What Dice Do You Need for Dungeons & Dragons? A Beginner's Guide to the Standard D&D Dice Set

If you're new to Dungeons & Dragons, one of the first things you'll notice is that players seem to carry around strange collections of oddly shaped dice. Unlike many board games that only use regular six-sided dice, D&D uses a variety of dice sizes and shapes to determine everything from combat damage to spell effects and skill checks.

The good news is that you only need one standard polyhedral dice set to get started.

A standard D&D dice set contains seven dice:

• d4 (4-sided)

• d6 (6-sided)

• d8 (8-sided)

• d10 (10-sided)

• d12 (12-sided)

• d20 (20-sided)

• Percentile d10 (marked 00–90)

Let's look at what each die does and how often you'll use it during a typical D&D 5e campaign.

The d20: The Star of the Show

The twenty-sided die is the most important die in D&D. If you're only going to learn one die, learn this one.  Whenever your character attempts something challenging, you'll usually roll a d20.

Examples include:

• Attacking an enemy with a weapon

• Picking a lock

• Persuading a merchant

• Sneaking past guards

• Climbing a wall

• Making saving throws against spells and traps

In most game sessions, you'll roll your d20 more than all the other dice combined.

Many players develop strong emotional attachments to their favorite d20. Some are considered lucky. Others are blamed for every critical failure and eventually get "retired" to the dice bag.

The d4: Small but Mighty

The d4 looks like a tiny pyramid.

Because it only has four sides, it produces small numbers and is typically used for minor amounts of damage or healing.

Common uses include:

• Daggers

• Small healing spells

• Magic Missile

• Certain class abilities

The d4 is famous for another reason: stepping on one hurts almost as much as stepping on a Lego.

The d6: The Familiar One

This is the classic six-sided die found in most board games.

In D&D, you'll use d6s for:

• Shortsword damage

• Many spells

• Sneak Attack damage for Rogues

• Fireball damage

• Hit points for some classes

Many powerful spells require multiple d6s at once. A Fireball, for example, deals 8d6 damage, meaning you'll roll eight d6s together.

Because of this, experienced players often own large collections of d6s.

The d8: A Reliable Workhorse

The d8 is one of the most commonly rolled damage dice in the game.

You'll often use it for:

• Longswords

• Battleaxes (one-handed)

• Warhammers

• Cleric healing spells

• Hit points for Clerics and several other classes

Many players spend a lot of time rolling d8s throughout a campaign.

The d10: More Than Just Damage

The d10 serves several purposes.

Common uses include:

• Heavy crossbow damage

• Certain spells

• Hit points for Fighters, Rangers, and Paladins

The standard set actually contains two d10s.

One is numbered 0–9.

The other is numbered 00, 10, 20, 30, and so on up to 90. This is called a percentile die.

Together, they allow you to roll percentages.

For example:

• 70 on the percentile die

• 4 on the regular d10

Results in a roll of 74%.

Some adventures, magical effects, and random tables use percentile rolls.

The d12: Big Damage Energy

The d12 doesn't appear as often as some other dice, but when it does, it's usually exciting.

You'll commonly use it for:

• Greataxe damage

• Barbarian hit points

• A handful of powerful spells and abilities

The d12 often feels special because it's associated with some of the game's biggest and most dramatic weapon attacks.

The Percentile Dice (d100)

As mentioned above, the percentile die is actually used together with a regular d10.

You won't use percentile rolls constantly, but they appear often enough that every standard dice set includes one.

Dungeon Masters frequently use percentile rolls for:

• Random encounters

• Treasure tables

• Magic item effects

• Homebrew events

• Determining unusual outcomes

Rolling a natural 100 always feels satisfying.

Why Does a Standard Set Have Seven Dice?

A standard D&D dice set contains:

• 1 x d4

• 1 x d6

• 1 x d8

• 1 x d10

• 1 x percentile d10

• 1 x d12

• 1 x d20

This combination allows you to make every roll required by the rules of D&D 5e.

One set is enough to play.

That said, many players eventually buy additional sets because:

• Rolling multiple damage dice is faster.

• Different characters deserve different color themes.

• Dice are fun to collect.

• Nobody has ever looked at a beautiful dice set and thought, "I already have enough."

• it's usually handy to have 4 six-sided dice for easier character creation (you roll 3d6 or 4d6 when you create new characters)

Which Dice Will You Use Most?

If you're curious which dice get the most action, here's a rough ranking:

1. d20

2. d6

3. d8

4. d10

5. d4

6. d12

7. Percentile d10

Your class can change this significantly. Rogues roll mountains of d6s, while Barbarians become very familiar with d12s.

Do You Need More Than One Set?

For a brand-new player, absolutely not.  A single standard polyhedral dice set is all you need for years of adventuring.  As mentioned, if you die al to and need to create new characters often, having an extra 3 six-sided dice is a good idea.  However, once you've played a few sessions, you may discover one of D&D's oldest traditions, namely that collecting dice is a hobby entirely separate from actually playing D&D.  Before long, you'll probably own several sets, each with their own purpose, personality, and suspiciously lucky d20.

And that's perfectly normal.

 

A Couple of Other Places to Look

Here are a couple of other links to take a look at that talk about DnD dice for beginners:

A ladies perspective on dice: https://girlygeekblog.com/blog/2020/12/04/the-new-players-guide-to-dd-dice/

A good general article on kitting out as a newbie: https://startplaying.games/blog/posts/dnd-starter-kit-what-need-to-play-new

A nice longer article on how to play DnD: https://dndduet.com/how-to-play-dnd/