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Tuesday 12 January 2021

But I haven't got a D10 ...

Following up from yesterday's blog post, Gary Sheffield sent me the following message:

'For some reason I can't post comments on your blog. There are a number of automatic dice rolling programmes for those people who don't have dice other than D6s - such as Calculator.net.'

It is possible to create your own dice roller (AKA random number generator with top and bottom limits) using MS Excel. This can be done using the RANDOMBETWEEN function.

For example, if you want to generate random whole numbers between 1 and 12 (i.e. the results you would get from rolling or throwing a D12), you type =RANDOMBETWEEN(1,12) in the formula bar.

It will immediately generate a random number between those two limits ...

... which in this case is 5.

To generate another random number, click the cursor in the formula bar, ...

... press the tick, ...

... et voila!

This simple function will work for any range of random numbers you wish to select. For example:

  • For a D4 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,4)
  • For a D6 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,6)
  • For a D8 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,8)
  • For a D10 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,10)
  • For a D12 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,12)
  • For a D20 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,20)
  • For a D100 die = RANDBETWEEN(1,100)
You can even use this function to create random numbers between, for example, 7 and 21, thus:

13 comments:

  1. You can also generate another random number after you have set up the formula by just pressing the F9 key. If you set up a column of formulas with different high endings such as 6, 8, 10, and 12 to represent the different size dice each time you press F9 they will all generate new numbers. That way you don't have to change the formula for different dice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Panzer63,

      Thanks for the shortcut. I know that many of my regular blog readers are not particularly tech savvy ... so I kept my descriptions as simple and easy to follow as possible.

      I actually set up a spreadsheet with separate cells for each type of die, but I didn’t include it in today’s blog post.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  2. ... and for those cheap skates like me using free Libre office, you type = Randbetween(x,y)

    Simon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Simon,

      I have Libre Office on one of my older laptops, but didn’t think to see if the functions were similar to those in Excel. They usually are.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  3. I never knew that! Thanks for flagging this up.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for this. Just set one up for D4-D12. I think I'll need to add a D3 as someone used that in a OHW variant.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Dan Foley,

      I have set up a simple spreadsheet for D4, D6, D8, D10, D12, and D100 dice, but I have not included a D3 ... yet!

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
  5. I have an Android phone and use an app from Google play called CritDice. It's an incredibly powerful yet simple app that allows you to roll up to 999 dice in a single throw. It even has a page for generating all kinds of wild combinations, adds, subtracts, "exploding" dice and all that jazz.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mr. Pavone,

      That sounds as if it is a very useful app, especially for wargamers who don’t want to carry around a box of dice,

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete
    2. Thank you for the tip re Critdice. I'd looked at a few dice apps, there are a lot of them and most are full of features more annoying than useful. This looks much more promising.

      Delete
  6. And if you wanted to roll two dice and use the total, that would be a simple enhancement to your spreadsheet. Have two cells each with the RANDBETWEEN formula in and another cell that adds the contents of the first two cells.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies

    1. Steve Cordery,

      Thanks for the very useful tip! I’m sure that quite a few of my regular blog readers will find it very helpful.

      All the best,

      Bob

      Delete

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