DicePro User Manual



Version 2.0








Rival Game Labs website: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Realm/9565





1. Introduction
DicePro is a flexible dice rolling application for the PalmPilot. It supports many different die types and can perform many useful die rolling functions automatically such as rerolling dice and totaling subsets. The two most important concepts to grasp are that of die types and roll types. Die types determine the number and kind of dice that are rolled, while roll types determine how the dice will be rolled and counted. Not all roll types can be used with all die types, and sometimes a die type will only have one dedicated roll type available for it (e.g., the Hero System Killing Attack die type is also its own roll type).
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2. The Main Screen
Below is a picture of the DicePro main screen.




Results Window

 This is where the results of a dice roll will appear. Results consist of a short textual indicator and a numeric value (sometimes a two-part numeric value). If any failures have been rerolled using the Reroll Failures command, the number of consecutive reroll attempts is displayed in a small box to the right of the results.

Show Rolls Button

 This button brings up a window that shows all of the individual die rolls for the most recent roll.

Page Label

 Each of the six pages of buttons has a label of up to 30 characters that can be customized via the Preferences dialog (menu: Options | Preferences).

Configure Button

 This small button brings up a dialog box that allows you to configure the associated Dice Roll Button.

# Dice Selector

 Tapping this selector (when available) allows you to change the number of dice rolled when the associated Dice Roll Button is tapped. This is a convenient way of changing the number of dice rolled without having to reconfigure the button.

Dice Roll Button

 Tapping this button performs a dice roll with the results appearing in the Results Window. The number and kind of dice rolled (along with any modifier) and the rolling method are specified in the configuration of the button. The most recent Dice Roll Button tapped is drawn with a bold outline.

Aux Value Selector

 Some roll types have numeric parameters that are set with this selector. For example, the "Successes >" roll type needs a target number that each die must be greater than in order to be counted as a success. That target number is specified via the Aux Value Selector pop-up menu. Since Aux Values are often different for each roll, this selector provides a way to change the Aux Value "on the fly" without having the reconfigure the button every time.

Page Tab Button

 There are six pages of seven Dice Roll Buttons that can be configured. Tapping on a particular tab brings up that page of buttons.

Hardware Scroll Buttons

 Pressing the down hardware scroll button has the same effect as tapping the most recently used Dice Roll Button. One can continuously roll the same dice over and over by tapping on the Dice Roll Button once with the stylus for the first roll, and then pressing the down hardware scroll button from then on for all subsequent rolls.
Pressing the up hardware scroll button performs a Reroll Failures operation, but only if there were failures to reroll from the most recent dice roll. See the Reroll Failures menu command below for more information on this feature.

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3. The Main Menu
There are two menus: Commands and Options.

Commands Menu

Reroll Failures

 This command is only available when the last dice roll was a Success <,>,=, Storyteller, or ShadowRun roll and not all dice came up successes. This command rerolls only those dice that were failures in the previous roll. As long as there are still failures, this command remains available. It can also be activated by the graffiti stroke for "f" or by pressing the up hardware scroll button.
Note that the number of consecutive uses of this command is displayed in a small box to the right of the dice roll results. Any new dice roll will erase this reroll count from the Results Window.
Reset Page This resets the configurations of all seven entries on the current page to their factory defaults.
Reset All This resets the configuration of all 42 entries in the application to their factory defaults. A warning dialog asks the user to confirm this operation.

Options Menu
Preferences
 This brings up a Preferences dialog box where you can enable a sound to be played any time a Dice Roll Button is tapped. This confirms that you did in fact tap the button; useful when you can't tell from the result alone (because it is the same as the previous roll). Note that the "Game Sound" system preference must also be checked in order for the sound to be played.
This is also where you can customize the page labels for each of the six Dice Roll Button pages.
The Preferences dialog has an Edit menu with the standard text field editing commands Undo, Cut, Copy,Paste, and Select All.

About DicePro

 This displays version and copyright information for DicePro, along with contact information for questions and feature suggestions.

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4. Configuring Dice Roll Buttons
The first step in customizing DicePro to your needs is to configure one or more of the Dice Roll Buttons. To do this, decide which button to configure and tap the Configuration Button that is next to it. Up will pop the Configure Button dialog box, as shown below.




# Dice This selector lets you choose the number of dice that will be rolled. For all die types except THAC0 Roll, Earthdawn Roll, and Digital Dice, a number between 1-100 can be selected as the number of dice to be rolled. The die type THAC0 Roll automatically implies a single die (a d20), Earthdawn Roll automatically implies from one to six dice depending on the chosen Step, and up to eight dice can be selected for Digital Dice.
This value can also be changed "on the fly" on the main screen.

Die Type

 This selector lets you choose from nine different die types, as described below.
Standard The standard polyhedrals; 4-, 6-, 8-, 10-, 12-, 20-, and 100-sided dice.
Non-standard N-sided dice, where N can be anything between 2 and 100.
FUDGE Dice Special 3-sided dice where the faces are marked -1, 0, and +1.
THAC0 Roll A single 20-sided die. You must choose a THAC0 value between -10 and 25 with the "THAC0 Score" selector. This die type is only compatible with the Armor Class and Unknown AC roll types.
Averaging Dice Special 6-sided dice with pips of 2, 3, 3, 4, 4, 5 instead of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6.
Hero Damage
 6-sided dice (plus an optional half-die) that are used to make Hero System normal damage rolls. This die type only works with its own dedicated roll type.
Hero Killing 6-sided dice (plus an optional +1 or half-die) that are used to make Hero System killing damage rolls. This die type only works with its own dedicated roll type.
Digital Dice Up to eight N-sided dice where N is between 2-10. Digital Dice can be made zero-based by checking the "Zero-based" checkbox. This die type only works with its own dedicated roll type.
Earthdawn Roll Various combinations of as many as six of the standard polyhedrals used to make Earthdawn action resolution rolls. This die type only works with its own dedicated roll type.
# Sides This selector lets you choose the number of sides that Standard, Non-standard, and Digital Dice have. It disappears for all other die types.
Modifier
 Three pop-up selectors let you specify a three-digit modifier for use with Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, and Averaging Dice. The Plus/Minus/Times pushbuttons let you set whether the modifier should be positive, negative or multiplied. This modifier value is used in a variety of ways depending on the roll type. This set of controls disappears for all other die types.
Reset This button resets the modifier to 0.
THAC0 Score This selector lets you choose a THAC0 score in the range -10 to 25 for THAC0 Rolls.
Zero-based
 This checkbox lets you configure Digital Dice to be zero-based. Zero-based Digital Dice produce die roll values ranging from 0 to one less than the number of sides on the dice. Note that d10 Digital Dice are always zero-based (the checkbox can not be unchecked).

Roll Type

 Tapping this selector brings up a pop-up menu of roll types that are compatible with the die type chosen for the button. The selected roll type governs the kind of roll that will occur when the Dice Roll Button is tapped during normal operation. See section 5 below for more information on Roll Types.

Aux Value

 Some roll types have numeric parameters that are set with this selector. For example, the "Successes >" roll type needs a target number that each die must be greater than in order to be counted as a success. That target number is specified via the Aux Value Selector pop-up menu.
This value can also be changed "on the fly" on the main screen.

Arrow Button

 Tapping this takes you to a second Configure Button screen as shown below. Tapping the arrow button at the bottom of this second screen (next to the "Ok" button) takes you back to the first one. This screen has an Edit menu with the standard text field editing commands Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste, and Select All. From here you can configure the following aspects of the Dice Roll Button:

Custom Button Label

 By checking this checkbox, a text field appears that allows you to specify a 30-character button label to replace the standard one generated automatically by DicePro. Unchecking this box makes the standard label appear again on the button.

Sorting

 This pop-up trigger allows you to specify the sorting order (if any) to be applied to the list of individual die roll results shown in the Show Rolls window. None means that no special sorting will be applied and the die rolls will appear in the original order they were rolled (going left-to-right, top-to-bottom). Low to High means that the die rolls will be listed low-to-high (again, going left-to-right), while High to Low means that the die rolls will be listed high-to-low.
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5. Selecting a Roll Type
The next step in customizing a Dice Roll entry is to choose the roll type. There are many roll types, though not all of them are available with all die types. Each roll type is described below, along with the die types it can be used with and the manner in which the modifier and/or aux value is utilized (if at all).

Roll Type Description Modifier Aux Value
Total Result This is the most basic rolling method. The result shown is simply a sum of all the die rolls, plus any modifier.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls. N/A
Total Highest The result shown is the sum of the highest scoring subset of dice rolled, plus any modifier.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice. Note that the Dice Button must be configured to roll at least 2 dice or this roll type will not be available in the pop-up menu.		 Applied to the sum of the highest dice rolled. Specifies the number of dice in the subset.
Total Lowest The result shown is the sum of the lowest scoring subset of dice rolled, plus any modifier.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice. Note that the Dice Roll Button must be configured to roll at least 2 dice or this roll type will not be available in the pop-up menu.		 Applied to the sum of the lowest dice rolled. Specifies the number of dice in the subset.
Clip Total at The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, clipped at the specified value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls prior to clipping. Specifies the clipping value. Any total result over this amount is set ("clipped") to this amount.
Clip Each at The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, where each die is first clipped at the specified value. Note that the Show Rolls window shows each die roll at its original unclipped value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls after each roll is clipped. Specifies the clipping value. Any individual die roll that exceeds this amount is set ("clipped") to this amount before being added to the sum.
Min Total of The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, raised to the specified minimum value. Note that the Show Rolls window shows each die roll at its original unraised value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls prior to  comparison with the minimum value. Specifies the minimum value that the total is allowed to be. Any total less than this amount is set to this amount.
Min Each of The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, where each die is raised to the specified minimum value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls after each roll is raised to the minimum. Specifies the minimum value. Any individual die roll that is below this amount is set to this amount before being added to the sum.
Reroll & Add <
Reroll & Add >
Reroll & Add =		 The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, where any dice rolled which are less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value are rerolled and added to the sum. Rerolls continue to occur as long as they are less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value ("open-ended rerolling").
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls. Specifies the die roll value that triggers a reroll & add.
Reroll & Sub <
Reroll & Sub >
Reroll & Sub =		 The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, where any dice rolled which are less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value are rerolled and subtracted from the sum. Rerolls continue to occur as long as they are less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value ("open-ended rerolling").
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls. Specifies the die roll value that triggers a reroll & subtract.
Reroll <
Reroll >
Reroll =		 The result shown is the sum of all the dice, plus any modifier, where any dice rolled which are less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value are rerolled until they are no longer less than, greater than, or equal to that value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Added to the sum of the die rolls. Specifies the die roll value that triggers a reroll.
Reroll Once <
Reroll Once >
Reroll Once =		 Same as above except that each die will only ever be rerolled once, regardless of whether the rerolled value is still less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls. Specifies the die roll value that triggers a reroll.
Success is <
Success is >
Success is =		 The result shown is a count of the dice that were less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Not used. Specifies the target number.
Ignore <
Ignore >
Ignore =		 The result shown is sum of all the dice except those that were less than, greater than, or equal to the specified value.
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Applied to the sum of the die rolls. Specifies the die roll value to ignore.
Threshold <=
Threshold >=		 For Threshold <=, the result shown is "Made by" followed by the amount by which the sum of the dice was less than or equal to the threshold value or "Missed by" and the amount by which the sum of the dice exceeded the threshold value.
For Threshold >=, the results shown are the other way around: "Made by" followed by the amount by which the sum of the dice meets or exceeds the threshold value, or "Missed by" followed by the amount which the sum of the dice are below the threshold value.
Example: A 3d6 Threshold <= 18 roll with a dice roll total of 13 would produce the result "Made by 5".
Usable with: Standard, Non-standard, FUDGE, andAveraging Dice.		 Not used. Specifies the threshold value. The difference between the dice roll total and this threshold value determines the amount that the roll was either "Made by" or "Missed by".
ShadowRun The result shown is the number of successes achieved on the configured number of d6 dice, using the ShadowRun action resolution system. A "Botch!" occurs if all the dice rolled come up 1s (the Rule of Ones). Values examined via the Show Rolls window may exceed six due to the Rule of Sixes (this window shows each die roll after all Rule of Six rerolls have been added to them).
Usable with: Standard and Non-standard 6-siders only.		 Not used. Specifies the target number. Because of the open-ended Rule of Sixes, this value is allowed to be anything between 2 and 100. Any roll that is >= to this number is counted as a success.
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Storyteller The result shown is the number of successes achieved on the configured number of d10 dice, using the Storyteller action resolution system. A "Botch!" occurs if there are more 1s rolled than successes.
Usable with:Standard and Non-standard 10-siders only.		 Not used. Specifies the target number. Must be between 2 and 10. Any roll that is >= to this number is counted as a success.
Hero Damage The result shown is the STUN-BODY combination achieved on the configured number of d6 dice (plus any half-die), using the Hero System normal damage rolling scheme. The first number is the STUN damage, the second is BODY. Not used. N/A
Hero Killing The result shown is the STUN-BODY combination achieved on the configured number of d6 dice (plus any half-die or +1), using the Hero System killing damage rolling scheme. The first number is the STUN damage, the second is BODY. Not used. N/A
Digital Roll The result shown is each individual die result arrayed next to each other as a "digital" value. For example, 3d6 Digital Dice will range in value from 111 to 666.
If the dice are configured to be zero-based, then a "z" will appear in the Dice Roll Button label, and all rolls will be in the range 0..n-1 (where n is the number of sides on the dice).		 Not used. N/A
Ars Magica The result shown is the action total achieved by rolling a single d10 using the Ars Magica action resolution system. A "Botch!" occurs if a 0 is rolled followed by at least one more 0 from the "second round" of dice rolled (this is done automatically by DicePro). Note that action totals can be much higher than 9 due to the doubling effect of rolling 1s in sequence.
Usable with: A single Standard or Non-standard 10-sider. Note that this roll type is not available if the Dice Roll Button is configured to roll more than one d10.		 Applied to the action total generated by the d10 roll. Ignored if a "Botch!" result occurs. The number of "botch dice" to roll if a "0" comes up on the initial d10 roll. If at least one of these also comes up 0, a "Botch!" result occurs with the number of 0s rolled shown.
If zero botch dice are selected here, then a "0" on the initial d10 roll produces a "Check 0" result which merely indicates a potential botch. You must determine if you have a botch yourself by other means (with a separate Dice Roll for instance).
Armor Class The result shown is the raw d20 roll along with an indication of whether that roll hit or missed, based on the THAC0 score configured into the Dice Roll Button and the Armor Class of the target specified in the Aux Value.
Usable with: THAC0 Roll only.		 Not used. The Armor Class of the target. This must be a value in the range -10 to 10.
Unknown AC The result shown is the raw d20 roll along with the minimum Armor Class that the roll hits based on the THAC0 score configured into the Dice Roll Button.
Usable with: THAC0 Roll only.		 Not used. N/A
Step (Earthdawn) The result shown is the sum of all dice rolled using the Earthdawn action resolution system for the specified Step.
Usabel with: Earthdawn Roll only.		 Not used. The "Step" at which the action roll is to be made. This determines the combination of dice rolled.
Feng Shui The result shown is the sum of the positive "Fortune" die and negative "Fortune" die using the Feng Shui dice rolling mechanics. If the dice come up snake-eyes, the result is "Jam!" and if the dice come up box-cars, the result is "Critical!"
Usable with: 2 Standard or Non-standard 6-siders. Note that this roll type is not available if the Dice Roll Button is configured as anything but 2d6.		 Applied to the sum of the "Fortune" dice. N/A
Leg. 5 Rings The result shown is the low-high range achieved with the "keep" dice using the Legends of the 5 Rings dice rolling mechanics. The first value shown is the sum of the lowest N dice while the second value shown is the sum of the highest N dice, where N is the number of "keep" dice specified by the Aux Value.
Usable with: Standard and Non-standard 10-siders only.		 Not used. Specifies the subset of dice to "keep" out of the pool of d10s configured into the Dice Roll Button.
Rolemaster The result shown is the total rolled on a single d100 using the dual-sided, open-ended Rolemaster die rolling mechanics, plus any modifier.
Usable with: A single Standard or Non-standard 100-sider. Note that this roll type is not available if the Dice Roll Button is configured to roll more than one d100.		 Applied to the result obtained from all the open-ended d100 rolls. N/A
Star Wars The result shown is the total rolled on the dice, subject to the Star Wars RPG dice rolling conventions. "Wild-1" is displayed in the results window along with the total if the Wild Die comes up a 1, while "Wild-6" is displayed if the Wild Die comes up a 6. Note that in the Show Rolls window, the Wild Die value is displayed at the bottom of the screen.
Usable with: Standard and Non-standard 6-siders only.		 Not used. N/A
GURPS The result shown is the amount by which the 3d6 GURPS roll succeeded or failed to hit the target number specified by the Aux Value. GURPS critical failures, critical successes, and automatic successes are reported as "Crit.Fail," "Crit.Succ," and "Auto.Succ" respectively followed by the actual dice roll total. This is basically just a Threshold <= roll with special support for GURPS criticals.
Usable with 3 Standard or Non-standard 6-siders only. Note that this roll type is not available if the Dice Roll Button is configured to roll anything other than 3d6.		 Not used. Specifies the target number. In GURPS, this value is typically the "skill level" that the 3d6 roll must be equal to or below to be considered a success.
RuneQuest The result shown is a d100 roll and, based on its value relative to the target number, one of the following RuneQuest dice mechanics terms: "Critical," "Special," "Success," "Failure," or "Fumble."
Usable with: A single Standard or Non-standard 100-sider. Note that this roll type is not available if the Dice Roll Button is configured to roll more than one d100.		 Applied to the target number specified by the Aux Value. This is how you create target numbers below 1 and above 100.
Warning: Using the modifier as a multiplier can result in absurdly huge target numbers.		 Specifies the base target number. The modifier is applied to this so that you can create target numbers below 1 and above 100.

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6. Showing the Individual Die Rolls
After any dice roll, you can examine the individual die rolls that made up the result by tapping the Show Rolls Button in the upper right corner of the main screen. A window will appear showing each die roll. The rolls are displayed left-to-right, top-to-bottom in the order they were rolled unless a sorting order was configured into the roll (in which case they are displayed in the configured sort order).
Fifty die rolls are shown per page. If a (Hero System) half-die was a part of the dice roll, then its value is shown in the lower left corner of the window. If the roll type was Star Wars, then the Wild Die value is shown in the lower left corner of the window.
The "More" buttons (along with the hardware scroll buttons) allow you to scroll back and forth through the results. Tapping anywhere in the window dismisses it and brings you back to the main screen.

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7. Example Configurations and Roll Type Combinations
Below are some examples of how you might configure DicePro for a number of game systems, including a few that aren't directly supported with dedicated roll types.

AD&D stats: Roll 4d6 and keep the best 3.
Configure a button as 4 Standard 6-siders and select Total Highest as the roll type. Set the aux value to 3.
AD&D munchkin stats: Roll 4d6 with anything over 18 staying as 18.
Configure a button as 4 Standard 6-siders and select Clip Total at as the roll type. Set the aux value to 18.
AD&D munchkin stats: Roll 3d6 and reroll anything under 3.
Configure a button as 3 Standard 6-siders and select Reroll < as the roll type. Set the aux value to 3.
Storyteller action: Roll 5d10 at a difficulty of 6.
Configure a button as 5 Standard 10-siders and select Storyteller as the roll type. Set the aux value to 6.
Hero Killing Attack: Roll 2d6+1 killing damage.
Configure a button as 2 Hero Killing dice Plus +1. Roll type will automatically be set to Hero Killing.
Ars Magica action total: Roll d10 + ability level of 3.
Configure a button as 1 Standard 10-sider with modifier of +3 and select Ars Magica as the roll type. Leave the aux value set to 1 unless the GM specifies a larger number of botch dice are necessary.
FUDGE roll: Roll 4dF ignoring any "+" rolls.
Configure a button as 4 FUDGE Dice and select Clip each at as the roll type. Set the aux value to 0. This will change any FUDGE dice that come up +1 to be 0 instead, effectively "ignoring" the + results.
Trinity/AEON action: Roll 6d10 against the standard difficulty of 7.
Configure a button as 6 Standard 10-siders and select Success > as the roll type. Set the aux value to 6. If the result is 0 successes, then use the Show Rolls window to look for any 1s (which would indicate a botch). TIP: Configure this button to sort the roll Low to High so that 1s will be easier to spot in the Show Rolls window.