Percentile die

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Two ten-sided dice are often used to simulate a percentile die.
Two ten-sided dice are often used to simulate a percentile die.

The percentile die (also known as d% or d100) is generally a combination of two ten-sided dice (or d10s), often made distinguishable from each other by color. One die is rolled to determine the tens digit, and one is rolled to determine the ones digit. For example, a roll of 3 followed by a roll of 6 will give a total of 36, while a roll of 4 followed by a roll of 0 will give a total of 40. A roll of 0 followed by a 0 is usually counted as 100.

It is common to find a pair of d10s sold together as percentile dice – one of the dice will have the numbers 00, 10, 20, 30 and so on up to 90, while the other one will be a standard d10. This prevents players from being able to vacillate over which color they "meant" to represent the tens digit after seeing the results of the roll. Another (less common) die is an actual d100 – usually a sphere marked with the numbers 1 to 100. On the inside of the sphere is a ball bearing and, opposite each number, a small pit in the sphere. When rolled, the ball bearing will eventually come to rest inside one of the pits, thus presenting a number from 1 to 100 facing straight up. A well-known form of such a die is the Zocchihedron.

Percentile dice are often used in role-playing games to measure a percentile chance or to find a random result on a large table. Percentile dice are the main dice used in the RPGs Rolemaster, Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Drakar och Demoner, Stormbringer (aka Elric!), Pendragon, and all Basic Role-Playing based games. D100s are also used in some table top Wargames, such as the Games Workshop's Inquisitor.

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