The odds of 6d6
Six dice make 46,656 combinations. Counting every one:
| Total | Exactly | This or more |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | 0.98% | 99.0% |
| 15 | 3.6% | 93.9% |
| 18 | 7.4% | 79.4% |
| 21 | 9.3% | 54.6% |
| 24 | 7.4% | 27.9% |
| 27 | 3.6% | 9.6% |
| 30 | 0.98% | 2.0% |
| 33 | 0.12% | 0.18% |
| 36 | 0.002% | 0.002% |
The curve is mirrored around 21, the most likely total. Seven rolls in ten land between 17 and 25. Six 6s happen once in 46,656 rolls.
Farkle
Farkle (also called Ten Thousand, Zilch or Greed) starts every turn with six dice. Ones and fives score, three of a kind scores, and you set scoring dice aside and keep rolling the rest until you stop or roll nothing that scores. That is a Farkle, and the turn's points are gone.
How likely a Farkle is depends on how many dice you are still rolling:
| Dice left | Chance of a Farkle |
|---|---|
| 6 | 2.3% |
| 5 | 7.7% |
| 4 | 15.7% |
| 3 | 27.8% |
| 2 | 44.4% |
| 1 | 66.7% |
The six-dice figure counts three pairs as a score, as most house rules do. Without that rule it is 3.1%.
6d6 damage in D&D
- Sneak Attack. A rogue's extra damage reaches 6d6 at 11th level, 21 on average.
- Falling. A creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning for every 10 feet it falls, so a 60-foot drop is 6d6.
- Burning Hands cast from a 4th-level slot: 3d6 plus one d6 per slot level above 1st.
- Contact Other Plane. Fail the DC 15 Intelligence save and take 6d6 psychic damage.
- Meld into Stone. If part of the stone is destroyed or reshaped so you no longer fit, you take 6d6 bludgeoning (destroy it outright and it is a flat 50).
For 6d6 plus a modifier, or mixed rolls, use the dice calculator. One die at a time lives on the d6 page; five dice on the 5d6 roller, eight on the 8d6 roller.
Spells that roll 6d6
Base damage in the SRD, before upcasting or cantrip levels.
- Scorching Ray (2nd level, if all three rays hit)
- Meld into Stone (3rd level)
- Contact Other Plane (5th level)
Questions
What does 6d6 mean?
Six six-sided dice, added together. The first number is how many dice, the second how many sides, so 6d6 totals anywhere from 6 to 36. The Dice Notation Guide covers the rest.
What is the average of 6d6?
Twenty-one. Each d6 averages 3.5, and six of them make 21. That is also the single most likely total, at 9.3% of rolls.
What are the odds of a Farkle on six dice?
About 2.3%, 1,080 of the 46,656 combinations, when three pairs count as a score. Without that house rule it is 3.1%.
What are the odds of at least one 6 on six dice?
About 66.5%. The chance of no 6 on any of the six is (5/6) to the sixth power, 33.5%.
What are the odds of a straight, 1 to 6, on six dice?
About 1.5%, 1 in 65: the 720 ways to order six different faces, out of 46,656 combinations. Six of a kind is far rarer, 1 in 7,776.
Is this 6d6 roller fair?
Yes. Each die comes from your browser's cryptographic random number generator with no bias towards any face, and every die is shown before it is added.