---
title: "d19 and other odd dice"
subtitle: "Warping reality with dice that should not exist"
author: Seth
publish_date: 2025-07-29 01:01
date: 2025-07-29 01:01
hero_classes: text-light title-h1h2 overlay-dark-gradient hero-large parallax
hero_image: dice_odd-dice-d22-d19-d9.webp
show_sidebar: true
show_breadcrumbs: true
show_pagination: true
taxonomy:
category: blog
tag: [gaming, tools, meta, rpg, curse, wargame ]
---
I helped fund a Kickstarter for dice with unusual number ranges.
I ended up with several sets that include a d22, d19, d18, d17, d15, d13, d11, and d9, plus a hexadecimal dice (1 to F), a d3 in Roman numerals, and a d26 alphabet dice.
My intent was to spring them on my players when their character had been cursed or blessed.
I've done exactly that with 3 separate gaming groups, and the reactions took me completely by surprise.
The typical way to impose a penalty or grant a reward in a typical tabletop RPG or wargame is to subtract or add a number from the end result of a standard dice roll.
However, in the most mundane sense, a player character that's suffered a grievous wound isn't _doing a thing_ and then subtracting 10 percent of how well the thing got done.
Instead, the player character's grievous wound is preventing that character from even attempting a task at full capacity.
I bought a few sets of irregular dice because I thought it might be fun to have a physical representation of those penalties and rewards.
Mission accomplished, I guess, because presenting impossible dice to players has universally induced strong reactions.
So far, I've heard the dice described as:
* a fun gaming curiosity
* a needless complication to a simple mathematical process of adding or subtracting numbers from a standard roll
* an affront to the laws of probability
* a warp in reality itself, probably caused by the monster imposing the penalty
* uncomfortable to look at
* a puzzle for game designers
* a fun collectible to demonstrate your passion for gaming
So far, I haven't had any player decline to use them, and everyone's taken the dice in good humour.
I don't anticipate using them often, because in reality it's just easier to roll normal dice and apply modifiers.
However, for special encounters the irregular dice are definitely fun.
The unfairness can go both ways.
While a monster might impose a penalty of rolling a d19 in place of a d20, a magical item or special ability might grant a player character the ability to crit on a 19.
A very special weapon might provide a player character d13 or even a d15 for damage instead of a d12, or a d11 instead of a d10, and so on.
## Rules ramifications
Some systems, like **Pathfinder 2** and **Imperium Maledictum**, award critical rolls based on the delta between test requirement and dice result, so irregular dice don't eliminate chances of critical success or failure.
In some systems, however, the penalty imposed on a player when a d20 is literally transformed into a d19 or a d18 is more severe than just subtracting 2 points from the result.
For players of traditional D&D (including **Tales of the Valiant**), a dice lacking a 20 means a 0% chance of a critical success.
## Get you some irregular dice
Unusual dice are by no means a necessary gaming component.
To be perfectly honest, I'm generally a proponent of the d6 because it's so commonly available.
But as a fun accessory to add something unexpected to a game evening, these have been a lot of fun.
I wouldn't use them with a very competitive gaming group, of course, because they do strictly break game rules.
Among friends, though, the reactions I've gotten to the dice have consistently surprised me.
Most people haven't ever seen an 11-sided or 19-sided die, or even conceptualise that such things exist.
Present one of these dice to your players, and you're guaranteed to be giving them a lasting memory.
And that's basically why we play games together.
If you want to gobsmack your players, go to [Impact! miniatures](https://impact-miniatures.myshopify.com/products/dice-singles-dcc-d7) and get some weird dice.