Over the course of the last few games we have seen a increased repeating pattern of dice rolls. During our last game, our Orc paladin rolled 4, 8 times in a row. Similar, last weeks game, the wizard rolled a Nat 1 6 times. We ended up moving to a different system for dice rolling. Anyone experienced something similar?
It's pattern bias, an evolutionary hangover that once gave humans the edge they needed. Your brain is literally wired to detect patterns, be it bunnies in clouds, faces in toast, or repeating numbers in dice rolls. The probability of getting a 4 eight times in a row may be 1 in 25600000000, but so is the probability of getting 4, 2, 5, 16, 12, 4, 9, 10. Or getting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
The dice rolling engine D&D Beyond uses is very much a high confidence pRNG (pseudo random number generator), you don't need to worry about that
There is a glitch of some sort that is the dice roll and the result is delayed (die looks cocked and number isn't clear) it will be a 5. Our Fighter was having it happen and through the night, we counted 22 instances of him rolling a 5 on the d20. This has happened a few times, once our Barbarian was the victim and once our Cleric. Not sure if it's tied to server maintenance or some such, but as soon as we start seeing it now, we break out our plastic dice and stop using the dice roller.
While I expect mods/admins to deny such a thing, I have also found that if you're rolling crap on a given session, it will most likely hold true for MOST rolls. The flip side is true as well, with a series of great rolls appearing to carry on through the session. Mark it up to fate or whatever you want, but this seems to hold true on digital OR real dice, so it would seem "Luck" is a bit more real than we usually credit it.
In any case, I strongly support any method that leaves the players die rolls public, as it eliminates the suspicion that someone is cheating. Never was this more true than the night our Fighter had RED HOT dice and landed a total of 6 crits over 2 major fights. Including advantage, he rolled to hit MAYBE 20 times during those 2 fights and only missed once. 17+ for pretty much any other roll and we ALL saw them. Epic night for us, a little less so for the DM, whose planned dangerous encounters ended a lot faster than he expected lol.
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Talk to your Players.Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I had a glitch a few months back in which a player was always getting the same number on every dice rolled example 20d6 all rolled 6 and all d20 rolls were 3. This happened over the course of the night. We asked him to restart his computer and that seemed to clear it up.
I had a glitch a few months back in which a player was always getting the same number on every dice rolled example 20d6 all rolled 6 and all d20 rolls were 3. This happened over the course of the night. We asked him to restart his computer and that seemed to clear it up.
If restarting their computer 'fixed' this, then that would suggest something running on their machine was interfering with the rolls. Some third party extensions can do this
As much as I understand biases in this, seven rolls of the same number seems unlikely (rolling a 4 seven times in a row) is 0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05=
7.8125e-10
although possible it seems unlikely. and for this to happen multiple times makes me question it.
Our group has had the same issue. On occassion a single player will roll the same number repeatedly. Even if they queued up a roll of 20d20 every one of the d20's rolled the same number - all twenty of them. Wish I could say we found a cure, but when noticed we usually switched that person to real dice for the remainder of that game.
As much as I understand biases in this, seven rolls of the same number seems unlikely (rolling a 4 seven times in a row) is 0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05=
7.8125e-10
although possible it seems unlikely. and for this to happen multiple times makes me question it.
Unlikely, but still probabilistically possible, especially given the large number of people rolling dice on D&D Beyond. Patterns will emerge, that's just how randomness works.
As much as I understand biases in this, seven rolls of the same number seems unlikely (rolling a 4 seven times in a row) is 0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05=
7.8125e-10
although possible it seems unlikely. and for this to happen multiple times makes me question it.
David's explanation stands. Every sequence of numbers has the same probability, it's just that some are more memorable than others. That's the principle that drives "angel numbers" and other numerical "magic". There are a whole load of such interesting numbers, Eg rolling a 3 five times, rolling a 9 nine times, and so forth. So while the chances of rolling a 4 eight times is ridiculously low, about one in ten million(ish), there are a whole bucket load of numbers that would catch your attention...the chances of that happening is more reasonable, perhaps (this is just spitballing) one in eight million. Still unlikely, right? But how many people use DDB for dice rolls? How many rolls does each person make? More than a few million over its lifetime I'm sure...and so statistically we should get quite a few. They will surely assume that something is up and come to the forums wondering why their dice roller is broken...do you see where this is going?
Look, if something similar happens the next session, then definitely it's worth investigating. A single event, unless astoundingly unlikely, isn't much to get worked up about. On the other hand, if it gets repeated, that suggests a bug or bias of some kind.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Its like others have said, the odds of rolling one particular strange set of numbers may be high, but if you factor in all the possible unlikely scenarios the odds of one of them occurring is less. Then if you factor in how many times you are rolling overall it lessens even more, like the odds of flipping a coin 7 times and it coming up heads 7 times in a row, if my math is right, is 1:128, but the odds of flipping a coin 100 times and it coming up heads 7 times in a row at some point is more like 1:13.
I've also had a similar experience with the dice roller here, from rolling the same number repeatedly, to delayed rolls, to completely failing to roll, and rolling multiple times. Or, if it really feels like testing my patience on a given day, a combination of them. This would occur on more than just a single event, despite using multiple different devices running on both the browser and on the application. It's an issue which just has me ending up in emotionally questioning the legitimacy of all my other rolls when I don't encounter a visible anomaly. Like the countless other problems and glitches I've ran into using this website, certain people would rather deny or ignore the issues' existence than simply acknowledge or address it.
I've resorted to implementing real dice rolls into my online games which isn't the end of the world (I personally prefer the feeling of rolling the dice by hand anyway), but defeats some purpose of playing using digital tools and it's not the solution for everybody. I understand it can introduce a whole new set of problems at some virtual tables, I'm just lucky to have had DMs who trusted me.
I had problems with it rolling multiple times with a single click. It was resolved by rebooting my phone and haven't had an issue since. Must just load bad code sometimes or something.
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
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Over the course of the last few games we have seen a increased repeating pattern of dice rolls. During our last game, our Orc paladin rolled 4, 8 times in a row. Similar, last weeks game, the wizard rolled a Nat 1 6 times. We ended up moving to a different system for dice rolling. Anyone experienced something similar?
It's pattern bias, an evolutionary hangover that once gave humans the edge they needed. Your brain is literally wired to detect patterns, be it bunnies in clouds, faces in toast, or repeating numbers in dice rolls. The probability of getting a 4 eight times in a row may be 1 in 25600000000, but so is the probability of getting 4, 2, 5, 16, 12, 4, 9, 10. Or getting 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
The dice rolling engine D&D Beyond uses is very much a high confidence pRNG (pseudo random number generator), you don't need to worry about that
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
There is a glitch of some sort that is the dice roll and the result is delayed (die looks cocked and number isn't clear) it will be a 5. Our Fighter was having it happen and through the night, we counted 22 instances of him rolling a 5 on the d20. This has happened a few times, once our Barbarian was the victim and once our Cleric. Not sure if it's tied to server maintenance or some such, but as soon as we start seeing it now, we break out our plastic dice and stop using the dice roller.
While I expect mods/admins to deny such a thing, I have also found that if you're rolling crap on a given session, it will most likely hold true for MOST rolls. The flip side is true as well, with a series of great rolls appearing to carry on through the session. Mark it up to fate or whatever you want, but this seems to hold true on digital OR real dice, so it would seem "Luck" is a bit more real than we usually credit it.
In any case, I strongly support any method that leaves the players die rolls public, as it eliminates the suspicion that someone is cheating. Never was this more true than the night our Fighter had RED HOT dice and landed a total of 6 crits over 2 major fights. Including advantage, he rolled to hit MAYBE 20 times during those 2 fights and only missed once. 17+ for pretty much any other roll and we ALL saw them. Epic night for us, a little less so for the DM, whose planned dangerous encounters ended a lot faster than he expected lol.
Talk to your Players. Talk to your DM. If more people used this advice, there would be 24.74% fewer threads on Tactics, Rules and DM discussions.
I had a glitch a few months back in which a player was always getting the same number on every dice rolled example 20d6 all rolled 6 and all d20 rolls were 3. This happened over the course of the night. We asked him to restart his computer and that seemed to clear it up.
If restarting their computer 'fixed' this, then that would suggest something running on their machine was interfering with the rolls. Some third party extensions can do this
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
Hey there Davyd,
As much as I understand biases in this, seven rolls of the same number seems unlikely (rolling a 4 seven times in a row) is 0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05x0.05=
Our group has had the same issue. On occassion a single player will roll the same number repeatedly. Even if they queued up a roll of 20d20 every one of the d20's rolled the same number - all twenty of them. Wish I could say we found a cure, but when noticed we usually switched that person to real dice for the remainder of that game.
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
Unlikely, but still probabilistically possible, especially given the large number of people rolling dice on D&D Beyond. Patterns will emerge, that's just how randomness works.
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
David's explanation stands. Every sequence of numbers has the same probability, it's just that some are more memorable than others. That's the principle that drives "angel numbers" and other numerical "magic". There are a whole load of such interesting numbers, Eg rolling a 3 five times, rolling a 9 nine times, and so forth. So while the chances of rolling a 4 eight times is ridiculously low, about one in ten million(ish), there are a whole bucket load of numbers that would catch your attention...the chances of that happening is more reasonable, perhaps (this is just spitballing) one in eight million. Still unlikely, right? But how many people use DDB for dice rolls? How many rolls does each person make? More than a few million over its lifetime I'm sure...and so statistically we should get quite a few. They will surely assume that something is up and come to the forums wondering why their dice roller is broken...do you see where this is going?
Look, if something similar happens the next session, then definitely it's worth investigating. A single event, unless astoundingly unlikely, isn't much to get worked up about. On the other hand, if it gets repeated, that suggests a bug or bias of some kind.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Its like others have said, the odds of rolling one particular strange set of numbers may be high, but if you factor in all the possible unlikely scenarios the odds of one of them occurring is less. Then if you factor in how many times you are rolling overall it lessens even more, like the odds of flipping a coin 7 times and it coming up heads 7 times in a row, if my math is right, is 1:128, but the odds of flipping a coin 100 times and it coming up heads 7 times in a row at some point is more like 1:13.
It could also be dice goblins.
Use real dice?
Clearing the cash on the app seems to help.
Discord: MasterWitch#2965
My World Anvil account if you're interested. Work in progress.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/land-of-the-fallen-7Blandfall7D-masterwitch
When things seem wonky we just restart our computer.
I think the mathematics are actually "rolled" on your own PC and not the server. Other than the graphics it pretty much just a single line of code.
We restart if the dice roll slow or stop. This fixes things.
This is correct, it's how the dice support offline usage while remaining highly pseudo-random
Find my D&D Beyond articles here
So, Davyd, you’ve changed your answer from my glitch then?
The app will roll multiple times with one click of the button. It even shows each roll in the log. I have had to stop using the app as a dice roller.
Discord: MasterWitch#2965
My World Anvil account if you're interested. Work in progress.
https://www.worldanvil.com/w/land-of-the-fallen-7Blandfall7D-masterwitch
I've also had a similar experience with the dice roller here, from rolling the same number repeatedly, to delayed rolls, to completely failing to roll, and rolling multiple times. Or, if it really feels like testing my patience on a given day, a combination of them. This would occur on more than just a single event, despite using multiple different devices running on both the browser and on the application. It's an issue which just has me ending up in emotionally questioning the legitimacy of all my other rolls when I don't encounter a visible anomaly. Like the countless other problems and glitches I've ran into using this website, certain people would rather deny or ignore the issues' existence than simply acknowledge or address it.
I've resorted to implementing real dice rolls into my online games which isn't the end of the world (I personally prefer the feeling of rolling the dice by hand anyway), but defeats some purpose of playing using digital tools and it's not the solution for everybody. I understand it can introduce a whole new set of problems at some virtual tables, I'm just lucky to have had DMs who trusted me.
Free Content: [Basic Rules],
[Phandelver],[Frozen Sick],[Acquisitions Inc.],[Vecna Dossier],[Radiant Citadel], [Spelljammer],[Dragonlance], [Prisoner 13],[Minecraft],[Star Forge], [Baldur’s Gate], [Lightning Keep], [Stormwreck Isle], [Pinebrook], [Caverns of Tsojcanth], [The Lost Horn], [Elemental Evil].Free Dice: [Frostmaiden],
[Flourishing], [Sanguine],[Themberchaud], [Baldur's Gate 3], [Lego].I had problems with it rolling multiple times with a single click. It was resolved by rebooting my phone and haven't had an issue since. Must just load bad code sometimes or something.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.