Percentiles.

[Kanye Westeros]

Hey gang. Does anybody know in what way percentile dice were used in blackmoor? I've read here and there hints that Dave liked percentiles but I haven't come across any details on how they were implemented. Did it look anything like powers and perils, Petal Throne, etc?

[gsvenson]

I am afraid that I can't answer this. I know that Dave A. picked up a set of percentile dice on a trip to England in 1968. Dave Wesley also picked up a set at about the same time. I personally didn't see a percentile die until we got our little brown box sets of D&D rules in 1974. That doesn't mean Dave A. was not using them behind his referee screen, I could not see what dice he was rolling. He generally didn't show us what he rolled, just told us the results.

When I was rolling for specific percentages in the early days, I generally used three d6s with a specific set of outcomes (between 3 and 18) whose combined probability of coming up matched the desired percentage result. John Snider had a little chart that showed what numbers to roll would provide a specific percentage result. Does that make sense?

[Kanye Westeros]

That does make sense Greg. It's just something I've seen repeated from time to time whenever I feel the urge to go googling Dave for inspiration/interest. There never is any extrapolation though, just Dave liked and used percentiles. Thanks for the response.

[aldarron]

Well, percentile dice were the basic dice used in Adventures in Fantasy. I think that's the main instance people think about. Otherwise, I don't think Dave was using percentiles in any special way, just usually as the chance that something might happen, such as waking a sleeping dragon.

[finarvyn]

When I was rolling for specific percentages in the early days, I generally used three d6s with a specific set of outcomes (between 3 and 18) whose combined probability of coming up matched the desired percentage result. John Snider had a little chart that showed what numbers to roll would provide a specific percentage result. Does that make sense?

Yes it does, because I used to do much the same thing for d20 rolls using 3d6.

d20 ... Percent ... Numbers to roll on 3d6
20 ... 5% ... 3,6
19 ... 10% ... 3,8
18 ... 15% ... 3,6,8
17 ... 20% ... 4,7,9
16 ... 25% ... 3,4,6,7,9
15 ... 30% ... 3,4,7,8,9
14 ... 35% ... 4,8,9,10
13 ... 40% ... 4,6,8,9,10
12 ... 45% ... 4,5,7,8,9,10
11 ... 50% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10
10 ... 55% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,15,18
9 ... 60% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13,18
8 ... 65% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,13,15,18
7 ... 70% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14,17
6 ... 75% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,14,15,17,18
5 ... 80% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,13,14,17,18
4 ... 85% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,17
3 ... 90% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,15,17
2 ... 95% ... 3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,16,17,18