A Serendipitous Die Encounter

[Deset Gled]

Wait -- does the sequential numbering change the probability of a roll on the MtG d20?

In addition to what @Tigris said, I suspect (but have no science to back me up) that minor imperfections in weight will affect them more. Leaning to one side of a normal d20 may make you more or less likely to roll a nat 20/1, but the long term average will be affected less because of the way it's spread out. A minor lean on a spindown d20 can make the average higher or lower.

 

[aramis erak]

A few days ago, I learned what a spindown die is: a d20 with sequentially numbered faces. The next day, my wife gave me a die she'd found: my first spindown die! They're often used for tracking health/HP in Magic: the Gathering, but I don't play this game.

So, do you use a spindown die for something other than counting (they're also called countdown dice)? I need ideas!

I don't use them at the table, The potential for confusion with fair dice is too high. I've also not seen many using them for MTG anymore (My wed space is shared half the time with MTG players playing Commander... and they're almost all using phone apps.

 

[aramis erak]

It does not but dextrous players can come up with dice throwing routines that guarantees the die falls on the high result side (10+), every the time. There are shallow graves in the Vegas desert for d6 sleight of hands cheaters.

Try bringing sequential d6s in Vegas, see what happens.

Bringing your own dice to a casino is grounds for a permanent 86... using them is a crime, last I heard.

Note that Nevada Law strenuously restricts casino dice. Including how long they may be used. You can buy used casino dice for not unreasonable prices for precision machined d6's...

And fairer dice you will not find when thrown onto a felt-covered table or felt-lined tray.

 

[Reynard]

Everything I have been able to dig up suggests someone needs to be a dedicated, skilled cheater for there to be any significant difference in probability with the spindown d20.

Much ado about nothing?

 

[Thierry-Advent]

As a former organizer of INFINITY tournaments, that uses d20 roll low to hit and d20 roll high to save, I did catch a few players who had a weird way of rolling their dice and having a lot of successes, high and low as needed. They had sequential dice. As a community we decided sequential were no longer accepted. Only official INFINITY non-sequential d20s were accepted. Suddenly, they were no longer having the same level of success.

I'm not going to debate this anymore. Good day.

 

[GMMichael]

Everything I have been able to dig up suggests someone needs to be a dedicated, skilled cheater for there to be any significant difference in probability with the spindown d20.

Much ado about nothing?

Well I was able to get a couple of 20s by spinning the die instead of rolling it. And it seems that the mid results are all on the same meridian, so 6 through 15 should be pretty easy to roll.

But where are the usage suggestions? It's a no brainer that air/water elementals should get to use these for their special attacks, right?