What makes a good set of Dice?

Would you buy precision machined metal gaming dice

  • Yes I would no matter the price

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yes I would but the price must be reasonable

    Votes: 8 38.1%
  • Only if they are as cheap as normal dice

    Votes: 1 4.8%
  • Nope I wouldn't

    Votes: 10 47.6%
  • It doesn't really matter to me what dice I use.

    Votes: 2 9.5%

I agree with the other posters. The major requirement for me is that they are random. The second biggest requirement is that they are easy to read. Reading the result shouldn't be an effort. If it is, then I won't use them.

As for dice numbers, a 7-dice set is "normal" - d4, d6, d8, d10, d00, d12 and d20. I also like 10-dice sets that come with an extra 3d6 (making 4d6 in total).
 

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Damage is my main concern with metal dice, so I do not use them. I might get some to look at, that would be nice.

As for plastic, pick the color or colors you like and go to town on buying as many as you think you need, which will almost definitely before than you really do need.

I have a lot of dice, enough for myself plus probably 7-8 more players.
 

3. I've been told the sharper and cleaner the edges of a die the better. Is this actually true for most people?

Technically speaking, it's not the sharpness of the edge that's important, it's the precision. An edge that is more rounded will allow the die to roll more. If all edges are rounded exactly the same, all sides will still be equally likely to roll and the die will be true. But if one edge is rounded more than another, the results of the die will be skewed.

Sharp edges are simply the easiest way to ensure equal roundness. It's a pain in the butt to QA curvature of an edge to the same precision you can measure sharpness. In practice, most round edges are a result of tumbling the dice as part of the manufacturing process, which gives almost no control over the evenness of the rounding. Also, sharp edges make it easier for users to feel the die and easily tell if one side is more rounded due to wear or tampering (this is a bigger deal for gambling dice than D+D, but YMMV).

But if you're custom-machining your own dice, you could theoretically control the process of machining rounded edges to make sure it's consistent. This would allow you to avoid the problems with sharp edges, like the fact that they're less comfy in your hands, really hurt to step on, and can damage the rolling surface.

All that being said, I doubt I would ever buy metal dice. In addition to being heavier and harsher like people have mentioned, metal is also more volatile and would tend not age as well.
 
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