Dice Notation

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Types of Dice

A game of Duongeons & Dragons (and its many variations) typically requires six types of dice:

  • Four-sided dice (tetrahedrons known as d4);
  • Common six-sided dice (cubes known as d6);
  • Eight-sided dice (octahedrons known as d8);
  • Ten-sided dice (decahedrons known as d10) - Note: some d10s have a 10 on their tenth side, but most have a zero; either way, this result should be read as a 10, unless you are rolling a percentile roll (see below, under Types of Rolls);
  • Twelve-sided dice (dodecahedrons known as d12); and
  • Twenty-sided dice (icosahedrons known as d20).

Any set of polyhedral dice available for purchase should contain all of the above.

Types of Rolls

Throughout this blog, dice rolls are notated as XdY, where X denotes the number of dice rolled and Y denotes the type of die (as explained above). Examples:

  • 3d6 means three six-sided dice;
  • 2d8 means two eight-sided dice;
  • 1d20 means one twenty-sided die;
  • And so on, and so forth.
And that's almost all there is to it. Just a couple more things: apart from basic dice notation explained above, there are also a couple additional conventions to be aware of:
  • Percentile roll (d100): there is no available die with one hundred sides (at least as far as I know). If instructed to roll 1d100, roll a d10 twice: the first result will be the tens and the second will be ones. If you roll two zeroes, the result is 100. Example 1d100 roll: you roll a 7 on the first d10 and a 4 on the second - the result is 74. 
  • "Coin Flip Roll" (d2): there are two options here. Either roll any die and read odd results as 1 and even results as 2; or flip a coin: read Heads as 1 and Tails as 2.
  • Rolls with additions (for example, 1d6 + 1): In these cases, you simply make the roll and then add the indicated value to the result. For example, if you roll 1d6 + 1, the possible results would range from 2 to 7.
  • Rolls with subtractions (for example, 1d6 - 1): As above, only subtracting the indicated value instead. For example, if you roll 1d6 - 1, the possible results would range from 0 to 5.
  • Rolls with multipliers (for example, 3d10 x 10): Again, as above, only with multiplication. For example, if you roll 3d10 x 10, the possible results of the roll (before the multiplier) would range from 3 to 30; after the multiplier, the final results would range from 30 to 300.
Why dice notation

Dice notation is ubiquitous in modern RPGs that use polyhedral dice, and for good reason: it is a concise, standardized way to express dice rolls that makes it easier to communicate and interpret game mechanics. 

Even though OD&D (see Acronyms), didn't spell out dice notation as described above (instead indicating the range of possible results), I chose to use it on this blog for both brevity and clarity, as it doesn't change that game in any way. 

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