Percentile Die Woes

[Rathbone]

I hope this doesn't come across as too stupid a question but I have a percentile die and I don't really know how to use it! It's a twenty-sided die numbered 0 - 9 and +0 - +9 with the + numbers indicating the tens. My problem is what happens if, for example, I roll a +8 followed by a +4. That gives me 120 and surely that can't be right? I've done a Google search on the issue but nobody seems to use the die that I do; everyone seems to roll percentages using two D10s. Whilst that method s straightforward enough, it seems a shame to have a dedicated die and not be able to use it.

[Joël of the FoS]

- Just take the last number, ignore the tens. A roll of 4 is 4, a roll of 14 is 4.
- the first roll is the tens.
- the second roll is the units.

So your roll of 8 and 4 would be 84%.

- a roll of 10 or 20 +x gives a result of 1%, 2%, 3%...9% and 0 + 0 = 100 %
- ex: 10 (or 20) + 5 = 5 %

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

I have been hunting around a bit, and from what I can tell, the idea of the numbering is to cut the different results in half, thus making a d20 more like a d10. It is the same logic which allows people to use a d6 as a d3 or a d4 as a d2.

I don't know why there would be a tens vs. ones place differentiation on a single die. If I were using a single percentile d20, I would roll once for the tens place, then once for the ones, disregarding whether or not there is a plus sign on the face.

I usually just roll a pair of d10s, but I do have a 100-sided die. It looks like a golf ball, sounds like a maraca, and is less convenient to roll, but it is fun to have.

[Rathbone]

Many thanks. Having only recently resurrected my gaming activity, it seems that I'd forgotten a lot of what I knew twenty years ago! Consequently, my attempts to tell my players how to roll a percentage were somewhat lacking!

Sounds like I'm better off not using the percentile die as it's not really fit for purpose if I have to treat it the same way as I would if rolling two D10s. It's nice to look at, though; it's one of those crystal-effect dice where the numbers are indented into the sides and you have to use a special type of pen to colour them in.

[Brandi]

The best use of a d100 is for the cat to play with so they don't decide to go after the other dice.

[steveflam]

The best use of a d100 is for the cat to play with so they don't decide to go after the other dice.

Amen to that. It also takes at least 15 mins before it stops on a number LOL

[Zilfer]

*literally watches his own cat playing with his dies across the way*

I hear you there....

[Rathbone]

*literally watches his own cat playing with his dies across the way*

Would it be too pedantic of me to point out that the plural of die is dice?

[Wolfglide of the Fraternity]

I appreciate it when others make corrections, because I really have to suppress myself when grammar issues arise.

[Rathbone]

I appreciate it when others make corrections, because I really have to suppress myself when grammar issues arise.

I didn't want to appear a jerk, hence the smiley face. Usually people commit the error of saying "dice" when they mean "die" so at least Zilfer's error was unique!