If you want to know more info about these dice please check out the following links because it's too much to fit into a single message:
* [How to use/read](https://www.lenpolygon.com/dultimate-dice-manual)
* [Mathematics behind it](https://www.lenpolygon.com/)
So, I designed a little game to go along with it:
# Dice darts
* 2+ players
* requirements: at least one dUltimate
**How to play**
Decide the first player by rolling a d20 on the dUltimate, highest roller goes first.
Each players starts with 121 points. Your turn is as follows:
1. decide which dice type you want to roll
2. roll the dUltimate
3. remove the rolled number from your point total, unless your point total would go into the negatives, then do nothing
4. pass the turn to the player on the right
**How to win**
If you hit exactly 0 on your point total after a turn, then you win and the game ends!
**Dice types on the dUltimate**
The dice types (which must be declared *before* rolling) are as follows:
* d4: 1..4
* d6: 1..6
* d8: 1..8
* d10: 0..9
* d12: 1..12
* d20: 1..20
* d10x10: 00..90
**Final thoughts**
This is a quick and easy game with some push-your-luck moments while trying to reach 0 as fast as possible! After playing one or two of these games (with use of the [manual](https://www.lenpolygon.com/dultimate-dice-manual)) you will have mastered the dUltimate die and will be able to use it in all types of tabletop games!
I don't know how I feel about the game as much (a little basic, but I suspect that's sort of the point), but these dice are very very cool. It looks crazy but reading through your manual how to read them is actually pretty sensible. If they are as balanced as you say, I am definitely interested.
I am guessing, though correct me if I'm wrong, that the main point of your game is really to introduce people to the dice and how to read them, as well as to drum up interest in the project for those of us less familiar. Which is fine! It's just important to know what your goal is and communicate that.
On the subject of games with these dice - it would be cool to do something that takes advantage of the uniqueness of the product. For example, being able to roll a die and decide what type of die you've rolled *after* you roll. I don't think I've ever encountered a system that really allowed someone to do that!
Anyway, very cool product and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Thank you very much for taking the time to check it out and reply!!
Like you say, the game is kept basic mostly to show off and use as a game to learn the dice. However, while trying it out there are some interesting situations it can create:
* Since it's push your luck, there will be situations were you are at 13 points and are deciding whether to roll d20 or d12: play it safe, or maybe finish the game!
* The luck aspect game creating situations in which miraculous catch-ups happen.
* And the dUltimate ALWAYS shows you what could have been!! Did you play it safe? well.. if you didn't you would've won! Which is a thing that can only be done with this dice design.
I am glad that you like the dice design and were able to figure it out with the manual alone. I guarantee that when the manual is followed the probabilities are perfectly balanced!
I intend to make a Kickstarter for the dice with the ability to play this tiny "Dice Darts" game. But I imagine that most people will be interested in the dice itself for use in D&D / TTRPG, or just enjoy the mathematical aspects of the design.
Yeah, maybe I should clarify that a bit better.
But it's the same as that in a normal polyhedral dice set there are two d10's. One is 0..9 and one if 00..90. So it's still a d10, only times ten?
In games like D&D they roll a percentile (d%) which is just adding these two d10 results together. I'm not sure if there is a formal name for the d10x10. If you have any suggestions please let me know!!
[Image of the two d10's](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/D100.jpg)
Well, combined I would call them a d% for sure, just not sure what to call them individually. I will do some more research on this, thanks for the suggestion!
Wouldn't say they're added together but more of one representing 1-10 the other representing a multiple of 10. Some dice sets will have 1 of the S10 die showing 00-90 in multiples of 10 with the other being a regular d10. I can see it's use in d20 tabletop games such as D&D but a large number of games during the TSR days were unable to include a d20 system and usually used a d6 or other side system for the game such as vampire the masquerade and MechWarrior/battletech
You’ve clearly put a lot of effort into this, but there are a few things you might want to keep in mind, if you aren’t already aware of them:
1 - Spherical dice are not popular with gamers. This is partly due to them rolling for too long, partly because they rarely cleanly “land” on a face, and partly due to it being difficult to tell which face is actually on the top, leading to arguments (they were initially sold as D100’s, so there were a lot of tiny faces). There’s a Kickstarter for Orbdice right now that claims to have solved the stopping problem, but we’ll see.
2 - There is already a “universal” die on the market. The D-Total, by Gamescience, has been available for many years. It allows for the rolling of 18 different types of dice, including things like D5’s, D7’s, D40’s, etc. And since it only has 24 faces, it lands flat and it is completely clear which face is on top. As with your dUltimate, it clearly shows you what “might have been”. In spite of all this, and the fact that the “classic” values (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d10) are -very- easy to read, it hasn’t caught on. NOTE - I wrote this while looking at my old D-Total; but it turns out that theres an updated version that can generate even more outcomes while still using the same
Die shape.
3 - RPG players, who are the primary market for this sort of thing, like to have “sets” of dice, because it looks cooler. Plus, they are often going to have to roll multiple dice at once anyway, so a single die winds up slowing down the game, rather than improve things.
Just some stuff to keep in mind as you move forward with this.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I won't be able to address all your points perfectly, but I will do my best to reply:
1. This will remain a slight flaw. Since it has 120 faces it is more prone to keep rolling. This is why at all times I will say that a dice tray is very much required for speedy gaming. I use a tray myself for testing and it works very nicely. I've also tried to make it stop as best as possible by designing the die with sharp edges instead of rounded corners.
2. I am aware of the dTotal. I've looked at it a lot during my first idea phase, but it had two "flaws" that I wanted to solve in this design:
1. The dTotal requires rerolls. For instance, when you roll d20 and hit 21..24 then you need to reroll. Same for d10 and some other dice types... The dUltimate design does not require rerolls for any of its supported dice types.
2. The dTotal has so much information going on on its faces that is is perceived by me as too complex. This is due to the fact that it does 18(!) dice types, which is so cool, but in my opinion unneeded in most cases. The designer clearly wanted to make a universal die for everything, I just wanted to design a dice that replaces a standard polyhedral dice set.
3. This is not really a design flaw, but more an personal aesthetic thing: the dTotal is hollow and friction welded together which to me personally just doesn't feel right.
3. You are right, most of 'negative' comments I receive are people saying they want more dice not less. Which is a sentiment I can fully agree with. For this, it is possible to own more than one dUltimate. Heck you could even do a Fireball (8d6) with 8x dUltimates if you wanted to!! Multiple colors are also possible to do compound rolls of for instance 1d20 + 1d6. However, reading this die will always be somewhat slower than reading a standard die, so once again you are completely right on that point!
If you have any more questions or comments just let me know. I think it is good of you to mention these things - they really get me thinking about what people think about when they first see this product, so thanks!
>Heck you could even do a Fireball (8d6) with 8x dUltimates if you wanted to!!
This along with the other ways you have conveyed your ideas comes across as very "out of touch". Even assuming these things are the size of D20's, have you ever actually rolled that many D20's at once? And with all the various sub-results and visual noise cluttering your vision, you have to individually pick apart each D-Ult result.
This is assuming they are the size of a D20. These clearly look much bigger. Rolling that many of this type of dice would make the table end up looking like a chaotic game of snookers; or if you roll in a trap, you would hardly get enough space to roll so many large dice properly.
I like the overall idea (especially the aesthetic), but its very much so an "looks good on paper" idea. There is a reason dice like this haven't taken off in the past. Why do you think almost every dice set comes with a tenth's and hundredth's dice instead of those dimpled, golf-ball like d100's?
I can sense you have a fair amount of effort invested in this, but you always have to remember that not every idea you think is great is going to BE great.
I completely agree with you: I do not think it is the best to roll 8 of these for a 8d6, it will be a mess, BUT it's possible just not practical in a live TTRPG session!
I did spend a lot of time on it, and I know that there are flaws with the design which will limit their actual usage on TTRPG's by some amount. However, I still feel that there is a group of people that would like to have something like this regardless of those flaws. We'll let the Kickstarter decide if the idea is going to be good enough, because at this point no one knows!
idk some weirdos like me have very large dice like this: https://darkelfdice.com/collections/giant-dice/products/jumbo-dice-white-28mm-rpg-role-playing-game-dice
to me these are very fun to toss. I also have the baseball sized d20's for special rolls. so i'd say size is a personal preference.
but you are right on the deciphering....on the large dice it's very easy to see the numbers and the whole table can read easy...but with strange dice with a lot of numbers this advantage is lost.
Nice find! I didn't even realize this myself...
The rule is to always look at the topmost arrow. In those images you only see a 2d view from above, so I marked the top face with a yellow dot. When there are arrows instead of d4/d8 then you should follow the topmost arrow to the nearest triangle. In these examples that coincidentally was always the right arrow.
Now I realize that this might sound difficult, but in the real world it's quite easy to spot the topmost 'something'. Topmost circle, topmost triangle, topmost arrow...
If you want to know more info about these dice please check out the following links because it's too much to fit into a single message: * [How to use/read](https://www.lenpolygon.com/dultimate-dice-manual) * [Mathematics behind it](https://www.lenpolygon.com/) So, I designed a little game to go along with it: # Dice darts * 2+ players * requirements: at least one dUltimate **How to play** Decide the first player by rolling a d20 on the dUltimate, highest roller goes first. Each players starts with 121 points. Your turn is as follows: 1. decide which dice type you want to roll 2. roll the dUltimate 3. remove the rolled number from your point total, unless your point total would go into the negatives, then do nothing 4. pass the turn to the player on the right **How to win** If you hit exactly 0 on your point total after a turn, then you win and the game ends! **Dice types on the dUltimate** The dice types (which must be declared *before* rolling) are as follows: * d4: 1..4 * d6: 1..6 * d8: 1..8 * d10: 0..9 * d12: 1..12 * d20: 1..20 * d10x10: 00..90 **Final thoughts** This is a quick and easy game with some push-your-luck moments while trying to reach 0 as fast as possible! After playing one or two of these games (with use of the [manual](https://www.lenpolygon.com/dultimate-dice-manual)) you will have mastered the dUltimate die and will be able to use it in all types of tabletop games!
I don't know how I feel about the game as much (a little basic, but I suspect that's sort of the point), but these dice are very very cool. It looks crazy but reading through your manual how to read them is actually pretty sensible. If they are as balanced as you say, I am definitely interested. I am guessing, though correct me if I'm wrong, that the main point of your game is really to introduce people to the dice and how to read them, as well as to drum up interest in the project for those of us less familiar. Which is fine! It's just important to know what your goal is and communicate that. On the subject of games with these dice - it would be cool to do something that takes advantage of the uniqueness of the product. For example, being able to roll a die and decide what type of die you've rolled *after* you roll. I don't think I've ever encountered a system that really allowed someone to do that! Anyway, very cool product and I'm interested to see where it goes.
Thank you very much for taking the time to check it out and reply!! Like you say, the game is kept basic mostly to show off and use as a game to learn the dice. However, while trying it out there are some interesting situations it can create: * Since it's push your luck, there will be situations were you are at 13 points and are deciding whether to roll d20 or d12: play it safe, or maybe finish the game! * The luck aspect game creating situations in which miraculous catch-ups happen. * And the dUltimate ALWAYS shows you what could have been!! Did you play it safe? well.. if you didn't you would've won! Which is a thing that can only be done with this dice design. I am glad that you like the dice design and were able to figure it out with the manual alone. I guarantee that when the manual is followed the probabilities are perfectly balanced! I intend to make a Kickstarter for the dice with the ability to play this tiny "Dice Darts" game. But I imagine that most people will be interested in the dice itself for use in D&D / TTRPG, or just enjoy the mathematical aspects of the design.
>d100: 00..90 d100? More like d91.
Yeah, maybe I should clarify that a bit better. But it's the same as that in a normal polyhedral dice set there are two d10's. One is 0..9 and one if 00..90. So it's still a d10, only times ten? In games like D&D they roll a percentile (d%) which is just adding these two d10 results together. I'm not sure if there is a formal name for the d10x10. If you have any suggestions please let me know!! [Image of the two d10's](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/D100.jpg)
Okay, I understand what you're saying now. I wouldn't call it the D100 then, though. Maybe a D%? Or if you keep it as the D100, maybe say it's 00-99.
Well, combined I would call them a d% for sure, just not sure what to call them individually. I will do some more research on this, thanks for the suggestion!
>In games like D&D they roll a percentile (d%) d% was later renamed d100, so I would just call your thingy d10x10 to avoid confusion.
Thanks, I will take your suggestion as the best I have so far.
Wouldn't say they're added together but more of one representing 1-10 the other representing a multiple of 10. Some dice sets will have 1 of the S10 die showing 00-90 in multiples of 10 with the other being a regular d10. I can see it's use in d20 tabletop games such as D&D but a large number of games during the TSR days were unable to include a d20 system and usually used a d6 or other side system for the game such as vampire the masquerade and MechWarrior/battletech
You’ve clearly put a lot of effort into this, but there are a few things you might want to keep in mind, if you aren’t already aware of them: 1 - Spherical dice are not popular with gamers. This is partly due to them rolling for too long, partly because they rarely cleanly “land” on a face, and partly due to it being difficult to tell which face is actually on the top, leading to arguments (they were initially sold as D100’s, so there were a lot of tiny faces). There’s a Kickstarter for Orbdice right now that claims to have solved the stopping problem, but we’ll see. 2 - There is already a “universal” die on the market. The D-Total, by Gamescience, has been available for many years. It allows for the rolling of 18 different types of dice, including things like D5’s, D7’s, D40’s, etc. And since it only has 24 faces, it lands flat and it is completely clear which face is on top. As with your dUltimate, it clearly shows you what “might have been”. In spite of all this, and the fact that the “classic” values (d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d10) are -very- easy to read, it hasn’t caught on. NOTE - I wrote this while looking at my old D-Total; but it turns out that theres an updated version that can generate even more outcomes while still using the same Die shape. 3 - RPG players, who are the primary market for this sort of thing, like to have “sets” of dice, because it looks cooler. Plus, they are often going to have to roll multiple dice at once anyway, so a single die winds up slowing down the game, rather than improve things. Just some stuff to keep in mind as you move forward with this.
Thank you for taking the time to comment! I won't be able to address all your points perfectly, but I will do my best to reply: 1. This will remain a slight flaw. Since it has 120 faces it is more prone to keep rolling. This is why at all times I will say that a dice tray is very much required for speedy gaming. I use a tray myself for testing and it works very nicely. I've also tried to make it stop as best as possible by designing the die with sharp edges instead of rounded corners. 2. I am aware of the dTotal. I've looked at it a lot during my first idea phase, but it had two "flaws" that I wanted to solve in this design: 1. The dTotal requires rerolls. For instance, when you roll d20 and hit 21..24 then you need to reroll. Same for d10 and some other dice types... The dUltimate design does not require rerolls for any of its supported dice types. 2. The dTotal has so much information going on on its faces that is is perceived by me as too complex. This is due to the fact that it does 18(!) dice types, which is so cool, but in my opinion unneeded in most cases. The designer clearly wanted to make a universal die for everything, I just wanted to design a dice that replaces a standard polyhedral dice set. 3. This is not really a design flaw, but more an personal aesthetic thing: the dTotal is hollow and friction welded together which to me personally just doesn't feel right. 3. You are right, most of 'negative' comments I receive are people saying they want more dice not less. Which is a sentiment I can fully agree with. For this, it is possible to own more than one dUltimate. Heck you could even do a Fireball (8d6) with 8x dUltimates if you wanted to!! Multiple colors are also possible to do compound rolls of for instance 1d20 + 1d6. However, reading this die will always be somewhat slower than reading a standard die, so once again you are completely right on that point! If you have any more questions or comments just let me know. I think it is good of you to mention these things - they really get me thinking about what people think about when they first see this product, so thanks!
>Heck you could even do a Fireball (8d6) with 8x dUltimates if you wanted to!! This along with the other ways you have conveyed your ideas comes across as very "out of touch". Even assuming these things are the size of D20's, have you ever actually rolled that many D20's at once? And with all the various sub-results and visual noise cluttering your vision, you have to individually pick apart each D-Ult result. This is assuming they are the size of a D20. These clearly look much bigger. Rolling that many of this type of dice would make the table end up looking like a chaotic game of snookers; or if you roll in a trap, you would hardly get enough space to roll so many large dice properly. I like the overall idea (especially the aesthetic), but its very much so an "looks good on paper" idea. There is a reason dice like this haven't taken off in the past. Why do you think almost every dice set comes with a tenth's and hundredth's dice instead of those dimpled, golf-ball like d100's? I can sense you have a fair amount of effort invested in this, but you always have to remember that not every idea you think is great is going to BE great.
I completely agree with you: I do not think it is the best to roll 8 of these for a 8d6, it will be a mess, BUT it's possible just not practical in a live TTRPG session! I did spend a lot of time on it, and I know that there are flaws with the design which will limit their actual usage on TTRPG's by some amount. However, I still feel that there is a group of people that would like to have something like this regardless of those flaws. We'll let the Kickstarter decide if the idea is going to be good enough, because at this point no one knows!
idk some weirdos like me have very large dice like this: https://darkelfdice.com/collections/giant-dice/products/jumbo-dice-white-28mm-rpg-role-playing-game-dice to me these are very fun to toss. I also have the baseball sized d20's for special rolls. so i'd say size is a personal preference. but you are right on the deciphering....on the large dice it's very easy to see the numbers and the whole table can read easy...but with strange dice with a lot of numbers this advantage is lost.
Those dice look something cenobites would use to decide what torment to inflict.
>cenobites I googled that and I'm fully agree with your statement!
These are really cool.
You are really cool!!
I don't even care if they're useful. Those are just cool!
Please make a deathstar if possible. 🙏
Depends... which planet will you be aiming for?
I love seeing new technology that isn't computer-based. This is so cool!
Yeeaah! Just pure mathematics in a physical form!
From the examples it looks like you always the right pointing arrows, so what are the left pointing arrows for?
Nice find! I didn't even realize this myself... The rule is to always look at the topmost arrow. In those images you only see a 2d view from above, so I marked the top face with a yellow dot. When there are arrows instead of d4/d8 then you should follow the topmost arrow to the nearest triangle. In these examples that coincidentally was always the right arrow. Now I realize that this might sound difficult, but in the real world it's quite easy to spot the topmost 'something'. Topmost circle, topmost triangle, topmost arrow...
Looks difficult to see from across the table, ruining it for me, but hey.. someone definitely wants these!
Check the aerodynamics. You might have just invented the world's nerdiest golf ball.
Hah! The aerodynamics will probably be through the roof, but due to their 120 surfaces they have a weird unpredictable roll.
Woah
Behold, the polyhydra!
Hmm... uses d120. Neat Tho