Roll 1d6
One six-sided die is the flattest roll there is. Every face has the same chance, so there is no middle to aim for and no curve to plan around. That is exactly why designers use it when they want a result that feels genuinely arbitrary rather than typical.
Press Roll to throw the dice.
Press Space to roll again. Type notation like 2d6+3 or 4d6dl1 straight into the box.
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Rolling 1d6 gives a result from 1 to 6, and on a fair die each one is equally likely at 16.67%. There is no curve and no typical result to plan around. The average sits at 3.5, which is a number the die itself can never show.
- Minimum
- 1
- Maximum
- 6
- Mean
- 3.5
- Median
- 3.5
- Std deviation
- 1.71
- Chance per result
- 16.67%
1d6 probability distribution
One die means one way to make each result, so the chart is a flat line rather than a curve. Add a second die and the totals immediately start clustering.
| Total | Ways | Probability | This or lower |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 16.67% | 16.67% |
| 2 | 1 | 16.67% | 33.33% |
| 3 | 1 | 16.67% | 50% |
| 4 | 1 | 16.67% | 66.67% |
| 5 | 1 | 16.67% | 83.33% |
| 6 | 1 | 16.67% | 100% |
When you'd roll 1d6
A single d6 is the right tool when you want an honest coin flip with more than two outcomes. Pick a direction, pick a suspect, pick which of six doors opens. It also handles small damage and small bonuses in tabletop games, and it is the die a board game hands you when the designer wants every square on the track to matter equally. No planning around the average here, because there is no clustering to plan around.
Where this roll shows up
- Damage for daggers, slings and other light weapons across most editions of D&D
- Movement in board games that hand you a single cube
- Random tables with exactly six entries, from weather to wandering monsters
1d6 questions
Is every number on a single die equally likely?
Yes, on a fair die. Each of the six faces is identical in shape and weight, so nothing tips the result toward any one number. That flatness only holds for a single die. The moment you roll two and add them, the middle totals start pulling ahead.
What does the 1 in 1d6 mean?
It is the number of dice. The letter d separates the count from the face count, so 1d6 means one six-sided die and 3d6 means three of them. Writing the 1 is optional, and plenty of rulebooks just print d6.
Does a single die have an average?
It does, and it falls between two faces rather than on one, because there is no middle face on an even-sided die. You can never actually roll the average of a d6, which surprises people the first time they work it out.
Can I use a d6 as a coin flip?
Yes. Treat odd as heads and even as tails and you get a fair two-way split, since three faces fall on each side. Some sets include a proper d2, which is usually a cube printed with three 1s and three 2s doing the same job.