punishing my dice

[The Reverend]

So not one not two but three of my d20s let me down last game session. I didn't break eight the entire game. I had this happen once before with a single die and freezing it for two weeks seems to have corrected the problem. Now however it seems a full fledged mutiny is on hand. Im considering melting down the three offending die in front of the others as an example, but I'm thinking that might increase their level of hatred. Rewarding them seems like a good idea, but maybe they are too far gone along the path of rebellion for this to do any good and would be too little too late.

My teammates blame my glass and ceramic rolling cups, but I think they just don't like the sound they make as I roll. My rolls have been getting steadily worse the last half dozen game sessions and last night confirmed my fears.

[Dimers]

It sounds like they're trying to unionize. One traditional way to fight that is to bring in scabs desperate for work -- say, your buddy's third-string dice. It gives you dice to roll other than your mutinous ones, and shows them that you have the wherewithal to ignore them. Problem is, the scabs may be perfectly willing, but they're probably not as competent. (There's a reason your buddy hasn't used those dice for months, after all.) And sending the labor overseas probably isn't feasible in this scenario. You may be forced into collective bargaining if you want to see any more 20s.

[Hidden Sanity]

Now, bearing in mind that dice do not actually have minds or emotions, I suspect that there's a few other things in order:

1: Change how you roll them... certain rolling methods can create some bias in how the die lands... a cup typically randomizes more, but I suggest having a box or something to roll them into and roll them bouncing it off the back-plate.

A change of pace and doing something new and different might cheer your dice up. :P

2. Consider a higher quality die, like those from game science. Most molded die have some natural bias that can change or grow over time as the corners wear off the die from repeated rolling.

You can use the Game Science die as an example of disciplined unbiased rolling for your other die, or just replace them all with these trained professionals :P

[Zaq]

Next time you play, keep a record of every d20 roll you make. Record what it was for, the number on the die, and whether it was a success or failure. On a practical level, it'll help you see if there really is a statistical anomaly going on (dice aren't perfect, after all). On a superstitious level, I find that doing this sometimes shames my dice into performing properly. Win-win!

[theflyingkitty]

Threaten to send them to my players, who actualy TRY to crit fail, and often.

Or just have a nice stern talk with them.

I like the above idea about bringing in new dice to set a better example, however.

[Crasical]

Have you tried just sitting them down and giving them a talking to?

Also, do you DM any? A terrible string of rolls one session got my Scoundrel in Star Wars: Saga taken out (and only saved by DM fiat), and the next session on the -other- side of the screen my incredible rolls bloodied the entire party. It evens out, but sometimes at the most inopportune times...

[DefKab]

I find that when my dice are being unruly (and it's not MY chi that's outta balance), that a quick trip in the microwave gives them the 'warm and fuzzy' they need to motivate themselves. A quick ten second spin sets them straight, and feels good to roll, to boot.

[Kerrin]

You could give your dice a good cuddling. Just watch out for that d4!

[DragonBaneDM]

Oh my gosh, this thread is fantastic. =D

What I've found is dice rolls tend to depend on how your mindset is. Like if you stay in character and roll with the punches you'll do better. Acting out a bad die roll can be fun still. It's like "If you stop letting it get to you, it'll go away!" Like a bully!

Also, try play Avenger or Ranger? Maybe you just need to make more rolls!

[Coidzor]

You could grind one up in a mortar and pestle and then mix it with water and drink it like koolaid in front of the others as an example.

Or just eat one of them if they're made out of something weak, like Raditz, or wood or you've got something strong for teeth, like troll dentures.

Or you could make a dice tower that also has a working scale model of a guillotine for use on dice that betray the republic.

[Drglenn]

You could play a lazy warlord and not use them.
I'm currently playing one in an online campaign and I have more macros for the other party member's granted attacks than I have for my own 'attacks', especially as the barbarian in the group is currently wielding a flensing fullblade (so I have 4 for each power I can grant her: normal, raging, vs bloodied foe, and both)

[The Reverend]

Love all the ideas. I've been thinking about getting a new set, all mine are mismatched. Spoke with my uncle whose been playing since 1st Ed and he said the easiest way to test a dice fir bias is take a tall clear cylinder, vase, glass etc fill it with water and spin it off your fingers into the water. The heavy side will always fall to the bottom and be fairly obvious.

Right now I'm looking at shapeways.com they are a 3d printing site and have some incredible looking dice.

I think I'll roll them in sugar tonight give them a good hot bath in soapy water. Line them in front of the TV join the family in watching a movie. Let them play with the kittens.

ANother bit of superstition buddy of mine said before you roll your d20roll it till you get two1s in a row because the odds of three ones in a row is astronomical.

[tcrudisi]

Now, bearing in mind that dice do not actually have minds or emotions, I suspect that there's a few other things in order:

I didn't read anything past this blasphemous and obviously incorrect statement. :smalltongue:


I find that when my dice are being unruly (and it's not MY chi that's outta balance), that a quick trip in the microwave gives them the 'warm and fuzzy' they need to motivate themselves. A quick ten second spin sets them straight, and feels good to roll, to boot.

I'm too lazy to google it, but I believe that using a microwave is actually one of the ways to make cheater dice. It literally makes the dice melt (ever-so-slightly) downwards. So if you put it with the 1 down (and the 20 up), then you are making the 1 a tiny bit bigger, meaning you are more likely to roll the 20 and less likely to roll the 1. Just something to keep in mind. Or even better, don't trust me and google it yourself. (Because my memory is not 100% perfect.)


Also, try play Avenger or Ranger? Maybe you just need to make more rolls!

I tried that myself. It doesn't help. Seriously, I created a brand new level 13 avenger. In my first (and only) combat with this character, I hit an enemy exactly once. I had prioritized my +attack bonus so I only needed to roll a 7 to hit (this DM throws higher level encounters at us). In seven attacks, all of them with my Oath, I only hit once when I needed a 7+ on the dice. Nothing can save you when the dice go on strike.

[Kerrin]

Set your d20 with the 20 side up. This will cause all the "loose" atoms to migrate to the bottom and thus bias the die for rolling 20s. Note, this is in direct opposition to the equally superstitious thought that if you leave a d20 with the 20 side up you'll "use up" the 20 mojo and the die will try to even things up by not rolling 20s.

Alternately, line up your d20s on your work bench. Get some small plastic low numbers (e.g. 1-5) and crush them all at once in your bench vice. Leave the numbers in the vice with your dice sitting there all night to ponder their fate if they don't shape up.

[Sipex]

The answer is clear: Dice reform school

Step 1) Get a clear, plastic container of some sort. I'm talking extremely clear, like the tubes the dice come in.

2) Put the offending dice in the container and tell them they're going to have to take a 5 week reform course and pass a test before they're released.

3) Set the container out whenever you play so the dice can see what they're missing. Put them in full view of a well behaved set of dice and tell them to watch and learn.
Proceed to watch the performing dice roll incredibly well. Dice love to show off in front of other dice, especially if the others are in trouble.

4) At the five week mark take the offending dice out and play them for a game, evaluate their performance. If it's less than satisfactory let them know that they're going to have to take the course again.

5) Make sure the dice are graded separately. Don't let one bad D20 fail the entire class.

6) Be realistic about their marks. The best you can hope for is near-randomness. If you're determined to hold out until your dice only roll 20s you'll be there a long long time.

[The Reverend]

Love the dice reform course.

It was so bad I looked longingly at my blank d20 thinking "just one 20 and one 1 then we write extra 12s 16s, an extra nineteen, an extra ten, and fill the rest in half below 10 half above. No one would notice."

Yes I do have a blank d20 its beige and I make sure to joke with every dm about it.

[Cespenar]

None of all this crap.

Your dice just wants you to believe in him.

[Reis Tahlen]

Like Sespenar, what I call the "Yu Gi Oh method": you must believe in the spirit of the dice!

[theflyingkitty]

It is in some beliefs that concentration and/or thought can change the outcome of a ranom generator. The tests involved had people doing the equivelant of a penny flip for, say, 1000 flips while concentrating on only one outcome. Far more often than not, the dominant outcome for each subjects test was the result they were thinking about. :3

[Arminius]

You have already angered the spirits of the dice, do not anger them further!:smalleek: They are punishing you for whatever you have done to offend them. I recommend a blood sacrifice, preferably of a virgin.

[caden_varn]

Your dice may simply be reaching the end of their natural lives. If so, allow them a dignified retirement/funeral.

http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ffn/index.php?date=2003-08-27

If you aren't careful, you may end up with Zombie die :

http://nodwick.humor.gamespy.com/ffn/index.php?date=2005-06-23

[The Reverend]

I wish I had my old DMs PHDs, player hater dice. If you forgot your dice and you came to game the only dice you were allowed to use were the PHDs. They rolled bad I mean real bad for anyone, but the dm. Then one day I forgot every single set somehow and had to use them. I was known in this group fir making rolls that had no right being made "disable AT-ST by shooting a stun grenade thru the eye slit, yeah sure I guess you can do that....iguess take a -12 to hit.....20 well I guess you hit....and the crew fails their fort saves" so I get the PHDs, the have a doctorate in STFU and GFYS, and halfway thru the first combat encounter I've hit 20s 9 times, 3 in a row, and crited another 6 times and just flat succeeded on the other rolls so my dm takes them away.
I was using a gattling laser so I had 5 attacks a round.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

None of all this crap.

Your dice just wants you to believe in him.
Do not believe in you, but BELIEVE IN THE ME WHO BELIEVES IN YOU! YOUR DRILL IS THE ONE THAT SHALL...

er...*cough cough*

...roll a Crit?

[Chronos]

This is why you should always cross-train your labor force. Schedule your d10s for some extra shifts: Instead of rolling a d20, roll d% and divide by 5 (rounded up).

And I can sympathize. My oldest d20 has only rolled about six 20s in its entire career. One of them was for a 2nd edition proficiency check (where low rolls succeed), and the other five were in a run of thousands of rolls for statistical checking.

[Tyndmyr]

ANother bit of superstition buddy of mine said before you roll your d20roll it till you get two1s in a row because the odds of three ones in a row is astronomical.

This is a statistical error. The odds of your next roll being a 1 are exactly 1/20 regardless of what rolls preceded it.

[Sniddy]

This is a statistical error. The odds of your next roll being a 1 are exactly 1/20 regardless of what rolls preceded it.


No, no it's like one in 8,000 - Seriously you never roll out the ones....

You don't have dice that are 'pre-rolled' in case of emergency saves

What sort of gamer are you!

I'll tell you - a bad one!

Statistical error, my backside

[Lunarix]

When I roll my dice I typically roll high on non-important rolls. But in my last game, I had one of those "you shouldn't fail because your life is about to get difficult" rolls...

... My barbarian rolled three 1's in a row... he was vaporized :smallfrown:

[Objection]

When I roll my dice I typically roll high on non-important rolls. But in my last game, I had one of those "you shouldn't fail because your life is about to get difficult" rolls...

... My barbarian rolled three 1's in a row... he was vaporized :smallfrown:

Conclusion: convince your dice that the important rolls are unimportant and vice versa.

[Nero24200]

There's a ritual to appease the dice gods of 40k, but it might work for D'n'D. Get a bunch of D20's together and roll them. Remove all the dice that roll 20. Repeat until only 1 dice remains. Then smash that dice into a fine powder in order to appease the dark lords and serve as an example to the other D20's of what happens to dice that step out of line.

Or for a slightly saner option, maybe try other dice. Mass-produced D20's aren't completely 100% random. Generally 2 numbers will crop up more often than others (how much more often will depend on the quality). It's because mass-produced D20's are generally filed and smoothed by machine which makes them slightly egg-shaped. Try another D20 for a few games and see if your luck changes - if so it was likely just a low-quality dice that was slightly more egg-shaped that others.

[Knaight]

No, no it's like one in 8,000 - Seriously you never roll out the ones....
Its one in 8,000 to roll 3 ones in a row, yes. However, the situation you posit has you having already rolled 2 of the ones, so only the odds of rolling the last one are relevant. Think of it as having 1/400 already taken care of if you must, though that's not a particularly useful way to view it.

Note that the procedure for rolling 1s out favors lots of dice, with the ones that roll ones appearing more often. What this means is its probably a greater than 1/20 chance, as it is the dice biased towards ones most likely to make it through the procedure. "rolling out" numbers does the exact opposite.

[legomaster00156]

There's a ritual to appease the dice gods of 40k, but it might work for D'n'D. Get a bunch of D20's together and roll them. Remove all the dice that roll 20. Repeat until only 1 dice remains. Then smash that dice into a fine powder in order to appease the dark lords and serve as an example to the other D20's of what happens to dice that step out of line.

I like this idea, and will keep it in mind.:smallamused: