If you’re starting Dungeons & Dragons 5e, the good news is you only need one standard set of seven polyhedral dice. Everything the game asks you to roll uses one of them. Here’s the full breakdown.
The standard seven-dice set
A “set” of RPG dice contains seven pieces:
- d4 — the pyramid (four faces)
- d6 — the familiar cube
- d8 — the diamond/kite shape
- d10 — numbered 0–9
- d% (percentile d10) — numbered 00–90, rolled with the d10 to make 1–100
- d12 — the twelve-sided one
- d20 — the icon of the hobby, and the one you’ll reach for most
What each die does in 5e
| Die | What it’s for in D&D 5e |
|---|---|
| d20 | The core die. Attack rolls, saving throws, ability checks and initiative — almost everything you do “rolls a d20”, add your bonus, compare to a target. |
| d12 | Big weapon damage (greataxe) and the Barbarian’s hit die. The least-used die — but it hits hard. |
| d10 | Many weapons (heavy crossbow, glaive), several classes’ hit dice, and the tens digit of percentile rolls. |
| d8 | Very common weapon damage (longsword, rapier) and a lot of classes’ hit dice. |
| d6 | Everywhere: shortsword and sneak-attack damage, fireball (8d6), many spells, and common hit dice. |
| d4 | Small damage (dagger), magic missile, and helper spells like Bless, Guidance and Bardic Inspiration. |
| d% | Percentile rolls — wild-magic surges, some treasure and random tables. |
How many of each should you own?
One set is enough to play, but a few extras make life smoother:
- A second d20 — so you can roll advantage and disadvantage (two d20 at once) without picking up and re-rolling.
- Several d6 — damage spells scale fast. A fireball is 8d6; you don’t want to roll one die eight times.
- A few extra d8 and d10 — handy for higher-level spells and multi-die weapons.
Many players end up with a “pound of dice” for exactly this reason. A dice app sidesteps the whole problem — you can throw up to twenty dice at once and read the total instantly.
Rolling your ability scores
To create a character’s six ability scores, the classic method is 4d6, drop the lowest die, six times. Keeping the best three of four tends to average about 12–13 per score. If you prefer consistency, two common alternatives skip the dice:
- Standard array: assign the fixed set 15, 14, 13, 12, 10, 8.
- Point buy: spend a budget of points to build your scores — balanced, no luck involved.
Rolling is the swingiest and most fun; the array and point buy guarantee a fair, balanced start. (For the maths behind why 4d6-drop-lowest runs high, see our dice probability guide.)
Physical dice vs a dice app
Real dice have unbeatable table feel. But a good physics dice roller matches the tumble and the randomness, never loses a die under the sofa, keeps a running total for big spell rolls, and travels in your pocket. Many groups use both — physical dice for the hero moments, an app for handfuls and quick checks.
No dice to hand? Dice Drop rolls a real, physics-based d20 (and the whole set) in your browser — with advantage, modifiers and mixed pools built in.
🎲 Roll for D&D in your browserKeep reading: dice notation explained (what “1d8+3” and “4d6kh3” mean), or the full Dice & Games Guide.