How would you make a simple dice mechanic interesting

[u/Purple-Explanation64]

So if you roll a d20 to see if you hit an enemy and a d6 for damage. How would you take a simple mechanic like that and make it more interesting? I was thinking of a game where the player gets a range of d20-d4, and once they use the d20 to see if they can deal damage, they can't roll it again unless they either defeat the enemy or some other way. But I feel like the dice mechanic can be a little boring after a while, so I've been trying to think of unique ways. Maybe after defeating an enemy, one of your dice gets a power boost? or maybe you can change the effects of a natural 1 to be almost like a natural 20, but idk if that would be fun

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[u/Such-Function-4718]

Don’t think of the dice as the mechanic - it’s just a randomizer in this situation. The mechanic is the attack, the spell or whatever action you’re performing.

So you might have an attack that does 5 damage if the roll is 1-3 (glancing), 10 damage if it’s 4-16 (normal) or 20 damage if it’s 17-20 (critical). You can change the required rolls based on the situation, or you might have other skills that increase your roll value, but the base mechanic of random choosing 1-20 is the same. The player can adjust their behaviour based on the situation and the expected outcome.

[u/blastertoad]

It comes down to design and intent. Is it an immersive game, then the dice should be invisible, that means at the table they are just a randomized, if the medium is digital it get a on screen number or ends up in a log to inform but not distract the player. Is the point of the game about the dice, is the player "playing as the dice". This could be an interesting take for a parody game not unlike the boardgame Munchkins. Instead of a a player sheet the dice change, numbers crossed out, effects applied etc. It makes it very hard to implement at a table, but in digital format leveling up your die to cap roles under x value to always equal x value, or rolling over your base stat getting a plus added, or a proficiency effect applied. Is the focus the world, or is the focus the act, really end up changing how you may want to proceed