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View Full Version : [3.5-ish?]Curious Dice Sizes



arguskos
2009-01-14, 05:29 AM
First, I actually AM still alive. Just been busy. >_< Not like anyone missed me, but in case someone did. :smallwink:

Second, so, I've recently come into possession of a SEXY set of dice, but it's come with a few... unusual sizes that I'm not sure what to do with, namely, a d5, a d14, a d16, and a d24. I pretty much only play D&D 3.5, and I've been wondering what to do with these dice, since I really LIKE them, but have little to do with them. I was thinking about some custom spells/items, but can't think of a weapon that would conceivably USE a d14, 16, or, heaven-help-me 24 (good lord, that's average 12.5, that's like MAX on a greataxe!!).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Smacks-to-the-head?

Grail
2009-01-14, 05:36 AM
Write your own game system that uses only those dice. I mean, how cool would that be?

Djibriel
2009-01-14, 05:42 AM
Eh... use stuff that tacks on an extra 1d6 to get the d16 and d14 into play? Odds'd be a tad different I guess, but it's still awesome.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 05:55 AM
Write your own game system that uses only those dice. I mean, how cool would that be?
Ok, that'd be DAMN awesome... but no one would play it, since who has a d16? Hell, until I bought the die set, I didn't even know that a d14, 16, or 24 even EXISTED.

As for uses, d5's are easy to work into games, being a small number and all that. The bigger dice are.... harder to work in. I'm stumped. :smallconfused:

Kantur
2009-01-14, 06:09 AM
If you're definetly wanting a random encounter at some point...
d14 - if they're on a two week quest
d16 - random waking hour of the day
d24 - random hour of the day

shadow_archmagi
2009-01-14, 06:13 AM
d16: Determining the age of jailbait!
d24: Determining which episode of 24 to watch.
d5: Determining which finger Finger of Death is cast from.
d5: Determining which member of the Wacky Miniboss Squad dies first!

Darrin
2009-01-14, 08:42 AM
Second, so, I've recently come into possession of a SEXY set of dice, but it's come with a few... unusual sizes that I'm not sure what to do with, namely, a d5, a d14, a d16, and a d24. I pretty much only play D&D 3.5, and I've been wondering what to do with these dice, since I really LIKE them, but have little to do with them. I was thinking about some custom spells/items, but can't think of a weapon that would conceivably USE a d14, 16, or, heaven-help-me 24 (good lord, that's average 12.5, that's like MAX on a greataxe!!).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Smacks-to-the-head?

Most of these dice come from Lou Zocchi. He could usually be found at the Gamescience booth at Gencon or Origins, but sad to say I heard he officially retired last year. You're still missing the d3, d7, d30, and d100 (AKA the "Zocchihedron", "Golf Ball", or "OMG When Will It Finally Stop Rolling?").

Lou Zocchi is an important figure in the development of RPG dice. When D&D was originally packaged with dice, they were made of a very soft plastic that quickly chipped and wore down into these roundish flaky blobs that some old-timers call "Mud Dice". Lou was one of the first to come along and cast high-impact precision dice that stood up to a lot of abuse without wearing down. Before Chessex, Koplow, and Crystal Caste came along, Zocchi's dice were the best (and according to some old-timers, still are). You can still get Gamescience dice from:

http://www.gamestation.net/
http://www.dicecollector.com/gamescience.html

Gamestation.net bought Gamescience from Lou Zocchi, and is a good place to go if you're looking for those really odd die types.

As far as games that use unusual dice:

Cheapass' Button Men probably uses them the most, sice various types of "swing dice" can have any number of faces from 2 to 30.

MetaScape uses a custom d16 "doubling die"... these were manufactured by Gamescience with a custom numbering scheme that might make sense if I knew anything about the MetaScape rules. The only place I've ever seen them available for sale is on the mentalwinds.com website.

Deadlands could probably be adapted to accomodate the d14 and d16. I think the Serenity RPG also uses a scaling die mechanic.

Other uses:

I believe the Gamescience d14 has the days of the week listed twice on the die. And I think there was a contest, maybe in KODT, for tables/uses for the d24. Other uses for the d16:

Fullblade damage, instead of 2d8 use 1d16 (note: average for 2d8 = 9, average for 1d16 = 8.5)

When your Digital Mage absolutely must cast spells in hex code (and yes, Gamestation.net does sell a d16 hexcode die).

Darth Stabber
2009-01-14, 09:54 AM
Iron Claw/Jade Claw uses dice scaling from d4 - d12, and if something would push your die size above that it adds a d4 and moves up from that, If you add the d14 and the d16 to the equation you could achieve higher results, actually I think the game would be better with those die, because your performance @ something is currently capped at 12 and the other dice just increase your consistancy, Those dice would add a new range of possibilities, and reduce the plataue of character growth. Currently once characters reach a certain point specialization disappears.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 04:08 PM
Most of these dice come from Lou Zocchi. He could usually be found at the Gamescience booth at Gencon or Origins, but sad to say I heard he officially retired last year. You're still missing the d3, d7, d30, and d100 (AKA the "Zocchihedron", "Golf Ball", or "OMG When Will It Finally Stop Rolling?").

Lou Zocchi is an important figure in the development of RPG dice. When D&D was originally packaged with dice, they were made of a very soft plastic that quickly chipped and wore down into these roundish flaky blobs that some old-timers call "Mud Dice". Lou was one of the first to come along and cast high-impact precision dice that stood up to a lot of abuse without wearing down. Before Chessex, Koplow, and Crystal Caste came along, Zocchi's dice were the best (and according to some old-timers, still are). You can still get Gamescience dice from:

http://www.gamestation.net/
http://www.dicecollector.com/gamescience.html

Gamestation.net bought Gamescience from Lou Zocchi, and is a good place to go if you're looking for those really odd die types.

As far as games that use unusual dice:

Cheapass' Button Men probably uses them the most, sice various types of "swing dice" can have any number of faces from 2 to 30.

MetaScape uses a custom d16 "doubling die"... these were manufactured by Gamescience with a custom numbering scheme that might make sense if I knew anything about the MetaScape rules. The only place I've ever seen them available for sale is on the mentalwinds.com website.

Deadlands could probably be adapted to accomodate the d14 and d16. I think the Serenity RPG also uses a scaling die mechanic.

Other uses:

I believe the Gamescience d14 has the days of the week listed twice on the die. And I think there was a contest, maybe in KODT, for tables/uses for the d24. Other uses for the d16:

Fullblade damage, instead of 2d8 use 1d16 (note: average for 2d8 = 9, average for 1d16 = 8.5)

When your Digital Mage absolutely must cast spells in hex code (and yes, Gamestation.net does sell a d16 hexcode die).
Oh yes, I'm aware of where I bought them from. :smallwink: Thanks for the detailed info though, I didn't know that Lou retired. That's.... sad to hear, honestly.

As for USING the dice, I'm interested as to why Gamestation makes a d14, 16, and 24 if no game system uses them. Just for kicks I guess?

PurinaDragonCho
2009-01-14, 04:47 PM
d16: Determining the age of jailbait!


Dude, if you don't use at least a d4+12 for that, you have some issues. :smallbiggrin:

RTGoodman
2009-01-14, 05:56 PM
d4s? d16s? Ha! Who needs those when you can get a D-Total (http://www.gamescience.com/newproducts)?

Er, well, despite the fact that it's probably a LOT more trouble than it's worth, being able to carry one die to use for basically any game is AWESOME. Also, $27+ for a single die (http://www.gamestation.net/Amazing-DTotal-Dice/M/B001LGDEQ4.htm) is a bit much, but I still really wanna get one. If only my birthday weren't so far away...


EDIT: Also, where's Kevin Cook when you need him? I'm sure he can tell you a thing or two about odd dice. :smallwink:

Fax Celestis
2009-01-14, 06:02 PM
I use my d3, d5, d7, d9, d14, and d16 for a variety of tasks, mostly just time and date stuff. I also use my d24 for determining the random hour of an occurence, and let my players roll it once per session instead of a d20, kinda like an action point sort of thing.

Defiant
2009-01-14, 06:08 PM
I use my d3, d5, d7, d9, d14, and d16 for a variety of tasks, mostly just time and date stuff. I also use my d24 for determining the random hour of an occurence, and let my players roll it once per session instead of a d20, kinda like an action point sort of thing.

Dude, don't use dice when you're on a date! :smalltongue:

Surfing HalfOrc
2009-01-14, 06:10 PM
Goodman Games also used these dice for generating random encounters. Not sure if they are still do with 4th Ed, but I don't see why they wouldn't.

I'm also glad I took advantage of their super PDF sale just before the New Years. I spent $60, and bought over $500 worth of their modules. I now have their entire 3.x collection! :smallbiggrin:

Ascension
2009-01-14, 06:10 PM
Dude, if you don't use at least a d4+12 for that, you have some issues. :smallbiggrin:

I'd argue d6+10... or maybe even d10+6, given that IIRC the youngest recorded pregnancy was in a 7 year old girl... would more accurately represent perversion. Or perhaps you could have a scale, depending on the level of the pedophile's perversion. d6+10 works well for your traditional Humbert Humbert-style ephebophile, but there are more severe cases...

Tacoma
2009-01-14, 06:12 PM
Dude, don't use dice when you're on a date! :smalltongue:

How else will he know if he's getting drunk?

RTGoodman
2009-01-14, 06:13 PM
I'm also glad I took advantage of their super PDF sale just before the New Years. I spent $60, and bought over $500 worth of their modules. I now have their entire 3.x collection! :smallbiggrin:

You know, I thought about doing that but never got around to it. I picked up a couple, plus ALL of the XCrawl stuff, but that's about it. Either way, it was a pretty great deal.

monty
2009-01-14, 06:13 PM
d4s? d16s? Ha! Who needs those when you can get a D-Total (http://www.gamescience.com/newproducts)?

I...I think I'm in love. That is excess in its finest.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 06:14 PM
I use my d3, d5, d7, d9, d14, and d16 for a variety of tasks, mostly just time and date stuff. I also use my d24 for determining the random hour of an occurence, and let my players roll it once per session instead of a d20, kinda like an action point sort of thing.
Hmm... would you care to elaborate more? I can see the d7 for time, even the 14/16 too, but a d9 (didn't even know those existed)?

I'm still thinking about making some custom spells to use my new die set (also, I LOVE the d3, it's so awesome looking /nerd).

Tacoma
2009-01-14, 06:16 PM
I...I think I'm in love. That is excess in its finest.

It would be on a table with your neighbor's naked wife lying on a bed of gold coins, a hand mirror, a bottle of sleeping pills and a pillow, a playstation 5, sixty nine cheeseburgers, and a computer terminal open to a forum full of Internet trolls.

Ever notice that Wrath is never as fun as the other ones?

Fax Celestis
2009-01-14, 06:20 PM
d5s, d7s, and d9s I generally use for weather effects or travel times (on my own tables). I also use the d7 for determining when a night-attack occurs on the party, the d14 for determining days of travel (and days of the week: as pointed out, there are days of the week inscribed on the d14, but they're not filled), and the d16 I'll occasionally use in place of 2d8.

RTGoodman
2009-01-14, 06:23 PM
It would be on a table with your neighbor's naked wife lying on a bed of gold coins, a hand mirror, a bottle of sleeping pills and a pillow, a playstation 5, sixty nine cheeseburgers, and a computer terminal open to a forum full of Internet trolls.

I apologize for nothing!


http://toril.ru/lj/Hedonism_Bot.JPG


In any case, I'm all for figuring out some kind of game that'd use the d5, d24, D-Total, or anything else that like. I already have Gunslingers & Gamblers, a Western RPG that uses just Poker Dice, so might as well use something even weirder!

Fax Celestis
2009-01-14, 06:26 PM
The hell kind of weapon would use those dice for damage anyway?

Magnor Criol
2009-01-14, 06:46 PM
The hell kind of weapon would use those dice for damage anyway?

The best kind.

arguskos
2009-01-14, 06:48 PM
The best kind.
Exactly. If it weighs more than your full plate armor, you can be damn sure that it uses a massive damage die (read: boulders, party members, monkey gripped Colossal fullblades, etc).