What No that's ridiculous maybe superstitious in nature, just have dice. Usually DM's have many dice for collection reasons nothing much more except to show off and such, maybe to have different colors for different rolls but that is not necessarily a need. You can find many reasons or ways to become a good DM. Having many Dice surely isn't one of them, but having a ton of DM experience and such doing research to better the quality of ones game. What is the point of having so much dice if you don't actually research to become a good DM and just have that much Dice?
Honestly the only reason you'd need more dice at all is for rolling for many creatures or when you're doing mass damage which honestly I roll online for a majority of those because it adds it all up for me. That's total bs
I mean I'd argue it would be better to live a simpler life and only have one set of dice... instead of my problem.
Soo I don't have a ton of dice (although I definitely have more than is "necessary") but I like collecting them and sometimes the dice I get our bad so they have to go to dice jail for a couple sessions. My main problem now is I have to get a secondary dice jail before I can get more dice.
Number of dice has nothing to do with being a good or bad DM. It has more to do with length of time playing/DM-ing, I say. You find them rolling crappy or something and get pissed off so buy new ones. Then you see some really snazzy ones and buy them. Then there's a great deal on a multi-set and you buy them. Now you're a dice goblin like the rest of us lol.
Honestly though, if you prefer a single set, stick with it. How many sets of dice you have doesn't affect your ability to be creative, imaginative and a great storyteller. Anyone rating your DM skills on how many dice you carry is missing something.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
You don't need a ton of dice to be a good DM, having a single set is enought to run the game but having more help speed up multi-rolls of course as you don't have ro reroll the same dice over and over.
Having only a single set of dice can slow combat down quite a bit, for example if you cast fireball you are having to roll your single d6 eight times. Getting a second set will speed things up significantly, you only need a single roll for advantage / disadvantage and that fireball damage is now down to four rolls.
As a DM, you can literally play the game with just a single d20 and the occasional d6. Look at any creature's statblock, and next to any attack it lists the damage die of the attack and then the average damage... you can just use average damage for that. Similarly, you can use passive stats for any creature or NPC you introduce... some of the only things you absolutely need to roll for is attack rolls and saving throws... and the occasional creature that has a recharging attack that relies on a d6 roll. Other than that virtually all the rolls are on the player side of the game.
I don't know who "everyone" is, and I wouldn't take their advice until they provide some reason as to why you'd be a bad DM. I would however say that's it's good to have some spares, especially the most common dice (as @TransmorpherDDS rightly says, a d20 and a d6, the latter of which are way easier to pick up locally even if it has pips rather than numbers), so that if you lose one you're not holding up the game searching for it. If players forget or lose their dice, they can ask for the ones they need and have them returned at the end of the session.
So no, you're not a bad Dungeon Master for having only one set of dice.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
With dice rollers, including those here on D&D Beyond, the question is sort of moot.
Being a good DM has nothing to do with having a lot of "stuff" be it dice, miniatures, or even books. Now there are players who like a DM who is overstocked with such stuff, so they, the players, can use that DM's stuff. Those players are called freeloaders. The DM is not the player's parent and really most DMs and GMs really prefer players bring their own dice (me too with he exception of a couple of games with specialized dice like the most recent run of Star Wars Games, and too a lesser extent Free League's stress dice ... I mean I'd love it if folks playing those games with me brought their own, but D&D dice, heck I think you can still get those sometimes at Arby's.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Hi I'm a dm and I only have one set of dice.
Everyone tells me that I they need more dice to be a good DM.
Do you think this is true?
What No that's ridiculous maybe superstitious in nature, just have dice. Usually DM's have many dice for collection reasons nothing much more except to show off and such, maybe to have different colors for different rolls but that is not necessarily a need. You can find many reasons or ways to become a good DM. Having many Dice surely isn't one of them, but having a ton of DM experience and such doing research to better the quality of ones game. What is the point of having so much dice if you don't actually research to become a good DM and just have that much Dice?
Honestly the only reason you'd need more dice at all is for rolling for many creatures or when you're doing mass damage which honestly I roll online for a majority of those because it adds it all up for me. That's total bs
I mean I'd argue it would be better to live a simpler life and only have one set of dice... instead of my problem.
Soo I don't have a ton of dice (although I definitely have more than is "necessary") but I like collecting them and sometimes the dice I get our bad so they have to go to dice jail for a couple sessions. My main problem now is I have to get a secondary dice jail before I can get more dice.
Number of dice has nothing to do with being a good or bad DM. It has more to do with length of time playing/DM-ing, I say. You find them rolling crappy or something and get pissed off so buy new ones. Then you see some really snazzy ones and buy them. Then there's a great deal on a multi-set and you buy them. Now you're a dice goblin like the rest of us lol.
Honestly though, if you prefer a single set, stick with it. How many sets of dice you have doesn't affect your ability to be creative, imaginative and a great storyteller. Anyone rating your DM skills on how many dice you carry is missing something.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
You don't need a ton of dice to be a good DM, having a single set is enought to run the game but having more help speed up multi-rolls of course as you don't have ro reroll the same dice over and over.
Having only a single set of dice can slow combat down quite a bit, for example if you cast fireball you are having to roll your single d6 eight times. Getting a second set will speed things up significantly, you only need a single roll for advantage / disadvantage and that fireball damage is now down to four rolls.
As a DM, you can literally play the game with just a single d20 and the occasional d6. Look at any creature's statblock, and next to any attack it lists the damage die of the attack and then the average damage... you can just use average damage for that. Similarly, you can use passive stats for any creature or NPC you introduce... some of the only things you absolutely need to roll for is attack rolls and saving throws... and the occasional creature that has a recharging attack that relies on a d6 roll. Other than that virtually all the rolls are on the player side of the game.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
I don't know who "everyone" is, and I wouldn't take their advice until they provide some reason as to why you'd be a bad DM. I would however say that's it's good to have some spares, especially the most common dice (as @TransmorpherDDS rightly says, a d20 and a d6, the latter of which are way easier to pick up locally even if it has pips rather than numbers), so that if you lose one you're not holding up the game searching for it. If players forget or lose their dice, they can ask for the ones they need and have them returned at the end of the session.
So no, you're not a bad Dungeon Master for having only one set of dice.
Zero is the most important number in D&D: Session Zero sets the boundaries and the tone; Rule Zero dictates the Dungeon Master (DM) is the final arbiter; and Zero D&D is better than Bad D&D.
"Let us speak plainly now, and in earnest, for words mean little without the weight of conviction."
- The Assemblage of Houses, World of Warcraft
With dice rollers, including those here on D&D Beyond, the question is sort of moot.
Being a good DM has nothing to do with having a lot of "stuff" be it dice, miniatures, or even books. Now there are players who like a DM who is overstocked with such stuff, so they, the players, can use that DM's stuff. Those players are called freeloaders. The DM is not the player's parent and really most DMs and GMs really prefer players bring their own dice (me too with he exception of a couple of games with specialized dice like the most recent run of Star Wars Games, and too a lesser extent Free League's stress dice ... I mean I'd love it if folks playing those games with me brought their own, but D&D dice, heck I think you can still get those sometimes at Arby's.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.