Better Gaming Part 2: Dice Discipline

Click here to read Part 1, Part 3, Part 4. Part 5.

When I started playing this game I believed that all dice rolls produced a random result between 1 and 6. On paper and in the rules it looks random. But there are soooo many ways to alter the "randomness" of a dice roll.

Dice are funny objects that we take for granted. Did you know that there are only a few manufacturers that guarantee that their dice are completely "balanced"? Even those dice are the completely squared-edge type that you will find at casinos. What do your dice look like? Rounded edges? Rounded corners? Maybe a customized symbol on the 1 or 6 side?

For the most part, players do not go out of their way to produce or purchase weighted dice. There are better ways to control the dice. On a subconscious level, however, most players find the weighted dice in their collection after a long enough period of time.

Ever hear someone say "these are my lucky dice" or watch someone pull out one die for special rolls? Maybe you do the same. Dice aren't perfect (unless you are playing with the guaranteed casino dice). Within any set of dice some will roll good and some will roll bad. Someone who has been playing for a while will pick out their "good" dice.

Call it superstition, call it whatever you want. Nobody ever thinks of them being weighted dice, but that is what they are. They are dice that, due to their imperfections, are biased. Some dice are biased in a good way, some in a bad way (ever hear of "unlucky" dice?).

There is nothing wrong with anyone playing these dice as we are ALL playing with imperfect dice. But when you see someone playing with a collection of dice where each one is a different size and color, there is a good chance he's been dice weeding. Yes, he will still have bad dice days as how the dice is weighted is only one element of the equation. But overall his dice will perform slightly better than average.

And custom dice only make this worse. The depth, size, and the side that the customization is on will alter the weight. This could work for the player or against him. Ironically, custom dice are usually given away at tournaments in a competitive environment.

Dice balance is only one small element when playing a game with dice. Many players ignore the issue or deny it exists because they know they are also take advantage of it. In reality, if a tournament is going to be competitive, I think that only casino dice should be used and they should be distributed by the organizer.

If you want to prevent any sour feelings during a game, when your opponent says something about how hot your dice are, simply allow him to use them, too.

Now for the more nefarious methods of controlling the dice...

Fast Rolling and Picking Up Hits

Yeah, we all know about these tricks. A person rolls fast, then picks up the dice that pass whatever test he is rolling for. We all know how to avoid it: pick up the failed dice and leave the ones that pass.

However, you should not pick up the failed dice and just chuck them to the side. Carefully separate them into a different pile with the failed number still facing up. This way your opponent can see the passed AND failed dice.

Make sure your opponent sees them. Just a simple "do you see 5 dice there" will do. Make sure your opponent is interacting with you with all of the rolls. I played against someone who, after every roll, would look up and ask "Do you agree that this was five hits?" or "Do you see that there were 3 saves?". It was formal, but he was used to a tournament setting and wanted to ensure that every roll he made was agreed to by his opponent before moving on. That is the surest way to prevent any misunderstandings.

Forced Re-Rolls

What makes a crooked die? Do you reroll if a die goes into terrain? Do you reroll if the die if hidden under a model?

You can spend hours clarifying all of this before a game (which never happens). Someone looking at the 1 they just rolled sitting a little cocked will be very happy to say it is crooked and needs to be rerolled. I've read about people saying that if it goes into area terrain it needs to be rerolled, but never personally saw that. Some people are very happy to reroll dice for any reason. Think about it. Game-wise, rerolling is an advantage.

To clear this up before it becomes an issue all you need to do is state one simple rule to your opponent before the game starts. If you can place one die on top of the rolled die, then it is good. (Jason S from Noobhammer showed me this trick).

If a die looks cocked, try stacking another die on top of it. If it falls off, then reroll it. Sweet, simple, and just makes sense. Let your opponent know that this is how you roll and you shouldn't have any "Mystery Reroll" issues.

Big Dice Drop

I've seen players from age 7 to 60 pull the Big Dice Drop. It is so elementary that my son discovered it on his own.

Most players use 12mm to 16mm dice. If you have a chance, get yourself a 19mm-25mm dice and practice rolling it without making it roll. It is actually quite easy. I've even seen some people do it with 16mm dice. With the 12mm, you can only drop it, which makes the trick very obvious. Any horizontal movement with your arm when throwing a 12mm dice will make it roll.

If you see this happen to you there is little you can do other than to call your opponent out and ask him to ROLL the dice when he is rolling the dice. Most people let it slide and simply label their opponent a WAAC.

Here are some suggestions to ensure you do not gain that label:

1 - Don't bring the big dice. There is no reason for them. Stay at 16mm or less.

2 - Bring a dice cup. You've seen them in Yatzee, but you can get them for a great game called "Bar Dice". You can also get them customized, which is very cool.

3 - Make a production out of rolling your dice. If you are using a dice cup, treat it like you are playing the Maracas. If you are not using a cup, then make a production about shaking them in your hands. Just don't throw them so hard that they move models and they spread all of the table.

4 - Use a dice box. A lid for the box that your models came in works best for this.

The Dice Slide

This is perhaps one of the smoothest sleight-of-hands I have ever seen. The first time I saw it I thought it was just a mistake. Then when I saw it again I was just completely impressed by it.

I'm going to use WH40K for this example, but I am sure regardless of the game you play you will understand how this works. You roll to hit and wound and get 10 wounds against your opponent who now needs to make his saving throws.

Your opponent has his dice scattered over an area on his table edge. He pushes 10 dice forward in a haphazard way, so now he has two groups of dice that are still scattered around his table edge. As he is pushing the dice forward, he is putting them with a favorable number facing up. He leans forward slightly to scoop the 10 dice up in his hands. It's not a direct pick-up - he needs to scoop them up in his hands. He will scoop up 7 or 8 of them and, as he is moving his hands back and straightening himself up, he will push 2 or 3 dice back toward the larger pile of scattered dice with his wrist or bottom of his hand. This will occur so quickly that you won't even notice he did it. The 2 or 3 left behind dice are close to the larger pile of dice, but because the dice are scattered all around it is difficult to see this. You aren't looking at the dice on the table anyway - you're watching his hands.

When he rolls he will throw them close to the left behind dice and let them scatter around so they are near his larger pile of dice. Then he will quickly pick out the failed dice and put them back into the pile of larger dice. He will only leave the dice which passed the test (which is correct).

What just happened? You opponent just rolled 8 out of the 10 saves he was suppose to. This means that 2 automatically passed the test because they were never rolled after being placed on the table on the number he wants. It all happens so quickly that even if you do pick up on it you will think that YOU are the one imagining things.

There are two solutions to this: Dice Discipline and Rolling Elsewhere.

Dice Discipline - Keep you dice cleaned up off the playing surface. Put them somewhere is a nice pile. Ask your opponent to do the same. Make a joke out of it by yelling "Dice Discipline!" and start cleaning up the dice off the table.

Rolling Elsewhere - Make sure your dice are rolled away from any other group of dice. This is why a dice box is really useful.

I am sure there are other tricks, sleight of hand, and magic that occurs from dishonest players. The thing to remember is that not everyone is dishonest. Many mistakes occur by accident during a game, so don't start accusing your opponent of cheating just because you thought you saw something or didn't understand what you saw. It is BOTH PLAYER'S responsibility to ensure that the game is enjoyable. Usually, just some simple communication in the game will dispel any notion that you are doing something improper. Describe what every roll is and verify that your opponent sees the results and every game will be a lot smoother.

Click here to read Part 1, Part 3, Part 4. Part 5.