10 Sided Dice
The d10 is the only piece of the standard DND dice set that is not a platonic solid. The 10 sided dice we use in gaming is a pentagonal trapezohedron and is typically numbered 1-0, with the 0 representing ten. The d10 is a part of the traditional 7-dice set, but gained prominence with the launch of the World of Darkness games in the 90s, which used ten-sided dice exclusively for all rolls. Later the Legend of the Five Rings RPG also used only 10-sided dice.
The Origin of the d10
The oldest reference to the d10 we have been able to find is a 1906 US patent. There was no d10 in the original Dungeons & Dragons game in 1974. In fact, at GenCon in 1980 the d10 was first introduced to the gaming industry (and claimed to have been invented).
d10 and D&D
Today, d10s are used extensively in Dungeons and Dragons. Primarily, they are used to determine damage from certain weapons and spells. A d10 can also be used in conjunction with another d10 to make what is known as percentile rolls. Percentile roles determine allow you to roll everything from a 1 to a 100.
