The d4 doesn't roll well, and it cripples you if you step on one.

The d12 has so much potential.  It rolls well, and it's result is very easy to read.  It needs to get more love than it does.

I found some d12's which are numbered 1-4 three times. The fun of a d12, the utility of a d4. Win-win.

Quote from: Razor 007;1085039The d4 doesn't roll well, and it cripples you if you step on one.

The d12 has so much potential.  It rolls well, and it's result is very easy to read.  It needs to get more love than it does.

er?  The d12 actually does pop up in some board games. Also a few years ago I made a mini game for a contest where the game had to use a d12. There is also the Cthulhu Dice game which uses a d12. Havent seen it on shelves in a while though. And I think it last year was playtesting someones mini RPG that used a d12.

Whats really interesting is how frequently the d8 shows up in board games.

I have basically the same feelings about d4s and d12s.

My system steps up your damage die with proficient weapons periodically as you level up. By level 6 no one uses a d4 anymore (unless you are not proficient with daggers for some reason). By level 11 a longsword wielded with proficiency uses a d12.

Quote from: finarvyn;1085040I found some d12's which are numbered 1-4 three times. The fun of a d12, the utility of a d4. Win-win.

Where?! Where!? :eek:

..or you could use your d12, and using your head, simply divide the result shows up by three rounded up to get your 1d4 result. d12 roll, 1 to 3=1, 4 to 6=2, 7 to 9=3, and 10 to12=4. So simple and elegant.

Quote from: Vile;1085075Where?! Where!? :eek:

These are the ones I use: https://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Specialty-Speckled-Arctic-Polyhedral/dp/B01HQVH580/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=d4&qid=1556552511&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-19

If you do a little searching on places like Amazon, you should be able to find others. I know there's an actual 4-sided version of the d4 that's much better as well, but I haven't actually played with it.

Quote from: Omega;1085065er?  The d12 actually does pop up in some board games. Also a few years ago I made a mini game for a contest where the game had to use a d12. There is also the Cthulhu Dice game which uses a d12. Havent seen it on shelves in a while though. And I think it last year was playtesting someones mini RPG that used a d12.

And don't forget Pokethulhu!

Quote from: GameDaddy;1085079..or you could use your d12, and using your head, simply divide the result shows up by three rounded up to get your 1d4 result. d12 roll, 1 to 3=1, 4 to 6=2, 7 to 9=3, and 10 to12=4. So simple and elegant.

I really dislike doing even simple math on dice results. A chain of math (roll dice, divide result to get another value, apply any modifiers) means more opportunities for error.
That's part of the reason why I got some of the odder dice. (d3, d5, d7, etc.)

Is the d12 really less common than d4? It seems to me games that use either use the full range d3 to d20 or they just use d6. I can't think of a game that has d4 without the others. As a damage die the d12 might be used a little less simply because d12 is usually limited to the largest weapons.


Personally I like when games play with variations of possible dice rolls to create slight alterations in minimum and average damage done. Say weapons with with a max damage of 12, you can use 1d12, 2d6, 1d8+1d4, 3d4, 1d10+2 and 1d8+4. Gives weapons a little different feel without escalating damage by simply adding dice.

d4 is probably more common for old schoolers on grounds of magic-user and (some) thief hit dice, daggers, and magic missiles. d12s only really show up for longsword damage against large creatures.

Quote from: Brand55;1085081These are the ones I use: https://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Specialty-Speckled-Arctic-Polyhedral/dp/B01HQVH580/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=d4&qid=1556552511&s=toys-and-games&sr=1-19

If you do a little searching on places like Amazon, you should be able to find others. I know there's an actual 4-sided version of the d4 that's much better as well, but I haven't actually played with it.

Yeah, that's what mine look like -- Roman numerals and all. I have some speckled ones like those and a couple gray ones, but they gray ones are harder to read. My wife tried the speckled ones for a magic missile spell and they rolled awesome for her, and at the moment she refuses to return them.

For d4, I use these:

http://www.gamescience.com/Gamescience%C2%AE-Four-Most-Die--Red--d8-1-4-2x--Eight-sided-die--Plain_p_28.html

I like the colors as being slightly off so you can easily pick the d4 out from the d8.

For d12 use: During my AD&D time, d12 got a lot of use due to it's use as the damage die for long sword vs. large creatures. Later, it saw decent use in a college friend's home brew. In his system, if you had a +2 weapon that normally did 1d8 damage, instead of rolling 1d8+2 you rolled 1d12. In the system, you always minimized adds to damage dice, so you looked for a die combination using multiples of the same die with the same average, so there was the simple progression d4 -> d6 -> d8 -> d10 -> d12, or 2d4 -> 2d4+1 -> 2d6 -> 2d6+1 -> 2d8 -> 2d8+1 -> 2d10 -> 2d10+1 -> 2d12). Rune Quest 1 and 2 uses d12 for a few weapons damage.

In contrast, while I like the idea of d6 only games, it always bums me out to not have a use for all the polyhedral dice in my collection...

Frank

Quote from: finarvyn;1085040I found some d12's which are numbered 1-4 three times. The fun of a d12, the utility of a d4. Win-win.

I need these in my life.

Quote from: Armchair Gamer;1085149d4 is probably more common for old schoolers on grounds of magic-user and (some) thief hit dice, daggers, and magic missiles. d12s only really show up for longsword damage against large creatures.

In the Pathfinder Playtest, I saw 3 weapons doing d12 damage now; so the times have changed.

Greataxe
Greatsword
Maul

However; in D&D 5E, the Greatsword and Maul do 2d6.