Tracking down that set of D&D dice after a few weeks off can be quite the chore.
…Especially when you only remember to do it after your DM asks you to roll a skill check.
With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic forcing more and more TTRPG campaigns away from a physical table and into the virtual space, it’s becoming more and more likely that D&D players have started replacing their physical dice (as much as we love them) with the virtual variety.
Check these out:
- Hilarious ideas have been floated for the Dungeons and Dragons movie
- Wizards of the Coast announces new campaign sourcebook
- Hey DMs; ask if a player wants to host a one-shot every now and then
This allows for party members and DMs to see what is being rolled (depending on the dice you decide to use, that is), and keeps you from worrying that your DM thinks you’re lying about getting two nat 20s in a row.
virtual dice also help bloodthirsty DMs roll, and count up, over half a dozen dice at a time for when combat is getting a little dicey.
So here are a few options that D&D players and DMs can turn to when physical dice just aren’t cutting it:
Likely the homepage for many, Google actually has a built-in dice roller. All you need to do is type in XdX (so 1d20, 4d6, 7d12, etc),press enter, and watch the search engine automatically roll and count up the dice for you.
You’ll have to add any modifiers yourself, of course (just as you would with physical dice), unless you type in a +X onto the end, but it does come in handy for DMs that are dealing some seriously lethal damage to their higher level PCs.
The main drawback is that the rest of your party can’t actually see your roll, meaning that you’ll have to announce it just as you would a physical roll… and hope that your DM believes you.
D&D Beyond
D&DBeyond recently launched its shared dice results earlier this month, allowing members of the same campaign to see the dice roll in real time, as well as look back on past rolls in the game log.
This works by clicking to roll on your character sheet. Doing so has the added benefit of automatically adding whatever bonuses, buffs, or debuffs that are present on your character at any given time — assuming that you’ve been keeping your sheet updated throughout the fight — so it really does take all math off the players’ hands.
Your virtual tabletop of choice
Whether you’ve moved your battlemaps onto Astral, Fantasy Grounds, or Roll20, you’ll be able to find a virtual dice roller built into its system.
That may mean clicking on a specific button or typing 1d20 into the chat as you would with Google. This may not have the bonus of adding whatever relevant bonuses (or minuses) like you get from D&D Beyond, but it does beat Google by featuring the ability for the rest of your party members to see what you rolled in real time.
A smart assistant
Get Google, Siri, or Bixby to roll your dice for you. I’m not kidding. Try it right now; they’ll do it, count the numbers up with inhuman speed — they are robots, after all — and then give you the results.
It’s kind of fun to mess around with, too. “Hey Google, roll 100d6s” just to see what kind of damage a godly sneak attack would be able to land.
Check these out:
- Hilarious ideas have been floated for the Dungeons and Dragons movie
- Wizards of the Coast announces new campaign sourcebook
- Hey DMs; ask if a player wants to host a one-shot every now and then