Pick a Number Between 1 and 8: A d8 Roll or a Bracket Seed: how it works
Pick a number between 1 and 8 with one tap. Those eight outcomes are the faces of a d8, the die built like two pyramids joined at the base, so a press stands in for a roll when the dice bag comes up short. Draw all eight with repeats off and you have seeded a bracket.
The d8 this page stands in for
A d8 is an octahedron: eight triangular faces, like two square pyramids stuck base to base. It is one of the seven dice in a standard role-playing set, where it often counts the damage of a hit. Opposite faces usually add up to 9, so 1 sits across from 8 and 4 from 5. For 2d8, set how many to 2 and read the sum: 9 turns up most, from 8 of the 64 pairs.
Seed an eight-team bracket
Number the teams, set how many to 8 and switch repeats off: the order drawn is the seeding, one of 40,320 possible. A seeded bracket reads 1 v 8, 4 v 5, 3 v 6 and 2 v 7 down the page, which keeps seeds 1 and 2 apart until the final. Those are the four pairs on opposite faces of a d8.
Tips
- Three coin flips have eight possible results, so a coin can stand in for a d8: list heads-heads-heads to tails-tails-tails as 1 to 8.
- For a random map direction, count the compass clockwise from north: 1 north, 2 northeast, 3 east, round to 8 for northwest.
- Set how many to 2 for a chessboard square: the first number is the file, a to h, and the second the rank, so 5 then 4 is e4.
Questions and answers
How do I pick one of eight players at random?
Count the players off 1 to 8 round the table and press. That beats asking someone to pick a number one through eight out loud, because whoever answers chooses the player, and a press has nobody to favor. Any of the eight can come up, 1 and 8 included. For the whole table's turn order, draw 8 with repeats off.
Is a tap as fair as a real d8?
Every press gives each number the same 12.5% chance and no press remembers the last, so two 8s in a row is luck. The number is made in your browser: plenty for game night or a bracket draw, not for a draw with money on it.
Can I roll d8+3 here?
Add the bonus in your head, or build it in: type 4 and 11 into the lowest and highest boxes and every press is d8+3. Share copies a link to those limits for next session.