Dice dice. The transition from dice to playing cards occurred in China around the Tang dynasty, and coincides with the technological transition from rolls of manuscripts to block printed books. In Japan, dice were used to play a popular game called sugoroku. There are two types of sugoroku. "Ban-sugoroku" is similar to backgammon and dates to the Heian period, while "e-sugoroku" is a racing game. Dice are thrown onto a surface either from the hand or from a container designed for this (such as a dice cup). The face of the die that is uppermost when it comes to rest provides
Dice notation on both dice may be interpreted as either 0 or 100, depending on the game rules. The "d1000" (using three 10-sided dice) is occasionally also seen, although it is more common in wargames than role-playing games. A number of notational strategies exist for discarding only certain types of results. Some games extend the standard notation to A"d"X"(k"Y")+"B where, in addition to the above, Y is the number of dice kept (k) from the roll. Whether the dice omitted are the highest, lowest, or the player's choice depends on the game in question. 7th Sea and Legend of the Five Rings