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d20 advantage and disadvantage

Roll two twenty-sided dice and keep the higher, or the lower. Here is what that does to your odds.

Chance of hitting each target

With advantage you roll two twenty-sided dice and keep the higher. With disadvantage you keep the lower. The table shows the chance of the die you keep showing at least the number you need.

You needNormal rollWith advantageWith disadvantage
2 or higher95.0%99.8%90.3%
3 or higher90.0%99.0%81.0%
4 or higher85.0%97.8%72.2%
5 or higher80.0%96.0%64.0%
6 or higher75.0%93.8%56.3%
7 or higher70.0%91.0%49.0%
8 or higher65.0%87.8%42.3%
9 or higher60.0%84.0%36.0%
10 or higher55.0%79.8%30.3%
11 or higher50.0%75.0%25.0%
12 or higher45.0%69.8%20.3%
13 or higher40.0%64.0%16.0%
14 or higher35.0%57.7%12.2%
15 or higher30.0%51.0%9.0%
16 or higher25.0%43.8%6.3%
17 or higher20.0%36.0%4.0%
18 or higher15.0%27.8%2.3%
19 or higher10.0%19.0%1.0%
20 or higher5.0%9.8%0.3%

What the chart tells you

  • The average roll is 10.5 normally, 13.82 with advantage and 7.18 with disadvantage.
  • Advantage helps most in the middle. When you need an 11, it lifts your chance from 50% to 75%, which is worth the same as a +5 bonus. When you need a 20, it only lifts 5% to 9.75%.
  • A natural 20 comes up 5% of the time normally, 9.75% with advantage and 0.25% with disadvantage.
  • A natural 1 is the mirror image: 5% normally, 0.25% with advantage and 9.75% with disadvantage.
  • Rolling the same number on both dice happens 5% of the time.

How to work it out

To fail with advantage, both dice have to miss. If a single die misses with probability m, both miss with probability m times m, so the chance of success is 1 minus that. With disadvantage both dice have to succeed, so you multiply the single-die chance of success by itself.

More dice odds

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Every figure on this page was computed by counting all possible outcomes. Game names mentioned here are trademarks of their owners; this site is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.