Quote from: Kyle Aaron;427468In a roleplaying game campaign, any particular set of dice are rolled at most a few dozen times a night, and the errors in the randomness of the dice are vanishingly small compared to the added-on randomness of in-play situations, player decisions, GM judgment, whether you need to roll high or low this time or even to roll at all, and so on.

Have a dying half-elf bardette and a valiant knight jumping between her and the vile orcs, and you will be 100% sure that the "1" needed to have the knight's waraxe smash on her face instead of on a random orc will come up. No "randomness" here. I have personally seen dying bardettes implore valiant knights to stay the hell away in my games.

The blog post in the OP really sends up my "control freak" flag. If any GM "forbid" me from using a particular brand of dice in his game, I'd quietly leave the game and never come back.

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;427484Some studies seem to indicate otherwise (linked in the comments to that blog post).

Yes, yes, and 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed prefer Dentyne gum for their patients who chew gum.....

Quote from: Dirk Remmecke;427484My problem with GS dice is that they look ugly (IMHO) and don't feel "right". They are uncomfortable to roll.

I like them because of their aesthetics, when it comes down to the heart of the matter.

Quote from: jeff37923;427554Yes, yes, and 4 out of 5 dentists surveyed prefer Dentyne gum for their patients who chew gum.....

No, those are dentist's wifes...

I thought most of the "studies" done between GS and its competitors were from years ago before quality control got better at Chessex?

The reason I use Gamescience dice is because they look pretty and distinctive.

Except d6s. I don't use numbered d6s.

I love dice and will use lots of different kinds. There are bad dice--some are so bad you can eyeball the distortions. Some are so round they make better marbles than dice. Some are just gimmicky and silly looking. Some are good dice--clean edges, easily read numbers or pips, sturdy materials, attractive. All wear unevenly, causing them to be less scientifically accurate over time. All that fairness aside, Gamescience dice are best.

I use GS dice because I like dice that stop rolling shortly after being dropped.  
My Black and Glow-In-The-Dark sets are my go-to dice.

However, I also have a sweet set of old baby blue boxed set dice (same plastic as the Star Frontiers set...they look like this:  http://bit.ly/gB2WiB ) that I use when I need luck, or feel nostalgic.

Hey everyone! I made the blog post that sparked this thread...

After some reflection, I made a post clarifying my opnion...

I just want to set the record straight that I openly invite all my players to use whatever weird juju dice they want. I've never asked a player not to use their own dice. Players using their own dice is a fun part of roleplaying tradition that I value greatly.

On the other hand I do think it's a DM's responsibility to use the fairest-rolling dice that they can, within practicality.

Quote from: cyclopeatron;427585Hey everyone! I made the blog post that sparked this thread...

After some reflection, I made a post clarifying my opnion

I responded at your follow up blog post, but I'll also put the response here.

Quote from: cyclopeatron's blog postIn boardgaming, likewise I could scarcely imagine a player showing up to a game of Settlers of Catan or Stone Age with their own funky dice for their own personal use. This would immediately create suspicion amongst the other players, whether it was at a tournament or a dining room table. So why is this okay in roleplaying games?

You state that it's outrageous to use normal six sided dice in roleplaying games then but state that it's outrageous to not use normal six sided dice in board games. Surely, if it's simply about the statistical variation of rolls, the same adherence would make playing a board game with the dice it comes with impossible. Either you choose to replace all games that use d6's with casino quality dice or you just use what's at the table and live with it. So in the end, the reason that it's okay to bring a normal set of dice to a rpg session is the same reason that you use a normal set of dice in Settlers of Catan or any board game. It's good enough given the stakes.

Quote from: cyclopeatron;427585Hey everyone! I made the blog post that sparked this thread...

After some reflection, I made a post clarifying my opnion...

I just want to set the record straight that I openly invite all my players to use whatever weird juju dice they want. I've never asked a player not to use their own dice. Players using their own dice is a fun part of roleplaying tradition that I value greatly.

On the other hand I do think it's a DM's responsibility to use the fairest-rolling dice that they can, within practicality.

Just so you know, a Warhammer 40K IRC channel I linked your original post to is now full of people making fun of you for being a completely anal nimrod.

Get a life pal.  Games are supposed to be fun, and dice not being 99.9999 percent perfect isnt anything to worry about unless some douchebag is using loaded dice.

Quote from: Captain Rufus;427596Just so you know, a Warhammer 40K IRC channel I linked your original post to is now full of people making fun of you for being a completely anal nimrod.

It is with great pride that I learn 40K players belittle me!:D

Two flamebait posts in a row followed by "gee, I'm just bewildered that people are riled up by my deliberate attempt to rile them up!" You must have been taking blogging lessons from Gareth-Michael Skarka. :teehee:

My hats off to you, sir, you have officially Generated a Controversy(TM)

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