The Iconic Icosahedron: What is a 20 Sided Dice Officially Called?
In the tabletop roleplaying world, no dice captures the imagination quite like the twenty-sided polyhedron known officially as the "icosahedron d20." Its unique shape makes it a staple in game night dice bags everywhere. But what exactly does d20 mean? And what makes this die so integral to gameplay? Grab your +1 longsword and settle in as we explore the storied history of the quirky twenty-sided icon.
A Shape That‘s Stood the Test of Time: The Origins of the D20
While Dungeons and Dragons has made it famous, twenty-sided dice have actually been around for thousands of years. Archaeologists have uncovered icosahedron dice dating back to Ptolemaic Egypt between 304 and 30 BC. These ancient d20 dice likely served divination and fortune telling purposes long before numbers ever graced their sides.
In the 1800s, strategists resurrected the distinctive shape for early war games. The probabilistic nature of the icosahedron lent itself well to calculating everything from artillery hit chances to modeling economic factors. The underlying mathematics of probability gave birth to modern tabletop war gaming.
So when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson hacked together the first version of D&D, they incorporated the trusty d20. Its ability to efficiently generate percentages cemented it as the backbone for almost all d20 system games that followed. Grab your obsessively-groomed dwarven warrior mini and let‘s delve deeper!
Anatomy of a Critical Hit: What Makes Up a d20?
A "d20" refers to its core composition of twenty sides (faces), giving it its official geometric name of icosahedron. Unlike six-sided cubes or ten-sided decahedrons, the d20 utilizes triangles to reach twenty faces. Each equilateral triangle side joins to create twelve vertices where edges and corners meet.
What gives the d20 its magical randomness is how the numbers appear on those twenty faces. Unlike a simple counting up spindown d20, an true rolling icosahedron displays numbers in a random sequence from 1 to 20. The numbering balances with larger and smaller values distributed evenly so no single result carries more mathematical weight.
Standard d20 dice position the highest number 20 opposite side of the lowest number 1. This continues in descending order, with the second highest 19 next to the 2, 18 next to 3 and so on. But you can also find oddly numbered "mismatch" dice with different number layouts for the truly chaotic!
Rolling the Bones: The Evolution of Dice Superstitions
As the iconic centerpiece of games brimming with orcs and elves, the twenty-sided die carries its own lore. Back when early paper RPG rule books first spread across college campuses in the 70s, tales of unlucky dice and eccentric dice rituals spread with them.
Gamers speak in hushed whispers of dice that constantly roll critical fails. Cursed dice find their way into dice prison bags, cast in felt-lined darkness for their crimes. Some eccentric players go so far as to salt new dice before blessing them under the light of a full moon. It‘s all part of the secretive subculture and rich tribal knowledge that gives the hobby its magic.
Pimp My Dice: Collecting Custom Works of Art
Part of the allure of the d20 comes from its canvas-like sides just begging for customization. A vibrant industry has popped up around creating collectible works of dice art. Several companies now specialize in hand making premium dice with exotic materials and painstaking artistry.
Metallic dice etched with sci-fi inspired designs roll alongside sets showing miniature landscapes encased in crystal. You can find gemstone dice adding flashy ruby fire to your critical hit. Even semi-precious stone options like tiger‘s eye or turquoise d20s add earthy flair. For the pyromaniac dragonborn barbarian in all of us!
Tinkering Under the Hood: Game Design Secrets of d20 Systems
The twenty-sided icosohedron offers some unique mathematical properties that make it perfect for gaming. Having twenty different results provides enough variability for probability outcomes that feel less certain. Yet it still provides a usable 5% granularity for percentage-based design by representing the range 1/20 in five point increments.
Compare this to a six sided dice with 16% chunks or a ten-sided dice with gaps between multiples of ten. In mechanics that involve rolling over a threshold, the 1-20 scale gives more sliding room before guaranteed success or failure. This allows abilities to scale smoothly and gameplay to ramp naturally.
Twenty-sided significance also reveals itself in mechanics like the critical hit – rolling a natural 20 for extra impact. The 5% rarity of such an event makes it feel special. Similarly, botching on a 1 creates fun drama. Such heightened moments of anticipation cascade down the dice superstitions mentioned earlier.
So whether you‘re looking to add some math rocks to your collection or curious about the inner workings of RPGs, the quirky twenty-sided die holds insights. Next time you gather around the gaming table for your regular dungeon delve, don‘t forget to toast the icosahedron! For shaping legends one natural 20 at a time.
