“DON’T TOUCH MY DICE!”
How many times have you heard that in a gaming session? Dude, it’s just some molded plastic. So what if I roll them? Apparently, some people take their dice very seriously. And when I say “very seriously” I mean to the point where they actually have superstitions about them. Players believe that certain actions can bless or doom your dice rolls.
Even the cast of our own Critical Role are superstitious about their dice. At Gen Con, Marisha started using a brand-new set of opalite dice and rolled three natural 1s in a row. It was hilarious for the viewers, but terrifying for the cast. They later concluded that receiving an opal as a gift negates it being bad luck for anyone not born in October. Then something something blah blah Taliesin magical lawyering to make the dice a gift, etc. This actually happened. Of course, opalite and opals are two different stones, but perhaps I won’t mention that to them.
This incident got me wondering, what other dice superstitions are out there? I did some digging, and here’s what I found. Unfortunately, many of these superstitions contradict or are the complete opposite of another. So um, good luck not feeling paranoid after reading this.
- Don’t roll the die before you need it because you’ll use up your good rolls.
- Always roll out the bad rolls before you need the die.
- Once you have a good roll, don’t let the die sit idle for too long lest it “get cold.”
- Your first set of dice is sacred. Don’t ever discard or mix them with other dice.
- Always lay your dice with the lowest number facing up.
- Always lay your dice with the highest possible number facing up.
- Never allow ANYONE else to roll your dice. Sharing is not caring. Sharing lets in the monsterous bad-luck demon that makes you roll poorly! Just kidding. It’s Satan himself.
- Specific dice are used for specific situations. There is an attack roll D20, a D20 for saving throws, a different D20 for skill checks, a D20 to seduce red-haired, one-eyed bearded dwarven women named Irene, etc.
- A new die must be tested: Keep the new die separated. Roll it 25 times. Count the number of times the max roll appears versus the minimum roll. If the maximum is greater, that’s a successful turnout. Repeat this process. If the die fails the test three times, get rid of it. Oh, did you pay $400 for that D20 made of 925 sterling silver? TOO BAD! IT’S TRASH!
- If the status of a die’s luck is in question, keep it separated from the rest of the dice, lest it bring down the luck of the others.
- On the other hand, some believe mixing a single unlucky die with several lucky ones will make it roll better.
- There are various rituals to prime or “cleanse” dice before use. They range from leaving them in a special place for a day to rubbing them on the tombstone of a deceased game developer.
- Teach a particularly bad die a lesson by “punishing” it. This can be putting it in “the shame bag” or even the freezer.
- If a bad die is clearly cursed for all eternity, it must be destroyed while the other dice bear witness.
- If you find that one particular die is lucky, you should name it (but not after a significant other) and only use it for very important rolls. And it should also be kept in its own special holder. And you should talk to it when you take it out and put it away. Yes, seriously.
Do you believe in dice superstitions? What are some of yours? Let us know in the comments.
Image credits: Courtney Kraft, Geek & Sundry