Stepping on d4's

[Drynwyn]

You know what the big advantage of digital dice is? No stepping on the caltrop's that we so innocently call "d4's"

[Asta Kask]

Switch to GURPS. It only uses d6s.

[Haruki-kun]

Never had that experience with d4's. Legos, on the other hand...

[Evil DM Mark3]

This got to be such a bugbear of my university games society that we put "standing on d4s" on the risk assessment.

[Eloel]

Never had that experience with d4's. Legos Marbles, on the other hand...
Adjusted for myself...

[Emperor Ing]

Isn't that why some on the webernet call 'em caltrops?

[Scoot]

This is why I never roll Wizards.

[St Fan]

Fun fact: with Dark Sun characters, every stat-rolling involved D4 only :smallbiggrin:

Is that why the setting wasn't so popular?

[Gullara]

Never had that experience with d4's. Legos, on the other hand...

Ouch yes. Painful. That's why it's a bad idea to dump a big tub of legos onto a carpet. It's an unpleasant surprise a week later when you discover you missed one.

[An Enemy Spy]

You think that's bad? Trying walking around on a stage covered in nails and broken glass. That has been my pleasure for the past month.

[TechnoScrabble]

Oh god...the Legos...
I have four dishwasher sized tubs of Legos because I never really got over them and collected them like a madman when I was a kid. I had four sources of entertainment, really.
Books.
RPGs.
Legos.
Building stuff with power tools and spare wiring.

[Drynwyn]

And 3 of those four involve small pointy objects. I fell your pain. But not literally.

[AtlanteanTroll]

This is why I wear shoes.

[grimbold]

i cut my foot on one once :smallfrown:

[Syka]

My boyfriend has a tub of Lego's next to his bed, and consistently has a large 'space battle' set up. Sometimes on the ground, sometimes on the bed.

Yeah...I've learned to be careful...

[Dvil]

The old Warhammer starter set, Battle for Skull Pass, also applies I think. it comes with (IIRC) 40 goblin spearmen. Now, each of these has its spear pointing straight up. In addition to this, each one is quite short and made of just one piece of plastic. As a result, they're structurally strong enough that if you stand on one, your skin's going to break before the model does.

But on the topic at hand, I don't use d4s enough to have had this problem. Which, by the sounds of it, is quite a lucky thing.

[Drynwyn]

You have no idea how lucky you are. Have an internet.

[Tirian]

I just flip a pair of coins whenever I need to randomly choose between four choices, or you could use a d8, d12, or d20 and just take the remainder. As a mathematician, I appreciate that all five of the Platonic solids became dice, but from a practical standpoint the d4 is an unnecessary hazard.

[Drynwyn]

That seems like a good idea. My feet agree with you.

[Drynwyn]

ARGHHH I ROLLED OVER ONTO MY d4 THE HORRIBLE STABBING PAIN... OH MY GOD!!!!!

[Cespenar]

I haven't stepped on a d4, personally, but a friend once tried to push one into my ear, if that counts. My retaliatory strike ended in the d4 tumbling down some stairs and eventually its "3" tip being broken.

I still have the dice. Not surprisingly, it rolls a lot of threes.

[Eon]

Legos... Ow.... Painful memories:smalleek:

[TSGames]

At least it wasn't a caltrop d4

http://www.dicecollector.com/MINT22_SHAPEWAYS_CERAMICWOMBAT_CALTROP_DIE4_02.jpg

[fknm]

I just flip a pair of coins whenever I need to randomly choose between four choices, or you could use a d8, d12, or d20 and just take the remainder. As a mathematician, I appreciate that all five of the Platonic solids became dice, but from a practical standpoint the d4 is an unnecessary hazard.
Unless you have some chart that differentiates [head/tails] from [tails/heads], flipping 2 coins isn't an acceptable substitute for a d4, since it'll tend towards the center too much.

Also, flipped coins aren't as random as people give them credit for- on most coins, the "heads" side is slightly heavier than the "tails" side, meaning that tails is a bit more likely than heads.

[Marnath]

At least it wasn't a caltrop d4

http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=getfile&id=4312&private=0


The link, it no worky.

[fknm]

The link, it no worky.
Perhaps he means these: http://www.shapeways.com/model/106205/caltrop_die4.html

[TSGames]

Perhaps he means these: http://www.shapeways.com/model/106205/caltrop_die4.html

Indeed, but I've already fixed the link. It's spoilerred for super-bigness!

[turkishproverb]

Heh. now i'm remembering old gaming group initiations. :smallbiggrin:

[Tirian]

Unless you have some chart that differentiates [head/tails] from [tails/heads], flipping 2 coins isn't an acceptable substitute for a d4, since it'll tend towards the center too much.

Also, flipped coins aren't as random as people give them credit for- on most coins, the "heads" side is slightly heavier than the "tails" side, meaning that tails is a bit more likely than heads.

Certainly, one would flip two coins of different denominations.

I also think that coins are less unbiased than you think they are. There is a difference, but it is not particularly significant provided you are interested in an unbiased result. (As the Wikipedia article notes, coins are "fair to two decimal places but not to three.")

By contrast, it is my experience that a d4 doesn't roll at all on the ground and very little in the air, so I would tend to put even more trust in coins.

[Marnath]

Indeed, but I've already fixed the link. It's spoilerred for super-bigness!

...why why WHY would you buy one of those? Is the normal one not dangerous enough for some people? :smalleek:

Oh man, it looks rusty too.....

[Eloel]

Unless you have some chart that differentiates [head/tails] from [tails/heads], flipping 2 coins isn't an acceptable substitute for a d4, since it'll tend towards the center too much. only have three different results.


Seriously, if you can't differentiate, you don't have a d4. If you can, it's good enough.

[Dr.Epic]

you could just...

a) make sure your dice aren't scattered on the floor.
b) look before you walk.
c) wear shoes more often.

[Leecros]

c) wear shoes more often.

Always wear shoes when doing anything with game dice. Because generally, at least in my experiences it means snacks and where there's snacks there's fragments of those snacks on the floor and if there's fragments of those snacks on the floor then they can get stuck in your foot and hurt really badly(true personal experience...)



Personally i've never been a fan of digital dice ever since i rolled 5 1's in a row on a d20 on one.

[zyborg]

you could just...

a) make sure your dice aren't scattered on the floor.
b) look before you walk.
c) wear shoes more often.
d) paint numbers on Dr.Epic and roll him.

Man, it is amazing how many things can be used as caltrops. I've stepped on Legos before, and I've known someone who has stepped on metal jacks. Not fun.

[Marnath]

Personally i've never been a fan of digital dice ever since i rolled 5 1's in a row on a d20 on one.

Why? Just because it's highly unlikely doesn't mean the roller program is bad.

[Leecros]

Why? Just because it's highly unlikely doesn't mean the roller program is bad.

I never said the roller program is bad, i just said that i get really unlucky on them.


I stick to my dice, cuz they tend to roll well:smallsmile:

[fimzo]

Caltrop d4s? Take the worst thing about the die, and emphasize it? That's just... Why would anyone get one of those?

[Gullara]

Caltrop d4s? Take the worst thing about the die, and emphasize it? That's just... Why would anyone get one of those?

They are pretty dang cool looking.

[Drynwyn]

CONSUMER WARNING!!!
Do not purchase a caltrop d4 without and up-to-date tetanus shot.

[Eldan]

I remember I actually built a lego-walkway from my bed to my door when I was about six...

No, not just pushing them aside. Large plates as stepping stones. Some of them even elevated.

[IronWilliam]

Maybe they should make a Belkar d4.......
They're both small and staby.

[Silviya]

I try to keep my D4s picked up, but I have a cat who likes to play with dice and bat them across the floor. So, if a D4 ends on my desk or something, chances are that my cat will bat it onto the floor. I usually ware shoes, but not when I'm getting up in the morning.

And legos seem to want to kill my feet. I've ended up bleeding from stepping on legos many, many times.

[Ilmryn]

Although, in my experience d4s tend to stay on the desk. Legos on the other hand...
Although on a deep carpet, d8s can be dangerous too. Most of my d8s have sharper corners than my d4s...

[Drynwyn]

Indeed. Never underestimate the destructive power of a d8.

[Alleine]

I keep my d4's in a drawer they can't escape from. I don't think I've ever stepped on one.

Legos, on the other hand...
I slept on the top bunk of a bunk bed. Legos covered the floor as they often did those days. This was before I had conditioned myself NOT to roll over so much that I fell out of bed. What ends up happening? The worst scenario. I wake up having rolled juuuuust enough to be slipping over the edge of the bunk. What ensues is me furiously pulling at the mattress and sheets in a failed attempt to get back on the bed as I recall that the floor is covered in lavalegos. I end up falling to the floor with the full knowledge that pointy deathdiscomfort awaits me. That was a terrible night.

Now I'm having second thoughts about getting a large collection of dice.

[Evil DM Mark3]

I try to keep my D4s picked up, but I have a cat who likes to play with dice and bat them across the floor.

Ah yes, a clear example of a gamer cat.

[Mercenary Pen]

Ah yes, a clear example of a gamer cat.

Depending on how it plays with the dice it could be practicing anything from Sneak Attack to a Leap Attack + Pounce routine...

[Ragitsu]

Switch to GURPS. It only uses d6s.

Swedish Doctor Krumb Impersonator?

[Asta Kask]

Kromm, actually. Yes.

[boj0]

Some of my better gaming related injuries:
-Stepping on a d4
-Getting a metal d20 thrown at me (Headshot!)
-Falling asleep, the waking abruptly with the 5th ed. 40K rulebook (hardcover) stabbing my shoulder blade.
-LARPing (every single time I get whacked)
-Drinking 3 cans of Brawndo during a D2 LAN

Close calls and other things that were hilarious then, but frightening in hindsight
-Almost confusing modeling glue for eye drops :smalleek:
-Dropping an X-acto blade about a good inch from my foot
-Playing catch with an Ironclad Dreadnaught model (metal)

[mangosta71]

There's a reason I put my dice away when I'm done playing. Hell, I only even bother to take out the ones that I'll need and make sure the rest are securely in my pouch. I've never stepped on a die.

[Evil DM Mark3]

-Almost confusing modeling glue for eye drops :smalleek:

...

Polystyrene cement:smalleek: or super-glue:eek:...

[Ragitsu]

Kromm, actually. Yes.

Did you get Low-Tech :smallsmile:?

[Lioness]

I just keep all of my dice in their bag...no escaping stabby things of doom, and I never lose them.

[Asta Kask]

Did you get Low-Tech :smallsmile:?

But of course. And I'm getting the book for Christmas.

[Dr.Epic]

d) paint numbers on Dr.Epic and roll him.

I support this idea. Just ask where I'm going to put the 1.

[Leecros]

-Falling asleep, the waking abruptly with the 5th ed. 40K rulebook (hardcover) stabbing my shoulder blade.

The last time someone fell asleep in my D&D group...he woke up tied to the DM's bed....

[boj0]

...

Polystyrene cement:smalleek: or super-glue:eek:...

Super glue


The last time someone fell asleep in my D&D group...he woke up tied to the DM's bed....

Thankfully, this was in my own bed, and not during a game with your group :smallsmile:

[Drynwyn]

The last time someone fell asleep in my D&D group...he woke up tied to the DM's bed....
I don't want to know what happened after that.

[Leecros]

I don't want to know what happened after that.

It wasn't anything bad. We were short on chairs so he sat on the bed. After a particularly long fight, when it was his turn we turned around and he was asleep. So the DM pulled some rope out from under the bed(don't wanna know why he had rope under there) and tied him down. Then after he woke and we all got our laughs in we untied him and went back to what we were doing.

[cattoy]

Unless you have some chart that differentiates [head/tails] from [tails/heads], flipping 2 coins isn't an acceptable substitute for a d4, since it'll tend towards the center too much.

Also, flipped coins aren't as random as people give them credit for- on most coins, the "heads" side is slightly heavier than the "tails" side, meaning that tails is a bit more likely than heads.

1: flip a penny and a nickel. Nickel = 0,2 Penny = 1,2

2: the discrepancy on an average coin is almost guaranteed to be less biased than the discrepancy on any non-gamescience d4. Most dice are very poorly manufactured.

[Rutskarn]

The hell are you guys doing with your dice that you end up treading on them?

[arguskos]

The hell are you guys doing with your dice that you end up treading on them?
They were dark days, they were, the days of the shag carpeting. Dark days indeed. Blessed be he that walks on wooden floors, for they hide no such danger on their polished planks.

[rakkoon]

"shag carpeting" has to be one of the weirdest expressions I have ever heard. Austin powers would approve.

[Marnath]

"shag carpeting" has to be one of the weirdest expressions I have ever heard. Austin powers would approve.

Expression? O.o
It's a type of carpet.

[Winter_Wolf]

I too have felt the pain of the d4 on the sole. I lost a d4 on a carpeted bedroom floor. Then found it again in the middle of the night when I got up for some water. With the bottom of my foot. :smallannoyed:

[grimbold]

be glad you don't have CALTROP D4s!
http://www.shapeways.com/forum/index.php?t=getfile&id=4312&private=0