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

[Glyfair]

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?

The old Superworld RPG (based on Chaosium's Basic Roleplaying) allowed characters to build their powers to use any die. I would occasionaly create character's that used a d7 or d11 just to do it (and see the look on the player's face who ended up with the character).

 

[El Mahdi]

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

Yep. Doesn't take any instruction to not use it, which is exactly what I'll be doing.

 

[Zander]

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)... However, I suspect that statement was meant as sarcastic humor.

Nope. Official instructions how to read a d4 from 1981: http://www.dicecollector.com/MINT16_TSR_DRAGON_DICE_RED_01.jpg

 

[El Mahdi]

Man was that a humorous blast from the past. I'm just afraid of what's next for the future. Maybe a "Polyhedral Dice for Dummies" book?

 

[Jhaelen]

Hmm, the thing that I'd worry about is that a d24 isn't a platonic shape. It's something I dislike about the d10, as well. I prefer using a d20 as a d10 for that reason.

I'm also unsure about the advantage of such a die. Is it the 'coolness-factor'?

 

[Hypersmurf]

Gah. I encountered one of these at GenCon, and halfway through the game, I wanted to throw it across the room.

"So, my first attack is... [clatter] ... oops, 21... [clatter] ... wait, 24... [clatter] ... okay, a 17. That hits? Okay, so 1d8 + 2d6 + 2 damage. That's... [clatter] ... 6, and ... [clatter] ... 4, and ... [clatter] ... 2, plus 2 is 14 damage. Now, my second attack... [clatter] ..."

The d20 never needs a reroll. With your d8 and your 2d6, you can roll all your damage at once!

If you were trapped on a desert island with only one die? Sure, sign me up! But in any other situation, I really can't see the advantage... and if someone insists on using a single dTotal to replace every other die they use, it really slows things down. Annoyingly so.

If he'd had three or four in different colours, it might have been fine. Always roll the black dTotal and the white dTotal for a d20 - if the black die shows a 21-24, take the result of the white. For damage, the black is a d8, and the white and green are d6s.

... but if you're carting around three or four dTotals, why not just have a set of dice?

-Hyp.

 

[Zander]

Hmm, the thing that I'd worry about is that a d24 isn't a platonic shape. It's something I dislike about the d10, as well. I prefer using a d20 as a d10 for that reason.

A die needn't have faces that are the same and angles bewtween them the same to be fair. The D-Total (and a conventional d10) has faces that are the same and angles that are too. So there isn't any problem at all about fairness. With regards to d10s, I believe this has been demonstrated empirically.

I'm also unsure about the advantage of such a die. Is it the 'coolness-factor'?

Among other things. It also means that you don't need to worry misplacing or forgetting a particular die from a set - if you have a D-Total, you can play D&D.

Gah. I encountered one of these at GenCon, and halfway through the game, I wanted to throw it across the room.

I've been using one successfully since UK Gen Con. The usual response from other players is: "Oooh! What's that?... Cool!"

If he'd had three or four in different colours, it might have been fine. Always roll the black dTotal and the white dTotal for a d20 - if the black die shows a 21-24, take the result of the white. For damage, the black is a d8, and the white and green are d6s.

There are tentative plans to produce the D-Total in other colours.

... but if you're carting around three or four dTotals, why not just have a set of dice?

Three or four D-Totals are not the equivalent of a set of dice; they're the equivalent of several sets of dice.

 

[El Mahdi]

Gah. I encountered one of these at GenCon, and halfway through the game, I wanted to throw it across the room.

I've been using one successfully since UK Gen Con. The usual response from other players is: "Oooh! What's that?... Cool!"

But obviously not the response of this player and potential customer! I've always felt that if a product is good, it will sell itself. If it requires a forceful sales pitch, or an almost antagonistic response towards naysayers, in order to win over customers, then it's definitely not the product for me. If a salesperson or product designer is able to face criticism of their product, and good natured joking about their product, with a certain amount of humour and humility, that goes a long way towards winning me over. The opposite however just me off. In fact, at that point it becomes a product I'd even go out of my way to ridicule, criticize, and bash to any gamers I know, or with any gamers who happen to bring this product up in conversation.

But hey, that's just me.



P.S.: The above quotes aren't the only instances in this thread of what I was talking about in this post, just the latest example.

 

[RFisher]

A die needn't have faces that are the same and angles bewtween them the same to be fair.

Well, he didn’t claim it couldn’t be fair, he just said it wasn’t Platonic. It is possible to recognize that they can be fair and still prefer Platonics.

 

[Dausuul]

In 3E, I was seriously thinking about creating a single die that would be the statistical equivalent of rolling 5d6 or 10d6, just to speed up play at the higher levels. However, 4E has made that mostly moot, since I don't think you ever roll more than 7 dice.