Unusual Dice (5e Variant Rule)

Unusual Dice

Sometimes, certain homebrew items will require special dice. Some of them are simply unusually-numbered dice, while others give strange letters or symbols. Note: at the time of writing this, no homebrew content actually requires these; they are completely optional, and can be used for things like deciding a character's name or birthday.

Alphabetical Die (a20 or a26)

The alphabetical die is used to determine a letter of the alphabet. The a20 removes the six least common letters, while the a26 contains all the letters (though it is more complicated to use). For instance, an attack may require you to roll a vowel to succeed.

a20

d20	Letter	d20	Letter
1	A	11	M
2	B	12	N
3	C	13	O
4	D	14	P
5	E	15	R
6	F	16	S
7	G	17	T
8	H	18	U
9	I	19	W
10	L	20	Y

a26

5d6	Letter	5d6	Letter
5	Q	18	T
6	J	19	O
7	V	20	N
8	P	21	H
9	G	22	D
10	W	23	C
11	U	24	M
12	L	25	F
13	R	26	Y
14	S	27	B
15	I	28	K
16	A	29	X
17	E	30	Z

Zodiac Die (z12)

The zodiac die is used to determine zodiac symbols, their elements, and their dates. For instance, an attack may require you to roll a water symbol or a player's birth sign to succeed.

z12

d12	Symbol	Symbol Name	Element	Date
1	♈	Aries	Fire	Mar. 21 - Apr. 20
2	♉	Taurus	Earth	Apr. 21 - May 21
3	♊	Gemini	Air	May 22 - Jun. 21
4	♋	Cancer	Water	Jun. 22 - Jul. 23
5	♌	Leo	Fire	Jul. 24 - Aug. 23
6	♍	Virgo	Earth	Aug. 24 - Sep. 23
7	♎	Libra	Air	Sep. 24 - Oct. 23
8	♏	Scorpio	Air	Oct. 24 - Nov. 22
9	♐	Sagittarius	Fire	Nov. 23 - Dec. 21
10	♑	Capricorn	Earth	Dec. 22 - Jan. 20
11	♒	Aquarius	Water	Jan. 21 - Feb. 19
12	♓	Pisces	Water	Feb. 20 - Mar. 20

Mathematical Die (m6)

The mathematical die uses the numbers and symbols most often seen in mathematics. For instance, an attack may require you to roll an imaginary number (i) to succeed.

m6

d6	Symbol	Value
1	1	1
2	0	0
3	i	√-1
4	ϕ	1.61803
5	e	2.71828
6	π	3.14159

Additional Dice (d3, d5, d7, d9, d11, d16, d24, d30, d32, d36, d48, d60, d120, d144, d1000, d1000000)

These dice are simple numerical dice, designed to measure from one to the number shown. For instance, an attack may deal 3d9 fire damage or 2d24 radiant damage. It should be noted that many of these are actual dice that can be found in game stores or online.

d3, d5, d7, d9, d11

Roll a die with a number of sides just above the one you want to use (for example, using a d8 for a d7). If you roll the highest number on that die, reroll until you get a valid number.

d16

1d16 is [(1d4-1)×4]+1d4.

d24

1d24 is [(1d6-1)×4]+1d4.

d30

1d30 is [(1d3-1)×10]+1d10.

d32

1d32 is [(1d4-1)×8]+1d8.

d36

1d36 is [(1d4-1)×9]+1d9.

d48

1d48 is [(1d6-1)×8]+1d8.

d60

1d60 is [(1d6-1)×10]+1d10.

d120

1d120 is [(1d12-1)×10]+1d10.

d144

1d144 is [(1d12-1)×12]+1d12.

d1000

1d1000 is [(1d10-1)×100]+1d100.

d1000000

1d1000000 is [(1d10-1)×100000]+[(1d10-1)×10000]+[(1d10-1)×10000]+1d1000.

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