Four-sided dice are often used in tabletop role-playing games, such as Dungeons & Dragons, to get small numbers for things such as damage or character statistic increases. Each die is a tetrahedron with 4 equilateral triangle-shaped faces. This type of die does not roll well and is thus usually thrown into the air or shaken in a dice box instead. Some games like daldøs use a four sided rolling-pin that rolls much better.
Tetrahedral dice are peculiar in that there is no topmost face when a die comes to rest. There are several common ways of indicating the value rolled. On some tetrahedral dice, three numbers are shown on each face. The number rolled is indicated by the number shown upright at all three visible faces – either near the midpoints of the sides around the base (as in the picture at right), or near the angles around the apex. Another configuration places only one number on each face, and the rolled number is shown on the downward face.
The ancient Royal Game of Ur also uses 4-sided dice made out of rock. It is believed, however, that they had only individual dots on each side (1, 2, 3, 4), instead of the 3-way formation used in modern-day DnD-style dice.
Because of their size and shape and the tendency of dice to fall on the floor, with a point facing up and underfoot, gamers frequently refer to four-sided dice as caltrops.
Famous quotes containing the word die:
“We’re born alone, we live alone, we die alone. Only through our love and friendship can we create the illusion for the moment that we’re not alone.”
—Orson Welles (1915–1984)