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Masterclass 8: Why I Love 20-sided Dice (Patreon)

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2020-06-06 12:00:03
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2026-06
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Masterclass 8: the Wonders of the d20

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Erwan Kergall

Why I have become convinced that the d20 system (in some version or other) is the best for role-playing games. (I used to think FUDGE was the greatest thing in the world, but I’ve changed my mind) Because of some Basic Human Truths (BHTs) : BHT n°1 : Players love to roll dice, rolling dice is exciting. People have been playing dice games for millennia, literally. Dice games are among the oldest games ever (that don’t involve physically interacting with the other players). Dice are sturdy, easy to carry, and their construction doesn’t require any technology (as opposed to cards, that require printing). Who doesn’t get curious, apprehensive, hopeful, all at the same time, during the second from the moment those little things get tumbling to the moment they settle ? High emotions each time ! BHT n°2 : Cognitive bias : because when we THROW the dice we are actively doing something with our hands, we get the feeling we have agency. And even when we know better, it’s hard not to be under the illusion that we have some sort of influence on the result. Touching the screen of a smartphone or clicking on an icon on a computer to roll virtual dice really doesn’t have the same emotional OOMPH. Drawing cards : feels more like discovering something that is hidden, rather than actively DOING something towards a desired result. BHT n°3 : Weird polyhedral dice are cool. Plain vanilla cubes are boring (same shape as bricks... Do you find bricks exciting ? Neither do I!) BHT n°4 : D20 has great (but not overwhelming) granularity. Not too hot, not too cold, just right ! Fractions over 20 convert easily into percentages in increments of 5%. Probabilities on a d20 roll are super easy to figure. (Interestingly, here in France, our school grades are marked out of 20, so we have been trained from childhood to feel totally at home evaluating performance or difficulty this way.) BHT n°5 : Comparing one number to another is the easiest mathematical operation. It is the simplest mathematical operation and the one that is the fastest to perform, requiring the fewest mental operations. I read somewhere ("reference needed", as they say on Wikipedia) that for numbers with 1 or 2 digits, it takes a human less than 200 milliseconds to determine which one is the largest. Addition takes significantly longer than that, especially as soon as they cross over the base (10), as this involves an implicit substraction. Substraction themselves takes longer still as you have to first order the numbers and then do some reverse-addition shenanigans. And don’t get me started on multiplication and division beyond the basic tables we learned at school when we were young... So a game system that only asks you to compare rolls to a target will be vastly quicker (and less taxing mentally) than anything else. Ergo : the d20 system, or dice pools where you only keep results over a certain threshold (like Tiny Dungeon). BHT n°6 : Bigger is better (Really, do I need to explain?) This means that it feels more natural to succeed by rolling BIG numbers than small ones. And so roll-over feels more natural than roll-under

Jay

The advantage to the D20 is expedience in determining action or combat resolution. The issue is when you prescribe meaning other than pass or fail is given to the individual numbers on the die. Statistically, you are no more likely to roll a 20 than you are an 8 or a 1. It is the same 5% chance thus making the 1 and the 20 for Critical Success/Failure completely arbitrary. You could assign those numbers to a 9 and a 13 and it would have the same linear curve likelihood of 5%. For instance, if you need to roll an 11 to hit and roll a 10 you didn’t just barely miss. A miss is as good as a mile with this die. If you need a 15 or better to succeed that is 25%. Now think of ANY of 5 faces of the D20 with smiley faces for success and the rest blank for fail. Dice pools such as those in some D6 Systems or Binary Dice in Ubiquity create bell curves and provide expected or typical results. Greater successes and failures in these systems are rare but very meaningful. Adding more dice for advancement in skill or advantageous situations raises the likelihood of success while keeping the mean/average with diminishing returns. Roll 4 Binary Dice the average is 2. Roll 10 Binary dice the average is 5. These systems are fun and don’t use a lot of complex mathematics for those not minding adding a few numbers. Never-the-less, I find the D20 the go to system next to Savage Worlds and the amazing exploding dice system they use.

Joel Peterson

Everything I do I test with my kids. Because if kids can figure it out, and if they can do it, anyone can. When I ask my kids "roll a D20" they know how to instinctively. The dice is easily differentiated and identifiable from ALL other dice. They know "D20" and they know "D6" and they know "D4". Any other dice they have to think about. Percentile dice? Forget it.