That extremely rare, almost-never chance of landing on the edge is exactly what I would program into a game if I made one, instead of exactly 50% odds.
It should come with some bizarre consequence, too. If it were the Oregon Trail game, there should be a tiny chance that the player finds an ancient artifact that glows and hums when touched. An alien ship swoops in and abducts the party, forcing them to join the crew. From there on, it's a space pirate game with zero explanation why and no references in the product literature. Also, customer service pretends not to know about it, if contacted.
Even not considering that, they still aren't 50-50 odds. The stamped printing on both sides throws off the balance just enough to bias one side over the other.
I brought this up in maths class once. The teacher agreed that the edge was a possibility and since he was involved in football, they used to flip the coin and let it land on the ground. More than once it stuck in the mud in the edge.
the flattening is what makes them not spheres and have sides. If we applied this "logic" then literally everything is just anything but in a different form - which makes no sense
This is correct. It's a d4 that's just as cleanly a d4 as a regular d4 with rounded corners. Both have parts that don't belong to the sides, since there's no defined outcome where the dice comes to rest on one of the rounded non-side parts.
One set of my dice have very hard/straight/flat edges... The fucking 4 sided has stabbed me many times, but once it went right under my finger nail and drew blood 😫
It can be viewed as two interlocking 'c' shapes, so it could be dressed as a d4, with a different value at each end of the 'c.' Alternatively, each 'c' can be considered a single side, making it a d2. Since we already have d4 well represented by the 4-sided triangle, aka tetrahedron d4, this design strikes me as more valuable as a d2
This gave me an idea for a gimmick die. Transparent die filled with dark liquid. The exterior of the die has the usual numbers in white lettering. Inside the die, there is a smaller cork die that rises like a magic 8ball. It’s 2d(x) in 1. Interesting for tension building, if nothing else.
Edit: looked it up and I’m not original, and they’re largely as bad as I thought they’d be
One of my overdue projects is to disassemble a magic 8 ball, remove the dice from it and make a digital magic 8 ball. I plan to bequeath the removed “dice” to a DM I know.
Make sure to wear long gloves and short sleeves. The dye in that water is strong. I was purple for days after cracking an 8ball and people kept asking how I got hurt.
96 Comments
DaddleDew@lemmy.world · 179 pts · 320d
Or you know, a coin.
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world · 167 pts · 320d
Coins are just really unbalanced three-sided dice.
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 33 pts · 320d
porksnort@slrpnk.net · 26 pts · 319d
A standard US nickel, yes.
I prefer better odds than that…
Thick Nickels
funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works · 13 pts · 319d
thickles
Revan343@lemmy.ca · 8 pts · 319d
Thnickles
porksnort@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 319d
Whatever you call them, people will respect you more when you use them.
mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 319d
thank you for this blessed website in trying times
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 319d
This website looks like it was made in 1999, but it documents a project from this year. I love it. The page loaded nearly instantly.
porksnort@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 318d
I love his commitment to the bit. True dedication
HakFoo@lemmy.sdf.org · 14 pts · 320d
The old UK £1 was similar in size but twice as thick. It's now 12-sided but not sure how that impacts the odds.
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 17 pts · 320d
Chrobin@discuss.tchncs.de · 7 pts · 320d
Well, but it also has to stay on its edge, and that's a lot less likely...
Empricorn@feddit.nl · 27 pts · 320d
That extremely rare, almost-never chance of landing on the edge is exactly what I would program into a game if I made one, instead of exactly 50% odds.
leftzero@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 16 pts · 319d
Not if it's a thnickel.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 319d
Thanks, I hate it.
Remember_the_tooth@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 319d
It should come with some bizarre consequence, too. If it were the Oregon Trail game, there should be a tiny chance that the player finds an ancient artifact that glows and hums when touched. An alien ship swoops in and abducts the party, forcing them to join the crew. From there on, it's a space pirate game with zero explanation why and no references in the product literature. Also, customer service pretends not to know about it, if contacted.
Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 7 pts · 320d
Rare coin flip: Success for every roll over the next hour of gameplay.
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 319d
Even not considering that, they still aren't 50-50 odds. The stamped printing on both sides throws off the balance just enough to bias one side over the other.
Evil_Incarnate@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 318d
I brought this up in maths class once. The teacher agreed that the edge was a possibility and since he was involved in football, they used to flip the coin and let it land on the ground. More than once it stuck in the mud in the edge.
Then told us to ignore that possibility.
DrSteveBrule@mander.xyz · 2 pts · 319d
https://youtu.be/vAA-A9t7TD0
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 3 pts · 319d
aka really short cylinders
Skua@kbin.earth · 24 pts · 320d
programmer_belch@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 15 pts · 320d
Roll a d100, if it is odd 1, 2 if even
Archpawn@lemmy.world · 24 pts · 320d
I like how you'd be rolling two d10's, and then completely ignoring one of them.
ExplosiveLynx@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 320d
It keeps the statisticians happy
thaklor@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 319d
Too expensive.
MystikIncarnate@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 319d
This was my thought.
Mfers be out here debating whether the thing depicted is actually a "two sided" dice, meanwhile coins just be chillin over there getting ignored.
Y'all be trippin.
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 146 pts · 320d
alt_xa_23@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 319d
I need to get one of these sometime
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 318d
https://youtu.be/b6S5gHjuN48
dreadbeef@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 69 pts · 319d
a two sided die is called a coin
binomialchicken@lemmy.blahaj.zone · 7 pts · 319d
The edge of a coin is a 3rd side though
mikesizachrist@lemmy.world · 16 pts · 319d
every other die has sides that aren't counted if you're doing that.
festnt@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 319d
dice are just flattened spheres. they only have one weirdly shaped side
mikesizachrist@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 318d
the flattening is what makes them not spheres and have sides. If we applied this "logic" then literally everything is just anything but in a different form - which makes no sense
festnt@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 318d
congrats on getting the joke
mikesizachrist@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 316d
And a very very funny joke, at that
festnt@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 315d
indeed
Joeffect@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 319d
A side in this case is a specific area that allows for differentiating outcomes
squaresinger@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 318d
A die can land and stand on a corner if you do it precisely enough.
Joeffect@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
It needs a designation, why I said what I said. You don't call side on a coin flip because your only choices are heads or tails
squaresinger@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
And I was argueing in your favour and you downvoted me for it.
JackbyDev@programming.dev · 4 pts · 318d
An ideal coin is perfectly flat with no thickness.
enerhpozyks@eldritch.cafe · 0 pts · 318d
Sir, what who describe looks more like a piece of paper than a coin.
JackbyDev@programming.dev · 1 pts · 317d
Ideal coins are inflexible.
enerhpozyks@eldritch.cafe · 0 pts · 317d
Ok, so a thin layer of adamantium is an ideal coin, but not a tiny disk of metallic alloy engraved with pictures, texts and values ! 📝
JackbyDev@programming.dev · 1 pts · 317d
Well, an ideal cow is a perfect sphere, so.
maxxadrenaline@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
then use a freaking fortune fish
ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 318d
Yup, my "d2" in my dice bag is a silver half dollar. Still call it my d2 though.
wowwoweowza@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
Came here to say this
maxxadrenaline@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
in my day...
Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 40 pts · 319d
deltapi@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 319d
Agreed, but also weird as aren't d4 made from 4 triangles?
Skua@kbin.earth · 8 pts · 319d
squaresinger@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
This is correct. It's a d4 that's just as cleanly a d4 as a regular d4 with rounded corners. Both have parts that don't belong to the sides, since there's no defined outcome where the dice comes to rest on one of the rounded non-side parts.
edgemaster72@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 319d
Fuck caltrop d4s, all my homies hate caltrop d4s (it's me, I'm all the homies)
Karjalan@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 318d
One set of my dice have very hard/straight/flat edges... The fucking 4 sided has stabbed me many times, but once it went right under my finger nail and drew blood 😫
Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 298d
deltapi@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 298d
I think Skua might be right, d2?
Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 298d
deltapi@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 297d
It can be viewed as two interlocking 'c' shapes, so it could be dressed as a d4, with a different value at each end of the 'c.' Alternatively, each 'c' can be considered a single side, making it a d2. Since we already have d4 well represented by the 4-sided triangle, aka tetrahedron d4, this design strikes me as more valuable as a d2
Magnum@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 1 pts · 297d
deltapi@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 297d
Some people do. 🤷 I donno, friend, I just work here.
nathanjent@programming.dev · 1 pts · 319d
Zachariah@lemmy.world · 36 pts · 320d
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 40 pts · 320d
This gave me an idea for a gimmick die. Transparent die filled with dark liquid. The exterior of the die has the usual numbers in white lettering. Inside the die, there is a smaller cork die that rises like a magic 8ball. It’s 2d(x) in 1. Interesting for tension building, if nothing else.
Edit: looked it up and I’m not original, and they’re largely as bad as I thought they’d be
Skua@kbin.earth · 12 pts · 320d
Monument@lemmy.sdf.org · 3 pts · 319d
One of my overdue projects is to disassemble a magic 8 ball, remove the dice from it and make a digital magic 8 ball. I plan to bequeath the removed “dice” to a DM I know.
Gullible@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 319d
Make sure to wear long gloves and short sleeves. The dye in that water is strong. I was purple for days after cracking an 8ball and people kept asking how I got hurt.
Natanael@infosec.pub · 3 pts · 319d
Magic N ball
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 320d
I'm a bit disappointed that many of these n-sided dice are not isohedral, despite isohedral polyhedra existing for many of these values of n.
AwesomeLowlander@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 320d
The weirdly shaped ones probably sell better. Which would you pick up in a store?
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 320d
Oh, I still bought the full set, but I tried to get isohedral dice whenever possible.
mydude@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 320d
That's a weird looking coin
Iron_Lynx@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 320d
I've seen this shape uses as a D4. Nothing cursed about it. About as threatening to me as a Labrador puppy.
rbn@sopuli.xyz · 14 pts · 320d
It's four-sided, not two-sided. If that one counts, you can also just use a regular six-sided one and just put three 'ones' and three 'twos' on it.
DmMacniel@feddit.org · 24 pts · 320d
This die can only ever land on two distinct sides so it has two sides.
Rhaedas@fedia.io · 15 pts · 320d
Incorrect. It can land on two different sides. Or it can roll off the table and under something, leaving you in a state of limbo.
hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 18 pts · 320d
It has only 1 corner, and 2 surfaces, making it 2 sided. The 2 sides just happen to be curved
Rothe@piefed.social · 6 pts · 320d
Ah, dice lawyering.
threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 319d
Doesn't it have 0 corners, 1 edge, and 2 surfaces (faces)?
hemko@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 2 pts · 319d
Ah yeah, you're right. I mixed the words for edges and corners
cravl@slrpnk.net · 2 pts · 319d
All dice are quantum dice!
Archpawn@lemmy.world · 22 pts · 320d
It has two sides. They're curved, and it doesn't stay on the curve part, so you can effectively use it as a d4, but it's still only two-sided.
Sort of like how you can flip a Mobius strip like a coin and it will land one of two ways, but it still only has one side.
wewbull@feddit.uk · 1 pts · 319d
It has 2 surfaces.
It has 4 or 6 sides it can rest on IMHO. I'd need to play with it to find out.
TonyTonyChopper@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 318d
There are 4 stable orientations and 2 unstable equilibria
Jeeve65@ttrpg.network · 12 pts · 320d
define 'side'.
How many sides on a ball?
zero_spelled_with_an_ecks@programming.dev · 20 pts · 320d
Inside, outside, and, depending on the ball, offsides.
rbn@sopuli.xyz · 5 pts · 320d
Fair point. A ball has either one or infinite sides from my perspective.
TheSlad@sh.itjust.works · 14 pts · 319d
At first glance I thought this was an AI generated picture of a roll of toilet paper..
Abrinoxus@lemmy.today · 13 pts · 320d
this is four sides??
Crozekiel@lemmy.zip · 13 pts · 319d
The picture is of a d4. Dice are measured counting the flats (and therefore possible number of different results) not mathematically defined "sides".
faint_marble_noise@programming.dev · 27 pts · 319d
No, dN means there are N different outcomes. Does not matter if they are flat or anything. Cube with two of each number from 1 to 3 is a d3.
Stovetop@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 319d
faint_marble_noise@programming.dev · 6 pts · 318d
It has two outcomes, hence is a d2
Stovetop@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 318d
Sidhean@piefed.social · 5 pts · 319d
If you wanna get loosey-goosey with it and count the curved bit as a result, its still just a d6 lmao