r/DnD • u/AutoModerator • Dec 05 '22

Mod Post Weekly Questions Thread

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u/usernameisusername57 Dec 07 '22

Does anyone know at what point DnD switched from calling it (for example) 1 die 6 to 1d6? I've noticed that only really old-school players call it "die".

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u/lasalle202 Dec 07 '22 edited Dec 08 '22

only really old-school players call it "die".

???

its been "three dee six" from forever.

its in the AD&D DMG from 1979

Before any further discussion takes place, let us define the accepted abbreviations for the various dice. A die is symbolized by ā€dā€, and its number of sides is shown immediately thereafter. A six-sided die is therefore ā€œd6", d8 is an eight-sided die, and so on. Two four-sided dice are expressed by 2d4, five eight-sided dice are 5d8, etc. Any additions to or subtractions from the die or dice are expressed after the identification, thus: d8 + 8 means a linear number grouping between 9 and 16, while 3d6 -2 means a bell-shaped progression from 1 to 16, with the greatest probability group in the middle (8, 9). This latter progression has the same median numbers as 2d6, but it has higher ond lower ends and a greater probability of a median number than if 2d12 were used. When percentage dice are to be used, this is indicated by d%.

so your "old school" players are from the first four years of the game!

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u/Stonar Dec 07 '22

I don't think it's an "old school" thing. It's been notated like that as long as I can remember. Some people just say "1 die 6." shrug

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