Extra Attack - Rolling Dice

[Oramac]

This is more for curiosity's sake than anything.

When rolling for Extra Attack, assuming one has advantage on both attacks (Reckless Attack, and the like), is there any difference between rolling 2d20 twice, or 4d20 once?

[JNAProductions]

This is more for curiosity's sake than anything.

When rolling for Extra Attack, assuming one has advantage on both attacks (Reckless Attack, and the like), is there any difference between rolling 2d20 twice, or 4d20 once?

Yes. Let's say you need an 8 to hit, and you roll 6, 7, 8, and 9. You missed twice-were those on ONE attack (in which case you hit once, miss once) or one on each (in which case you hit with both)?

[strangebloke]

are you taking the best two of the 4d20?

If you're rolling four and taking the two best, it's much better than rolling 2 sets of 2d20.

4d20 drop 2 has an average of 14.4
2d20 drop 1 has an average of 13.8

If you're just saying, roll two sets of d20s at the same time, but keeping them seperate, that's fine, but there is a potential issue because you might not have wanted to use both attack then.

[strangebloke]

Yes. Let's say you need an 8 to hit, and you roll 6, 7, 8, and 9. You missed twice-were those on ONE attack (in which case you hit once, miss once) or one on each (in which case you hit with both)?

Right.

miss + miss + hit + hit = two hits!

miss + miss = miss,
hit + hit = hit.

[Slipperychicken]

This is more for curiosity's sake than anything.

When rolling for Extra Attack, assuming one has advantage on both attacks (Reckless Attack, and the like), is there any difference between rolling 2d20 twice, or 4d20 once?

As long as you know which two d20s are for which attack (i.e. the blue dice are for attack #1, the green dice are for attack #2), then it's not as important. Talk to your group first, as they may be concerned about potential cheating or misreading the dice.


Rolling your attacks one after the other minimizes confusion. If you want to speed things up a little, roll your damage dice along with the attack roll. For example, if your attack does 1d8+4 damage, you roll the d20 and the d8 at the same time.