(Un)Lucky with the dice - How can it happen?

[Arthur Tealeaf]

In my game last night a player was incredibly unlucky with her rolls. No matter what dice she used, she always rolled incredibly low. When just testing her luck she managed to roll below 10 nine out of ten tries, and when it mattered - in game - she rolled 5 and 4s five or six times in a row, then maybe an 8, then more 4 and 5s. In the end she managed a couple of 18s and 19s, but not before she sat down on the floor and rolled the dice across the whole room.
My question is: Why don't I get speaking whales and intelligent flowerpots crashing into my head when walking down the street? Why doesn't coincidence cause money to rain down on my garden? How is it possible to roll that badly that often without any cheating involved (from some other part)???? I thought these things didn't happen, that one person rolls like this, while everybody else rolls normally, even with the same dice!? I thought there was too little a chance of things like this happening!

But no.

 

[Sniktch]

My question is: Why don't I get speaking whales and intelligent flowerpots crashing into my head when walking down the street

LOL! 42!

No matter how infintitely improbable it seems, strange strings of bad or good luck can strike at any time. I once played a game of WarHammer 40K where my opponent rolled 92 1's in a 4 round battle, nearly 3/4 of all his rolls (all on 6 sided dice). Its weird but it happens.

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern struggled with the same question when a flipped coin came up heads hundreds of times in a row

 

[Jenale]

I've played on-line (play by post) on sites with dice rollers which I swear are not only sentient, but evil. Three times in a row with level-ups, I rolled a 1 for my new hp (and was allowed a re-roll once, when I rolled a 1 again).

I've seen combats drag on for 13 or more rounds, when at the start, you'd swear it should only last 6, maybe 7, because everyone is getting horrid dice rolls. Sometimes, it just happens.

 

[mistergone]

A guy with three dead cats all hit by cars (simultaneously?) seriously wonders if probability has gone askew?!?! DUDE YOU JUST BLEW MY MIND!!!

 

[G.A. Donis]

Were you gaming with my wife? She has the worst luck rolling dice. She keeps buying "better" dice, but when it comes to game time they always roll single digits.

 

[Sagan Darkside]

My luck changes depending on which side of the screen I am sitting on.

When I DM (which is most of the time), I roll very well and score constant criticals.

On those rare times I play, I have the worst rolls possible. It became the whole schtick to one of my pc's. He just had the worst possible luck.

SD

 

[Henry]

I have seen incredible streaks of bad luck and good luck before. The thing to remember is that even though someone changes their dice, they rarely change their seating, positioning, and rolling habits. Sometimes all that is required to change luck is to roll your dice in a drtamatically different way. Put backspin on it, put it between your clasped hands and roll it, or even something as simple as rolling them from a cup. You mentioned that the only way she changed was to roll them across the floor. The act of changing the way you sit, the hand you use, or the method the die leaves your hand can alter a roll dramatically.

You even notice that athlete or gamblers on a lucky streak never want to (A) change their habits (B) move form their spots or (C) get focused on something else? It's because they know it's more than just good fortune.

 

[Xeriar]

I have this orange 20-sided 'd10' that my DM picked up and started using for awhile (never brought his own dice - and I didn't think anything of it - I hadn't noticed before, either), took a few hours before we noticed it

 

[geezerjoe]

My current DM rolls horribly ... thankfully so. In fact when it comes down to it, he almost always rolls the median value on ANY die. In order to win some dice off's (like when trying to determine who goes first playing Magic) he often calls "Closest to 10?" and he'll win that roll 80-90% of the time.

My own personal luck swings between two extreems like a pendulum, one week rolling little esle but 18-20's to hit, the next week not being able to roll a 8 or higher to save my life.

That luck ... she is a fickle mistress.

l8r

Joe2Old

 

[KnowTheToe]

I have this orange 20-sided 'd10' that my DM picked up and started using for awhile (never brought his own dice - and I didn't think anything of it - I hadn't noticed before, either), took a few hours before we noticed it

That is a good trick!