Dice math.

[Orius]

Add up all the numbers on a die, then divide by the number of sides.

Take a d4: 1+2+3+4=10, 10/4= 2.5

Same thing with a d8; 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8=36, 36/8= 4.5

Yeah, basically, it's an arithmetic thing, you'll always have that .5 there with a die with an even number of faces. Dice with an odd number of faces will give you a positive integer for the average.

 

[Flyspeck23]

Slightly off-topic, but still...

There's one way of not loosing at any game of chance (for instance: roulette) in the long run, and that's by doubling your bet every time you loose. That way, you'll win back everything you've lost.
Problem: after some rounds there'll hardly be enough money on this planet to raise the bet

While I like to think of myself as a fairly intelligent, rational man, I gotta say that when the dice start rolling badly, I swap 'em for some freshies.

Hopefully you're punishing your dice in a way the "freshies" can see?

 

[Chacal]

Here's a puzzle that I labored over quite a while ago and gave up on, but maybe someone here can solve?

Using only multiples of a single type of die per element (xd1, xd2, xd3, xd6, xd8, xd10, xd20, (optional xd30), xd100) and +/- modifiers, construct a set where the average roll begins at n<-[0,6] and increases linearlly to infinity, while the maximum possible roll increases at a greater rate.

That means increasing the number or value of dice over time and not just picking 1d4+1, 1d4+2, 1d4+3, ..., 1d4+n

I'm sure the value of such a set would be obvious to roleplayers (and rollplayers alike)

Earthdawn system was a variant of this that allowed multiple type of dice (D6+D8 for instance).
A problem with these systems (beside needing a chart to know how many dice we launch) is that the results distribution can change too much from one step to another, thus introducing weird effects for low DCs.

as an example (*) :
set 10 : 2D4+5 : averages 10, max 13
set 11 : 2D10: averages 11, max 20

But you've got more chances to beat a low DC ( >7 is 15/16 ) with the set 10 than with the set 11 (>8 is ... well less than 15/16 )

The modifiers on rolls also shouldn't be fixed unless you want them to mean different things to different people.

In short, I fail to see how it would be useful. Maybe my (otherwise likeable ) earthdawn experience hinders in this case.

Chacal
P.S for earthdawn players (*) I resisted using the dreaded step 14 as an example

 

[green slime]

Slightly off-topic, but still...

There's one way of not loosing at any game of chance (for instance: roulette) in the long run, and that's by doubling your bet every time you loose. That way, you'll win back everything you've lost.
Problem: after some rounds there'll hardly be enough money on this planet to raise the bet

That is completely false, or have you forgotten about the little green 0 on the roulette table? SOme tables even have a little green 00 to go with it...

And following that "method", a gain will only net you the value of your original bet; hardly worth it given the amount of cash and time you intend to bring to the table.

 

[Mystic_23]

Have you ever read <i>Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead</i>?

I was wondering when this was going to come up in this thread.

I was even going to ask the same question of Olgar before I read your post. That is one of my favorite plays.

 

[evileeyore]

It isn't really that much use however, since dice don't have memory of what they last rolled or any knowledge of statistics and so it's entirely possible (however unlikely) for your D20 to roll 1 all its life (which no doubt would be very short as you are likely to microwave it or slam it in a vice as an example to your other dice to buck their ideas up).

Thats only what they want you to think. That way they can set you up with a good string of rolls then catch in a moment of all or nothing and kill your character.


TTFN

EvilE

 

[diaglo]

Here's a classification question for you:

You've flipped a coin 19 times, and each time it has come up Heads. What would you bet is the result of the 20th flip?

Spoiler

If you answered Tails, you're a gambler.
If you answered "equal probability heads or tails", you're a reasonable mathematician/engineer.
If you answered heads, you're a statistician.

if you don't check the coin to see if it has a tails you are an idiot.

 

[ichabod]

There's one way of not loosing at any game of chance (for instance: roulette) in the long run, and that's by doubling your bet every time you loose. That way, you'll win back everything you've lost.
Problem: after some rounds there'll hardly be enough money on this planet to raise the bet

This is only true if you have infinite time and infinite money. Otherwise it is mathematically impossible to turn a losing game into a winning game.

 

[CRGreathouse]

Slightly off-topic, but still...

There's one way of not loosing at any game of chance (for instance: roulette) in the long run, and that's by doubling your bet every time you loose. That way, you'll win back everything you've lost.
Problem: after some rounds there'll hardly be enough money on this planet to raise the bet

That is completely false, or have you forgotten about the little green 0 on the roulette table? SOme tables even have a little green 00 to go with it...

And following that "method", a gain will only net you the value of your original bet; hardly worth it given the amount of cash and time you intend to bring to the table.

What Flyspeck is saying, I think, works as long as you have enough money to cover your bets as high as they go and as much time as it will take.

Let's say you bet an amount of money on a coin flip, doubling it on heads and losing it on tails:

Bet $1, heads: win $1 (+$1)

Bet $1, tails: lose $1 (+/-$0)
Bet $2, tails: lose $2 (-$2)
Bet $4, tails: lose $4 (-$6)
Bet $8, heads: win $8 (+$2)

Bet $1, tails: lose $1 (+$1)
Bet $2, heads: win $2 (+$3)

Bet $1, tails: lose $1 (+$2)
Bet $2, heads: win $2 (+$4)

Bet $1, heads: win $1 (+$5)

Bet $1, tails: lose $1 (+$4)
Bet $2, tails: lose $2 (+$2)
Bet $4, tails: lose $4 (-$2)
Bet $8, tails: lose $8 (-$10)
Bet $16, tails: lose $16 (-$26)
Bet $32, tails: lose $32 (-$58)
Bet $64, heads: win $64 (+$6)

After each set, you gain your original bet amount ($1 in this example). It takes a lot of money and often a lot of time, but it works assuming your funds are unlimited.

 

[MerakSpielman]

If your funds are unlimited, why are you bothering gambling?