So I know there's people out there with bagfuls of hundreds of dice, but I'd guess that most gamers have a favourite set. It may be because they tend to roll well, or they were the first dice you ever used in a game, or they just look bloody awesome or they're really unique... I'm curious to see if anyone has favourites, and for what reasons.
On my part, my most-loved dice are a poly set of transparent dice which shift between green and blue hues as you rotate them... it's a wonderful effect. The d20 of this set has served me well in the past too, rolling crits when I've most needed them on occasion.
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From 1981 'till about 1997 I used the same d20, every roll. This thing was the awesome. Words cannot describe how often I got a nat 20. (I rolled a different d20 when I needed a low number.) There were a great many times that I rolled 3 or 4 twenties in a row with that beloved d20. Then, during a move, it vanished. I cried. Heck, I still cry.
And from about '97 until about '10 I used another d20 that I had bought to replace my first love. (Actually I bought lots but it didn't take long for me to fall in love again with just one -- who knew I ever could be in a monogomous relationship?!)
And about a year-and-a-half or so ago I started noticing that that d20 was no longer rolling 4-6 20s every 20 or so rolls. I think that, after a decade of rolling it, the (possible) manufacturing defect that had (in all likelihood) been making it land at 20 had worn out like a shoe gets worn out, or a key.
So for the last year I've been struggling with about a half dozen d20s.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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My favorite d20 is an MtG spindown (Shadowmoor, black-and-gray speckled) that happens to match my favorite pair of d8s (black-and-navy speckled). The matching is relevant because I noticed they matched about the time I started my longest-running PFS character, who's a fighter that mostly uses d8s for damage. So it's like the special set for my favorite character. :D
Sometimes I'll switch to other, actually-matching sets when playing other characters, though.
And if the GM wishes, I'll switch to another d20, no questions asked.
It's a tie for me. I have a red transparent d20 nicknamed "the vorpal d20" due to the number of times it successfully landed a 20 and sliced someone's head off in 1E and 2E. Unfortunately, its second-favorite number is 1 :) Still works well though. The other favorite is a black d10 called "the Rose" as it uses a rose for the 1. Always seems to roll what I need, regardless if it's high or low.
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Oh, and let's not forget those "crit dice" that are gaining popularity. My local VC has one, and some other local GMs have acquired them as well.
Giant red d20 that has lights which flash when you roll a 20. Taking a crit to the face has never been so much fun. :D
My favorite dice is one that I've had since I was in 6th grade. A sleek, translucent black d20 with crisp white numbers. I call him "Blacky" and he has served me well for a long, long time. Sometimes Blacky gets into a sour mood though and needs a time-out. When that happens, I switch to 2 other d20s I got at the same time, both from identical transluscent red sets. I call them Reddy 1 and Reddy 2.
When I'm DMing and the players are in a bind, I switch to Greeny. Greeny rolls very, very poorly most of the time.
But yes, Blacky is my favorite. (and I think he knows it. he can be such a diva sometimes)
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My favorite is a set of Pewter dice I got as a whim at my gaming store. The d20 was so great at rolling high numbers, every time I used it while DMing, my players would cringe. I rolled so many instant kills (2 d20's to confirm a crit), my players really started to hate that die. Unfortuneately, it did not work quite that well when I was playing, but it still kept me alive.
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Lots of Q-Workshop dice (Not the AP dice though, they all look very Bleh to me.
Almost exclusively all 'Runic'Dwarven' and Steampunk' styles, all colors...
My usual DMing D20 is a Yellow Steampunk die.
I have literally hundreds of dice all througout my old stuff, boxes, on shelves, kicked into corners... Nostalgically, I used to use a light blue and a white D10 for % games (Rolemaster and anything Chaosium were my fave games, sans 1st Ed D&D until about 2000).
Uriel
My favorite d20 is an MtG spindown (Shadowmoor, black-and-gray speckled) that happens to match my favorite pair of d8s (black-and-navy speckled). The matching is relevant because I noticed they matched about the time I started my longest-running PFS character, who's a fighter that mostly uses d8s for damage. So it's like the special set for my favorite character. :D
Sometimes I'll switch to other, actually-matching sets when playing other characters, though.
** spoiler omitted **
Out of curiosity, what exactly are spindown dice, and why are they considered more 'unfair' than others by some? And in your second post you mentioned 'crit dice', what are those?
Fascinating stories about dice here, great stuff :) I wish I had more to share but I've not played long enough yet...
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My very first Gencon I was running a game for a company at the time and had left my dice back home (about 6 hours away). So I ended up having to run and buy some dice from the exhibit hall for my first game. Used them the entire convention.
Got back home after Gencon and I dropped the d20 on the ground in my friends apartment. We searched for it but could not find the darn thing. Several years later I was helping him move some furniture and it fell out from his computer desk. No idea where it was on that desk but we had moved the thing when I originally dropped it. Still have it in my bag. And boy does it hate players (whether I'm DMing, or someone else is).
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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Out of curiosity, what exactly are spindown dice, and why are they considered more 'unfair' than others by some?
Magic: the Gathering (MtG for short) is a trading card game in which each player starts with 20 life points, and you lose if you hit zero. Some packaged MtG products include a d20 (with the symbol of the latest expansion set replacing the 20) so that you can track your life by setting it on the table with the appropriate number facing up. To make this process easier, however, the numbers are arranged sequentially: the 20 is adjacent to the 19, which is adjacent to the 18, and so forth. That way you're not hunting for the right number every time you take damage.
Of course, this means the high numbers are all together. Some people call foul on this, saying you could deliberately roll it to where you always get high numbers. But if you think about it, you'd have to just drop it with a *plunk* - and it would need to just hit the table and stop, without rolling at all. I don't think any human being could become so practiced that you could make a roll that looked believable while still controlling the outcome. Rather absurd, really.
Even so, it's not worth debating with the GM over, so I'm always willing to change d20s if asked. Though I've never been asked (and I play in PFS, so I've been under multiple GMs).
And in your second post you mentioned 'crit dice', what are those?
It's a big (like, at least two inches across) translucent red d20 that flashes red lights at you when you roll a 20. I'm sure if you googled it you could find a place to buy one. Actually, they might sell them here on Paizo.com, I'm not sure.
I bought my Critical Hit Die from ThinkGeek.
My favorite set of dice is currently a toss-up between my Rise of the Runelords AP dice, and the Crystal Caste Purple Porcelain dice I got at Origins circa 2002.
I've lost two of the dice from it, but my first dice set is still my favorite: it was a Chessex set from the 90s that came in a rainbow of colors. The d12 was a sparkly red while the d20 was a lighter almost pinkish red ... the d10s were orange and sparkly gold ... the four d6s were banana yellow, kelly green, a teal blue, and purple, down to the white d8. I believe the d4 was black, but it's been lost for a while. It came on a long tube, and I just thought the multiple colors were the neatest thing.
I'm glad I got it then, because I haven't found a set like it since.
I don't think any human being could become so practiced that you could make a roll that looked believable while still controlling the outcome. Rather absurd, really.
Behold the absurdity of Dominic "the Dominator" LoRiggio.
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I don't think any human being could become so practiced that you could make a roll that looked believable while still controlling the outcome. Rather absurd, really.Behold the absurdity of Dominic "the Dominator" LoRiggio.
The link's blocked here at work, but I'll wager a guess that the guy doesn't need a spindown. ;)
The point stands that any claim that a spindown gives me any more advantage than anyone else's favorite d20 is silly.
The link's blocked here at work, but I'll wager a guess that the guy doesn't need a spindown. ;)
He's a guy who, along with his partner, spent years perfecting what they claim is a technique to throw a pair of six-siders in a game-legal way (meaning the dice must travel the length of the table and bounce off the opposing bumper) which will skew the odds in their favour while playing craps. They've been featured in several TV shows including an episode of "Breaking Vegas". The casinos discount their claims as being impossible, but the pair claim to make a reliable and healthy profit with their technique; in part because the casinos don't permit them from playing unlike card counters.
The link's blocked here at work, but I'll wager a guess that the guy doesn't need a spindown. ;)
The point stands that any claim that a spindown gives me any more advantage than anyone else's favorite d20 is silly.
Mathematically you're absolutely right; the placing of numbers on the faces in sequence doesn't matter for the dice any more than the 'traditional' placing on 'normal' d20s. However, humans being humans, if they see a regular pattern on something designed to give 'random' numbers they'll automatically jump on it, I guess... and really, most d20s are 'unfair' to a degree anyway, according to this video....
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RPG Superstar 2015 Top 32, RPG Superstar 2012 Top 32
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However, humans being humans, if they see a regular pattern on something designed to give 'random' numbers they'll automatically jump on it, I guess...
Fun aside: I once rolled two or three 17s back to back. GM asks to see my d20. I hand it over and he blows on it, rubs it between his hands, and rolls a 2 on it. He grins with satisfaction, and hands it back. I take it and immediately roll, grinning right back at the GM.
17.
Whole table starts laughing - except the GM, who hangs his head in defeat. >:D
Whole table starts laughing - except the GM, who hangs his head in defeat. >:D
Obviously your GM didn't rub the die counterclockwise sufficiently while chanting the word "Xagyg".