1d3? Huh!?

[Theroc]

Okay, this has been bugging me on and off for awhile.

I have never seen a three sided die in my life, and can't really imagine how you can get less sides than 4 on a die... besides using a 4 sider and making one a 0 and having 1-3 on it.

Yet I see things like "Attack bonus +6 melee, damage 1d3+1." on the d20SRD...

If this means use a random number generator to generate a random number between 1 and 3, and then add one to it, wouldn't it end in the same result as if you rolled a 4 sided die?

 

[MattDroz]

Okay, this has been bugging me on and off for awhile.

I have never seen a three sided die in my life, and can't really imagine how you can get less sides than 4 on a die... besides using a 4 sider and making one a 0 and having 1-3 on it.

Yet I see things like "Attack bonus +6 melee, damage 1d3+1." on the d20SRD...

If this means use a random number generator to generate a random number between 1 and 3, and then add one to it, wouldn't it end in the same result as if you rolled a 4 sided die?

Roll a 1d6, divide by 2, round up. (1-2 is 1, 3-4 is 2, 5-6 is 3)

Seriously, this has been around since the earliest days I can remember. Just like the 1d2 is either high/low, even/odd or flip a coin.

 

[ScionJustice]

The average roll for 1d3+1 will be 3, the average roll for 1d4 will be 2.5. You can use a D6, 1-2 = 1, 3-4=2, 5-6=3.

 

[risner]

1) I have never seen a three sided die in my life,

2) then add one to it, wouldn't it end in the same result as if you rolled a 4 sided die?

1) They exist, but most people use d6 halved

2) No

 

[Herzog]

1) you either use a d6 halved, as mentioned, or use a special six-sided die with two 1's, two 2's and two 3's.

2) average will be different.
also, 1d4 has minimum of 1, 1d3+1 has a minimum of 2.

 

[Theroc]

Roll a 1d6, divide by 2, round up. (1-2 is 1, 3-4 is 2, 5-6 is 3)

Seriously, this has been around since the earliest days I can remember. Just like the 1d2 is either high/low, even/odd or flip a coin.

... Well, it's a good thing I'm very new and haven't played since the earliest days you can remember then, eh?

And thanks for the help everyone, not sure how I didn't realize the average difference, I think I somehow assumed 1d3 could result in zero, which is silly.

 

[TDRandall]

All the previous posts are correct.

But there is also no reason to not use your idea, with one slight modification - roll a d4 and ignore/reroll if it comes up a one.

 

[Flatus Maximus]

1) They exist, but most people use d6 halved

Do they really? There is no such thing as a convex regular polyhedron with three sides, so I'm curious....

 

[rgard]

Do they really? There is no such thing as a convex regular polyhedron with three sides, so I'm curious....

I've seen them. They are actually 5-sided:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3b/04ds3.JPG

 

[Jack Simth]

Do they really? There is no such thing as a convex regular polyhedron with three sides, so I'm curious....

They do one of two basic things:

1) A triangular prism, with the "small ends" pointed or rounded such that the die will never land on them if they're placed on a reasonably level surface in earth-normal gravity.
2) The sides are curved slightly rather than flat, and it comes to points on either end much like the ball in Rugby or Football (mostly the same game, but it's named differently depending on which side of the pond you call home).