Sunday, December 2, 2012

Do You Like It On Top Or On The Bottom?

...Numbers on your D4s, that is.
I think the first set I owned had the numbers around the base. This being my first set of polyhedrals, I recall thinking, "How very odd that you have to look for the one set of numbers that are "upright" on each face to determine what you rolled!" Later d4s I picked up had the numbers around the top tippy-pointy bit, marking that as the number you rolled. It still wasn't found on a "face," but at least it was the top-most number revealed. But the other upside-down numbers found near the bottom still throws me at times.

Anyway, how do you like your d4s? Has there ever been another form of d4? (Other than 1-4 marked twice on a d8 or something...)

(This was a mindless thought while I hammer out a more pertinent post for later...)

9 comments:

  1. there's also the crystal dice variant

    http://crystalcaste.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=CC&Product_Code=06090&Category_Code=CD

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  2. I like the number on top. Even as a kid, I hated how they had the numbers at the bottom. They are harder to see, and are anti-intuitive. I like my "caltrops" to have a prominent "face" - the side that gets into your foot!

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  3. I have a few of the crystal dice variant. I like them. Easier to pick up.

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  4. It would be nice to have a set with rounded flat cut away corners so the number is on a "Face" Also so you don't injure family and friends when you leave them on the floor.

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  5. I've been reading traditional d4s for so long that I get thrown by the ones with the numbers at the top and suchlike variations. Give me the traditional caltrop with the numbers around the base.

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  6. When, as a little urchin I got my Mentzer red box and first set of polyhedrals, I was a little confused by the instruction with the d4 to read the number off the bottom. But much of this new game was strange and wonderful, so I dutifully rolled my d4, picked it up, turned it over, and read the numbers off the base, assuming that the number rolled must be the one number NOT shown on the base (1 3 4, you lose two HPs!). I think I had recently learned the trick about opposite sides of a d6 adding up to 7, so looking at the base to discover the imaginary 'top side' of the dice seemed perfectly natural. This carried on for some time until a later epiphany made dagger wielding wizards significantly less time consuming.

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  7. "Back in the day" (as with acamon above)I would grab the d4 with thumb and forefinger and look UNDER the die. Whatever side your thumb was touching was what you rolled. Ugh. The numbers on top are my preference for sure, but seeing these crystal dice links makes me curious too.

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  8. My big problem with d4's is that they don't roll well. They usually end up on whatever face hits first. I know a couple of people that take advantage of this fact.

    Roman dIV for the win. It's a dodecahedron with I-IV listed three times each. The roman numerals make it easy to identify this from a d12. Chessex makes them.

    http://paizo.com/products/btpy7ucu?Roman-d4-Die-Speckled
    http://www.chessex.com/Dice/Specialty%20Dice/4_sided.htm
    http://www.amazon.com/Chessex-Speckled-Roman-Urban-white/dp/B001G0M1GY

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