3028: D&D Roll - Revision history

2.98.65.8: Undo revision 389591 by 2A04:CEC0:C00B:8AA8:0:28:551D:7401 (talk) We know, but this isn't any way to fix it.

2025-10-25T22:52:57Z

Undo revision 389591 by 2A04:CEC0:C00B:8AA8:0:28:551D:7401 (talk) We know, but this isn't any way to fix it.

2A04:CEC0:C00B:8AA8:0:28:551D:7401: Ampersand in the title was broking the RSS feed

2025-10-25T21:14:40Z

Ampersand in the title was broking the RSS feed

2.98.65.8: Vandalism.

2025-10-11T23:50:57Z

Vandalism.

Show changes

2001:4450:813D:C800:54:DB18:3897:57D9 at 23:07, 11 October 2025

2025-10-11T23:07:03Z

Show changes

2001:4450:813D:C800:54:DB18:3897:57D9 at 23:05, 11 October 2025

2025-10-11T23:05:31Z

CalibansCreations: did Caine just say ###?

2025-09-18T17:30:58Z

did Caine just say ###?

DKMell: ref to later comic

2025-09-17T18:21:25Z

ref to later comic

2602:FF4D:128:D56:714A:4193:E4E:21F5: /* Explanation */

2025-09-11T05:15:31Z

‎Explanation

FaviFake: Restoring Revolutionary girl Euclid's version because the edits look correct. It's the undo's that make no sense.

2025-08-17T21:03:30Z

Restoring Revolutionary girl Euclid's version because the edits look correct. It's the undo's that make no sense.

FaviFake: /* Trivia */ This is still incomplete, but an incomplete tag attacting unaware editors isn't gonna help

2025-08-15T19:57:53Z

‎Trivia: This is still incomplete, but an incomplete tag attacting unaware editors isn't gonna help

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 | number    = 3028
 | date      = December 23, 2024
-| title     = DnD Roll
+| title     = D&D Roll
 | image     = dnd_roll_2x.png
 | imagesize = 312x313px

@@ Line 2: / Line 2: @@
 | number    = 3028
 | date      = December 23, 2024
-| title     = D&D Roll
+| title     = DnD Roll
 | image     = dnd_roll_2x.png
 | imagesize = 312x313px

@@ Line 3: / Line 3: @@
 | date      = December 23, 2024
 | title     = D&D Roll
-| image     = dnd_roll_2x.png
+| image     = five day forecast.png
 | imagesize = 312x313px
 | noexpand  = true

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Here Cueball announces "I roll D20... 18," referring to rolling a 20-sided die and getting the relatively high score of 18, presumably while in a fight with a {{w|kobold (Dungeons & Dragons)|kobold}} (a small reptilian humanoid creature in D&D.) The {{w|gamemaster|Dungeon Master}} (DM, or game master), Ponytail, responds that the kobold is unaffected, but suggests using a sword instead, pointing out the absurdity of trying to defeat an enemy by rolling dice at them. (Ponytail was also the dungeon master in the previous D&D comic).
-By making a roll without first stating what the roll represents, Cueball has broken the rules of the game, which explicitly state that players must first describe their character's actions and then with the DM's consent and advice make appropriate rolls. Cueball assumed that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other attacks he intended to use, but since her job is to adjudicate rules and create immersive fiction, not to read the players' minds, she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The next step can vary based on the DM; Cueball may be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again, or Ponytail may be generous enough to let him keep the high result once he's properly described his action (despite the rules violation). The rules violation is significant not for the mechanical advantage it gives Cueball (though there is a mechanical advantage, see the Background below), but because D&D is a roleplaying game and the dice exist to facilitate storytelling rather than replace it.
+By making a roll without first stating what the roll represents, Cueball has broken the rules of the game, which explicitly state that players must first describe their character's actions and then with the DM's consent and advice make appropriate rolls. Cueball [[1339: When You Assume|assumed]] that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other attacks he intended to use, but since her job is to adjudicate rules and create immersive fiction, not to read the players' minds, she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The next step can vary based on the DM; Cueball may be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again, or Ponytail may be generous enough to let him keep the high result once he's properly described his action (despite the rules violation). The rules violation is significant not for the mechanical advantage it gives Cueball (though there is a mechanical advantage, see the Background below), but because D&D is a roleplaying game and the dice exist to facilitate storytelling rather than replace it.
 However, the possibility exists that the players' characters have actual dice, such as those which were role-played as being produced in [[244: Tabletop Roleplaying]]. The title text suggests that if you literally threw dice as weapons, an eight-sided die (D8) would do more damage than a twelve-sided die (D12) because of its {{w|Dice#Common variations|pointier shape}}, so ironically, you might need to roll the D12 to determine the D8's damage and vice versa, in "some circumstances." As per the Background below, those circumstances are considerably slight. The effectiveness of the [[2626: d65536|d65536]] in this context has yet to be determined.

@@ Line 37: / Line 37: @@
 The browser title for this comic's page is "xkcd: D Roll", presumably caused by a similar error. This has not been fixed.
-The earlier comic [[3015: D&D Combinatorics]] also had similar issues.
+The earlier comic [[3015: D&D Combinatorics]] and later one [[3142|3142: <City>-Style Pizza]] also had similar issues.
 {{comic discussion}}

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Here Cueball announces "I roll D20... 18," referring to rolling a 20-sided die and getting the relatively high score of 18, presumably while in a fight with a {{w|kobold (Dungeons & Dragons)|kobold}} (a small reptilian humanoid creature in D&D.) The {{w|gamemaster|Dungeon Master}} (DM, or game master), Ponytail, responds that the kobold is unaffected, but suggests using a sword instead, pointing out the absurdity of trying to defeat an enemy by rolling dice at them. (Ponytail was also the dungeon master in the previous D&D comic).
-Cueball made the mistake of assuming that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other {{w|melee}} attacks he intended to use, but she had no way of knowing that, so she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The player will usually be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again.{{acn}} It could also have to do with the idea that some people forget D&D is a roleplaying game and just roll dice without explaining, for example, ''how'' they charm the shopkeeper.
+By making a roll without first stating what the roll represents, Cueball has broken the rules of the game, which explicitly state that players must first describe their character's actions and then with the DM's consent and advice make appropriate rolls. Cueball assumed that Ponytail would understand which of his weapons or other attacks he intended to use, but since her job is to adjudicate rules and create immersive fiction, not to read the players' minds, she decided to gently tease him about the omission. This is a common mistake, and being gently made fun of is a common result. The next step can vary based on the DM; Cueball may be allowed to state the specific attack intended and roll again, or Ponytail may be generous enough to let him keep the high result once he's properly described his action (despite the rules violation). The rules violation is significant not for the mechanical advantage it gives Cueball (though there is a mechanical advantage, see the Background below), but because D&D is a roleplaying game and the dice exist to facilitate storytelling rather than replace it.
 However, the possibility exists that the players' characters have actual dice, such as those which were role-played as being produced in [[244: Tabletop Roleplaying]]. The title text suggests that if you literally threw dice as weapons, an eight-sided die (D8) would do more damage than a twelve-sided die (D12) because of its {{w|Dice#Common variations|pointier shape}}, so ironically, you might need to roll the D12 to determine the D8's damage and vice versa, in "some circumstances." As per the Background below, those circumstances are considerably slight. The effectiveness of the [[2626: d65536|d65536]] in this context has yet to be determined.
@@ Line 23: / Line 23: @@
 By D&D 5 rules, a stone hurled from a sling does [https://5e.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/weapons.htm#simpleWeapons 1d4 bludgeoning damage].  A sling bullet typically weighs [https://5e.d20srd.org/srd/equipment/equipment.htm#tableAdventuringGear <sup>3</sup>/<sub>40</sub> pound (1.2 oz, 35 g)], a plausible weight for a normal-sized die made of a moderately dense material. Presumably, an object of similar weight that's thrown "by hand" rather than with a sling would do less damage, though a heavier object might do similar damage (albeit with less range). The D&D 3.5 spell [https://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magicStone.htm ''Magic Stone''] enhances ordinary small stones so they do 1d6+1 damage when hurled, or 2d6+2 when striking undead creatures. So depending on the setup, a D&D character throwing a die at an enemy could theoretically cause considerable harm, but would normally be much better served with an intentionally crafted weapon.
-Alternately, DMs may take umbrage at a player's presumption to roll dice for actions before being asked to, and this could be interpreted as a chiding. Sometimes rolls are not necessary in cases where success is automatic (the kobold is effectively helpless) or impossible (the kobold is magically immune to physical attacks), although it should be the DM's own choice whether to still test for a meaningful critical [https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/Critical_failure failure] or [https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/Critical_hit success], despite it being an apparently foregone conclusion of either kind. There are also other circumstances where the required dice is(/are) different ''in this instance'' from that which the player may assume. From a practical perspective, if the performed rolling of the dice is not required (or correctly composed) for the DM's purposes, they can choose to ignore it and/or ask for some other roll(s) to be made. It may then be the player that might be most upset by having rolled a 'good' roll that has been 'wasted', on the principle that they would have liked it to have it happen later, when it actually mattered, despite this being statistically irrelevant, assuming that the DM doesn't keep any such details mysteriously hidden.
+DMs may take umbrage at a player's presumption to roll dice for actions before being asked to, and this could be interpreted as a chiding. Sometimes rolls are not necessary in cases where success is automatic (the kobold is effectively helpless) or impossible (the kobold is magically immune to physical attacks), although it should be the DM's own choice whether to still test for a meaningful critical [https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/Critical_failure failure] or [https://rpgmuseum.fandom.com/wiki/Critical_hit success], despite it being an apparently foregone conclusion of either kind. There are also other circumstances where the required dice is(/are) different ''in this instance'' from that which the player may assume. From a practical perspective, if the performed rolling of the dice is not required (or correctly composed) for the DM's purposes, they can choose to ignore it and/or ask for some other roll(s) to be made. It may then be the player that might be most upset by having rolled a 'good' roll that has been 'wasted', on the principle that they would have liked it to have it happen later, when it actually mattered, despite this being statistically irrelevant, assuming that the DM doesn't keep any such details mysteriously hidden.
 ==Transcript==

@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 ==Trivia==
-{{notice|The trivia section is incomplete. Add the missing info from '''[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:3015:_D%26D_Combinatorics#help this talk page section].''' See also the [[3015: D&D Combinatorics#Trivia|trivia section of the comic 3015: D&D Combinatorics]].}}
+{{notice|This trivia is controversial. There's more info in [https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:3015:_D%26D_Combinatorics#help this talk page section]. See also [[3015: D&D Combinatorics]].}}
-When this comic was first released, its title was mistakenly displayed as "xkcd: D Roll" instead of "xkcd: D&D Roll." This would be a technical error in how the ampersand character (“&”) was processed by the system that generated the title. It seems the software misinterpreted "&D" as the beginning of an HTML character entity, even though "&D" is not a valid one. Seeing as the browser title for this comic's page on xkcd is likewise "D Roll", the wiki may have copied the error, otherwise it was caused by making the same error. This has not been fixed.
+The browser title for this comic's page is "xkcd: D Roll", presumably caused by a similar error. This has not been fixed.
 The earlier comic [[3015: D&D Combinatorics]] also had similar issues.

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:57, 15 August 2025
Line 32:		Line 32:

	==Trivia==		==Trivia==
		+	{{notice\|The trivia section is incomplete. Add the missing info from '''[https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/Talk:3015:_D%26D_Combinatorics#help this talk page section].''' See also the [[3015: D&D Combinatorics#Trivia\|trivia section of the comic 3015: D&D Combinatorics]].}}
		+
	When this comic was first released, its title was mistakenly displayed as "xkcd: D Roll" instead of "xkcd: D&D Roll." This would be a technical error in how the ampersand character (“&”) was processed by the system that generated the title. It seems the software misinterpreted "&D" as the beginning of an HTML character entity, even though "&D" is not a valid one. Seeing as the browser title for this comic's page on xkcd is likewise "D Roll", the wiki may have copied the error, otherwise it was caused by making the same error. This has not been fixed.		When this comic was first released, its title was mistakenly displayed as "xkcd: D Roll" instead of "xkcd: D&D Roll." This would be a technical error in how the ampersand character (“&”) was processed by the system that generated the title. It seems the software misinterpreted "&D" as the beginning of an HTML character entity, even though "&D" is not a valid one. Seeing as the browser title for this comic's page on xkcd is likewise "D Roll", the wiki may have copied the error, otherwise it was caused by making the same error. This has not been fixed.