Dice Tricks I Like

Here are some of my favorite game design tricks involving dice. I started this list during my lunch break at work, while writing up notes for a less immediately interesting idea (that might become interesting if I work on it some more).

Bonus Die and Penalty Dice: For both types of dice, you add that many dice before you roll and then drop that many dice after they've been rolled. The difference between the two is which dice you keep. Bonus dice let you keep the highest dice, and penalty dice make you take the lowest dice. Bonus dice and penalty dice cancel each other out.

I like this trick because it changes the odds of success on a roll without changing the range of possible results.

Exploding Dice: When you roll the highest value on a dice, roll it it again and add that roll to the first. In some systems, that second roll can also explode too and so on.

Smart Exploding Dice: As above but if the second dice roll is also the highest value, it counts as zero.

Exploding dice can be fun, though I prefer the variant that I call Smart Exploding Dice because the range of possible results doesn't have a hole in it (you can roll a 6 on a d6), and it sets a cap on the possible total.

I have toyed with a variation that used the same logic but allow the dice to explode more than once. Each time you roll the maximum possible roll, the dice explode, but each time the maximum roll decreases by one and the old maximum is treated as zero. This allows for some impressive (if unlikely) rolls but still have a firm maximum (all of the possible rolls added together).

Blackjack: A roll under system that favors rolls that are high without going over the target number.

Masteries: In a roll under system with different levels of success/failure where a character trait is the target number, masteries allow that trait to exceed the maximum possible roll in the system. Once you reach that point, the trait goes back down to 1 with a mastery, which increases the level of success/failure by one.

Roll under systems tend to be very easy to use, but the they're also fairly limited. These two tricks open up what you can do with a roll under system without adding too much complexity.

Roll and Take the Highest: You roll some dice and take the highest. The second highest can be used in case of ties. Rolling the highest possible roll on multiple dice can add to the total.

This trick gives you the fun of rolling lots of dice without having to add them up or check for successes. Also, like the first trick, it allows for adjustments in the chance of success without changing the possible range.