BYOND Tabletop Gaming provides powerful dice rolling features that may be accessed in any of three ways:
| Roll Command |
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| The most straightforward way to roll dice in BTG is with the roll command. All the special features of the BTG Die Roller are available directly from the command line. The format is:
roll dice notation
If there is no die notation included, BTG will roll the last die notation you used from the command line or Die Roller window. |
| Dice Macro Fields |
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| Dice Macro Fields can be added to sheets for rolls that you have to perform often. A single click on the roll button next to the dice macro on the sheet will roll it for you.
The "Label" of the field is included in the roll output. The "Value" of the dice macro field is the dice notation, exactly as you would enter it for the roll command. When you create the dice macro, the value defaults to the last set of dice rolled by the roll command or the popup Dice Roller. |
| Popup Dice Roller |
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  If you click on Dice Roller under Game Tools in the Game Statpanel, a window will popup that allows you to roll dice without worrying about complex dice notations. You should still skim the dice notations to understand what each part of the Dice Roller means. |
| Number of sides |
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BYOND Tabletop Gaming uses the dS dice notation. That is, a d followed by a number denotes a die with that number of sides. A four sided die is "d4". A one hundred sided die is "d100". In addition to the normal polyhedral dice associated with role playing games, BTG can roll dice with any number of sides greater than 2. The mythical "d57" is just as valid as the everyday "d6". BTG will report an invalid die type if the die has less than 2 sides.
| Example Command: | roll d6 |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 1d6] 2: total = 2 |
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| Number of dice |
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Most games require you to roll more than one die at a time. You can specify the number of dice to roll in front of the die type, like NdS, where N is the number of dice to roll. If N is omitted, one die is rolled.
| Example Command: | roll 3d6 |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 3d6] 4, 3, 4: total = 11 |
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| Roll Bonus |
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Another common notation is a roll bonus or penalty. The number is added or subtracted from the total of the roll. The format for a die bonus is NdS+B or NdS-B for a penalty.
| Example Command: | roll 3d6+2 |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 3d6+2] 6, 1, 3: total = 12 |
| Example Command: | roll 3d6-3 |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 3d6-3] 6, 4, 4: total = 11 |
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| Private Die Rolls |
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A private die roll is displayed only to the player and the GM. Public die rolls are displayed to everyone. To make a die roll private, you just have to add "pr" somewhere in the die notation.
| Example Command: | roll 3d6 pr |
| Sample Output: | [(to GM) Guest rolls 3d6] 3, 6, 5: total = 14 |
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The rest of the dice notations are special cases that are not common to many RPGs. If you don't understand any of the following systems, and the game you are playing does not require it, don't worry about it.
| Subtract the low die |
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This feature subtracts the lowest die rolled from the total. This brings the dice average up without changing the range of dice roll. One common use is in character creation. If a system uses 3d6 for attributes in a range of 3 to 18, the GM might let you roll 4d6 minus the low die to get better stats that are still between 3 and 18. The die notation for subtracting the low die is "-low" or simply "-l".
| Example Command: | roll 4d6-low |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 4d6-low] 3, 1, 6, 6-lo(1): total = 15 |
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| Target Number |
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| A few game systems do not total the dice, but compare each die throw to a particular target number. (Shadowrun and the White Wolf's World of Darkness games are examples.) If your game system doesn't require this, you can ignore this feature. The notation for a target number is "target", "targ", "trg", "t#", or even simply "t" followed by the target number.
A simple task in Shadowrun might be resolved with Roll 4d6 t#4.
| Example Command: | roll 4d6 t#4 |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 4d6 T#4] 6, 2, 4, 3: successes = 2 |
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| Ones Cancel |
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| The World of Darkness games expand on the target number concept by having an 1 that you roll subtract a success. The die notation for the "ones cancel rule" is "cancel" or simply "can".
A typical test in World of Darkness might be resolved with roll 5d10 t6 can.
| Example Command: | roll 5d10 t6 can |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 5d10 T#6 1s cncl] 2, 1-, 5, 3, 9: successes = 0 |
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| Reroll Maximums |
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| Many games let you reroll a die if it scores the maximum roll, a 20 on a 20 sided die, an 8 on an 8 sided die, etc. Target number based games further distinguish the way the dice are rerolled. If there is no target number, it makes no difference which reroll method is used. Both methods will increase the total by the new die result.
Some games add subsequent rolls to the current die, allowing you to reach target numbers far above the maximum a die could normally roll. Shadowrun uses 6 sided dice, but it's not uncommon to have target numbers of 8 or higher. Use the add reroll method to add subsequent dice to the current die by including the word "add" or ":+" in the die notation.
| Example Command: | roll 4d6 t8 add |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 4d6 T#8 reroll:+] 6+5=11, 6+5=11, 5, 1: successes = 2 |
Other target number based game systems give you an extra die roll and another chance for a success. The World of Darkness games use this system. Use the extra die reroll method by including "extra" or simply "x" in the die notation.
| Example Command: | roll 5d10 t6 x |
| Sample Output: | [Guest rolls 5d10 T#6 reroll:x] 2, 10x, 8, 4, 10x, 3, 8: successes = 4 |
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