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ArcanaFire
2015-07-13, 04:40 AM
We tabletop gamers are quite a bit like gamblers, rolling dice, and every gambler has a few personal superstitions. I'm interested in hearing what some of yours are.

My group adheres to "Don't roll on paper"; I'm not sure how prevalent it is, but when we roll, we roll on the table. No rolling on books, no rolling on your character sheet, because invariably any time one of us rolls on paper, we roll badly. We've even incorporated a house rule that if someone accidentally ends up with their die on their character sheet, and they nat 1, we let them reroll due to paper foul.

So from having a certain kind of snack at the table to not wearing green shirts, I want to know about your little idiosyncrasies.

Phoenixguard09
2015-07-13, 09:39 AM
Oh God, we have heaps.

The main one that the whole group adheres to is never touch someone else's dice. It's bad mojo.

Beyond that, Dev believes his gold played die I bought him for his birthday hates him, so only uses it for inconsequential rolls.

LD picks only two dice from her bag to use for the entire night by rolling them all at the start of the session and picking the ones which consistently rolls highest and lowest. These two dice are then not discarded until the end of the session where they are carefully placed back in the bag to recharge.

Sins buys a new set of dice for every session.

If a dice hits the floor we call a drinks break.

Not quite the same, but if a player needs a bathroom break the game continues, but the character is also answering the call of nature.

I think that's it.

JellyPooga
2015-07-13, 09:47 AM
One of mine is "Reds is tens"...whenever rolling two dice where one is "tens" and the other "units" (such as a d% or d66), I always roll two different coloured dice, one of which must be red and that red die must be the "tens" die...even when someone else is rolling, I have to insist that "reds is tens", even if they have to borrow a red die from another player to do so.

I don't know why, I just get really uncomfortable when someone rolls a "tens" die that isn't red in my presence...

Dienekes
2015-07-13, 09:52 AM
Eh, closest thing we have is "For luck, buy the GM pizza."

I'm the GM. I like this superstition.

blacklight101
2015-07-13, 10:12 AM
I partake of pregame dice rolling, find the one set that rolls best and use them. I definitely think some of my 'stand-in' dice I use for enemies in a game I run dont like me when I switch to player. I totally have a dicebag just for dice I use for enemies now.

And I have to use a d6 with numbers (not dots! ) on the faces. Dont know why, but I swear they roll better.

GPuzzle
2015-07-13, 10:40 AM
Everyone rolls 3d6 at the start of the game. If one rolls 666, that player will inevitably screw up.

No rolling outside the box.

Touching the GM's dice will bring you bad luck.

Failing a coin flip mean that you have to choose between molten butter and gasless Coke to drink.

Going to the bathroom means that everyone must drink a glass of water.

Kid Jake
2015-07-13, 02:06 PM
The guy that plays Fanboy in my M&M campaign isn't allowed to touch anybody else's dice because he sucks the luck out of them. He doesn't roll noticeably better, but we all roll way worse after getting his bad luck cooties.

kladams707
2015-07-13, 02:23 PM
I'm a pre-game dice roller as well, but I have a go to d20 (it's an orange and white die. Kind of reminds you of a creamsicle)


And I have to use a d6 with numbers (not dots! ) on the faces. Dont know why, but I swear they roll better.

With me, it's the other way around, I always seem to roll better with pips.

erikun
2015-07-13, 02:53 PM
Always use precision dice for anything important. I tend to have unusually terrible luck, and so whenever it's something critical, I break out the precision dice over those rounded-edge other dice. This is especially true when I'm rolling for another player's character (or as GM), since I don't want my unusual luck to be at fault for another player's loss.

Mastikator
2015-07-13, 02:58 PM
My dice are cursed and only give me bad rolls. Could easily be confirmation bias but it just feels like my dice consistently give me low rolls. I even got my group to use 2d10 instead of 1d20 just to lessen the randomness and at least get in the 5-8 range rather than 1-5 range.

Yukitsu
2015-07-13, 03:07 PM
If a die consistently under performs, you take all of your dice and surround it with the high number facing it. You douse the offending die in oil and then light it on fire in a sacrifice to the dice gods. That's my personal superstitious ritual.

Realistically, all my dice are slightly weighted just because they're cheap, burning the bad ones leaves the good ones, and doing that process just feels cathartic.

erikun
2015-07-13, 03:23 PM
My dice are cursed and only give me bad rolls. Could easily be confirmation bias but it just feels like my dice consistently give me low rolls. I even got my group to use 2d10 instead of 1d20 just to lessen the randomness and at least get in the 5-8 range rather than 1-5 range.
I've had online dice-rolling programs build into those digital tabletop sessions which have consistently rolled 1-5 for me, and for nobody else. My first experience with D&D4e involved never rolling above a 7 for around five sessions. (Thank goodness for Warlords and having powers which worked on a miss.)

FabulousFizban
2015-07-13, 03:45 PM
not so much a superstition as a rule, but all rolls must be made on the table. If it rolls onto the floor you have to re-roll.

Superstition: all my d20s are precision dice, but only the d20s. Oh, and i'll totally suck luck out of other people's dice and blow it onto mine. gotta get just the right spin on it too, you know?

bulbaquil
2015-07-13, 07:33 PM
- While not actively being used in a game, d20s need to be placed on a high number... but not 20, because then the dice will realize what you're trying to do and adapt accordingly. 19 is also a bad idea, as it's too close to 1 and the dice might get disoriented.

- Natural 1s tend not to happen - 2s and 3s are more common - unless critical fumbles are a thing in the game, in which case they will happen far more frequently than 2s and 3s. Doubly so if you can crit-fumble on skill checks.

- One's first set of d6's are lucky, especially for character creation stat rolls. Pipped d6's are luckier than numbered d6's.

- The probability of rolling low (or the GM rolling high) is directly proportional to how badly you don't want it to happen.

- Discussing statistics, probability theory, confirmation bias, dice manufacturing methods, or the concept of fate/luck as a myth/illusion in the presence of dice is a good way to make dice lucky or unlucky. The broacher of the topic is likely to find their dice becoming unlucky.

- Trying to "prove" one's dice are unlucky is a surefire way to get them to roll a natural 20. Reverse psychology, sadly, doesn't work: dice have too many ranks in Sense Motive.

ArcanaFire
2015-07-13, 09:05 PM
I am personally predisposed to matching sets for the "dice psynergy". If the dice I'm using don't match they just don't tend to roll as well.


I've had online dice-rolling programs build into those digital tabletop sessions which have consistently rolled 1-5 for me, and for nobody else. My first experience with D&D4e involved never rolling above a 7 for around five sessions. (Thank goodness for Warlords and having powers which worked on a miss.)

I had a WoD group once, and we all downloaded DiceMage so we wouldn't have to buy crazy amounts of d10 for it, and quickly decided DiceMage was bad juju. To this day we won't use any electronic rollers at a tabletop.

Conversely in one of the online RPs I play, we have bots for rolling dice in the chat and they're named after the villains in the game. If someone is consistently rolling badly we'll say "Kyrios doesn't like you tonight, try someone else" or something of that ilk.

Sir Chuckles
2015-07-14, 02:34 AM
We generally follow the "dice have personalities" idea.

R's dice are masochists and only roll well when threatened and then hurled.

All dice that I, as a DM, roll will almost always roll high when it is to the detriment of the players. I have ceased using x3 or x4 crit weapons in any game when I DM, as it will kill someone. When an NPC is doing a trivial action or something that benefits players, it will roll an average number.

All dice hate N. All of them. Last session he rolled four nat 1s in a row, and absolutely no rolls above 15. This is frequent, even when borrowing dice from any other player. He handed the die that rolled those nat 1s to another player, who subsequently rolled without a single failed check for the rest of the session. We blame it on the fact that he's always using "dice rolling techniques" that he finds online.

braveheart
2015-07-15, 05:50 PM
If in any session anyone's D20 at our table rolls 3 1's it is retired for the night, and another D20 is either pulled from their bag or offered (for players who only have one set)

gadren
2015-08-10, 06:17 PM
My personal superstition is connected to that fact that I usually roll well on d6's and d10's, and poorly on d8's.
So I tend to avoid anything that uses a d8, and take a d6 or d10 alternative when I can. Like I rather use a shortsword than a longsword, even if I'm a fighter, and was annoyed when 4e changed the rapier's damage die from a d6 to a d8.

Raimun
2015-08-10, 09:56 PM
I don't like it when/if other people use my dice and I don't like to use dice that aren't mine.

As you all must know, DM of the Rings explained how dice work:

There is a limited number of rollable "20s" in a D20. Once you roll a "20", it's forever gone. That is, until you roll (with same die) a corresponding "1", which reloads the die with a brand new "20".

So, if someone else rolls your die, s/he might use up one of your "20s" and also doom you to roll an extra of "1", that would have been balanced by the "20" that was just used by someone else.

The other theory I have is that dice are powered by Spiral Energy. Ie. you roll better if you have fighting spirit at the moment.

Milodiah
2015-08-10, 11:22 PM
My red-on-black dice are the player dice, my yellow-on-grey are the GM dice. If I notice I am using the wrong dice for the task, I will switch immediately, even if it involves taking them out of other people's hands (since some of us have so many dice, about half the table just borrows from us).

People tend to be rather suspicious about that, as if they were loaded or something...probably doesn't help that the player dice do seem to roll better than the GM dice.

It is also a confirmed fact (statistically proven beyond the typical margin of error) that one of our players has terrible dice rolls and the other has good dice rolls. It's gotten to the point where instead of using arrays, our GM just has the guy roll a statblock and then we use it. The other guy has a slight fixation on highly specialist builds in-game, because it is his experience that he must go out of his way to make his characters as good at their primary task as possible so that low rolls won't cripple him.

JAL_1138
2015-08-11, 12:33 AM
Anybody got any tips for how to recharge the luck in about four pounds of dice with good luck? Mine have all grown to hate me for some reason. But only when the roll is something I want to succeed. In test rolls, they do fine. Some even do great in tests, rarely rolling below 14. And then in game they'll never hit double digits.

They'll even screw me over at times--put me at the top of initiative only when I'm out of (or when I absolutely need to ration) no-save, save-or-die, or save-or-suck spells, only to have me miss or roll terrible damage on whatever I do, wasting a turn and mooting a great initiative.

And yes, I've gone through this with all four pounds of 'em.

I've made them angry somehow, and I don't know how to get back on their good side.

DataNinja
2015-08-11, 12:58 AM
Anybody got any tips for how to recharge the luck in about four pounds of dice with good luck? Mine have all grown to hate me for some reason. But only when the roll is something I want to succeed. In test rolls, they do fine. Some even do great in tests, rarely rolling below 14. And then in game they'll never hit double digits.

They'll even screw me over at times--put me at the top of initiative only when I'm out of (or when I absolutely need to ration) no-save, save-or-die, or save-or-suck spells, only to have me miss or roll terrible damage on whatever I do, wasting a turn and mooting a great initiative.

And yes, I've gone through this with all four pounds of 'em.

I've made them angry somehow, and I don't know how to get back on their good side.

Four pounds you say? That should be enough to slowly whittle them down, one at a time, destroying them in different ways, until the rest finally get the drift. :smallbiggrin:

Or do what I did when that hapened... Bought new dice, and that recharged my lot. (Disclaimer: it's only worked on my d6s for any length of time. Everything else is a luck sponge.)

Alent
2015-08-11, 01:13 AM
My group isn't very superstitious about dice, but we have a few general rules of thumb:

1) Dropping a die on the floor will always result in a maximum roll, and sap the mojo from the die for the rest of the night.

2) The DM will always roll natural 18~20's for saving throws, no matter what you do to defend against it or who's dice are used. In our current 5th edition campaign, one of the guys cast a Save or Suck at DC 18 w/ the target getting disadvantage on the save... Twelve D20's, not one was less than 18.

goto124
2015-08-11, 01:15 AM
Four pounds you say? That should be enough to slowly whittle them down, one at a time, destroying them in different ways, until the rest finally get the drift.

Make sure you use all sort of dice torture devices, such as the Iron Dice Maiden, and go full villain mode. Complete with MWAHAHAHAHAHA! voice.

JAL_1138
2015-08-11, 07:00 AM
Four pounds you say? That should be enough to slowly whittle them down, one at a time, destroying them in different ways, until the rest finally get the drift. :smallbiggrin:

Or do what I did when that hapened... Bought new dice, and that recharged my lot. (Disclaimer: it's only worked on my d6s for any length of time. Everything else is a luck sponge.)


Make sure you use all sort of dice torture devices, such as the Iron Dice Maiden, and go full villain mode. Complete with MWAHAHAHAHAHA! voice.

I'm not going to destroy any of them until Gamescience gets production back running properly, since about half of them are irreplaceable until they do. Although it's not just them that are performing poorly, the Chessexes and Koplows (and the couple Crystal Castes) are all working against me as well. Even the jumbo-sized ones. But only during games, of course...they all test-roll fine. And I've trimmed/filed the sprues on the Gamesciences, so (for instance) the d20s don't even come up with fewer 14s, which will happen otherwise.

I'd say maybe they prefer AD&D to 5th and think they're supposed to roll under on ability checks, but if that were the case they would still know to roll high in some situations (to-hit, saves, damage), and they just aren't doing that.

It has been a while since I bought new dice...I'll give that a shot.

Knaight
2015-08-12, 12:47 PM
We don't have any superstitions per say. We do have various dice rolling standards that have developed to keep dice on the table and not the floor, from the occasional use of dice cups to deliberately aiming at backstops.

Khaelo
2015-08-12, 01:17 PM
While waiting to be rolled, my dice sit with their highest number up. They need the practice.

Dice that fall on the floor don't count. No, not even the natural 20, not even in the presence of witnesses.

Keltest
2015-08-12, 01:47 PM
Not a dice related one, but the party generally has had bad experiences with left paths.

Also, one player, we shall call him E, has cursed dice. Nobody can roll anything other than consistently poorly with them.

JAL_1138
2015-08-12, 03:37 PM
Not a dice related one, but the party generally has had bad experiences with left paths.

Also, one player, we shall call him E, has cursed dice. Nobody can roll anything other than consistently poorly with them.

E's problem sounds like he actually has bad (i.e., manufacturing flaw) dice, rather than a curse. Trust me, I'm under a curse. Hundreds of test rolls per die, float-tests, and stack tests show my dice to be largely unbiased, yet they roll badly when I roll them to actually do something in game. I don't think I've passed a single skill check or done more than five damage in two months. But if they're just getting rolled, for no in-game reason, they do fine.

Keltest
2015-08-12, 03:49 PM
E's problem sounds like he actually has bad (i.e., manufacturing flaw) dice, rather than a curse. Trust me, I'm under a curse. Hundreds of test rolls per die, float-tests, and stack tests show my dice to be largely unbiased, yet they roll badly when I roll them to actually do something in game. I don't think I've passed a single skill check or done more than five damage in two months. But if they're just getting rolled, for no in-game reason, they do fine.

The thing is, whenever he just rolls them out of boredom, theyre fine. Its only when the rolls actually have a purpose that they end up low.

JAL_1138
2015-08-12, 04:29 PM
The thing is, whenever he just rolls them out of boredom, theyre fine. Its only when the rolls actually have a purpose that they end up low.

Ah. Same horrible affliction, then. My absolute sympathy.

Lord Torath
2015-08-12, 04:59 PM
My superstition is that in a Mini Tabletop Wargame, I will lose the roll to both choose my deployment, and also lose the roll for first turn. It's not all the time, but it's pretty close to 90% of the time. I tend to do pretty well once the game gets going, though.


Anybody got any tips for how to recharge the luck in about four pounds of dice with good luck? Mine have all grown to hate me for some reason. But only when the roll is something I want to succeed. In test rolls, they do fine. Some even do great in tests, rarely rolling below 14. And then in game they'll never hit double digits.

They'll even screw me over at times--put me at the top of initiative only when I'm out of (or when I absolutely need to ration) no-save, save-or-die, or save-or-suck spells, only to have me miss or roll terrible damage on whatever I do, wasting a turn and mooting a great initiative.

And yes, I've gone through this with all four pounds of 'em.

I've made them angry somehow, and I don't know how to get back on their good side.Try doing something really nice for them, rather than punishing them. Maybe give them a bubble bath?

Kol Korran
2015-08-12, 11:49 PM
By group has only a few quirks:
- two of the players roll their dice pre game and choose the best set.
- 1 player has the worst tendency to roll "1"s on critical saves, no matter the save bonus. For some reason we keep saying "just don't roll... " and he replies "Don't say that! Oh hell!" Funny for us.
- Another player rolls really poorly most of the time (Under 10, for about 80% of his rolls) but when it's go time, he suddenly started critting! And he usually ends fights that way. A joke in my group is that on nearly every major battle they'll just buy time, and get weather down till his dice decide that enough is enough.

A small story: I myself don't believe in dice superstitions. My dice are fairly average. I'vettried running statistics, and on the while results are close to being utterly random.

That said... in a previous campaign, at the end battle the party was really not doing well, and on a sort of a time constraint. Watching the battle develop badly, and the party on the brink of death, I cursed inside: "so this is how the campaign will end? A TPK, on the final battle... such a let down..." But then oneplayer yells "I got a threat!" And the threat turned into a quadrouple critical, followed b y another quadruple critical by another player! Just enough to turn the rose, at the very last round! We wereally amazed, and Everyone since then I think that maybe, at times, the dice do care...

Fri
2015-08-13, 12:12 AM
I've been reading this thread, and none of you ritually kill your players when their character are dead? You guys are weird.:smallconfused:

Lurkmoar
2015-08-13, 02:13 AM
I've been reading this thread, and none of you ritually kill your players when their character are dead? You guys are weird.:smallconfused:

Ha, Dark Dungeons.

General superstition is that you suck up other people's luck when you handle their dice.
A specific one at my table is that if you eat someone else's snacks and didn't bring anything that night, you will roll at least three 1s in combat.

JAL_1138
2015-08-13, 06:39 AM
I do have one custom that's not really a luck-related superstition: first-time players (not new to the group or new to the edition--new to RPGs entirely) never buy their first set of dice. Either someone in the group gives them a set, or the group pitches in and buys them one (or if the group won't, I will). They don't get loaners for a session, they get a set to keep. Sort of an effort to hook new players into the hobby.

MrConsideration
2015-08-15, 03:47 PM
Rolling your dice when not attempting an action 'wastes' those numbers. The Dice Gods are only going to give you so many 20s, so don't waste them!

Most players also have a rarely-used d20 they only crank out for save-or-die situations, keeping the other ones for less important roles.

I always put my D20s '20' side up, and my D12s, and D10s....

RayGallade
2015-08-15, 06:37 PM
At our table, we have "The Curse of the 4's". For some reason, we've found that once somebody rolls a four on a d20, we all seem to end up rolling fours for the next several checks. It's gotten to the point where we will exile a die if it rolls a four.

Also, we used to have a jar of safety pins that we called "The Jar of Shame" that we would use to exile dice. Still need to find it again.

JAL_1138
2015-08-15, 09:17 PM
Or do what I did when that hapened... Bought new dice, and that recharged my lot. (Disclaimer: it's only worked on my d6s for any length of time. Everything else is a luck sponge.)

Buying a new set didn't fully do the trick, but did seem to help considerably. I only rolled slightly under par. I believe I'll pick up a couple more sets now that Gamescience is offering some again. Only opaques (and very expensive ones) at the moment, but better than them being entirely out of production.

DataNinja
2015-08-15, 10:56 PM
I always put my D20s '20' side up, and my D12s, and D10s....

Wait? How do you put your d12s and d10s '20' side up? :smallwink:

YossarianLives
2015-08-15, 11:49 PM
Our group has one d20 with a weird stars and planets pattern. We don't know where we got it, but it has been dubbed "The Power of the Cosmos." If a situation is particularly dire we roll The Power of the Cosmos. If it comes up even we use it, if not we decide that the situation is not worthy of the use of The Power of the Cosmos.

The Power of the Cosmos, besides looking cool usually rolls quite high.

Totema
2015-08-16, 12:41 AM
Oh, I have a bunch of rituals. They're mostly to keep me entertained during dull roleplay, but I like to think they also help my rolls. :smalltongue:


First off, before gameplay starts, I pick out a set of dice from the bag for use in the session. No using dice directly from the bag, all willy-nilly. This rule is suspended if I find that I unexpectedly need more of a particular kind of die, but after that point I keep those in my set as well.
On that note, I avoid using dice of the same color in my set if at all possible. They need to be a diverse bunch. I have a favorite d20, so that one is generally the same across sessions.
When at rest, the dice in my set must lie with their maximum value face up. This is valuable training for them.
In this state, I also arrange them in a line in ascending order, with the d4 on the extreme left, and the d20 on the extreme right. The singles digit d10 is to the left of the tens digit d10.
If my d20 rolls well (particularly when I need it badly), I give it a little kiss before setting it down again. :smallsmile: Other dice might get this treatment too, if I really need a high value from one of them.
If I roll a 1 on my d20, I just rotate it out for the session. No need for extreme punishment, it's just tired or sick and needs some rest.
Nearly forgot this one: Sometimes if I'm about to make a particularly important roll, I roll the d20 repeatedly until I get a 1, and then make the actual roll. I call this "rolling out the 1". The idea is to ensure that I don't get the 1 when I'm rolling for real. Statistically this shouldn't work, but it has yet to fail me. :smalltongue:
No one else may touch the dice in my set. My other dice are free though, and in fact they enjoy being used by other players and should be shared whenever necessary.
At some point between sessions, I like to jumble around the dice bag, to make sure that all the dice get roughly equal play. I usually put my favorite d20 back on top before putting the bag away, though. :smallsmile:

Fri
2015-08-16, 01:36 AM
Our group has one d20 with a weird stars and planets pattern. We don't know where we got it, but it has been dubbed "The Power of the Cosmos." If a situation is particularly dire we roll The Power of the Cosmos. If it comes up even we use it, if not we decide that the situation is not worthy of the use of The Power of the Cosmos.

The Power of the Cosmos, besides looking cool usually rolls quite high.

I'm curious. What do your group say when the situation calls for the Power of the Cosmos but it rolls badly?

WrittenInBlood
2015-08-16, 02:18 AM
While waiting to be rolled, my dice sit with their highest number up. They need the practice.


When at rest, the dice in my set must lie with their maximum value face up. This is valuable training for them.

:smallsigh: No, no, no. You're doing it completely wrong. Dice get tired of standing on their lowest number, and will never land on it after roll, so you won't get highest score on them. High - maybe, but crit - rather not. Didn't you know that? :smallwink:

LooseCannoneer
2015-08-16, 07:41 AM
I roll a special D20 like a bowling ball on important rolls.

goto124
2015-08-16, 09:41 AM
I'm curious. What do your group say when the situation calls for the Power of the Cosmos but it rolls badly?

That the Dice Gods have decided to be especially cruel... :P

Tiri
2015-08-16, 10:19 AM
One of the people I play with always has to roll the dice around his hands while going 'Mmmm' softly before he makes an important roll. For at least 15 seconds. It gets really annoying sometimes.

YossarianLives
2015-08-16, 01:54 PM
I'm curious. What do your group say when the situation calls for the Power of the Cosmos but it rolls badly?
Generally it means that the person who rolled poorly has temporarily lost favour with The Power of the Cosmos.

JAL_1138
2015-08-16, 02:17 PM
Our group has one d20 with a weird stars and planets pattern. We don't know where we got it, but it has been dubbed "The Power of the Cosmos." If a situation is particularly dire we roll The Power of the Cosmos. If it comes up even we use it, if not we decide that the situation is not worthy of the use of The Power of the Cosmos.

The Power of the Cosmos, besides looking cool usually rolls quite high.

Any chance at a pic on the off chance someone here can identify it (edit: as in, which set by which manufacturer)?

Totema
2015-08-16, 02:35 PM
:smallsigh: No, no, no. You're doing it completely wrong. Dice get tired of standing on their lowest number, and will never land on it after roll, so you won't get highest score on them. High - maybe, but crit - rather not. Didn't you know that? :smallwink:

A curious theory. I should try it out sometime! :smallbiggrin:

Strigon
2015-08-16, 02:49 PM
Nearly forgot this one: Sometimes if I'm about to make a particularly important roll, I roll the d20 repeatedly until I get a 1, and then make the actual roll. I call this "rolling out the 1". The idea is to ensure that I don't get the 1 when I'm rolling for real. Statistically this shouldn't work, but it has yet to fail me. :smalltongue:


Don't feel silly; 'tis a prestigious method of training, with a long and glorious tradition. (http://www.darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0099.html)


Our group has one d20 with a weird stars and planets pattern. We don't know where we got it, but it has been dubbed "The Power of the Cosmos." If a situation is particularly dire we roll The Power of the Cosmos. If it comes up even we use it, if not we decide that the situation is not worthy of the use of The Power of the Cosmos.

YOU FOOL! BY DOING SO YOU SUBMIT YOUR MOST POWERFUL DIE TO THRICE THE STRESS CALLED FOR!
Clearly you need a second die, The Herald of the Cosmos, to decide if the time is right to call upon The Power of the Cosmos.

Templarkommando
2015-08-18, 09:56 AM
These are my personal superstitions. If I get a die that seems to roll poorly during the course of one session (say 5-6 rolls), I will switch to one of about 4-5 substitute dice that I have.

When I roll damage, I want to use the oldest dice that I have. The old ones have sharp edges that make them roll more reliably. Since I have typically played a long sword wielding fighter, I have some d8s that my dad used back in the early 80s.


Not a dice related one, but the party generally has had bad experiences with left paths.

Also, one player, we shall call him E, has cursed dice. Nobody can roll anything other than consistently poorly with them.


That's funny, my party always take the left path. Once we decided to go right, only to find that our DM was looking nervous. He had designed the dungeon under the assumption that we always go left, which, in his defense was a pretty safe assumption.

JAL_1138
2015-08-18, 12:49 PM
Water is always bad. Always. Every puddle, pool, fountain, pond, stream, river, lake, sea, ocean, whatever is full of monsters, is a monster, or is connected to demons, devils, yugoloths, eldritch abominations, and/or angry gods in some fashion. Avoid at all costs.

Strigon
2015-08-18, 01:03 PM
Water is always bad. Always. Every puddle, pool, fountain, pond, stream, river, lake, sea, ocean, whatever is full of monsters, is a monster, or is connected to demons, devils, yugoloths, eldritch abominations, and/or angry gods in some fashion. Avoid at all costs.

I'm sorry, this is a fact, not a superstition. I have yet to find anybody to disagree with this.

Telonius
2015-08-18, 01:31 PM
The only superstition I have is with my dice. Whenever I really want to roll well on an attack, I bring out my bright red D20 DM Die o' Doom. The weird thing is, it seems to be some kind Barbarian die, because it only rolls well for hitting things. Saves or skill checks? If I use the red one, it'll be a 4, max. Instead, I pull out my green d20. That thing can't hit the broad side of a barn, but is excellent on saves or skills.

I try to keep these dice from touching each other.

Knaight
2015-08-18, 01:39 PM
I'm sorry, this is a fact, not a superstition. I have yet to find anybody to disagree with this.

You now have one. On the other hand, there are other things that get that reaction in our games. The word "nanobots" is roughly synonymous with doom.

xroads
2015-08-18, 04:43 PM
We have one player who likes to put dice that are rolling bad for him in a "dice urn" (i.e. dice graveyard). Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to do him much good. His dice rolls still seem to be bad on average.

Vercingex
2015-08-18, 05:11 PM
I try not to roll a single d20 more than 2 or 3 times in a row. Eventually, all dice turn on me.

Gamgee
2015-08-18, 05:47 PM
Never roll this one set of metal dice that is clearly rigged. The highest its ever rolled is 11. Naturally one player always wants to use them. :smallfurious:

Vercingex
2015-08-18, 07:37 PM
Our local game store has a tradition on permanent character deaths. When a character dies, we write the cause of death on the front of the character sheet in marker, and add it to a stack on the bulletin board. After a particularly lethal D&D Basic series of games resulted in a sheaf of dead characters, we had to tone it down. But we still write our character's epitaphs on our sheets when we die.

BootStrapTommy
2015-08-18, 08:42 PM
One Monty Python/other relevant ner joke leads to another. And another. And another...

We eradicate this OoC problem with IC damage. If it sounds harsh, it's meant to be.