I designed a physical d1000 and RPG players react to it very differently than I expected

[MiloMechanics]

Hi everyone,

For quite a while I've been experimenting with unusual physical dice concepts and alternative probability mechanics for tabletop gaming.

One of the strangest projects I ended up creating is a functional physical d1000.

What surprised me most wasn't only the manufacturing/design challenge, but the way people psychologically react to extremely large number ranges compared to traditional RPG dice like d20s or d100s.

A d20 feels manageable and familiar.
A d100 feels detailed.
But when people see a d1000, they immediately start imagining things differently:

• massive critical tables
• ultra-rare world events
• huge loot systems
• absurd spell effects
• cosmic randomness
• "one chance in a thousand" moments

Even players who would probably never actually use one in a campaign still seem fascinated by the idea of physically rolling such a large range.

So now I'm curious from an RPG design perspective:

Would you ever use a d1000 in an actual tabletop RPG?

If yes, what kind of mechanics or game situations do you think genuinely benefit from huge numerical ranges?

And if not, do you still find oversized/randomized probability systems emotionally or psychologically interesting as game objects?

I'd genuinely love hearing how other RPG players and GMs think about this. See image of the die attached.

 

[O_Bruce]

Hello! I am not a DM/GM, nor have I played much of tabletop RPGs (and what I did was Warhammer Fantasy years ago), so my input will be limited. I however hope that my first response will lead to more from other forumites.

First, I do respect ingenuity that comes with creating such a dice. Even if an idea or execution won't turn out to be practical, it's still neat to make it and find out. As I said, I am neither a GM nor have played tabletop, so after a respect for your creativity, my next reaction to your dice was: "is d1000 even practical"? Because while it's true that you can do much of what you've written down, in practice, I imagine it would be a lot of additional work work for GM/DM to prepare event tables, loot tables etc. for a session using d1000.

After that, my next thought was "less is more". Basically, I think a number creep isn't actually a good thing. Working on huge numbers in any game, inevitably leads to invidual numeric values to matter less. For instance, if you are operating a d20 in dungeon and dragons, then +1 to your saving throws or skill check does make a visible difference. You feel that. In d100, 1 point of difference in anything won't matter as much. And with d1000, it's even less. I don't think that working with big numbers for its own sake is necessary a strength. In videogames in particular, I think number creep is used to deliver a cheap dopamine shots, rather than provide a compelling game design.

 

[Skatan]

That's a very cool concept and I am in awe of your ingenuity. I'm neither DM nor player of tabletops so can't comment on that unfortunately. But yeah, big numbers go boom so why the hell not?

 

[MiloMechanics]

Hello! I am not a DM/GM, nor have I played much of tabletop RPGs (and what I did was Warhammer Fantasy years ago), so my input will be limited. I however hope that my first response will lead to more from other forumites.

First, I do respect ingenuity that comes with creating such a dice. Even if an idea or execution won't turn out to be practical, it's still neat to make it and find out. As I said, I am neither a GM nor have played tabletop, so after a respect for your creativity, my next reaction to your dice was: "is d1000 even practical"? Because while it's true that you can do much of what you've written down, in practice, I imagine it would be a lot of additional work work for GM/DM to prepare event tables, loot tables etc. for a session using d1000.

After that, my next thought was "less is more". Basically, I think a number creep isn't actually a good thing. Working on huge numbers in any game, inevitably leads to invidual numeric values to matter less. For instance, if you are operating a d20 in dungeon and dragons, then +1 to your saving throws or skill check does make a visible difference. You feel that. In d100, 1 point of difference in anything won't matter as much. And with d1000, it's even less. I don't think that working with big numbers for its own sake is necessary a strength. In videogames in particular, I think number creep is used to deliver a cheap dopamine shots, rather than provide a compelling game design.

Thanks, I actually think you raise very good points.

I completely agree that a d1000 would become impractical if someone tried to use it constantly for core gameplay mechanics. Preparing huge tables for regular sessions could easily become overwhelming, and I also agree that extremely large number systems can reduce the emotional impact of small modifiers.

What fascinated me most during the project was less “bigger numbers are automatically better” and more the psychological effect the object itself seems to create. People immediately start imagining impossibly rare events, absurd outcomes, cosmic-scale randomness, and things that feel almost mythical compared to traditional dice.

So for me it became interesting more as an occasional “chaos engine” or special-event tool rather than a standard gameplay die.

I also find it fascinating that even people who would never actually use a d1000 in a campaign still seem drawn to the idea of physically rolling one.

 

[MiloMechanics]

That's a very cool concept and I am in awe of your ingenuity. I'm neither DM nor player of tabletops so can't comment on that unfortunately. But yeah, big numbers go boom so why the hell not?

Thank you! Honestly, a large part of the fun has been watching people's reactions to it. Even experienced gamers tend to stop for a second when they realize it's an actual physical d1000.

There’s something inherently entertaining about ridiculous levels of randomness, even if it’s not always practical.