgammon. Only use I can think of is to track something that scales up or down in that way. (If you had a bunch of them and used miniatures, you might use them to represent the classic trope of dividing slime monsters.
I’ve heard of folks who use weird dice when rolling for Aberrations or other monsters which do not quite fit in with the natural order. It is a way of saying “these things operate differently than you or I do” mechanically. You might have to play around to get everything to work out, but you could probably toss together some monsters which use the dice or do things like substitute a d6 for your d6(0-4).
This is a really neat idea. One could also imagine allowing dice that can't (normally) be constructed fairly, like a d7 for this purpose.
Well, the game already uses d2s & d3s. One thing I started doing is that, even if you don’t have a natural weapon, unarmed strikes from Medium creatures do 1d3+Str damage, and for Small creatures they do 1d2+Str damage instead of the flat 1+Str damage that it is RAW.
I personally dislike the d0-4, it’s skewed and I don’t like it.
The -d6 die just seems silly since the d6 already exists. I mean, do we really need the die to have a − symbol on it to remind us we’re subtracting?
You can devise tables that would use them such as random encounter tables, treasure tables, trinket table, moral check etc...
Many years ago, The Armory, a company that made 30-siders, published a couple of collections of tables to justify having one. You can probably find them on the internet. IIRC, they were fairly silly, but you might find some of them useful, or at least entertaining.
I had those tables, and the d30’s. Weird and pointless, but kind of fun.
Glad to here all the responses! I will take them into account. Some things I came up with in the meantime are as follows. The d30 I use for when I want a monster to be more likely to hit but want to give them advantage.
The d14 is used with a gambling npc that is cheating. They will roll the d14 and the player is rolling a d20 lowest roll wins. (Yes the players will find out he's cheating. It's part of the story. )
The d3 I use sometimes to decide what a monster will do in battle. The d2^ I use for determine random gold rewards for small to medium treasures.
Others I use for specific dm made situations such as an enemy that will use the -d6 to debuff enemy rolls.
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I have collected some really unique dice and want to thinknof ways to use them regularly in sessions as the dm. Other than just assigning them as damage dice.
The dice in question are as follows.
D2 in the shape of a spell book
D3
D0-4 it's six sided with a 0 1 2 2 3 4 for the faces
D14
D30
-d6 from mtg each face has a negative value from 1-6
The last dice I have, I have no name for. It is a six sided die and the faces are 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64
I am trying to find ways to use these dice regularly in my games.
Any ideas?
I’ve heard of folks who use weird dice when rolling for Aberrations or other monsters which do not quite fit in with the natural order. It is a way of saying “these things operate differently than you or I do” mechanically. You might have to play around to get everything to work out, but you could probably toss together some monsters which use the dice or do things like substitute a d6 for your d6(0-4).
How did they use the dice? Can you give an example?
You could homebrew some magic items that require the use of those dice. Just make sure to take the average roll into account when balancing them. I would also call your last die a d2^. Below is an example of a magic item I just made up.
Weapon of Duality
Weapon (any), rare
This weapon is magical. Whenever you make a damage roll with this weapon, roll 2d0-4 instead of the weapon's standard dice. If you roll a 2 on both dice, you instead inflict damage equal to twice the maximum roll of the standard weapon this magical weapon is based on. In case of a critical hit, the first and second pair of dice are rolled separately. You can't combine 2s from different pairs to inflict the aforementioned maximum damage.
Proficiency with the weapon allows you to add your proficiency bonus to the attack roll for any attack you make with it.
I chose its rarity based on the increase in its average damage. I'll be using a longsword of duality used with only one hand as an example to calculate the damage output. Here are all of the 36 possible combinations when rolling 2d0-4: (0+0), (0+1), (0+2), (0+2), (0+3), (0+4), (1+0), (1+1), (1+2), (1+2), (1+3), (1+4), (2+0), (2+1), (2+2), (2+2), (2+3), (2+4), (2+0), (2+1), (2+2), (2+2), (2+3), (2+4), (3+0), (3+1), (3+2), (3+2), (3+3), (3+4), (4+0), (4+1), (4+2), (4+2), (4+3), (4+4). Once we replace every (2+2) by 16, which is the maximum roll of 2d8, and add up the rest, we get: 0 + 1 + 16 + 16 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 16 + 16 + 4 + 5 + 2 + 3 + 16 + 16 + 5 + 6 + 3 + 4 + 16 + 16 + 6 + 7 + 4 + 5 + 16 + 16 + 7 + 8 + 5 + 6 + 16 + 16 + 9 + 10. Once we add everything up, we get a total of 302 and an average of 8.38 with 8 as a repeating decimal. Compared to the regular longsword's average of 4.5, that's an increase of 86.4198% in damage. The closest magic weapons in terms of damage output are considered rare. Those that require attunement tend to be slightly more powerful in terms of damage and/or additional effects. This is why my creation doesn't require it.
Bear in mind that it's an all or nothing weapon. You either do very little damage or very high damage. The odds of rolling two 2s are 11.11% with a repeating decimal. If it's a critical hit, you roll 2d0-4 twice, not 4d0-4 all at once. If you roll (2+3) with the first pair and (0+2) with the second pair, you only inflict 7 damage. Doing it any other way would completely break the game, as it would more than double the odds of getting maximum damage. That said, it's possible to inflict a ton of damage if you roll four 2s. For example, the maximum damage that can be inflicted with a greatsword of duality is 48 plus your proficiency bonus if you get a critical hit and only roll 2s.
Age: 33 | Sex: Male | Languages: French and English | Roles: DM and Player
You can devise tables that would use them such as random encounter tables, treasure tables, trinket table, moral check etc...
Many years ago, The Armory, a company that made 30-siders, published a couple of collections of tables to justify having one. You can probably find them on the internet. IIRC, they were fairly silly, but you might find some of them useful, or at least entertaining.
This is a doubling cube from the game backgammon. Only use I can think of is to track something that scales up or down in that way. (If you had a bunch of them and used miniatures, you might use them to represent the classic trope of dividing slime monsters.
This is a really neat idea. One could also imagine allowing dice that can't (normally) be constructed fairly, like a d7 for this purpose.
Well, the game already uses d2s & d3s. One thing I started doing is that, even if you don’t have a natural weapon, unarmed strikes from Medium creatures do 1d3+Str damage, and for Small creatures they do 1d2+Str damage instead of the flat 1+Str damage that it is RAW.
I personally dislike the d0-4, it’s skewed and I don’t like it.
The -d6 die just seems silly since the d6 already exists. I mean, do we really need the die to have a − symbol on it to remind us we’re subtracting?
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I had those tables, and the d30’s. Weird and pointless, but kind of fun.
Glad to here all the responses! I will take them into account. Some things I came up with in the meantime are as follows. The d30 I use for when I want a monster to be more likely to hit but want to give them advantage.
The d14 is used with a gambling npc that is cheating. They will roll the d14 and the player is rolling a d20 lowest roll wins. (Yes the players will find out he's cheating. It's part of the story. )
The d3 I use sometimes to decide what a monster will do in battle. The d2^ I use for determine random gold rewards for small to medium treasures.
Others I use for specific dm made situations such as an enemy that will use the -d6 to debuff enemy rolls.