D-Total: a single die for d3,d4,d6,d8,d12,d24

[El Mahdi]

. . . D&D dice always have. Most people needed to be told how to read the old-style d4s with the numbers running along the bottom edge. And most folks needed instruction on how to combine two d10 rolls to roll d100. The old dice sets may not have come with instructions but that's only because there was someone to show you. The D-Total is as easy to use as most conventional dice. I've shown people how to read it and they got it instantly. It's really very simple once you know how.

Personally, I never needed anyone to show me how to use dice, and I've never met anyone else who did (even newbies to the game), although I'm sure there have been those who did need to be shown. However, I suspect that statement was meant as sarcastic humor. Those dice do look like some kind of "computational device", or rune laden objects of divination, rather than just polyhedral dice.

 

[Heselbine]

Just to say I felt honoured to be DMing when you first rolled this at GenCon UK!!!

 

[Lord Xtheth]

Ok, I know this is a little off-topic, but it's realy starting to bother me; What game uses the D5 and D7? Also, why are THOSE dice so important to be included on this die?

 

[RFisher]

This is exactly the opposite of what we need. Apply your talents to creating reasons for me to add more dice to my bag rather than consolidating.

(^_^)

Seriously, though, I’ll have to pick up some of these.

 

[mach1.9pants]

Hey could you do even more plugging and possibly tell me where I could get these online..that ships to sunny NZ?

 

[Obryn]

I think that's the clincher for me. I wouldn't mind rerolling, except I'm rerolling on the most common roll I make in dnd.

Its a brilliant idea, I hope it sells well, but its not for me.

Yep, I'd find some use for one based off a d20 - it's at least a common die. It's not as evenly divisible, though.

Still, it could work very well for d4, d10, and d5 if you cared to have an omni-die.

d6 simulation would only require a re-roll 10% of the time. d8 gets messy, needing re-rolls 20% of the time. And d12... well, forget it.

-O

 

[Nifft]

They should base it on a d60.

You shouldn't have to re-roll to get a valid d20 result -- optimizing to accommodate a d12 at the expense of the d20 is just crazy. People can go their whole lives without ever needing a d12.

Cheers, -- N

 

[RFisher]

They should base it on a d60.

You shouldn't have to re-roll to get a valid d20 result -- optimizing to accommodate a d12 at the expense of the d20 is just crazy. People can go their whole lives without ever needing a d12.

Having a bag full of half d20s (to cover d20 & d10) and half these (to cover d4, d6, d8, d12) seems good enough to me. Consolidation gets the most bang when going after the lesser used bits.

 

[Zander]

Personally, I never needed anyone to show me how to use dice...

Great! You'll have no trouble at all using the D-Total.

Just to say I felt honoured to be DMing when you first rolled this at GenCon UK!!!

It was a really cool game you ran. I'm glad I got to use it for the first time at my first Living FR game.

I have to say though, that because it was available in the US for a few weeks before I received it myself, it's likely to have been used in the US before I got to roll it in your game in the UK.

Ok, I know this is a little off-topic, but it's realy starting to bother me; What game uses the D5 and D7? Also, why are THOSE dice so important to be included on this die?

None that I know of. Lou Zocchi of Gamescience just thought it would be fun to add them. He has compiled tables for d5 and d7 uses if you're interested.

Hey could you do even more plugging and possibly tell me where I could get these online..that ships to sunny NZ?

Snail mail or call Lou Zocchi of Gamescience: DiceCollector.com - Gamescience Temporary Website I'm not sure if the e-mail and site details are current but I know the postal and phone ones are. I'm pretty sure he ships anywhere that has a reasonable postal service including NZ.

 

[Zander]

They should base it on a d60.

You shouldn't have to re-roll to get a valid d20 result -- optimizing to accommodate a d12 at the expense of the d20 is just crazy. People can go their whole lives without ever needing a d12.

Cheers, -- N

I thought about that but...

1) the mould for creating the d24 already existed which saved hugely on cost,

2) a 60-sided die could be used for d3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20 and 30 without re-rolls but you would need to re-roll it for d8, and

3) it would have to be pretty big to be readable - probably bigger than is practical for most gaming tables.

If size and cost were not issues, the best shape would be d120. It accommodates all the ranges used in D&D, i.e. d4 to d20, without re-rolls. You'd only need to roll it twice for d100 (or re-roll it roughly 16% of the time).