Are dice perfectly balanced?
- Thread starter Emirikol
- Start date
Olaf the Stout
Hero
I think that they're a lot better than they were 20 years ago. I don't think that any particular die gets rolled often enough in one session to be able to say whether or not it is biased though.
I do know that one of my players has been rolling horribly in the last couple of session though!
Olaf the Stout
I do know that one of my players has been rolling horribly in the last couple of session though!
Olaf the Stout
grahamdrew
First Post
Some are more ballanced than others. Things like being overly round, polishing, and even composition (multicolored swirl dice especially) can put dice a bit off ballance. Personally, I'm a big fan of the Gamescience dice, which are some of the most consistant dice I've ever seen. In contrast, I have one D20 that came with the first Star Wars Miniatures starter set that is definitly biased (I didn't belive it until a few other people mentioned a similar pattern; aparently there were problems with bubbles in the mold).
Most of the time dice properties don't effect the rolls significantly. When people DO find a weighted die they tend to hold on to it, however.
Andrew Beard
Most of the time dice properties don't effect the rolls significantly. When people DO find a weighted die they tend to hold on to it, however.
Andrew Beard
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
Some people aren't balanced. I've run into three people in three different groups who can't roll above a 12 to save their life. One was a Modern character; he used a flamethrower so he wouldn't have to roll dice.
greywulf
First Post
If the dice aren't balanced it's clearly the fault of the designer. How can they expect us to manage with just 4 sides? d4s are clearly way underpowered. And d20s just roll too high to be usable. Some of my players use d20s all the time, making my job as DM too difficult. I shouldn't have to keep giving situation modifiers, just to balance things out. That's the designer's job, not mine. It's not fair!
All dice should be evenly balanced with 8 sides, regardless of the type of dice. I expect it to happen in 4th Edition, the "balanced" rulebook.
EDIT: Added smilies, because I'm sure someone out there will think I'm being serious. That would never do.
All dice should be evenly balanced with 8 sides, regardless of the type of dice. I expect it to happen in 4th Edition, the "balanced" rulebook.
EDIT: Added smilies, because I'm sure someone out there will think I'm being serious. That would never do.
Last edited:
rgard
Adventurer
Emirikol said:
Just good experiences rolling 20s as a DM and player. I have a blue d20 that came with the Crystal Caste (I think that is the spelling) pre-painted metal minis (five minis, five d20s in the set) and it rolls loads of natural 20s. Lots of crits, confirmed crits and successful skill checks as a result. It has a skull silhouette instead of a numeral 1.
As a DM and as a player, I roll all dice in front of the entire group playing.
I was feeling kinda guilty (took about a real year of rolling really well) so I picked up a Chessex Borealis blue d20 and continued to roll an inordinate number of natural 20s with it. That spooked a couple of my players.
Thanks,
Rich
the shmoopie
First Post
I have bags of dice.
Bag one has dice that roll a certain way, I have a D20 that favors low, and one that favors high. I also have a D6 that always rolls a five. The other dice are not as predictable, but still roll fairly high most of the time. I know it is because of defects, or weight balance, or other defects. I really don't care, I use these as a player, I enjoy getting a bit of an edge, and consider it like my PC using the right tool for the job.
Bag two are some of teh most consistantly random dice I have ever found. I use these when DMing an important event. I only have a d20 and a D8 that are honostly random, and make the PC's use the D20 for certain climatic events. They know something important is happening when I put the blue/gold swirled die on the table.
Bag one has dice that roll a certain way, I have a D20 that favors low, and one that favors high. I also have a D6 that always rolls a five. The other dice are not as predictable, but still roll fairly high most of the time. I know it is because of defects, or weight balance, or other defects. I really don't care, I use these as a player, I enjoy getting a bit of an edge, and consider it like my PC using the right tool for the job.
Bag two are some of teh most consistantly random dice I have ever found. I use these when DMing an important event. I only have a d20 and a D8 that are honostly random, and make the PC's use the D20 for certain climatic events. They know something important is happening when I put the blue/gold swirled die on the table.
I don't feel a burning need to collect and record the hundreds of rolls necessary and crunch through the analysis on each and every die to tell if they are really "fair" or not. Typically, unless the thing is really malformed, until you get to very large samples like that, simple chance and other factors will weigh in more heavily than a bias on a die itself.
jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
To my knowledge only Game Science ever rigorously tested the physical quality of their dice (i.e., checked their weight, proportions, physical construction, etc) prior to shipping. Those old inserts packaged with their dice (and with TWERPS) made the dice from other companies like Chessex and Koplow look like total crap by comparison. So far as I know, Mr. Zocchi still tests all of his dice in this manner (and yes, he's still making dice).
