How many dice does a player need?

[cerberuspuppy]

Here's an interesting question: Of course you can never have too many dice, but what's good for a new player to start out with? I'm getting a Christmas present for a guy who has never played any RPGs and I figured the best choice might very well be dice, which are useful regardless of the system.

So far I have:

A set of 10 d10, because they look cool (black with gold numbers) and that covers the possibility of WW, L5R etc and must surely be enough for PF.

Another set of a dozen d6, again for the look and to cover Shadowrun etc. Should also be plenty for PF.

4d20 which should be more than enough for anything.

2d12, which I'm pretty sure is enough- these don't get used much anywhere.

1 percentile die, cuz you never know.

Here's where I'm really uncertain:

7d8 Should I go for the full 10?

6d4 Does anything use more than 5?

Thanks.

[Kimera757]

I have 6 Gamescience d20s and need more. Mind you, I play and run 4e too, and all those AoE attacks I make require lots of dice. Not like in Pathfinder.

I expanded my dice collection (the non-d20s), but learned that required an increase in organization I hadn't done, so I was slow with the dice in the last game session.

I keep 36 d6s in a "cube". Neat for when I'm dropping a Flame Strike. In theory, if I played a Disintegrate-happy wizard, I'd need more. (At that point, just start averaging the dice.)

Even in Pathfinder, you might need lots of d20s. My last Pathfinder PC was a druid, who often turned into a tiger, and another PC liked using Haste. At any one time I was likely to make 4 attack rolls (and used different dice for each). I deliberately ensured all my attack bonuses were the same so I didn't have to break the sequence.

[krevon]

In addition to more dice I also need more/bigger containers for dice. Preferably a much bigger container so I can get more dice later.

[Anthony Adam]

I would start with a standard dice set something like...

6x d20 - so as you play you can roll multiple attacks at once.
6x d12 - should cover multi attacks with big ass axes and the like
4x d10 - allowing percentile rolls, 1000 and 10,000 rolls should you need them
6x d8 - should cover multi attacks with big swords and the like
10x d6 - kind of a good average maximum spell set
6x d4 - I cant remember rolling more than this in the last 3-4 years.

This covers most (80%+) of classes abilities and spell needs from level 1-20.

That said, the bare minimum is one of each, it means rolling and adding as you go.

You might want to adjust these numbers to reflect your playe style and for any other games you play, but the above is pretty much my dice bag, and has been for the last 30 years - when those rare occasions occur where I need more than 10 d6, it's not much of a hardship to roll all 10 dice, total them and roll some more.

[cerberuspuppy]

FWIW all four d20s are different colors. I was careful of that at least.

How could a player, not the DM, possibly need 36 d6? Let alone more?

[Scrogz]

ALL OF THEM!!!!

[Mapleswitch]

There are some sites where you can buy around 1000 random dice for like $15.00.

I have created a broken character that needed 84d6 per round (if every attack hit).

[Mapleswitch]

New players should get like 2 sets of dice (different colors) and maybe 5 additional d6s, 3 additional d4s, and 2 additional d20s.

[Eryx_UK]

In my opinion a player never needs more than:

5D4.
9D6.
1D8.
2D10 (tens and units).
1D12.
1D20.

The D4's are in case of magic missiles, and the D6's in case of damage spells like fireball and lightning bolt.

[williamoak]

I would personally start with a SIMPLE set. 1d4, 1d6, 1d10, 1d12 & 1d20. If the guy has never played before, you might just freak them out, especially if they've nver played PnP before. I'm not too surprised by what the people are naming here because I've seen people play warhammer 40k (and roll several hundred d6s in a single turn).

I say, keep it simple, and maybe go with something else introductory (other than dice). A figurine or something. It's less intimidating than being thrown 2 dozen dice with the implication that you'll need to use them.

[cerberuspuppy]

Hrm. I don't think I'll sweat the d12s unless he winds up playing a Barbarian. The d20s should be fine at 4, we can get a couple more later if need be at higher levels. I was worried most about the d4s and d8s because I didn't know if anything in PF might need more.

Thanks all.

[Kolokotroni]

cerberuspuppy wrote:

Here's an interesting question: Of course you can never have too many dice, but what's good for a new player to start out with? I'm getting a Christmas present for a guy who has never played any RPGs and I figured the best choice might very well be dice, which are useful regardless of the system.

So far I have:

A set of 10 d10, because they look cool (black with gold numbers) and that covers the possibility of WW, L5R etc and must surely be enough for PF.

Another set of a dozen d6, again for the look and to cover Shadowrun etc. Should also be plenty for PF.

4d20 which should be more than enough for anything.

2d12, which I'm pretty sure is enough- these don't get used much anywhere.

1 percentile die, cuz you never know.

Here's where I'm really uncertain:

7d8 Should I go for the full 10?

6d4 Does anything use more than 5?

Thanks.

7 d8 should be fine.

Yes some things use more then 5d4, they are rare but they happen

Just keep in mind you want if possible to match at least 2 or 3 sets of all 7 dice together. That way you can roll them in concert. Ywant a d20, d10, percentile die, d12, d8, d6 and d4 all the same color/shade/whatever so that you can roll them together and some that are different, for attacks and such

[cerberuspuppy]

Yeah most of the dice are black with white numbers because black is his favorite color.

[Deadalready]

Personally I have about 4 or 5 full active sets of dice with 8d6s and d20s on the side. Additionally I have two sets of low quality dice for lending. I gm and it's been effectively enough a setup for me.

The most used dice are d20s and d6s in my opinion so the more the merrier.

A person can easily get away with a 7 piece set and a d6 set for a long time.

My personal thoughts on a complete set would be.

4d20 regularly used and useful for additional attacks. Make sure all different colours.
10d6+ extremely useful and constantly used, mages and thieves need more
4d8 moderate use, divine casters use a few at most
4d4 some spells and weapons but rarely more than 2d4 are needed

1d12 uh... great axe or fighter hit die. Never personally used
1d10 I've used maybe five times ever
1d% used extremely occassionally.

[Drejk]

cerberuspuppy wrote:

FWIW all four d20s are different colors. I was careful of that at least.

How could a player, not the DM, possibly need 36 d6? Let alone more?

Disintegrate spell inflicts 2d6 points of damage per caster level with a maximum of 40 dice per casting. 14th level wizard or sorcerer can reach the dice limit with investment of a few feats, traits and items that improve caster level.

[fretgod99]

I'm with williamoak. If that were me, I'd get a nicely colored standard set (d20, d12, d10(%), d10, d8, 1-4d6 (depending on set), d4). It's a good idea for a gift.

I'm fickle about my dice, though. I'd like to buy my own. Having a starter set or whatever would be great. But if this guy really gets into the hobby, he might want to go out and pick up his own set. Then he'd have multiples of stuff when he needs them. He's not going to need 6d20 right off the bat, if he's playing Pathfinder. Obviously that need may change if he's playing other stuff. But I'd still err on just getting the introductory set, not the whole kit and caboodle.

[Zilvar2k11]

Mach Dice for iOS. :) Cheaper than all those dice (if not quite as much fun).

[Deadalready]

My personal opinion is:
Once someone gets serious about RPing, they'll buy their own dice regardless what they already have.

[Ciaran Barnes]

I have 200+ at the game table in my tupperware tub, but typically only have four to six out at a time. I have a bunch I haven't used in a decade or more but I cant get rid of them.

[Kolokotroni]

cerberuspuppy wrote:

Yeah most of the dice are black with white numbers because black is his favorite color.

This probably isnt the best way to do this. You need at least a couple sets (d20,d12,d10,d8,d6,d4) that differentiate and match eachother. So like 1 black set, one blue set and one red set of each of the 7 dice. You could like do one black, one marble black and one grey, but all the same color isnt going to be much more useful then just 1 set long term.

[Claxon]

williamoak wrote:

I would personally start with a SIMPLE set. 1d4, 1d6, 1d10, 1d12 & 1d20. If the guy has never played before, you might just freak them out, especially if they've nver played PnP before. I'm not too surprised by what the people are naming here because I've seen people play warhammer 40k (and roll several hundred d6s in a single turn).

I say, keep it simple, and maybe go with something else introductory (other than dice). A figurine or something. It's less intimidating than being thrown 2 dozen dice with the implication that you'll need to use them.

Agreed, though you forget a d8 and d%, but your point is clear.

I've always just preferred to roll the same die multiple times. And for exceptional large number of dice pools (20d6 or such) my group decided long enough that average damage is good enough. Surprisingly, when rolling that many dice it usually works out close to average any way, surprisingly statitics makes sense.

[Matthew Morris]

Need? For Pathfinder, 7.

TO keep your fellow players from killing you when you roll 1d6 10 times for a fireball? A lot more. :-)

[Neo2151]

Bare minimum to get a person started? Here's my suggestion:

•1x d20 (Re-rolling this one for all the times you need to roll a d20 isn't a big deal, so you really don't NEED multiples.)
•1x d12 (Have one just in case, but don't expect it to get used much, if ever even.)
•10x d10 (For d20 games like PF, you only need a couple, but getting a set of 10 covers you for all the alt d10 games like WW and L5R, etc.)
•5x d8 (Another rare roller except for spells, which typically won't go higher than 5 in my experience.)
•36x d6 (You'll probably never need this many, but your "set" options to buy are typically cubes of 12 or cubes of 36, and since there are enough times you'll need 15d6, it's worth getting the cube of tiny d6s instead of the regular-sized ones.)
•5x d4 (Magic Missile, and you're pretty much covered.)

[Bardez]

Q: How many dice does a player need?
A: "More."

[Moondragon Starshadow]

None. Get a dice rolling app on your phone for free. It even does the math for you.

[Helic]

Prime Dice on the Google Play (Android) store is very nice, though it might be a bit graphically intense on low-end smartphones (because it simulates the physics of dice rolls). It supports multiple dice presets, so you can set up your 5D4 on one and your 10D6 on another and flip between them as required.

The nice things about dice bots is that most of them will sum the dice for you, which is useful when you're rolling 15D6.

[RainyDayNinja]

If you only need 12 d6's for Shadowrun, you're doing it wrong.

[Kayerloth]

I'm with the minimalist group here. Buy the minimum of 1 each including a nice d%, then buy a nice large dice bag that will hold a bunch more dice that he will (inevitably) collect when he gets hooked on his choice for favorite game(s). If I were to add a few more it would be of the d4, d6 and d8 varieties and perhaps a couple extra differently colored d10's for iterative attacks.

Totally agree with Matthew above, anything beyond the first is needed more for keeping fellow players from strangling you while you slowly roll single dice and add than is needed for actual playing.

[Xorran]

For Pathfinder I use 7 full sets of dice, all of different colors, and always keep track of attacks 1-7 with the same colors, and roll all my attacks and damage at the same time, and since everything is color coded, damage dice being the same color as the d20 die, it's easy to figure out which damage dice to use for damage. Normally, this leaves me with several "unused" percentile dice, also 7 colors, I use about 6 of them to keep track of things like hit points, combat rounds, bleed damage, or anything else that you may need to keep track of temporarily, spinning dice is a lot of time easier than erasing, writing, etc etc.

Example, if I'm playing a fighter, and he gets two attacks, at a +15, and +10, with a d12 for damage. I designate my Black dice for his first attack, and the White dice for his second attack, I roll all four of my dice at the same time when making a full attack, lets say I roll a 4 on my Black d20, and a 19 on my White d20, I'd ask the GM if a 19, hit, if not, I'd ask if a 29 hit, if it did, I know to use the White d12 for damage. If the 19 from the Black d20 hit, then I know 29 from the White d20 hit so I would simply tell the GM that both my attacks hit, and tell him the damage from both my Black and White d12's.

Almost all my players have adapted this form of play for combat, and it really speeds things up in combat, especially when you have archers or monks making 5+ attacks per round.

Just my thoughts, whoa, I really rambled there.

[Kalshane]

Yeah, for a brand new player, I'd stick with one starter set, maybe a set of fireball dice (case of d6s) and a nice dice bag. You don't want to overwhelm the guy, and if he ends up deciding gaming isn't his thing, he's not overloaded with a ton of dice he needs to get rid of.

That said, for an experienced player, there's no such thing as too many. :)

[Cori Marie]

I just counted my dice, and not counting what has been lost of the years this is what I have:
Full sets of seven:
Pink and White
Light purple and blue
Translucent Purple
Translucent Blue
Translucent Red
Translucent Green
Greenish set from 3.5 era
Primary color set from 3.5 era
Red set from the Beginner box
Frosty light teal
Teal and dark blue
Navy with gold lettering
Rise of the Runelords
Shattered Star
Carrion Crown

10 Cthulhu d6s
10 standard white d6s
1 blue d6
1 red d6
1 black d6
1 blue d20
1 translucent red d8
2 black d10s
1 clear and really pointy d8
1 promotional d6 from the local anime con

133 total

[Haladir]

Herein are the dice I keep in my traveling dice bag.

I still have a "full" set of six transparent dice I bought in 1984 at the local bookstore that stocked D&D books. A yellow d20, blue d12, green d10, orange d8, red d6, and clear d4. The yellow d20 is still my favorite! Originally, the numbers weren't painted. I filled them in with a white crayon. (They also didn't make d10s numbered with the 10s digit back then... at least I never saw one until the mid-1990s)

2 complete sets of 7 dice...
- black with white numbers
- Rise of the Runelords set

A pair of "vampire dice" that are black with red numbers, marked with a "10" and a rose for the "1".

A pipped d8 (white with black pips)

Eight small black marbled d6, with red pips.

A pair of casino dice my wife brought back from a business trip in Vegas.

Two additional d4s (one green marbled with blue numbers, one blue transparent with red numbers.)

Two additional d8s (both solid green with white letters.)

Three additional d20s (one 16mm steel, one red marbled with yellow numbers, one translucent red that's numbered 0-9 twice; once in white and once in red).

Totals:

d20: 6
d12: 4
d10: 10 (4 numbered with the 10s digit)
d8: 6
d6: 13
d4: 6

I also have a bunch more dice in a box on my gaming bookshelf. It includes some oddball dice, like a d3 (a d6 numbered 1-3 twice), a d30, a d14, and a bunch of regular dice I don't like as well.)

[ZanThrax]

I like to have at hand enough dice to roll my entire full round action without reusing many, if any dice.

So 1d20 plus damage dice for each attack, colour matched so there's no question about which is for what attack. If I had enough room to roll it, I'd include crit confirmation and crit damage dice at the same time (although at that point, I'd probably have to start writing down which colour is what.) I'll always have enough d6 (or d8 or d4, whatever) for sneak attacks and/or spells that I might get on my turn. Rolling a multi-d6 fireball is time consuming enough without having to keep rolling the same dice. A full-attack w/ sneak attack dice on each hit would take way too long if I had to keep rolling more dice over and over.

[BigNorseWolf]

Enough to roll around on like a red dragon enjoying a hoard!

I think your set sounds good.

[Drejk]

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Enough to roll around on like a red dragon enjoying a hoard!

I think your set sounds good.

Actually, I would advise against rolling on the dice... Especially the d4...

[Bruunwald]

Eryx_UK wrote:

In my opinion a player never needs more than

1D20.

The OP mentioned several game systems. He didn't mention any standard Wargames, but Dark Age, for instance, uses mainly d20s and a player might roll upwards of ten at a time.

[Bruunwald]

Drejk wrote:

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Enough to roll around on like a red dragon enjoying a hoard!

I think your set sounds good.

Actually, I would advise against rolling on the dice... Especially the d4...

Shouted by Joel during the "Cave Dwellers" episode of MST3K:

"Ow! I landed on my eight-sided dice!"

[Drejk]

Bruunwald wrote:

Eryx_UK wrote:

In my opinion a player never needs more than

1D20.

The OP mentioned several game systems. He didn't mention any standard Wargames, but Dark Age, for instance, uses mainly d20s and a player might roll upwards of ten at a time.

We must be thinking about completely different Dark Age games because those I know of use handful of d10s...

[Adamantine Dragon]

I concur with the idea that throwing a wall of dice at a new player might well intimidate them into wondering what they've gotten into.

My suggestion:

Two different colored d20
Two different colored d10
Four d8
Six d6
Four d4

That should be enough to handle most normal situations, without feeling like hauling a bag of rocks around.

Over time I'd probably double all those and throw in a couple d12 too.

I know players who've never rolled a d12 in game play in their entire careers.

[Drejk]

Bruunwald wrote:

Drejk wrote:

BigNorseWolf wrote:

Enough to roll around on like a red dragon enjoying a hoard!

I think your set sounds good.

Actually, I would advise against rolling on the dice... Especially the d4...

Shouted by Joel during the "Cave Dwellers" episode of MST3K:

"Ow! I landed on my eight-sided dice!"

D8 is nothing when compared to the destructive power of d4. Adventuring-grade caltrops are modeled after d4 after all...

[Avatar-1]

3x d20 (multiple attacks, Misfortune and Fortune are common witch hexes, not to mention the Ill Omen spell)

1x d12 (more, if you're a gunslinger)

2x d10 (for d% rolls, possibly more if you like Call Lightning)

4x d8 (for cure spells!)

10x d6 (channelling, Fireball, Lightning Bolt, Bane weapons, Holy weapons; you can get away with 5 if you don't really use these to their full extent; go higher if you think you'll use them a lot with Empower Spell)

5x d4 (Magic Missile, Ear Piercing Scream - both common)

And yes, matching colours to sets is relatively important, you'll regret this later if you buy dice that don't colour match.

[Charlie Bell]

I'd say one full matching set for each attack in their best full attack. That way they can roll all the dice at once for a full attack. Also a bunch of d6's for a spellcaster, alchemist, or anyone with sneak attack.

[Wolf Munroe]

Most of my players have 1 set of 7 dice in our level 4 campaign.

1d4
1d6
1d8
1d10
1d12
1d20
1d%

If they need more dice they borrow from someone else at the table.

Until we get higher level, I'm actually only using two sets of 7 dice myself.

That and some loose d6s will usually do the job for Pathfinder until you're level 5+.

Then you're looking at stuff like more d6s for sneak attacks and channel energy, and for various spells you'll need other kinds of dice.

So I guess I'm just saying it sounds like you've got him very well covered with what you're getting him. I don't know if I own that many dice.

[ngc7293]

Amazon.com sells Chessex dice. A beginner really only needs one set of dice. That way if you really are not sure if he or she is going to stay with the games, they don't have a 'ton' of dice to put some place.

On the other hand, if that person you know is a gamer through and through, I suggest the Chessex Pound 'o' dice. You get a wide assortment of dice and a standard set of dice.

I have lots of dice that I have from all kinds of games over many years. I think I even still have the dice from an old Clue box. Anyway, I bought the Pound o dice since half of my collection is not complete sets.

Oh, one other thing. If your friend is old enough, get them some Crown Royal as it comes with a free dice bag! :D (or keep the alcohol for yourself!)

One thing about extra dice: If you are going to play Champions, you need at LEAST 15d6.

[ZanThrax]

Don't buy Chessex pound of dice, it'll be full of oddballs and factory seconds. Buy the WizKids mixture instead. No factory seconds, no oddball dice, and a good chance to get a bag full of colour matched sets.

[Pan]

krevon wrote:

In addition to more dice I also need more/bigger containers for dice. Preferably a much bigger container so I can get more dice later.

Get the bigger bottle of crown royal.

[ngc7293]

ZanThrax wrote:

Don't buy Chessex pound of dice, it'll be full of oddballs and factory seconds. Buy the WizKids mixture instead. No factory seconds, no oddball dice, and a good chance to get a bag full of colour matched sets.

A friend of mine said roughly the same thing. Why would I get a bag of dice that was a random set. I reasoned that my bag of dice after all the years of collecting was incomplete. After all that time I had lost a die here and there so many sets had lost a die. To buy the Pound was perfect for my bag. I didn't need perfect sets of dice.

Like a 'seasoned veteran', I have lots of crazy dice, like that round purple d6 and that d10 with pips. I also have metal d6s, but the stand that I got them at only had two left.

This is why I suggested the pound to a new person because they would have a bag of dice, not just a small set. They would look like they had been playing games for a while.

[Bruunwald]

Drejk wrote:

Bruunwald wrote:

Eryx_UK wrote:

In my opinion a player never needs more than

1D20.

The OP mentioned several game systems. He didn't mention any standard Wargames, but Dark Age, for instance, uses mainly d20s and a player might roll upwards of ten at a time.

We must be thinking about completely different Dark Age games because those I know of use handful of d10s...

Dark Age. As in the one with all the Brom art.

Page 13 of the Core Rules:

20-SIDED DICE: Used throughout Dark Age, roll twenty-sided dice (d20s) to determine the outcome of statistic rolls and general game play. Multiple dice of different colors.... blah blah blah.

See here.

[Ivan Rûski]

The tradition we have in our group is to buy new players a nice basic set of 7: 1d4, 1d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d20, and 1d%. If more are needed during play we just hand over the extras as needed.

[Kata. the .....]

And, of course, you need all the cool dice you rarely (or less often) use. I love my d3, d5, d7, d14, d16, d24, d30, d50 and d100s.

Actually, just a typical set of 7 matching dice in a color scheme he likes is probably all you really need.