While I know there are a bunch of good online dice-rolling programs out there, my meatspace dice seem to have gotten lost at some point.
So, I'm looking to buy a bunch online. There are stores I could go to and buy from, but they're a bit of a drive from me, and the one that's closest seems to take advantage of that fact by tacking on about $1.00 on even a $3.00 purchase. Being a greedy little capitalist who is also quite lazy and likes doing things from home, I decided to go online.
But I met with a snag. While I found a few websites with stores selling dice, the biggest three even though their address seems the same appear to be almost identical, owned by the same company. With a nice policy of, "We're processing your order now. Next week, when we get our supplies restocked, then we'll start shipping to you."
In the words of Bill and Ted, "Bogus." I'm looking for someplace that sells dice and actually might have some on hand to ship immediately-or at least not 5 days or so after the initial order is placed. Since Hatrack is a haven positively stuffed with nerds, I thought it'd be a good place to ask.
posted
My husband has complained about the lack of places to even buy them in brick & mortar places. That might be a good business to get into... let's bring tabletopping back! I totally missed it, and it's hard to find groups to join.
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posted
Tom, you're (very) knowledgeable about all things RPG, so since you're recommending them sounds good to me. Thanks
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Well, I didn't think there'd be much interest to be honest. But apparently there is, so I won't send it the way of other mayflies.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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You could always get one of those electronic dice doohickies what rolls every die under the sun.
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quote:You could always get one of those electronic dice doohickies what rolls every die under the sun.
That sounds like the Devil! to me, Storm Saxon. Nothankyou, no sir!
Everyone knows that roleplaying games, especially Dungeons and Dragons, are right on the edge of eee-vuhl, and I'm not looking for your technological sorcery to push me over the edge.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
I dunno...there's something missing if you can't hold the dice in your hand and roll them. To me, anyway. Plus, not a lot of room at my gaming group to put up my own computer.
Posts: 4077 | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I was just making the joke. Only losers use anything but dice. I mean, is there anything like taking about a bazillion dices and dropping them down on a table like the two ton hammer of god to lay the smack down on something?
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What? You buy dice? I thought you just picked up a couple of comp pair the next time you were in a casino. Well, this is Nevada. Buying dice here would be like buying kittens.
Posts: 1167 | Registered: Oct 2005
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EDIT: And I once write a program to roll dice for me. I was gaming at a public library and nobody brought any, so we used the Apple ][e they had there to do the die rolling for us.
quote:Originally posted by erosomniac: I'd also like to know! Not that I'm planning on, you know, forcefeeding tabletopping to my friends or anything.
o_O
erosomniac and his roommate were eventually successful in executing above plans.
I have a question regarding dice (though not the acquisition thereof) and average results for a given combination of standard gaming die. Basically I'm looking for a source that lists the hierarchy for average rolls.
Up til now, what I've been doing is just applying two rules: one, highest max roll = better, and two, more dice = better.
While this makes sense to me, I haven't been able to find a source that confirms or disproves it. And so I turn to Hatrack. Anyone know of one?
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Added: Having that and the standard deviations would be totally sweet -- I'll take the code if you don't want to do it.
Posts: 10886 | Registered: Feb 2000
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posted
Sure, not exactly production worthy, but here you go:
code:
import java.util.Random;
public class Die {
int numberSides;
public Die(int numberSides){ this.numberSides = numberSides; }
public int roll(){ return new Random().nextInt(numberSides) + 1; }
}
code:
public class DieSet {
Die die; int numberOfDice;
public DieSet(int numberOfSides){ this(numberOfSides,1); }
public DieSet(int numberOfSides, int numberOfDice){ die = new Die(numberOfSides); this.numberOfDice = numberOfDice; }
public int roll(){ int total = 0; for(int i = 0; i < numberOfDice; i++){ total+=die.roll(); } return total; }
}
code:
public class Tester {
private static final int ROLLS = 1000000;
public static double getAverage(int numberOfSides){ return getAverage(new DieSet(numberOfSides)); }
public static double getAverage(int numberOfSides, int numberOfDice){ return getAverage(new DieSet(numberOfSides,numberOfDice)); }
public static double getAverage(DieSet dieSet){ int total = 0; for(int i = 0; i < ROLLS; i++){ total += dieSet.roll(); } double average = (double)total / ROLLS; return average; }
Also, it wouldn't introduce a bias if he did, just specify the results. If the pseudorandom algorithm is any good (and Java's is decent), the outcome shouldn't have any noticeable bias for simple average/variance tests.
Of course, the averages and variances can be determined analytically anyways.
Posts: 15770 | Registered: Dec 2001
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posted
Yeah, the program was just to confirm what I'd already reasoned out. 1d4 is (1+4)/2 = 2.5, so 3d4 is 3*(2.5) = 7.5 and 2d8 is 2*((1+8)/2) = 9.0.
I wanted to write the program because for something so easy to simulate, I like checking my math with real world results .
Posts: 5656 | Registered: Oct 1999
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quote:Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata: What? You buy dice? I thought you just picked up a couple of comp pair the next time you were in a casino. Well, this is Nevada. Buying dice here would be like buying kittens.
What Vegas table uses d20s though?
Posts: 2223 | Registered: Mar 2008
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quote:Originally posted by Artemisia Tridentata: What? You buy dice? I thought you just picked up a couple of comp pair the next time you were in a casino. Well, this is Nevada. Buying dice here would be like buying kittens.
What Vegas table uses d20s though?
I just use a roulette wheel and respin if the result is higher/lower than I need.
Posts: 3486 | Registered: Sep 2002
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