AnyDice.com: What It Is, And Why You Should Make A Donation

If you are a serious game designer, an amateur, or just one of those people (like me) who want to know the odds of a dice roll then AnyDice.com is a web site that you want to check out. AnyDice.com can be used to determine the odds for any combination of dice rolled. It can present the results as tables and graphs, plus it can export the results to a CSV file for use in spreadsheet programs.

I am a big advocate for knowing the math behind your game’s mechanics. One of the reasons that I became a fan of Fudge is because an explanation of what results four Fudge Dice produce is included in the text of the game. With AnyDice.com you jut need to learn a few simple syntax rules and you can generate the odds for common dice (with or without modifiers), but you can even generate the odds of more unique dice like Fudge Dice. Just check out the code below:

F: {-1,0,1}
output dF named "dF (Fudge Die)"
output 4dF named "4dF"

The first line declares F as a variable that creates a die with the three possible results –1, 0, and 1. The next line creates output for a single die using our newly created variable and names it “dF (Fudge Die)”. The last line creates output for four dice using the F variable and names it “4dF’. Click the calculate button and you will generate tables for the code used. You can also create a link for the results if you would like to share the page with others.

I’ve been using AnyDice.com to compare the odds for various dice combinations, and some of the results have convinced me to try new things that will make their way into the next revision of Budge. If you find the site as useful as I do make a donation to the owner just to show your gratitude (I am not affiliated with the site or its owner in any way). Free tools like this site are great, and supporting them with a few dollars helps to provide incentive for their creation and maintenance.

Know of another tool out there that helps with game design, especially the design of dice mechanics? Share it with us here in the comments section below.