I'm a bit confused by the sentence, "I would argue that normal rules like the Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook don’t apply to tabletop games," especially just a few paragraphs after you cite the D&D Style Guide, which is explicitly built on Chicago style and uses it to settle any issues not covered by their house style.
No style guide provides rules. That's why they're guides. But as a tabletop game editor, I find the Chicago style to be a very helpful starting point for defining a game's specific style. It's not the idea that the "rules" of common style guides "don't apply" to games that gives us lowercase XdY dice notation. It's the fact that "stylization" is one of the many tools editors have to emphasize, standardize, or tweak different content for readability, retention, and reference.
I would always default to using the lowercase d for this because it's a standardized notation that, as you indicate, aids in readability, keeps formulas consistent, and is widely used and recognized. Using special styling for certain words, phrases, or uses is perfectly in keeping with traditional style guides like Chicago. (There's no guidance to change "iPhone" to "iphone" or "i-phone" or to change the capitalization of math variables, for instance, just because their stylization doesn't use "normal" capitalization.)
I prefer to use a leading number when reading the dice traditionally (i.e. 1d6, 2d10, 4d4) but when the dice are interpreted differently I switch to leading with a lowercase "d" (i.e. d100, d66).
This is the sort of thing that should be covered by a game line's style guide, which for D&D 5th, it is: https://adventurersleague.files.wordpress.com/2018/10/1765690-dnd_house_style_guide.pdf
- signed, a guy that does tech support for style guide software.
Doh! I actually read that guide and was going to mention it... and then forgot to put it in the article! Good catch!
I'm a bit confused by the sentence, "I would argue that normal rules like the Chicago Manual of Style or the AP Stylebook don’t apply to tabletop games," especially just a few paragraphs after you cite the D&D Style Guide, which is explicitly built on Chicago style and uses it to settle any issues not covered by their house style.
No style guide provides rules. That's why they're guides. But as a tabletop game editor, I find the Chicago style to be a very helpful starting point for defining a game's specific style. It's not the idea that the "rules" of common style guides "don't apply" to games that gives us lowercase XdY dice notation. It's the fact that "stylization" is one of the many tools editors have to emphasize, standardize, or tweak different content for readability, retention, and reference.
I would always default to using the lowercase d for this because it's a standardized notation that, as you indicate, aids in readability, keeps formulas consistent, and is widely used and recognized. Using special styling for certain words, phrases, or uses is perfectly in keeping with traditional style guides like Chicago. (There's no guidance to change "iPhone" to "iphone" or "i-phone" or to change the capitalization of math variables, for instance, just because their stylization doesn't use "normal" capitalization.)
True. I probably should have worded that sentence differently!
The joint blessing and curse shared by all editors is the impulse to tell people, "You might have phrased this a bit better," hehe.
I prefer to use a leading number when reading the dice traditionally (i.e. 1d6, 2d10, 4d4) but when the dice are interpreted differently I switch to leading with a lowercase "d" (i.e. d100, d66).
I do like that style too. As in Python, "explicit is better than implicit". Adding the leading 1 makes sense.