A bad d20

[Wicht]

Not quite the same problem as raised in this thread, so I thought I would ask about it separately.

In our last play session, I loaned a set of dice to a new player, the dice from the PF Beginner's Box, in point of fact. On a roll of the d20, he rolled a 19, a potential crit, and on his confirmation, he rolled another 19. However, on his next roll, he rolled a 1, a potential fumble by the way we play, followed by a 1 for a confirmation roll. Bemused at the coincidence he rolled it a third time and got another 1. He rolled it a few more times and got iirc a 1, a 1, and a 19, followed by another 1. Intrigued, I picked up the dice and gave it a roll. My first roll was a 1, followed by a 19. I rolled it several more times, and while I got a few other numbers (and several more 1's and 19's), they were all numbers adjacent to the 1. Tumbling it in my hand, it certainly seemed as if one half of the die felt heavier than the other. We set the die aside and gave him a new one.

I figure it is just a defective die, probably with an air bubble trapped on one side, but it did make me wonder if anyone else had a similar experience, especially with dice from that set.

 

[Janx]

When I buy dice, I scoop out all of them from the bin, and roll them. Anything lower than the top quarter is put back in the bin. Then I roll again and repeat the weeding out process. By the time I get down to one, I've got a die that likes to roll high.

I bought the Iron Heroes BattleBox a few years back with a steel d20. Cool. It rolls ones constantly. So I never use it. Tragic that an awesome die has to suck.

 

[Jan van Leyden]

Maybe you should switch to a roll under system?

 

[Penthau]

There is an easy way to tell if a die is unbalanced, drop it in a glass of water and see how it rolls. I have seen some old bad dice that practically spin to the favored side before they hit the bottom of the glass. You can watch how they bounce on the bottom and see if any numbers come up repeatedly.

 

[Dioltach]

There is an easy way to tell if a die is unbalanced, drop it in a glass of water and see how it rolls. I have seen some old bad dice that practically spin to the favored side before they hit the bottom of the glass. You can watch how they bounce on the bottom and see if any numbers come up repeatedly.

There are people who are so fond of dice that they'd probably consider this to be akin to witch ducking.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

There are people who are so fond of dice that they'd probably consider this to be akin to witch ducking.

Well, if the d20 floats, you know what to do with it ... BURN THE WITCH!

Alternately, weigh it against a duck.

 

[Jhaelen]

Sounds a lot like my old favorite d20 from a core set for 'Das Schwarze Auge'. After some time it became obvious it contained an air bubble because it started to splinter and then burst open at one edge of the face with the '19'. Indeed there was a large, hollow cavity inside. It was a scary die to use as the DM because it was so swingy, but not very suitable for player characters.