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sadie
2010-10-18, 11:48 AM
The guys at the office gave me a birthday present of a large bag of d6s... but I have no idea how many there are. By my reckoning it should be somewhere between 400 and 700.

Can anyone think of a good way of counting them?

The suggestion I've recieved so far is "Roll them all, and if the total comes to about 1750..."

Moriato
2010-10-18, 11:51 AM
Weigh a d6, weigh the bag, subtract the weight of the bag and divide? Are the dice all made of the same material?

Tehnar
2010-10-18, 11:52 AM
If they are all of the same size, you can start building a cube. Then it will be pretty easy to determine their number.

But just counting their number shouldn't take too long, and is faster then adding up all their values and dividing by 3.5.

Telonius
2010-10-18, 11:53 AM
Show them to a munchkin and ask him if he's ever rolled that many at once. That should give you a ballpark.

Obrysii
2010-10-18, 11:53 AM
Weigh a d6, weigh the bag, subtract the weight of the bag and divide? Are the dice all made of the same material?

I'd go this route.

If the dice are all of the same material, weigh one die, weigh the bag, then weigh the bag and all of the dice together. You should be able to determine the number that way.

Emmerask
2010-10-18, 11:54 AM
The guys at the office gave me a birthday present of a large bag of d6s... but I have no idea how many there are. By my reckoning it should be somewhere between 400 and 700.

Can anyone think of a good way of counting them?

The suggestion I've recieved so far is "Roll them all, and if the total comes to about 1750..."

the problem with this suggestion is that if you count all the numbers on the dice and add them you could just count the dice instead :smallbiggrin:

Keld Denar
2010-10-18, 12:00 PM
Build a Wizard/Incantatrix with Arcane Thesis (Orb of Fire) and stack as many metamagic effects as you can. Find a bad guy. Cast Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Quickened Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire followed by Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire. Roll all of the dice. That should be a pretty close approximation.

PopcornMage
2010-10-18, 12:01 PM
If they are all the same dice, weighing will get you a number, but I suggest cubing them instead. Not one big cube, but a bunch of smaller ones. Much more convenient. If the dice are of a standard size, you can always get one of the existing cubes d6 are sold in to put your dice in and quick load them.

Either that, or post a picture of them on the internet and challenge folks to come up with the right number.

sadie
2010-10-18, 12:14 PM
You're all far too practical.


Build a Wizard/Incantatrix with Arcane Thesis (Orb of Fire) and stack as many metamagic effects as you can. Find a bad guy. Cast Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Quickened Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire followed by Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire. Roll all of the dice. That should be a pretty close approximation.

That's more like it.

sadie
2010-10-18, 12:15 PM
post a picture of them on the internet and challenge folks to come up with the right number.

Now that's an idea.

Eloel
2010-10-18, 12:19 PM
Stat the next orc group the party will encounter as "elite" (PC)?
At 4d6 per stat per orc, it adds up fast.

Kurald Galain
2010-10-18, 12:22 PM
Count the pips, and divide by twenty-one. Easy as pi.

Tyndmyr
2010-10-18, 12:30 PM
Count the pips, and divide by twenty-one. Easy as pi.

Counting the dice themselves would be easier.

Well, for starters, buy a 100 pack of dice. compare it to the pile. There you go.

Note that some people might suggest making a pile of 100 of your existing dice instead. These people do not own enough dice.

Mordrigar
2010-10-18, 12:30 PM
Measure the length of a dice. Then stick them each other. Measure the last lenght and divide by the first length.

Thiyr
2010-10-18, 12:30 PM
Build a hulking hurler. When in combat, keep the bag next to your mini (if applicable). When you throw something, toss the bag at the enemy minis (again if applicable). When your confused group asks why you would do that, inform them that this is how much damage you do. It should be a good estimation of your damage, and you can then back-estimate how many dice you have.

Illogic! woo!

Heliomance
2010-10-18, 12:36 PM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_remainder_theorem
too scientific; didn't read: Count them by various primes, see what's left over. If you make sure that the lcm of the primes you used is >700 or so, there will only be one number that satisfies all the equations.

Radar
2010-10-18, 12:37 PM
There is still the Chinese reminder theorem (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_remainder_theorem). Since you have to organise the to use the theorem, it might be easier to just count them, but where's the fun in that? :smallbiggrin:

edit: curse you sneaky ninjas. >.<

Tharck
2010-10-18, 01:16 PM
Build a Wizard/Incantatrix with Arcane Thesis (Orb of Fire) and stack as many metamagic effects as you can. Find a bad guy. Cast Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Quickened Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire followed by Occular Empowered Twinned Split Ray Repeating Energy Admixtured Searing Fiery Echoing Orb of Fire. Roll all of the dice. That should be a pretty close approximation.

You can splitray an Orb spell?

Tyndmyr
2010-10-18, 01:18 PM
Yeah, nope.

Therefore, without split ray, it's a mere 176 dice at level 20, presuming you hit with everything, and roll all the damage together.

You need more CL boosters than just arcane thesis to get a truly big amount of dice in there. Empowered and the like are good for damage, sure, but do nothing for dice.

Edit: Just noticed the ocular. Ocular makes it a ray. So yes, split ray then does work. However, Orb of Fire caps at CL 15. So, instead of 22 dice per cast, a mere 15. It's a lot of dice still, but not 500.

Radar
2010-10-18, 03:12 PM
(...)
Edit: Just noticed the ocular. Ocular makes it a ray. So yes, split ray then does work. However, Orb of Fire caps at CL 15. So, instead of 22 dice per cast, a mere 15. It's a lot of dice still, but not 500.
That's 15 dice per Orb. A single casting of Occular, Twined, Split Ray Orb of Fire nets you a total of 6 rays (Occular gives you two rays, Split adds another and Twin doubles the whole thing). So 90d6... before considering Energy Admixture, which effectively doubles the damage (adds the same ammount of dice of a different element). This will ramp the damage to 180d6 in one spell. I don't know, what this Fiery and Echoing thing does, but it is already a bucketload of dice. It can be made better with a little Sorcerer gem: Arcane Fusion and it's Greater version - not only can you fire off more spells in one cast, you can cast a Twinned Arcane Fusion with Twinned Orbs inside! :smallbiggrin:
I'm not sure, how much metamagic cheese can you cram into it, but it might be possible to reach 500d6 in one casting.

Bladesong
2010-10-18, 03:16 PM
advertise 1000 dice for sale on ebay. When someone buys them and complains that there a few short offer a full refund when they return them and ask how many were missing.

Allanimal
2010-10-18, 03:37 PM
Assuming they are all the same size and material, measure how much water one die displaces. Then dump 'em all in and measure the total displacement. Divide by the displacement of one die to find the total number of dice.

Additional caveats:
* won't work if the dice are made of something that dissolves in water.
* you'll need some special instruments to measure displacement accurately.
* you may be better off initially measuring the displacement of several dice, to account for manufacturing variations.

prufock
2010-10-18, 03:43 PM
Another option is the Archimedes solution. Fill a container to brimming with water, with another larger container under it to catch the spillover. Pour all the dice in the water. Find the volume of the water displaced. Then find the volume of one die and calculate.

edit: beaten to the punch.

Scarey Nerd
2010-10-18, 03:54 PM
Get a gaming group together, ask them to play Risus with the Funky Dice variant and make them count the dice out for you :smallcool:

Eldan
2010-10-18, 03:58 PM
1000 dice should only build a 10*10*10 cube. So, building a cube should work.

Xefas
2010-10-18, 04:02 PM
Ask the guys who bought the dice for you how many dice they bought?

Chrono22
2010-10-18, 04:05 PM
Measure the volume of one die using a graduated cylinder. Get a large bucket and a measuring cup. Make sure the container is large enough so that the dice only fill up less than half the container. Empty the dice out, and graduate the bucket using a permanent marker. This shouldn't take too long, just add a tick for every liter or so. Fill the bucket half full of water, so that the meniscus is just touching one of your tick marks. Write down the volume of water the bucket contains. Add the dice. Mark down the increase in volume in the bucket.
Divide the volume of the dice by the volume of the die... and you have the number of dice contained in bucket.

The Rabbler
2010-10-18, 04:18 PM
Ask the guys who bought the dice for you how many dice they bought?

that is no fun at all.

sadie
2010-10-18, 05:38 PM
I'm not sure, how much metamagic cheese can you cram into it, but it might be possible to reach 500d6 in one casting.

And that makes it what, a level 29 spell? :smalltongue:

sadie
2010-10-18, 05:40 PM
Assuming they are all the same size and material, measure how much water one die displaces.

Considering the container that most immediately comes to hand is a demijohn that I'm about to start brewing stuff in, there may be some extra variables in there...

Keld Denar
2010-10-18, 06:19 PM
And that makes it what, a level 29 spell? :smalltongue:

Metamagic reducers! Incantatrix10 and Arcane Thesis both reduce the burden of MM applied to a spell by -2. while Incantatrix can't go below 1, AT doesn't have that restriction, so long as the net result is equal to or greater than the origional spell level. Thus, every +2 or lower MM is free, and every +0 MM actually reduces the MM cost of one other feat. So, an Invisible (+9) Quickened (+4) Orb of Fire is 4th -1 +2 = 5th level spell, as is an Invisible Empowered Quickened Orb of Fire. There are a few other MM reducers you could also slap on, like Practical Metamagic or Easy Metamagic, but they are less efficient for this application, since they are only -1 level for a single MM feat.

BobVosh
2010-10-18, 06:22 PM
Find a vampire from discworld, and throw them at him. If it is anything like poppy seeds his OCD will kick in and force him to count them. As he chews on your neck (unless you are lucky enough to find a black ribboner) then ask him the total.

137beth
2010-10-18, 06:31 PM
Build a hulking hurler. When in combat, keep the bag next to your mini (if applicable). When you throw something, toss the bag at the enemy minis (again if applicable). When your confused group asks why you would do that, inform them that this is how much damage you do. It should be a good estimation of your damage, and you can then back-estimate how many dice you have.

Illogic! woo!

Yea, OHKO!
But seriously either arranging them in a cube or weighing them is your best bet.

lsfreak
2010-10-18, 06:39 PM
And that makes it what, a level 29 spell? :smalltongue:

Assuming your DM allows Split Ray orbs, I've got 270d6 in a single spell slot for 11th level with only one metamagic reducer (Twin Repeat Split Empowered Enervating Orb of X), but it's over two rounds. Off the top of my head I can't come up with another reducer, though, nor a way of making it at once. Though you could cast that, then cast a quickened (instead of repeat) the next round for 405d6 in one round.

Wait a sec ... Unseen Seer. Abuse Hunter's Eye. Bamph.

EDIT: Very rough mathz. I think I got it.

15d6 base. Two metamagic reducers, Wiz5/Incantatrix10/UnseenSeer2, purely for simplicity (pretty sure you can drop it lower with the right reducers)
Split Twinned Empowered Enervating Energy Admixtured Orb of Fire.
15d6 base, increased ~67d6 per orb.
Four orbs per spell (Split + Twinned)
Two spells per round (can afford Quickened thanks to reducer-cheeze)

Now Hunter's Eye: With Incantatrix, you can afford to Persist it. Say you're level 17, the minimum level to cast the above monstrosity. CL of 21 is trivial, for +7d6 sneak attack damage. That's 7d6 per orb, 8 orbs per round. Brings the total d6's to 592d6 a round. I'm sure someone else can boost it further, not even counting more CL increases for Hunter's Eye.

Reliance on Split Ray is unfortunate, though.

hotel_papa
2010-10-18, 07:32 PM
...just count them?

Keld Denar
2010-10-18, 07:53 PM
Reliance on Split Ray is unfortunate, though.
...is legal. Occular Spell saves the spell as two eye rays which you can then release. Since they are eye rays (explicitly rays) they qualify for Split Ray just fine. Whether or not you get 1 extra ray, or 1 extra ray PER EYE with Split Ray is more of a question, since its essentially firing two copies of the spell. Each copy SHOULD be affected by Split Ray individually.

dgnslyr
2010-10-18, 07:56 PM
...is legal. Occular Spell saves the spell as two eye rays which you can then release. Since they are eye rays (explicitly rays) they qualify for Split Ray just fine. Whether or not you get 1 extra ray, or 1 extra ray PER EYE with Split Ray is more of a question, since its essentially firing two copies of the spell. Each copy SHOULD be affected by Split Ray individually.

Oh dear. What creature has the most eyes, exactly?

Keld Denar
2010-10-18, 08:02 PM
It caps at 2. This is also explicit. This is really important, considering it appears in a book devoted to, of all things, Beholders (among other aberrant critters).

dromer
2010-10-18, 08:07 PM
Finally, enough die to use an anti-osmium bomb.

lsfreak
2010-10-18, 08:18 PM
...is legal. Occular Spell saves the spell as two eye rays which you can then release. Since they are eye rays (explicitly rays) they qualify for Split Ray just fine. Whether or not you get 1 extra ray, or 1 extra ray PER EYE with Split Ray is more of a question, since its essentially firing two copies of the spell. Each copy SHOULD be affected by Split Ray individually.

Pfahaha.
Ocular Split Twinned Empowered Enervating Admixtured Invisible (5th level), followed by Quickened Twinned Empowered Enervating Invisible Admixtured (6th). 67d6 + 1d6/3CL, 10 orbs in one round, minimum 730d6 damage in one round. Assuming I've done my math right.

The Rabbler
2010-10-19, 10:25 AM
great. now my DM will never let me play a caster.

Aotrs Commander
2010-10-19, 01:16 PM
Vaguely serious suggestion?

Pour them out on a surface, and just group 'em in lines of ten (or by five [slight gap] five for even easier pattern recognition). As you go, stick the lines in rows of ten. You've then got a block of a hundred. Then it's a trivial task to count 'em, because you can do it by hundreds and then tens. (If you want to be really clever, group 'em by colour as well!)

(Actually, this is sort of how my school taught you to count in hundreds tens and unit. Not with dice, but with square blocks. Y'know, somewhere in the early Permian period...)

I do this for my wargaming systems that use buckets'o'dice, when counting out. It doesn't take really any effort at all, and not very long either (I know from experience, I must have a good couple of hundred mini D6 and mini D201). Heck, it's the sort of thing you can even do while actually playing the game, in the bits when it's not your turn. It's a really quick way of doing it, for that matter; I know from experience.



1I appreciate this is not a very large number in reality. But it's enough - with the various colours - to be just slightly more than we actually need.