I found this online at http://www.gamegrene.com/node/231
and I believe!!!
It's not bad luck. It's not that dice are cursed either. The problem lies with how his dice perceive him. You see, dice are sentient. They have a primitive animalistic cunning, and like dogs they can sense fear and weakness. Every time the 'unlucky' player rolls them they react to his mindset. If he is timid or unsure of himself, they will roll poorly. On the flip side, if you believe you will be successful, you tend to succeed more often.
Now don't get me wrong. A positive attitude is not going to dramatically shift how well you roll. It's just the first step in the process. Dice react better to a confident owner, but they can get spoiled and lazy just like people. The longer they have had a lax owner the worse things tend to get. So the question remains, how do you break your dice of these negative habits?
It's not a simple process, and it takes a great deal of effort on your part. But, if you persevere these methods will work. You will roll well. By God, your dice will respect you.
First, you have to teach them about consequences. If they take care of you, then you will take care of them. Put all of your dice in a single pool before the next session starts. When it comes time to roll pick a random die from the pile. Tell it what minimum number it needs to give you. Let it know that if it doesn't, then it will pay the price. The first die will likely not take you seriously, and will probably roll low just to spite you. That's ok. Now you get a chance to set an example. Take the offending die, and punish it. This can be done in several ways. The most extreme is to destroy the die with a hammer or other blunt object, and will get the quickest results from the rest of your dice. When they see their companion destroyed for his impudence, then they will begin to fall into line.
If you are more merciful, then there are other ways to punish a wayward die. You can set aside a glass of soda (Mountain Dew and Pepsi seem to work best). When the die fails drop it into the glass. Not only does this humiliate the die in front of its friends, but the soda will also slowly eat away the die.
I am sure you have heard the phrase 'walk softly and carry a big stick'. Ruling your dice through fear is a good start, but by itself it is often an unsuccessful tactic. You have to remember: like people, dice also have a social structure. D20s usually get the most respect, but D10s and D6s can be the big man on campus depending on what game system you use.
You can exploit this to your advantage.
Now we already suggested before the next session you put your dice into one large pool, and that you punish failure harshly. You also need to reward success. When a die meets or exceeds the target number that you have given it set it aside in a special area. I suggest making a small box lined with some sort of soft material (like felt). Praise the die before putting it in, and explain to the other dice that only the 'elite' dice are allowed to go to the special place.
This will cause competition to erupt between your dice. Some will be jealous of the successful die, and will try harder to win your affections. Others will be spiteful, and will still roll badly. The important thing is you have shifted the focus away from you. Rather than have all of the dice looking at you now they are competing with each other.
Over time you will learn which dice respect you, and which are not worth using. I recommend putting the useless ones in some sort of glass bowl or vase, and having them present when you play. But don't use them. Let them see how much fun the other dice are having. Eventually some of them will come around.
When you buy new dice make sure to only put them with your successful dice. New dice tend to adopt the prevailing attitude whenever they enter a new environment, and they will perform better if only exposed to other obedient dice. If you happen to buy any bad apples, just add them to the Vase.
One last important thing to remember about dice. Like people, some of them have more aptitude than others. Some really try, and find that they just can't roll those crits you want. Learn the capabilities of your dice, and be realistic in the numbers that you ask them to roll. Don't always push for 20s. In doing so you are putting your dice up to an impossibly high standard, and all will eventually fail. Settle for that thirteen or fifteen, and your dice won't disappoint you.
Now I know all this is a heck of a lot of effort to go through. But you have to ask yourself this question- if I am lazy why would I expect my dice to be any different? If you want to succeed, then you have to be tough. Remember, you are in charge! Not the dice, you!
