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''For a comprehensive summary of all rolls and modifiers, see: [[Die Rolls]]'' | ''For a comprehensive summary of the mechanics behind all rolls and modifiers, see: [[Die Rolls]]'' | ||
[[Category: | [[Category:Gameplay Mechanics]] | ||
A '''Damage Roll''' happens when the game wants to determine the damage done by a successful attack, area of effect spell, trap, and so on. It can involve one or many dice of any type. | A '''Damage Roll''' happens when the game wants to determine the damage done by a successful attack, area of effect spell, trap, and so on. It can involve one or many dice of any type. This is not to be confused with the [[Attack Roll]], which is a D20 roll deciding whether the attack hits at all. | ||
For example, a successful hit with a [[Dagger]] will lead to a d4 being rolled to determine the damage (referred to as 1d4 damage), whereas a successful attack with a [[Greatsword]] will lead to two d6 being rolled (referred to as 2d6) for a total damage of 2 to 12. Being caught in a [[Fireball]] will cause 8d6 points of damage, though a successful [[Saving Throw]] can reduce it to half. | For example, a successful hit with a [[Dagger]] will lead to a d4 being rolled to determine the damage (referred to as 1d4 damage), whereas a successful attack with a [[Greatsword]] will lead to two d6 being rolled (referred to as 2d6) for a total damage of 2 to 12. Being caught in a [[Fireball]] will cause 8d6 points of damage, though a successful [[Saving Throw]] can reduce it to half. | ||
For attacks made with | For attacks made with [[Weapons]], various [[Die Rolls#Modifiers|Modifiers]] can affect the total value of the roll, such as the attacking creature's Ability Score Modifier, Proficiency Bonus, or Advantage / Disadvantage. For the damage of spell attacks, no such modifiers apply. | ||
==== A bit of Mathematics ==== | |||
Note that due to the mathematics of dice rolls, the difference between, say, 1d8 and 2d4 is more than just the higher minimum value of 2 on the 2d4 roll. With the d8, you have an equal chance of getting, say, a 5 and an 8. On the other hand, the 2d4 roll is statistically more likely to lead to a total value of 5, than a total value of 8. This is most easily explained with a table of all possible outcomes: | |||
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width: 30%; text-align: center;" | |||
|+ Possible results of a 2d4 roll, highlighting the number of possibilities resulting in a total value of 5 | |||
|- | |||
! First roll !! Second roll !! Total value | |||
|- | |||
| 1 || 1 || 2 | |||
|- | |||
| 1 || 2 || 3 | |||
|- | |||
| 1 || 3 || 4 | |||
|- | |||
| 1 || 4 || {{color|red|'''5'''}} | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || 1 || 3 | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || 2 || 4 | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || 3 || {{color|red|'''5'''}} | |||
|- | |||
| 2 || 4 || 6 | |||
|- | |||
| 3 || 1 || 4 | |||
|- | |||
| 3 || 2 || {{color|red|'''5'''}} | |||
|- | |||
| 3 || 3 || 6 | |||
|- | |||
| 3 || 4 || 7 | |||
|- | |||
| 4 || 1 || {{color|red|'''5'''}} | |||
|- | |||
| 4 || 2 || 6 | |||
|- | |||
| 4 || 3 || 7 | |||
|- | |||
| 4 || 4 || 8 | |||
|} | |||
Notice how often the 5 appears in the possibilities for the '''total value''' (4 out of 16 possibilities) vs. how often the 8 appears (1 out of 16). This means a 2d4 roll has a 25% chance of resulting in 5 points of damage, but only a 6.125% chance of resulting in 8 points of damage. Meanwhile, the 1d8 roll actually has a higher chance of resulting in the maximum damage value of 8, since 1 out of 8 possibilities (12.5%) result in an 8. | |||