I have played dnd before but i have completely forgotten what all the dice do! im going to be a dm for my homebrew campaign. i tried to research it but i only got more confused. would anyone please help me?
So, a 'd' means die/dice. If a number is before it, then you roll that number of dice. No number means one die is rolled. The number after is the number of sides on a die. So, d6 is roll one six sided die, and 4d8 means roll four eight sided die. As said above, things will say what kind of dice is needed, and d20 is the most important.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I have played dnd before but i have completely forgotten what all the dice do! im going to be a dm for my homebrew campaign. i tried to research it but i only got more confused. would anyone please help me?
help is much appreciated!
Re-read chapters 7, 9, and 10 of the Basic Rules. The vast majority of the information you will even need is in those three chapters.
Do you mean "When do I use dice, and which ones?" ( in which case just read the rules ), "How do dice work?" ( I don't believe this is what you mean ), or "What does the random element in a TTRPG even mean?".
The last one is a pretty in depth discussion, so I won't answer that unless that's what you're actually asking :p
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Roll 3 six sided dice, add them up and then add eight more.
As an example, if you rolled a 3, a 6, and a 1 as your 3d6, the total would be 10. Adding the 8 would give you 18. Just in case there were any people thinking that they needed to roll 8 more d6 (hopefully not, but you never know.)
If you're asking what the dice do, I would humbly suggest you might want to wait a bit until you're more familiar with the game mechanics before acting as Dungeon Masteer.
Thank you all for the advice! I recently started my campaign and it is a lot of fun. I have gotten used to using the d20 but I still need to learn how to use the other dice. Fortunately, my party is also very new to dnd so the worst that could happen is that we all learn as we go.
How to use the other dice? Just roll the desired amount when needed. Like we've said,
3d6+8 means:
Roll 3 six sided dice, add them up and then add eight more.
As an example, if you rolled a 3, a 6, and a 1 as your 3d6, the total would be 10. Adding the 8 would give you 18. Just in case there were any people thinking that they needed to roll 8 more d6 (hopefully not, but you never know.)
So, a longsword does 1d8 slashing damage. Roll an eight sided die!
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I hear your confusion! I had to self teach the game (cause no one else knew how to play)! It was...not trivial.
So, I told my brand new players "The d20 is the success dice, and you'll roll it 99% of the time to determine success of an attack/skill/or "did you get blown up by that fireball just now?" The rest, as far as you're concerned, are just for damage or healing."
I had my fighter pull out 3 dice to use: a d20, a d12 for her greataxe, and a d8 for her bow, and said she could put the rest aside for the game. Likewise, I had our rogue pull out a d20, a d8 for her longbow, and a d6 for her short swords. And so on for the sorcerer, based on her spells. They didn't need any other dice the whole game.
There are tables and stuff that you can use that involve various dice rolls, but pretty much, during the game, d20 is for most things, and the others are just for damage/healing.
For combat, here's a stat block bit from a brown bear: "Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage."
This means they roll a d20 and add 6 to see if they hit (that is, if the d20 +6 is at least as much as the target's AC). You can either use 8 or roll 1d8 and add 4 to figure out the damage.
1. For something like "ray of frost," you roll a d20 and add the "spell attack" number from the character sheet
2. For something like "burning hands," the target rolls a d20 and adds "saving throw modifiers" (from the character sheet) to see if they dodged out of the way or whatever (they have to roll a total at least as much as the casters "spell save DC" from the character sheet).
Ok. I think we have covered what we need to, and not much more info will be beneficial to you. Recap what we said, then read the intro to the basic rules, as well as chapter 9 and then the spellcasting section.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I have played dnd before but i have completely forgotten what all the dice do! im going to be a dm for my homebrew campaign. i tried to research it but i only got more confused. would anyone please help me?
help is much appreciated!
Dice are small sometimes-pointy things made of plastic or metal (or sometimes wood or gemstone!) that go clickety-clack and then give you a number.
If in doubt, roll a d20, otherwise skills say which to use for damage/effects.
So, a 'd' means die/dice. If a number is before it, then you roll that number of dice. No number means one die is rolled. The number after is the number of sides on a die. So, d6 is roll one six sided die, and 4d8 means roll four eight sided die. As said above, things will say what kind of dice is needed, and d20 is the most important.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Re-read chapters 7, 9, and 10 of the Basic Rules. The vast majority of the information you will even need is in those three chapters.
https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/basic-rules
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I'm somewhat confused.
Do you mean "When do I use dice, and which ones?" ( in which case just read the rules ), "How do dice work?" ( I don't believe this is what you mean ), or "What does the random element in a TTRPG even mean?".
The last one is a pretty in depth discussion, so I won't answer that unless that's what you're actually asking :p
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
The dice are random number generators used to determine outcomes. For more information I'd refer you back to the basic rules in the PHB
3d6+8 means:
Roll 3 six sided dice, add them up and then add eight more.
As an example, if you rolled a 3, a 6, and a 1 as your 3d6, the total would be 10. Adding the 8 would give you 18. Just in case there were any people thinking that they needed to roll 8 more d6 (hopefully not, but you never know.)
If you're asking what the dice do, I would humbly suggest you might want to wait a bit until you're more familiar with the game mechanics before acting as Dungeon Masteer.
Thank you all for the advice! I recently started my campaign and it is a lot of fun. I have gotten used to using the d20 but I still need to learn how to use the other dice. Fortunately, my party is also very new to dnd so the worst that could happen is that we all learn as we go.
How to use the other dice? Just roll the desired amount when needed. Like we've said,
As an example, if you rolled a 3, a 6, and a 1 as your 3d6, the total would be 10. Adding the 8 would give you 18. Just in case there were any people thinking that they needed to roll 8 more d6 (hopefully not, but you never know.)
So, a longsword does 1d8 slashing damage. Roll an eight sided die!
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
Methinks thou art correct.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
I hear your confusion! I had to self teach the game (cause no one else knew how to play)! It was...not trivial.
So, I told my brand new players "The d20 is the success dice, and you'll roll it 99% of the time to determine success of an attack/skill/or "did you get blown up by that fireball just now?" The rest, as far as you're concerned, are just for damage or healing."
I had my fighter pull out 3 dice to use: a d20, a d12 for her greataxe, and a d8 for her bow, and said she could put the rest aside for the game. Likewise, I had our rogue pull out a d20, a d8 for her longbow, and a d6 for her short swords. And so on for the sorcerer, based on her spells. They didn't need any other dice the whole game.
There are tables and stuff that you can use that involve various dice rolls, but pretty much, during the game, d20 is for most things, and the others are just for damage/healing.
For combat, here's a stat block bit from a brown bear: "Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) piercing damage."
This means they roll a d20 and add 6 to see if they hit (that is, if the d20 +6 is at least as much as the target's AC). You can either use 8 or roll 1d8 and add 4 to figure out the damage.
Oh, for spell attacks, there's a few types.
1. For something like "ray of frost," you roll a d20 and add the "spell attack" number from the character sheet
2. For something like "burning hands," the target rolls a d20 and adds "saving throw modifiers" (from the character sheet) to see if they dodged out of the way or whatever (they have to roll a total at least as much as the casters "spell save DC" from the character sheet).
3. Something other thing specified by the spell.
The spells will specify what the case is.
I think that they are trolling: and that you walk right in, and has just dealt max damage on a crit with its claws. You now roll death saving throws.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!
What the dice really do is wait till a critical time in the game then screw you over 😂
im not trolling but thats funny lol
RivaGrayEyes you are my saviour thank you for the help!
Ok. I think we have covered what we need to, and not much more info will be beneficial to you. Recap what we said, then read the intro to the basic rules, as well as chapter 9 and then the spellcasting section.
'The Cleverness of mushrooms always surprises me!' - Ivern Bramblefoot.
I'll worldbuild for your DnD games!
Just a D&D enjoyer, check out my fiverr page if you need any worldbuilding done for ya!