Dice Roller for D&D: A Complete Guide to RPG Dice

The Standard RPG Dice Set

Tabletop RPGs like Dungeons & Dragons use a set of polyhedral dice, each with a different number of sides. The standard set includes 7 dice:

Die	Sides	Range	Common Uses
d4	4	1–4	Damage for daggers, magic missiles
d6	6	1–6	Short swords, fireballs, ability scores
d8	8	1–8	Longswords, healing spells, hit dice
d10	10	1–10 (or 0–9)	Greataxes, percentile dice
d12	12	1–12	Great axes, hit dice for barbarians
d20	20	1–20	Attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks
d100 (percentile)	100	1–100	Wild Magic, random tables

Understanding Dice Notation

RPG dice are written in the format NdX+M:

• N = Number of dice to roll
• d = Separator (short for "dice")
• X = Number of sides on the die
• +M = Modifier to add (or subtract)

Examples:

• 1d20+5 — Roll one 20-sided die and add 5 (typical attack roll)
• 2d6+3 — Roll two 6-sided dice, add them together, plus 3 (greatsword damage)
• 4d6 drop lowest — Roll four d6 and drop the lowest result (ability score generation)
• 8d6 — Roll eight d6 and sum them (Fireball spell damage)

The d20: Most Important Die in D&D

The d20 is the heart of D&D 5th Edition. Almost every meaningful action — attacking an enemy, picking a lock, persuading a guard, resisting a spell — is resolved by rolling a d20 and adding a modifier, then comparing to a target number (called the DC or AC).

• Natural 20 (Critical Hit): Rolling exactly 20 on the die is a critical hit — deal double damage dice.
• Natural 1 (Critical Failure): Rolling exactly 1 is an automatic failure — the attack misses regardless of bonuses.

Advantage and Disadvantage

D&D 5E introduced a simple mechanic: when you have Advantage, roll 2d20 and take the higher result. With Disadvantage, roll 2d20 and take the lower result. Advantage roughly adds about +3 to your effective roll; Disadvantage subtracts about 3.

Common D&D Damage Dice

Weapon	Damage Dice
Dagger, Shortsword	1d4, 1d6
Longsword (one-hand)	1d8
Longsword (two-hand)	1d10
Greatsword	2d6
Greataxe	1d12
Fireball (8th level)	8d6