What's the best die type and why is it the d12?

[Morrus]

I think the consensus is self-evident: it is by far the most common method of randomization used in analog games. The D6 is ubiquitous. Designer after designer demonstrably settles on the D6. I don't think anyone has done or will do a scientific study of the prevalence of the D6 over, say the D12, but I think it is pretty obvious.

So there’s no actual consensus?

 

[Parmandur]

Why wasn't it always the dodecahedron, or whatever, that caught on?

Pretty simply a matter of material culture: injection molding was only invented around WWII, and then soon people figured out they could make dice easily in any shape. People.made dice in other shapes throughout history, but cubes are thr easiest to carve. Still the easiest to store and ship. But once other options became easy, games that used them proliferate rapidly.

 

[RealAlHazred]

I've gamed for over 40 years so I no longer buy dice, generally. But I had to make an exception for Seth Skorkowski when I saw he made 12-sided d6s. I play and run a lot of Hero System, and it's nice having d6s that roll well.

 

[Clint_L]

So there’s no actual consensus?

There's no 100% consensus on anything, is there? Is that what you're looking for? I feel like you're being pedantic about a pretty straightforward point about the ubiquity of the D6 even today, when plenty of alternatives are readily and cheaply available. In pragmatic and consensus terms, there's a pretty obvious winner, by a massive margin. That's why I wrote "overwhelming consensus."

"Best" is subjective, so the coherence and correspondence truth tests are off the table. The best I can give you are consensus arguments, which are never 100%, and pragmatic ones, both of which seem to overwhelmingly favour the D6. My personal favour runs more to the D20, simply because I associate it with discovering D&D as a lad, though I most like the aesthetic apparance of the D12.

 

[Clint_L]

Pretty simply a matter of material culture: injection molding was only invented around WWII, and then soon people figured out they could make dice easily in any shape.

So D6s have practical advantages, as well as the others I cited. Good point.

People.made dice in other shapes throughout history, but cubes are thr easiest to carve. Still the easiest to store and ship. But once other options became easy, games that used them proliferate rapidly.

Do they? Or are they still a tiny fraction compared to the good ol' D6? I'm pretty sure it's the latter, but am happy to admit that I haven't recently counted all the popular games that use D12s or whatever. I feel pretty secure that they are still a cool but niche die. Designers just keep coming back to the D6. Between us we've already mentioned many reasons why.

 

[Kobold Stew]

d6 -- the People's Die.