Dice Types Guide: D4 Through D100 Explained

The D4 — Tetrahedron

The D4 is a four-faced die in the shape of a tetrahedron — a pyramid with a triangular base. It's the most unusual die in the standard set because it doesn't have a clearly visible top face after a roll. Instead, you read the result at the bottom edge (the three numbers around the base) or the apex number (a single number printed at the tip), depending on the manufacturer's design.

The D4 has the uncomfortable property of landing with a sharp point facing upward, making it the dice most likely to embed itself in a carpet or foot. Many players affectionately call it the "caltrops die." Common uses in D&D: damage for small weapons like daggers and darts, and certain magic spells.

The D6 — Cube

The D6 is the most familiar die in the world — a standard cube with faces numbered 1 through 6. On a well-made D6, opposite faces sum to 7 (1 opposite 6, 2 opposite 5, 3 opposite 4). This is a traditional quality indicator; dice with mis-opposite faces may have manufacturing defects.

The D6 is the universal die for board games, gambling, and tabletop games worldwide. In RPGs, it's used for hit dice, damage, random tables, and character attribute generation (the classic method: roll 4d6, drop the lowest). Farkle and Yahtzee use six D6s. It's also the die used in virtually every economic and strategy board game from Monopoly to Catan.

The D8 — Octahedron

The D8 is an eight-faced die shaped like two square pyramids joined at the base. It reads clearly — the top face after settling shows the result. On a proper D8, opposite faces sum to 9.

In D&D, the D8 is primarily a weapon damage die — longswords, battle axes, and war picks deal D8 damage. It's also used for some hit dice classes (clerics, druids) and occasionally for damage spells. Outside RPGs, the D8 appears in some specialty board games and educational math tools.

The D10 — Pentagonal Trapezohedron

The D10 has ten faces in a pentagonal trapezohedron shape — elongated with two tips, similar to a squashed football. Two versions exist: one numbered 1-10 (with 0 representing 10) and one numbered 00-90 in increments of 10 (used as the "tens die" for percentile rolls).

Reading a D10 can initially confuse newcomers — the number 0 represents 10 in the standard read, not zero. Two D10s together — one standard, one tens — form a D100 percentile roll (see below). The D10 is used in D&D for certain weapon damage (heavy crossbow, polearms), the Wild Magic table, and class features.

The D12 — Dodecahedron

The D12 is a twelve-faced die with pentagonal faces, one of the five Platonic solids. It's the least commonly used die in most RPG sessions, which gives it an air of occasion when it does appear. In D&D 5e, the D12 is the hit die for barbarians (the hardiest class) and the damage die for greataxes — powerful, rare weapons. The D12 also appears in some damage spells and specific class features.

Outside RPGs, the D12 sees use in some board games — particularly war games and historical simulation games that require a larger range than D6 but don't need the granularity of a D20. Its twelve faces make it useful for month-based calendars in game systems.

The D20 — Icosahedron

The D20 is the iconic die of tabletop role-playing games — twenty triangular faces forming an icosahedron. It's the core resolution die of the D20 System (the game engine behind D&D 5e, Pathfinder, and many other games). Attack rolls, saving throws, skill checks, and most binary outcomes in D&D require a D20 roll.

The D20 produces a flat, uniform distribution from 1 to 20 — every number equally likely at 5%. A natural 20 (rolling the highest possible result) is often celebrated as a critical hit or exceptional success, while a natural 1 typically represents an automatic failure. The emotional weight of the D20 in RPG culture is enormous — entire sessions pivot on a single roll.

The D100 — Percentile Dice

A true single D100 (zocchihedron, a 100-faced sphere-like die) exists but is uncommon and rolls awkwardly. The standard method for percentile rolls uses two D10s: one designated as the tens digit and one as the units digit. Rolling 30 and 7 produces 37; rolling 00 and 0 produces 100 (not zero).

Percentile dice appear in games that require fine-grained probability — Call of Cthulhu, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and older editions of D&D use skill systems based on percentages. Random encounter tables, loot tables, and wild magic surges in D&D 5e also use percentile rolls.

Specialty Dice

Fate/Fudge Dice (dF): Six-faced dice with two blank faces, two plus faces, and two minus faces. Used exclusively in Fate Core and Fudge RPG systems. Results range from -4 to +4 when rolling four dice. The probability distribution is bell-curve shaped, centered on 0.

Compass/Direction Dice: D6s with compass points instead of numbers — used in games that require random direction determination. Common in some wargames and dungeon-generation systems.

Custom Face Dice: Games like King of Tokyo use custom symbols instead of numbers. Dice with faces marked as claws, lightning bolts, and hearts create unique probability systems tied to specific game mechanics.