I recently picked up a bunch of Double Dice (dice inside of dice made by Koplow Games). The d10 inside a d10 is great for generating a 1-100 spread with a single roll (and it works much better than those wonky d100's with the clear outer layer and a ball inside with 100 printed numbers). But what to do with a d20 inside a d20? Or a d12 inside a d12?
Two thoughts:
Fatility! Stealing a cue from Mortal Kombat and EPT, if you a roll a natural 20 and the inside die is also a 20, you instantly slay whatever you are attacking. Conversely, rolling the dreaded double 1's must have EXTREMELY dire consequences. At bare minimum, we are talking a broken weapon. This is your chance to get creative with the critical fumbles - with only a 1 in 400 chance of occurring, the double 1 should be epically bad. Variant - For an even deadlier game (this is the rule from EPT), the inside die only needs to be a 19 or 20 to achieve the same result.
Exploding Damage Dice: If you roll the maximum value on a die while throwing for damage, you also add the inside die. This seems like a nice way to add an exploding dice rule without necessitating extra dice rolling! This could really speed up play by increasing damage done in combat without increasing dice rolling time. This might be really good for games like D&D 3e and 4e in which combat can take a LONG time.
Okay, I'm going to throw the die in your court now. Can you come up with any cool uses for dice inside of dice? I have a d20, d12, d10 and d6 in this format.
ACK! Yet more cool dice I must have!! : )
ReplyDeleteGreat ideas!
I'm with Bill. Want!
ReplyDeleteLet the cat play with them? ;)
ReplyDelete>^..^<
*meow*
Funny you should say that, Timeshadows...
ReplyDeleteI left the dice out on the table after taking the picture and my cat did indeed jump up there and send them scattering! Of all my dice, Maxwell the fat black cat likes my d30's the best. They roll for a long time, giving him plenty of opportunity to stalk them as they skitter across the wood floor...
I like the exploding damage idea. It's not as powerful as most of the tru exploding dice roll ideas but it does allow for extra oomph and in a single die roll.
ReplyDeleteYay, Maxwell! :D
ReplyDeleteI do, BTW, like the mini-'sploding die idea. :D
If Maxwell rolls well, get him to make your saves in future.
ReplyDeleteIn my game there are some skills that let you roll a success die in a certain task twice instead of once, taking the better of the two. The result is generally much higher rolls, far fewer fumbles, but no guarantees like you'd see with a simple +10 bonus on a d20.
ReplyDelete@ 1d30 - well then, you obviously need some of these dice! They would work perfectly with that mechanic.
ReplyDelete@ 1d30 -- That's exactly the mechanic for which I use these dice.
ReplyDeleteThey are fairly light and don't always feel right.
They lack the 'gravitas' of regular, heavier dice; and the sound is kind of uninspiring. to me at least.
I've had d10 of these for long time. Didn't get full polyhedral set when I saw them cause I have same "issues" as Stuart.
ReplyDeleteOther ideas:
* d10 as percentiles
* "one and half" attacks if first attack hits that's it, if it misses then look at inner die for second attack.
* pure fighter's special ability is to roll damage twice and take higher result. I'm sure you can work out how these dice would be applicable.
* rolling hitpoints, stats, etc. Take highest result.