I have a game in design and most of the time, I try to use D6 for print and play games to make it more accessible. But it now seems the D6 has a too short range of values so I am looking for using D8 or D10.
It is too much to ask, or people who make print and play games generally have access to those kind of dices?
If they have a game store of sorts nearby its easy to pick up.
I bought a D20 for a euro last week in my nearest store.
It's likely mainly those in small communities far removed from game stores that might get more trouble getting other dice, unless they already have them.
I'd speculate that most groups that would be drawn to print n play games would have at least one person with the other polyhedrals. I even know "geeks" with their own full set that have never used them for a game, just cuz they look cool.
Worst case, they can make their own randomizer so out of paper slips or whatnot.
There are other ways of extending the range.
Eg roll one die, start with that number, then roll a second die: on 1-3 ignore it, 4-6 add 6 to the number
that gives you a range of 1-12 with the same distribution as a d12
or 2d6/3d6 to give 2-12 or 3-18 (with curved distribution)
if you stray outside of d6 I think you'll lose some potential players who just play board games, the other die types are most common amongst RPers
but I guess if d10 is the only way to get the right result for the game, go for a d10
Any people who do not already have a polyhedral die higher than D6 and isn't willing to buy one, probably isn't part of your audience. I wouldn't sweat it.
I don't have anything other than D6 lying around, but if your game is the sort of thing I want to play, I'd be willing to buy something to make it work. I am probably not unique in that regard.
My advice to you Eric is "Don't PNP, do TGC!"
Nobody really cares about Print aNd Play (PNP) games. I've seen Hamish put out some pretty cool PNPs and hardly nobody took any interest.
Another point is that we "frequently" get designers who join this forum just to ask people to playtest their PNP games. Nobody hardly responds and some even dislike these messages because they do not benefit the community.
On another note, if you use "The Game Crafter" (TGC), your game will be forever immortalized and at no cost to you. You pay nothing and earn money whenever somebody wants to try the game. So in a way if you can manage to restrict your components to what TGC offers... you can make some extra cash just from a couple sales.
And you save whomever wants to play your game - the time to print and cut all of the cards... TGC does all the *hard work* and word can spread about your game if it is good.
IMHO I would prefer launching a product on TGC than trying to coax people in trying to download a PNP game.
Update: Calvin and others have suggested using Tabletop Simulator (TTS) to produce virtual version of games. Maybe this is another area that you could try. People seem very attracted to games on TTS. It's very visual and you again don't need to print or cut anything. Just log in and enjoy the game...
Definitely something I will consider down the road (so to speak)!
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Well if eventually the game works and has a lot of print request, I will go for TGC. But for early release, it will be print and play.
One thing people suggested on BGG is that there are many app for mobile device to simulate rolls of any dice you want. So I think that could be another solution very accessible, so I should not worry much about it, unless I need a huge amount of dice which is not my case.
Finally, I always found non-D6 more cool and fascinating to roll.