So my wife found some Alloy Nickel dice on wish and, after shipping, ended up being only 2 dollars. Haven't received them yet but the reason she pointed them out was because a few days prior I read some stuff online suggesting that with resin dice, the bubbles that occasionally form in the end result affects rolls so I had advocated getting a set of stone dice.
But my question is this, is there anyone who knows more about what the benefits and disadvantages are to each type of material you're able to find? I've never seen nickel alloy as a material so I'm initially concerned about that (I thought they were made with zinc) but I don't estimate they will have the same issue as air pockets. Thoughts?
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You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
The resin dice float. You can test if they're balanced or not by putting them in a glass of water and spinning them. If the same number always comes up on top they're not balanced. If random numbers come up on top every time you roll them in the water they are balanced.
I have a set of metal dice and they are heavy. They have a solid thunk when they hit the table so I roll them into a dice tray to avoid damaging my DM's table.
The air pockets in typical injection-molded dice are rarely large enough to have a significant effect upon how the die rolls, but not so large as to be obvious (because they became visible or resulted in obviously misshapen dice during the tumbling process during manufacture).
Dice made in other methods (machine-cut metal or stone dice, or even plastic dice that haven't been tumble-polished) are marginally less biased - I say marginally because the majority of dice do not have a significant enough bias to have it be noticed during typical use (but make a record of a few thousand rolls of each of your dice, and you might see their bias).
So my advice is to choose dice that you like the look and feel of - and if you are concerned about reducing bias to the minimum possible, invest in a dice tower or a dice cup (and make sure to shake more thoroughly than just shake-shake-pour) because your rolling technique when using your hand has far more impact on the dice results than the imperfections of a not-obviously-misshapen die do.
And for metal or stone dice, I recommending getting a tray to roll into (if you aren't already using a relatively soft, felt covered surface) so you aren't putting dents and dings into your table or your fancy dice by having the two bash into each other directly.
Even metal and stone dice can have small bias in them depending on the materials as they often contain impurities. Removing all possible impurities will lead to more costly materials thus more expensive dice. For the most part given they are for the fun of gaming, the variances really aren't going to make a massive difference and can be minimized significantly in the means Aaron has mentioned above. The way people role the dice are likely to be more significant than their physical flaws.
Roll what makes you happy. As long as it's not loaded it's all good. Only disadvantage of metal dice I've heard is they can mark a nice table, if that's an issue. Also, they don't melt if you have to put down a misbehaving dice.
Also, they don't melt if you have to put down a misbehaving dice.
That depends on the tools you have available - if you have an acetylene torch on hand, many of those metal (and even some of the stone dice) can be destroyed just fine. (Always wear appropriate safety wear and work in properly ventilated areas, kids.)
"I want to pull out it's tongue so Timbity can use it as a whip."- W
Scarlet is a red haired wood elf. She is wearing a semi-formal red dress and her green cloak with silver lining. She has a beat up old scimitar at her side. She has dark green eyes and a feather in her hair. Her skin is well tanned.
The resin dice float. You can test if they're balanced or not by putting them in a glass of water and spinning them. If the same number always comes up on top they're not balanced. If random numbers come up on top every time you roll them in the water they are balanced.
I have a set of metal dice and they are heavy. They have a solid thunk when they hit the table so I roll them into a dice tray to avoid damaging my DM's table.
Some dice float . Some don't. But I have d20s which go 0-9 twice. And d20s which don't add up to 21 on opposite sides. But the salt test is a good one. Now if Vegas could adapt their d6 balance gadget to the other dice that would be great.
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No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.
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So my wife found some Alloy Nickel dice on wish and, after shipping, ended up being only 2 dollars. Haven't received them yet but the reason she pointed them out was because a few days prior I read some stuff online suggesting that with resin dice, the bubbles that occasionally form in the end result affects rolls so I had advocated getting a set of stone dice.
But my question is this, is there anyone who knows more about what the benefits and disadvantages are to each type of material you're able to find? I've never seen nickel alloy as a material so I'm initially concerned about that (I thought they were made with zinc) but I don't estimate they will have the same issue as air pockets. Thoughts?
You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
The resin dice float. You can test if they're balanced or not by putting them in a glass of water and spinning them. If the same number always comes up on top they're not balanced. If random numbers come up on top every time you roll them in the water they are balanced.
I have a set of metal dice and they are heavy. They have a solid thunk when they hit the table so I roll them into a dice tray to avoid damaging my DM's table.
Professional computer geek
The air pockets in typical injection-molded dice are rarely large enough to have a significant effect upon how the die rolls, but not so large as to be obvious (because they became visible or resulted in obviously misshapen dice during the tumbling process during manufacture).
Dice made in other methods (machine-cut metal or stone dice, or even plastic dice that haven't been tumble-polished) are marginally less biased - I say marginally because the majority of dice do not have a significant enough bias to have it be noticed during typical use (but make a record of a few thousand rolls of each of your dice, and you might see their bias).
So my advice is to choose dice that you like the look and feel of - and if you are concerned about reducing bias to the minimum possible, invest in a dice tower or a dice cup (and make sure to shake more thoroughly than just shake-shake-pour) because your rolling technique when using your hand has far more impact on the dice results than the imperfections of a not-obviously-misshapen die do.
And for metal or stone dice, I recommending getting a tray to roll into (if you aren't already using a relatively soft, felt covered surface) so you aren't putting dents and dings into your table or your fancy dice by having the two bash into each other directly.
All good advice, thank yyou!
You only lose if you die. Any time else, there's opportunity for a come back.
Even metal and stone dice can have small bias in them depending on the materials as they often contain impurities. Removing all possible impurities will lead to more costly materials thus more expensive dice.
For the most part given they are for the fun of gaming, the variances really aren't going to make a massive difference and can be minimized significantly in the means Aaron has mentioned above. The way people role the dice are likely to be more significant than their physical flaws.
- Loswaith
Roll what makes you happy. As long as it's not loaded it's all good. Only disadvantage of metal dice I've heard is they can mark a nice table, if that's an issue. Also, they don't melt if you have to put down a misbehaving dice.
Transparent dice have lower odds of imbalances, since you'd be able to see the bubbles if there were any.
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http://www.awesomedice.com/blog/353/d20-dice-randomness-test-chessex-vs-gamescience/
In the end, they are both random enough for me.
Good to know thx
"I want to pull out it's tongue so Timbity can use it as a whip."- W
Scarlet is a red haired wood elf. She is wearing a semi-formal red dress and her green cloak with silver lining. She has a beat up old scimitar at her side. She has dark green eyes and a feather in her hair. Her skin is well tanned.
Not true. I made resin dice and it sunk.
Some dice float . Some don't. But I have d20s which go 0-9 twice. And d20s which don't add up to 21 on opposite sides. But the salt test is a good one. Now if Vegas could adapt their d6 balance gadget to the other dice that would be great.
No Gaming is Better than Bad Gaming.