The DEFINITIVE Ranking of Tabletop Dice | Show of the Weekend
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- Äas pĆidĂĄn 19. 05. 2023
- We play a lot of tabletop games, and whether it's board games or role playing adventures, we've used a lot of dice in the process. So, using our expertise, we're here to order the traditional set of tabletop dice from best to worst, and create THE definitive ranking of tabletop dice. Let's roll...! đČ
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Outside Xtra is a companion channel to Outside Xbox, covering the wider world of gaming with weekly list videos, Let's Plays and shows with your hosts Ellen and Luke. Look for regular appearances by OG Outside Xboxers Andy, Jane and Mike, and generally more of the videos you love, about more of the platforms you enjoy, from a team now two people larger overall.
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WAIT. Forgot another bad thing about D4s: some are marked the OTHER way, and you have to read the number that is next to the table and it is incredibly aesthetically unpleasant.
D4 is also the area of Dublin where all the neo-lib conservatives live, too. That letter and number combo is cursed.
I was a bit disappointed you couldn't relay this important detail in the video. Glad you rectified this important error, though :D
And Luke talking about it being Han Soloâs blaster - heâs obviously never played Edge of the Empire or any of the other Star Wars RPGs because theyâve managed to take standard D&D dice and made them even more complicated. đ
We have just one of those unfortunate styles of d4. I thought we got a misprint. Such a weird placement choice.
But Iâll defend D4s for a minute. I occasionally run a goblin ranger/rogue, and those dagger damage rolls are about the only thing I can roll well with.
@@robertnope1993 A 4 on a d4 may be considered 'rolling well', but a 4 on a d10 would be considered a catastrophe :P
I still remember the way Luke wistfully described a D6 in the first Werewolf game video
âThis is a D6, formally known as a diceâ
The D Formerly Known As Dice
I'll defend d4's to my dying breath, for the simple reason that they mean the damage dice for caltrops is an IRL caltrop, and that's beautiful.
And when they're that pointy they are actual caltrops!
Somebody has played rogues.
If you like d4, there's a cute looking game on KS atm that exclusively uses d4s - Luncheons and Dragonflies. You play as woodland critters going on adventures. Been meaning to play through the solo demo (Essentially a short CYOA adventure designed to teach the system), but the way it uses d4 means your going to need a lot of them.
D4 home defense
Also for normal/small health pots
15:38 Luke: "[How will we decide?] Toss a coin?"
Best moment in the video, I hope that was intentional đđđ
Ahhh yes, the rarely used D2 đ
coins are the best dice (d2), because they help with so many choices
â@@gruggerduggerhoose i was about to say that they missed one. Glad someone beat me to it.
Nah, they should have done a straight roll-up: d6 vs. d20 đ
A D2, you mean?
I'll be honest... I'd happily watch them just taking a keyboard and cleaning it while they talk about whatever random topic related to cleaning or keyboards they think of đ
At this point, we're here for the people and whatever they want to talk about -- regardless of topic. The whole group clearly love working together and that shared joy is a delight to behold.
â@TheLurkingWriter I've been saying it since the time they played Snap, these two can make practically anything entertaining. I have watched that video several times and still have a great time. You guys want to do a video on cleaning a keyboard? Go for it. I've watched a video of producer Jon refurbishing a Game Boy at least twice and it was great.
Iâm the same, but weâre both existing fans. Imagine this video is the first video a potential new fan sees, do you think this video would be more or less effective than their other videos at making them watch another?
I now want nothing more than for Luke to cold open next weekâs episode just holding his keyboard and staring into the camera
Fun fact: D4s were featured in the Royal Game of Ur, arguably the oldest tabletop game that has ever been discovered (about 4500 years ago). The British Museum made a video about this game with Tom Scott as a guest, and at one point, Tom complained about how hard it was to pick up four D4s to roll.
D12s aren't the most useful dice but I'm always glad to see them, because it generally means someone just got hit with a big axe. Which I think we can all agree is central to the tabletop gaming experience.
I think my issue with the d12 is it's as swingy as that giant axe of yours. While getting a 12 is much less likely on 2d6, it's impossible to get a 1 and statistically you're going to end up somewhere in the middle.
@@Joe90h You're a greatsword man then.
@@mnorris790 Greatswords are good, the last campaign I played in was an odd one where we had to earn our proficiencies through down time grinding (Kind of like the projects in Blades Of The Dark) but I went with a heavy mace for them which is 2d4 and never really considered any other weapons over building out their ability to read every language as that was more on brand for them.
Other characters have included a poison knife juggling bard/rogue and a DnD 3.5 dancing Scimitar user who could attack 5 times in a combat round and earn bonus d6 if he'd moved a certain distance. My favourite combat round ever with him was slicing a leg off of a giant enemy crab then swimming up inside it and blending it into a paste because I got to roll 30d6 against it and got over 120 from them.
I like the d12. It's got a good heft to it like a d20, but the numbers are larger so it doesn't tip quite as much.
My issue with the d12 is that it doesn't seem to want to be in the game - it always runs away off the table's edge and hides somewhere on the floor, usually under something.
Would you say dropping a D4 on the floor puts you in a dicey situation?
Booooooo
You always know where you're standing with a D4. It just gets right to the point.
Roll a d20. You rolled a 1? You step on the d4 and stumble over the couch, falling on your head painfully. Take 3d4 damage. Try not to drop them on the floor this time
I'd just call it D4-estation.
More like... a spiky situation
Luke describing a D8 as "double the thing I hate" got me chuckling. Also, yes, please play Snakes & Ladders.
I was visiting a museum the other day and saw a ceramic D6 from ancient China. It looked exactly like a modern die, down to the dot patterns and opposite sides adding up to 7. The D6 is so good that someone invented it thousands of years ago and everyone who saw it since said "yup, perfect, no notes"
The d4 is the only die that's also a weapon. A die that can make someone die.
Also, Luke's "toss a coin" comment deserves more recognition. Get to it!
As someone with a frankly ridiculous amount of these dice, I was more interested in seeing Luke and Ellen's collections. The glittery set Andy gifted to Ellen is gorgeous. đđ I don't even have the opportunity to play DnD these days. But ooohhhh my little crow brain loves shiny dice!!
Yeah. Can we have a follow-up video, be it Show of the Weekend or in place of a regular video - Or on the Oxventure channel - where all of Ellen, Luke, Mike, Andy, Jane, and Johnny just show off their dice collections?
@@Stephen-Fox They already have....
â@@GriffinWolf wait what when?
@@drakonim Last year, on the OxShorts channel, a series of videos introducing everyone's dice.
@@GriffinWolf ooh thanks for the tip!
May the filler episodes continue! Seriously though, I like the OX channels content, the play-throughs, three ways to play, the Oxventures, lists of seven things, but I always try to watch the Show of the Weekend at the earliest opportunity!
You are
â@@micahnewby7964 They are what?
@@Egurius3 it's a reference from within the video. Luke's response when Ellen calls it a filler episode
Oh⊠the very first frame just shows how important this episode of Show of the Weekend is.
Lol It's a testament to how enjoyable you guys are... I'm watching you discuss dice. đ
I did enjoy the switch from the DnD Oxventure ambient music to the Blades In The Dark music when switching from discussion of the d20 to the d6. Very nice touch.
No matter how cool a dice looks, you can still roll a one
Not with the percentile D10 you can't.
Not if they're fudge dice.
Then you can only roll a -, a +, or a blank.
*a die
But anyone can be undone by any 1... BUT NOT TODAY! :D
@@00blaat00 Yes you can. 00 + 1 = you rolled a 1
In the older editions of D&D they recommend using 2 d10 of different colors to represent the 1s column & the 10s column. Then they marketed the percentile die with double digits.
Thatâs how I do it. I have two different colored d10 for times when I need to roll percentiles (divine intervention please). Started playing AD&D back in the earlyâ80s.
I was rooting for D6 the whole time, I also breathed a sigh of 'YES' when it won.
It's 4am at the time of writing, but my inner dice goblin made me click. Lovely shiny plastic math rocks, I must have....
d20 > d6 any day of the week for me.
My favorite thing about the d20 is that we've uncovered samples of 20-sided dice as far back as ancient Egypt (I believe it was Egypt anyhow). Also the shape is called an icosahedron, which is an excellent word.
I personally prefer the dodecahedron (or d12) by a hair, both as a shape and as a word, but they're both excellent. Honestly all the dice have nice shapes, except the shameful, shameful d10 which isn't even a Platonic solid.
@@23Scadu In Bender's Game (A Futurama "Movie Special"), Fry eventually refers to a D12 as "The Dodecaliciousness". I will not spoil you on why. I just think you'll appreciate that basically made-up word.
100% such blasphemy on ox's part :P
You guys could literally talkabout anything including dice now and I'd still watch to the end!
I absolutely adore these videos, not for the subject but for how you adorably engage with it. Cannot wait for next weeks keyboard cleaning content â€ïž
If you were to step on the 4 sided die and it went into your foot, would you take one D4 damage?
As someone who's actually stepped on one I'd have to say that a d4 actually deals d8 damage.
I wish I could upvote this more than once. Perhaps even *rolls1D4* 1 times...oh..
I mean, Spike Growth is basically just covering the ground in D4s... so stepping on one is surely 4D4 damage. Every step.
I'm jealous that you guys get to hang out together often. you're all such a fun crowd!
There is no doubt in my mind that you two could actually make a keyboard-cleaning video hilariously entertaining. đ
there needs to be a sequel to this video with unusual dice (i just love my skewed d6, they are the best)
Fully agree - They should pick up a set of DCC Weird Dice specifically for a Part 2 (and then maybe play DCC so they get to use them - I think the Oxventure group would have a lot of fun with a DCC Level 0 funnel...)
I'd love to have a Gömböc D1. It's basically useless and nonsensical but that's what makes it fun:)
I got my hands on a d2 once. Only cost me 25 cents.
Speaking of Gravity RIP, could we perhaps get some more of it on the channel please? It's too brilliant a game not to feature a few more times. Thank you~
Something I've always appreciated about this show is how much it feels like just friends hanging out.
Especially when you go off on tangents in Show of the Weekend, xD
I really like that I can sit and listen to a couple of buddies talk about their experiences and making jokes without it feeling too much like a video with a specific purpose. I hope that you get what I mean, what I'm trying to say is that you can Rank Dice all you want for all I care, its you - Luke and Ellen - I'm interested in "hanging out" with. đ
8:00 I love how the Blades in the Dark theme starts subtly playing in the background as Luke starts discussing the D6.
Don't have favourite die types but I like the D100+D10 because I just like the idea of being able to roll a random 1-100 number right off the bat lol
(Admittedly I don't play DnD, just watch you guys play because everything you all do is delightful. If I played, maybe I would dislike the D100/D10 combo as well đ )
If you want to get the opportunity to roll a lot of d100+d10, I'd suggest checking out Ironsworn. It's a highly regarded system in the solo roleplaying crowd, is freely available as a PDF, has a solo-first design, and the resolution system is comparing a d6 + stat (your 'action die) to two different d10 (the 'challenge dice'), which as Ellen points out, you can just use a d100 as one of your d10, and since you'll also be rolling on a bunch of d100 tables, means you'll want something to use in that capacity as well.
DnD uses basically no d100 (the 2 dice are actually called the d10 and d%), there are like 3 situations that they ever get used, and 2 of then are for DMs
If a Vampire player were on this video the d10 would most likely be competing fiercely with the top contenders here.
I used a bunch of d100 rolls when I DMed to randomly generate townsfolk or places. I'd try to go in with a rough idea of the staples but you never know when somebody is going to go to the blacksmith and it's much better to have some random flavour descriptions on hand so people don't tune out. There's nothing more boring than "It's just a normal blacksmith" when you can have dice quickly decide to add details like "There's a dragon's bottom jaw mounted on the wall, and the person working the forge has a peg leg". Players are going to ask if the two are connected... and that's interesting.
But yeah, they're never used in a fight.
Call of Cthulhu is great for this too, all your stats are out of 100 and you try to roll under your number, with graded success and failures.
@@laterkater4213 Absolutely - Any of Chaosium's BRP games. I just figured that someone who wasn't already in a TTRPG group was probably going to have an easier time getting a solo game to the table than a group game.
I absolutely loved this! Please don't hesitate to do more "Filler" content like this whenever it strikes you.
Activities like this and the Pokemon Magazine are my favorite bits of entertainment on youtube!
Your ideas for Show of the Weekend are great. The theme of talking about gaming more broadly than just video games and also the culture and experience around it all is unique IMHO. Looking forward to the Snakes and Ladders episode đ
You guys have the best energy, and we would happily watch you guys take apart a keyboard for cleaning in the next SotW đ
The worst die is "the luck die" or the d13. We use it in our games as a sort of entropy die for when things are outside our control, 7 is best with 1 and 13 being the worst. Closer to 7 the better the result. That thing has caused us so much pain
Only Luke and Ellen can make me watch a 20 min video about dice
The question is, Luke (and Iâd genuinely be interested to hear your thoughts on this đ) D6 with numbersâŠor dots?
I know I was not asked but would say dots for easy readability. The dice don't have a "right way to look at" it đ
Edit: And know as we discuss it, dots are easier to read and agree upon if you don't use the same numeric system.
The numbers do look a bit out of place on it, don't they. 6 dots looks a lot more satisfying than just a plain old underlined 6. (Why is it underlined? There's no chance it could even be 9 anyway? Are my dice calling me stupid?) đ
I love the dots, and the aesthetic of the different pattern for each number - they remind me of the suit icon patterns on playing cards or mahjong tiles
There is also the aspect that dice with dots are usually indents, which can easily be felt - therefore making the results quickly identifiable even for people with limited or no visual acuity. When my nan was alive, we were able to play certain board games together despite her being almost fully blind because she could still feel the dice results (she was very independant and refused to let us tell her what the number was).
@@TheLurkingWriter main issue w/ dots is they look weird amongst the other dice w/ numbers and assuming you just using D6s they somehow feel cheaper to me
"This hexagonal shape made up of triangles." Somewhere Matt Parker is weeping.
I'd be interested in a let's play snakes and ladders episode.
the only positive the d4 has is: should you have a need to make a trap, you've already got some caltrops in d4s
I liked the musical queues of the d20 and d6. D20 had music from their D&D games where it's the prominent die. The d6 had music from their Blades in the Dark game, which is the only die it uses.
Agreed! Also, the Blades in the Dark music (which Luke composed) is playing when he mentions Gravity RIP too (which he created), which I thought was a nice bit of synergy.
Luke and Ellen unwittingly summoning all the dice goblins in the community by doing a video about ranking the dice xD
As a fellow dice goblin, thank you for the wonderful content đ
Itâs only the genuine chemistry between you all that made this work.
Iâd watch you discussing paint drying as long as you were being yourselves.
All that said:
I have played table top games from 1983 (Tunnels & Trolls) thanks to my father , who was always a visionary. Over the years we saw our âweirdâ hobby become mainstream in every video game there is.
I own a full set of various dice in honour of his memory. This may have been a âfillerâ video but it was a funny tribute to all table-top gamers.
Thank you đ
"Dice explosion đ" sounds just beautiful and makes me wanna start playing more table top gamesđ đ
some games even use "exploding" dice where if fo example you roll a 6 on a d6 you get to roll another d6 usually up to a maximum of x times based on diff factors depending on the game
Just wanted to say I love that y'all do whatever video you want and just have fun with it! I always look forward to it!
D10's will always have a place in my heart as they were the dice used in the first RPG I played - Vampire: The Masquerade
Little factoid - The reason for the '0's rather than 10 and 100 on the dice is so you can have numbers like 001 - 009 as well as 20, 30, 40 etc.
Love the channel and love this video, you're all awesome! đ
This!! Also my first ever TTRPG was Pulp Cthulhu, which basically only uses D100, so I got used to it very fast. I get the idea of just using two D10 and I actially did that for my first playthrough because I didnât own any D%, but my DM made me chose which one was the D10 and which one was the D% before the game. Just to keep myself from cheating with the 47 or 74 thing. So I do like D100 but I also get why someone who hasnât used them a lot wouldnât like them as much.
Nice to see you guys handle the really serious topics. Oxtra asking the important questions đ
Mann that blades in the dark music is iconic, instantly recognisable creeping in when they talk about the D6, love that
I loved this episode even if the inspiration came fromLuke staring at his desk. Wonderful as always.
Luke finally found something on his desk other than pokemon magazines
Having grown up on Yahtzee and being a dice goblin playing a rogue (you can throw so many D6s with a sneak attack) ⊠I agree with Luke on the D6 being at the top.
Shadowrun actually uses all d6 specifically because instead of having to buy dice, you could raid your other board games to get dice to play.
Out of all the years of Show of the Weekend, I daresay this is the most mucking around episode I've ever watched. And for that, it's one of my favorites. :P
My god. I can't wait for next week, and cleaning Luke's keyboard. Top tier CZcams content. Better than anyone has ever made, or capable of making. Amazing stuff. I'm so excited for this triple A content .
You better not back out of this and let us all down.
I'm just here to big you guys up. Keep making lovely videos like this one. :)
I loved this one oxtra. The most nonsensical topics is where your fun shines the most!
Always enjoy a good keyboard cleaning, looking forward to next week!
You guys can litterally review dice and its entertaining, and thats a pretty top tier youtube channel in my book
I haven't even started the video yet but I want to take this opportunity to say that I hate the D10. I despise it. I did an entire campaign as a utility focused, Divination wizard and early on my main source of damage was Firebolt, a 1D10 damage cantrip. I don't think I ever rolled more than a 3 on the D10. For two years. I hate it.
Loved this video. Please keep doing the definitive lists
I legitimately loved this episode!
Where else can I sit down and watch two grown adults talk about ranking dice for nearly 20 minutes and still be incredibly entertained đ this was great
(Iâm still in the D20 camp though. I like D6âs and yes theyâre a classic, but nothing will ever be able to beat a D20 to me)
That gift from Andy was very cool and thoughtful đđ
I love how they added in the Blades in the Dark music when Luke started talking about the D6
My first dnd game was as a half elf ranger, and so the d8 is my tried and true and I don't care if there's higher damage or better stats bc it saved me countless times. â€đ
Well the limit of my D&D knowledge comes from watching Oxventure vids and I never realised there was a D100 die, I thought you rolled something else and did a bit of mental maths. So whether intentional or not, this video was genuinely educational đČ
man what a intro! Was on the edge of my seat!!
Easily one of the best videos of the season. I do want to watch one of cleaning. No joke.
My favourite is the D30, particularly from Formula D. No actual 100 sided die as well.
I feel that they should do a follow-up video with things like a D7, a D24, a dAverage and a barrel d4.
A d1
I've only ever used a D6 for tabletop/board games because I haven't played any games where a dice with more than 6 is required... I honestly didn't even know that it wasn't just called a die/dice, but the gift to Ellen from Andy was really pretty. I absolutely love the show of the weekend/s because Luke and Ellen have an absolutely hilarious friendship, I laugh literally every time I watch an episode, even if I'm previously in a bad mood or feeling down.
Alright you killed me at 6:41
"because you ff...
...messed up"
"What shall we do for this Show of The Weekend?" đ€
"Decide which dice is best?" đ€·
"That'll do". đ
Best video of the year. đđ
Look forward to next week's keyboard ranking video where you rank each button. Give backspace the love it deserves
I love that they are playing the Corazon song in the background!
I have to admit all the pretty die and fantasy elements with the chance for imagination in character creating and story telling makes D&D so intriguing to me, plus seeing so many CZcamsrs I like go on about their own characters and such just really makes me want to try, then I remember I'm a social anxious person who would probably choke up in a session
13:18 "A d8 is jsut two d4s"
ACTually, two d4s make a d6 (because one side each goes on the inside), the thing that you love Luke!
Seven best tabletop dice list video, what has been missing all this time.
Iâll be waiting for that keyboard cleaning video.
Luke and Ellen are my D6 and D20. You never know what you're gonna land on, but it is a guaranteed good time rolling with friends.
My dice has a d3 mixed in with them. I use it a surprising amount while DMing for D&D. It's similar to the d4, in that it does the whole triangle thing. That same purple set also has unusual shapes for the d4, d6s, d10, & d100, but normal d8, d12 & d20. The d4, for example, is like a stretched out d6, but with two opposite sides curving to rounded points instead of being faces, so they can't be landed on. It changes the d4 to no longer be a caltrop. The other redesigned dice are similar extrusions of a hexagon for the d6s and decagon for the d10 & d100.
_/picks up Luke and Ellen._ I love it when you guys do this sort of stuff. And oh my lord, are those sparkly dice gorgeous. I mean, just _look_ at the closeup at 12:40!
Anyway ... the d6 has another thing going for it: it's tileable. People make portraits out of them. Also, what about all the other types? There's also d100, d60, d30 and more. There's even oddballs like d3, d5 and d7 apparently.
Iâm absolutely living for the OX dice board â€
For my two cents⊠itâs the D6, plated a tonne of tabletop 40k, great memories of my brother groaning as all my Necrons got back up again.
Damn this was compelling. Thank you for being interesting people and for sharing that with everyone.
Yay, another win for the good old nepotism! Haha, great show you guys, cannot wait for the keyboard cleaning episode!
also loving the blades in the dark music in the BG
I love the timing of the music at 6:42
This was fascinating for me to watch, as someone who neither plays nor understands D&D. I wasnât even aware there were other dice apart from the standard one and the D-20.
Today I am leaving a comment. Here it is.
This was a good comment.
Good video. Here's my favorite: the D12, because it has greater range than a D6, for more nuance in determining levels of success, and because it has fewer sides than a D20, making it less prone to roll around like a ball while still having a satisfying feel to it.
The oxventure in the dark music was a nice touch
You really gave the cameraperson a workout with this one:)
Totally agree on D4, it's just not rolling right- D10s are fine by me though. That is a gorgeous set by the way, glad we got a closeup on them!
I feel like "Goldilocks CZcams channel" is the perfect description for this place.
As a non-D&D player, I always thought the D4 looked intriguing. Thanks for setting me on the right path!
my favourite thing is still, as always, seeing how far Luke has to scrunch down on the couch to be in shot with Ellen
I was at PAX Unplugged last year, and got to play D&D (just as a player, not a DM) for the first time in ages. It was the Dragonlance intro adventures, and my kender Wildfire circle druid got to roll for setting off a big explosion. It was SOOOOO satisfying to roll a big handful of d10s, I wasn't even bothered by using some d100s in the mix, or by the fact that I rolled terribly (like, a 32 with 10 d10).
This is exactly the kind of on-brand Saturday nonsense I'm here for.
Just two normal adults chatting about normal things.
Wow, I'd love to get some of those purple dice. The purple and gold looks really good together. A beautiful set. Also, they need to play Call of Cthulhu and then Luke can learn how the D10/D100 is your life.
Honestly, I had figured yâall realized weâre down for watching anything after the first PokĂ©mon magazine SOTW. đ There are no filler episodes; there is only a wonderful time with our favorite CZcamsrs.
Good Job. Keep up the great work đ