Which Dice Do You Need for Tabletop RPGs?

The Standard 7-Die RPG Set

Almost every tabletop RPG starter set contains the same seven dice: D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, D20, and a percentile D10 (marked 00-90). This set covers the full range of dice used in the most popular RPG systems. If you're building your first dice collection, one complete set of these seven is enough to play most games — and two or three sets becomes genuinely useful once you understand which dice you'll roll most frequently.

The standard set comes from the physical forms of the Platonic solids (tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, icosahedron) plus the pentagonal trapezohedron D10. See the Dice Types Guide for shape details and reading methods for each type.

Which Dice Each Major System Uses

Dungeons & Dragons 5e

D&D 5e uses all seven standard dice. The D20 is the core resolution die for nearly every action. The D4 through D12 cover weapon damage ranges. D100 (two D10s) handles percentile tables and Wild Magic. You'll roll D20 constantly, D6 and D8 frequently (weapons and healing spells), and D4/D12 occasionally for specific weapons or spells. For a full breakdown, see the D&D Dice Explained guide.

Pathfinder 2e

Pathfinder 2e follows a similar D20 System structure to D&D — all seven standard dice are used. The game features a four-degree success system (critical success, success, failure, critical failure) that makes the specific D20 result more granular. Weapon dice and spell dice mirror D&D, though some specific abilities use dice sizes unique to Pathfinder.

Shadowrun (6th Edition)

Shadowrun uses only D6s — but lots of them. Characters assemble dice pools of 4 to 20+ D6s and roll all of them simultaneously. Each die showing 5 or 6 is a "hit"; you need a minimum number of hits to succeed. This pool-based system creates bell curve distributions from multiple D6s. For Shadowrun, you'll want 10-20 matching D6s in a single color for quick counting.

Call of Cthulhu (7th Edition)

Call of Cthulhu uses a D100 (two D10s) as its primary die for skill checks and most rolls. The game also uses D6s for damage and D3s (usually a D6 halved and rounded up) for some effects. If you're playing primarily Call of Cthulhu, having several D10 pairs is more important than a wide variety of types.

Blades in the Dark

Blades in the Dark is a D6-pool system similar in mechanics to Shadowrun. Players roll 1-4 D6s and read the highest single die result on a 1-6 scale (1-3 = bad, 4-5 = partial success, 6 = full success). Multiple 6s indicate a critical. A small collection of D6s — 4 to 6 matching dice — is all you need for this system.

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (4th Edition)

WFRP uses D100 for skill tests and D10s for damage. The game is heavily percentile-focused, so multiple D10 pairs are useful. Some optional advanced rules also use D6s. The system is similar to Call of Cthulhu in its dice requirements.

How Many Dice Should You Own?

The minimum is one standard 7-die set. The practical recommendation is two to three complete sets, plus extra D6s. Here's why:

• Advantage/Disadvantage: Rolling two D20s simultaneously is faster than re-rolling one — having two D20s in your set speeds up play.
• Damage rolls: A greatsword deals 2D6; a rogue's Sneak Attack at level 5 is 3D6. Multiple D6s save time.
• Spells: Fireball deals 8D6. If you're the party's wizard, having eight or more D6s makes big spell rolls satisfying rather than laborious.
• Different colors for different characters: If you play multiple characters across campaigns, separate-color sets avoid mix-ups.

Specialty Dice

Fate/Fudge Dice (dF): Four-sided dice with minus, blank, and plus faces. Used exclusively in Fate Core and Fudge System games. A single set of four Fate dice is all you need for those systems.

D2 (Coin): For games requiring binary 50/50 outcomes. A coin flip works identically — or use our free online coin flipper.

Non-standard sizes: Some indie RPGs use D3, D7, D16, or other unusual sizes. These are rare and typically available only from specialty dice manufacturers or as digital rolls.

Digital Dice as Travel and Backup Solution

Carrying physical dice to every session isn't always practical. Digital dice rollers are a genuine alternative for travel, online play, or as a backup when a specific die is lost or unavailable. Our free online dice roller covers all standard polyhedral types, multiple simultaneous dice, and custom notation. The D20 roller and board game dice roller handle the most common in-session needs.

Digital rollers also solve the problem of non-standard dice sizes. Need a D7 for a homebrew system? A D13 for a specific random table? Digital rollers handle any N-sided die without requiring a physical equivalent.

Organizing Your Collection

Dice bags come with most sets and work fine for transport. Dice trays (small wooden or leather-lined containers) keep dice from rolling off tables and are popular at organized play events. Some players use divided containers to keep sets separated by color or campaign. Whatever your organization method, keeping your dice accessible and preventing losses is the practical priority — missing one D8 from a set is more annoying than having a mismatched collection.