What Dice Do You Need for DnD? The 7-Dice Set Explained

Short answer to what dice do you need for DnD: one bag's worth. Seven polyhedral dice, the kind sold as a set for a few bucks, and that's every roll fifth edition will ever ask of you. The set gives you the d4 d6 d8 d10 run, a d12, a d20, plus a weird second d10 printed in tens (00, 10, 20…) for percentile rolls. Everything past that? Comfort. Speed. Or the shiny-rock gremlin in every player's brain, which, no judgment, gets fed plenty at most tables.

The long answer gets messier, because it hinges on what your character actually does when it's their turn. Fireball wizards want a fistful of d6s. Greatsword fighters want two. Rogues are their own problem (sneak attack keeps climbing every other level), and more often than not the rogue player ends up hauling more dice to the table than anybody, the DM included.

This guide covers what to buy and how many dice each class needs. For what each die is called, see DnD dice names, and for reading the two odd ones, see how to read a d4 and d100.

What dice do you need for DnD at the first session?

Night one, characters half-built, snacks open. What dice do you need for DnD right then? The bare minimum is a single set of polyhedral dice.

Seriously, that's it.

Plenty of first sessions run fine with four brand-new players sharing two sets, sliding them back and forth across the table, and that works. Better than fine, honestly, because a few dice everyone can find beat a heap of gorgeous ones buried under the pizza box.

Quick cheat sheet. Notice the d6 d8 d10 d12 crowd does most of the hurting, while the d8 d10 d12 d20 bunch moonlights on hit dice and checks:

Reading roll shorthand takes about ten seconds once somebody points at it. "d" plus however many sides. A d8 has eight. So when a spell says 3d6, you grab three of three six-sided dice, chuck them, add it up. After that clicks, monster stat blocks quit looking like homework, and you'll know what dice do you need for DnD spells and weapons just from glancing at the line.

Only got one of the right die? Roll one die, scribble the number, roll it again. And again if the spell wants a third. It's slow. It's also completely legal, and a level 1 character rarely needs more than two of anything at once.

Things change a few levels in. That's when damage dice start piling up on each other (and when people start eyeing the dice store). Think about a level 5 rogue landing sneak attack: 3d6 on top of the shortsword's d6, so four dice for one stab. Or a cleric parking spirit guardians in the middle of a goblin pack at higher level. Can you roll one die four times? Sure. But rolling damage all at once keeps the turn moving, and nobody has to sit there watching you count on your fingers, which happens to every player sooner or later.

Which dice are used for what in D&D?

Each die has a lane. They overlap a bit, and a couple of them are way busier than the rest. If you're sitting next to a new player, this is roughly how you'd walk them through the bag (pointing, probably).

The tiny pyramid (d4)

Little caltrop of a sided die. Reads from the bottom edge on some brands, from the top point on others, which confuses everybody exactly once. Daggers and darts use it, and so does magic missile: three darts at 1d4 + 1 apiece at first level, and they just hit, no roll needed. Bless and guidance tack a d4 onto a roll too, so support players keep one parked by their sheet. Step on one barefoot at 2 a.m. and you'll understand why it's shaped like that.

d6, the one you'll run out of

Buy these first. If you're buying extras of anything, start here.

Shortswords, shortbows, handaxes, all weapon damage on the d6. Fireball, which is 8d6 at third level and absolutely the reason your wizard friend owns a tub of them. Sneak attack. The old 4d6-drop-lowest trick for rolling ability scores, too. Some DMs even grab a plain six sided die from the standard dice pile when the party asks which door the goblins burst out of and they, uh, hadn't decided yet.

d8: longswords and healing

Longsword. Rapier. Warhammer. Swing any of those and the eight sided die is basically your weapon damage roll. It heals, too, putting hit points back on the board: cure wounds gives back 1d8 plus your spellcasting modifier in the 2014 rules, and the 2024 update bumps it to 2d8. Clerics, rogues, bards, monks, druids and warlocks all use a d8 for hit dice, so it rarely gets bored.

Where the d10 fits

Fourth in the d4 d6 d8 d10 lineup and kind of underrated. Heavy crossbows, glaives, halberds, fire bolt (the cantrip wizards spam all day). Fighters, paladins and rangers roll it for hit dice. It also partners with the percentile die, more on that further down.

The lonely d12

Some nights it never leaves the bag. Barbarians love it, for hit dice and for the greataxe, and beyond that it mostly sits there looking pretty. Barbarian players get weirdly protective of theirs. Can't blame them, honestly; it's the only time it gets to shine.

d20: the one that decides everything

Will it work? Roll this one and find out. Of all the dice, it's the boss. Attacks, ability checks, skill checks, saving throws, the whole lot: d20, add your modifiers, compare. A natural 20 on an attack roll always hits and is a critical hit; a natural 1 always misses. That auto-success bit doesn't officially cover ability checks or saving throws in the 2014 rules, though a ton of tables play it that way regardless (especially on generous nights). Curious how swingy a twenty sided die feels? Every twenty sided die has the same flat odds, so throw a handful on our d20 roller and watch. Stealth, Perception, all the skill checks you'll ever lean on go through it.

That weird extra d10 (d%)

Of the seven dice, this is the odd duck. Looks like a d10, except its faces say 00, 10, 20, all the way to 90. Pair it with a normal d10 and you get anything from 1 to 100. That's the whole trick behind percentile dice, which are really just two dice: two ten sided dice, one handling tens, one handling ones. Reading them is fiddlier than it sounds, so it gets its own section below.

Why does D&D use a d20?

Flat odds, mostly. Each roll, each face is 5%, so a +1 bonus buys you exactly one more face. You can see what a modifier is worth without a spreadsheet.

There's no bell curve, either. A 2 shows up as often as a 19. Compare two d6s, which bunch up around 7 (roll 2d6 a hundred times and you'll literally see the hump). A single d20 roll just doesn't do that, so nothing drags you back toward average, and that's why one cursed night of 3s feels so personal. It's also why the whole table leans in on a big throw. Half the fun, really.

What is the 65% rule in DnD?

Forum thing, not a book thing. You won't find it in the Player's Handbook. Folks usually mean that a player character should land a hit on a typical monster about two times out of three. At low levels the numbers more or less agree: a +5 attack bonus against AC 13 needs an 8 or better, that's 13 faces of 20, so 65%. It works as a quick sniff test for a dungeon master tuning a fight. Not gospel.

What dice do you need for DnD by class?

Here's where answers start to drift apart. How many dice you'll want, and which other dice are worth grabbing, comes down to class, level and how much patience you've got for re rolling the same die five times. Roughly what shows up at real tables:

Fireball makes the case better than anything. Eight dice, one roll, done. One at a time? By die five, half the table is scrolling their phones. It happens at plenty of tables, and nearly everyone has been that player.

And crits, oh boy. A critical hit doubles the damage dice (not your modifier), so that level 5 rogue critting with a shortsword rolls 2d6 for the blade plus 6d6 for sneak attack. Eight dice for a single stab! Play a rogue and a pile of d6s pays for itself the first night that happens. Rogues roll attacks with finesse weapons, which means the d6 and d8 carry most of their damage. Our post on critical hits sorts out what doubles and what doesn't, if you want the fine print.

Hit dice, now. These live in the d6 d8 d10 d12 range depending on class, and you burn them on a short rest to patch up, rolling your class's die (fighter gets a d10, rogue a d8). They come back at level-up too, if your group rolls for hit points instead of taking the flat number. Some tables swear by rolling, some think it's chaos; our post on hit points digs into rolled versus fixed HP. A level 6 fighter cashing in three hit dice would love three d10s. Got just the one? Roll it, roll it, roll it. Thrice. Nobody's grading you.

One d20 covers ability checks and saving throws, until advantage or disadvantage shows up. Then it's two d20s and you keep the higher or lower. Honestly that's the best reason there is to own a second one: both dice hit the table, one roll settles it, game moves on. The dice probability calculator shows exactly how much that extra d20 helps (it's more than you'd guess).

How many dice in a DnD set?

Seven. d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 and the percentile die. Some sets toss in an eighth or ninth, usually bonus d6s or a spare d20, but seven's the default at pretty much every local game shop and online shop you'll poke around in. Buying multiple sets is how most players quietly end up with enough dice for every character they'll ever roll up.

Those seven cover every damage die, every hit die, every core roll. The d20 takes checks, saves and attacks. The d4 d6 d8 d10 and d12 do damage dice and healing, while the d8 d10 d12 d20 pop up again for hit dice and checks. The percentile pair handles anything out of 100. There honestly isn't a core-rules roll that needs something outside that dice set, so playing DnD with just those seven is totally normal. Don't let anyone upsell you.

How to read percentile dice

Percentile dice are two ten sided dice, thrown together. One's marked in tens (00, 10, 20 up to 90), the other in ones (0 to 9). Add 'em.

• 30 on the tens die, 7 on the ones die? 37.
• 00 and 4 gives you 4.
• 90 and 0 is just 90.
• 00 and 0 is 100. Not zero!

That last one catches basically every new player, and even veterans pause on it mid-session. You'll need percentile rolls for wild magic surges, some magic items, random encounter tables and a handful of homebrew systems. Only own one d10? Roll it twice, tens first, then ones. Our post on the d4 and d100 goes deeper into the odd dice in the bag.

Side note: an actual 100-sided die exists. Usually called a Zocchihedron, it looks like a golf ball somebody got creative with, and it's a delight to own and a pain to read, since it keeps rolling way after you want it to stop. Most tables stick with the two-d10 method.

Do you need extra dice?

Need extra dice? No. Will you end up with two to four full sets within a few months anyway? Probably. Everyone does. That said, a few extras genuinely earn their spot.

A pile of d6s

Rogues, wizards, sorcerers: these folks often want six to ten extra dice, every six sided die they can find. Rogue players tend to buy a block of twelve and never look back, and so many dice in one fist feels fantastic when the crit lands.

A second d20

Throwing both d20s together for advantage or disadvantage is quicker than rolling twice. Plus you dodge the "wait, which one was first?" argument.

Spares for whoever forgot theirs

Somebody always shows up empty-handed. Usually a friend who wants to start playing and didn't know to bring anything, bless them. A spare set of dice in your dice bag fixes that, and it keeps your own dice in your own hands, if you're the sort who'd rather nobody else touch them. Totally a personal preference, and you're far from alone.

Colors, if you're into that

Some folks match different dice to different characters: forest green for the ranger, deep red for the tiefling warlock. Different colors are handy for sorting damage types fast too (white for weapon damage, orange for fire, that kind of thing).

Do you need physical dice to play?

Nope! Real dice are lovely, but you can absolutely play without them. Online dice rollers and dice apps work fine at a table or over video. Our free DnD dice roller does every die in the set, multiple dice per roll and modifiers, right in a phone browser.

Plenty of groups mix and match. Players roll physical dice for their own checks, then punch the big damage into an app (eight-die sneak attacks, fireballs, that stuff). It does speed things up, and folks stay engaged instead of zoning out.

Apps really shine on huge damage rolls, multiple rolls in one turn, or anything with a long ugly modifier. A level 11 fighter swinging three times, each with its own damage roll, can wrap up the turn in seconds.

Plenty of players still want the clatter. A d20 bouncing across the mat while the dungeon master holds their breath is half of why some people play. So: plastic when it matters, app when it's just math.

Is D&D an expensive hobby?

Only if you let it be. A basic set of polyhedral dice costs about as little as anything in this hobby. The free basic rules give you enough to play. Lots of groups get by with pencils, scrap paper, one shared set and a free online roller, and the spending (if it starts) usually goes to books, minis and maps, none of which you need.

Dice can get pricey when you wander into metal or stone, sure. Plastic dice in different colors stay cheap and roll every bit as fair on game night.

Where to buy DnD dice

Any local game shop, comic stores, bookstores with a games shelf, and online shops all carry dnd dice. Game shops are worth a nudge, because you get to see the dice in person, and a lot of them host game nights where you can start playing with strangers who turn into your group surprisingly fast.

Both game shops and online stores sell bundles. Online usually has the wider selection (plain plastic, themed sets, enormous bundles). Need enough dice for a brand-new group playing DnD? A bundle of several sets is usually the cheapest route.

What to look for in a dice set

• Readable numbers. Fancy fonts look great right up until you can't tell a 6 from a 9 across the table.
• A size that suits your hand. Tiny ones vanish, chunky ones bounce off the table.
• Decent balance. Mass-produced dice are fine for play, don't overthink it.
• Somewhere to keep the dice set, like a dice bag or box.

Dice etiquette at the table

None of this is a rule, just stuff that keeps the night from dragging.

• Roll in a tray, or at least somewhere everyone can see.
• Say what the roll is for before you throw ("Stealth, with advantage").
• Dice off the table get rerolled, unless your group plays it otherwise.
• Have your damage dice in hand before your turn comes up, so your first roll happens the second the DM says go.

Some groups let players roll the attack and damage together to speed things along. Works great if everyone can tell which die is which, which is one more argument for owning different colors.

Dice for different roles at the table

Behind the DM screen

DMs need the same stuff as players, just more of it. Monsters show up in packs and roll a lot, and rolling three goblin attacks with three d20s at once saves real time. A lot of DMs keep a separate set back there so their rolls stay secret (or so they can fudge, though no DM will admit it).

Falling damage is 1d6 per 10 feet fallen, up to 20d6. Got flying characters who might get swatted out of the sky? That's a lot of dice to roll in one go, and then you roll for the landing damage on whoever they fall on (kidding, mostly). Yet another reason the d6 pile keeps growing.

Most dnd dice also work in other role playing games, since many use the same polyhedral set. Some systems only want d6s, buckets of those dice. Board games roll d6s almost entirely, so your extras won't go to waste there either.

Related questions

Odds and ends about dice and the game, mostly related questions new players ask mid-session.

Can I use the same dice set for different characters?

Of course. Dice don't care who's rolling them, it's still the same game, and own sets per character are a luxury, not a rule. The same dice can serve a dozen characters.

Do certain dice roll better?

Nearly every player swears their set is lucky. It isn't (sorry). Cheap plastic dice can have tiny flaws, but at an actual table you won't notice. If one feels cursed, retire it to the shelf of shame for fun.

How many dice do I need for a group of four?

Figure on one basic set per player plus a backup. Money tight? Two shared sets will do. Add a few more dice of the d6 kind if anyone's playing a rogue or a fireball-happy caster.

Class features like the rogue's sneak attack, a paladin's divine smite or the bard's inspiration die all add extra dice to a roll. So when you build a character, peek at which of those you'll lean on most and grab a few extras of that die.

So, what dice do you need for DnD?

You'll hear players joke about having so many dice they need a second bag. Not really a joke. It happens to nearly everybody eventually.

But start with a single set of DnD dice. Roll it, learn it, roll it again, and that's your answer to what dice do you need for DnD. Grab a few extras when your character's rolls get bigger, and lean on an app for anything that would need a whole fistful. That's all the dice you need for a long, happy campaign (well, that and all the dice you'll buy anyway), and if you've got more beginner questions, our FAQ covers the basics.