On Dice

Now seems like a good time to address one of the odder parts of gaming culture: dice. Except for most card games, almost every game uses dice to one degree or another. Typical shorthand for a die is the letter d followed by the number of sides. Multiple dice are given using an xda format, such as 3d6 for three six-sided dice. While the vast majority of dice are d6s, the range all the way from d2s, known to the rest of the world as "coins," to d100s, which are typically the size of tennis balls and are considered a novelty by sane gamers. The most common die besides d6s are probably d10s, followed by d8s and d20s, though d4s and d12 see a fair amount of use. There are also special dice, such as scatter die in some war games that show where artillery strikes land, or d%, which give you a percent. Usually d% are actually rolled as 2d10, either of two different colors, or with one die have sides marked in tens instead of single digits.
Gamers have a special relationship with their dice. War-gamers and role players especially seem to fixate on dice. While someone losing at Parcheesi might glare at the dice if they repeatedly turn up bad results, a tabletop general might go so far as to give unruly dice a disapproving lecture mid battle, with every belief that it will improve his rolls. Likewise, a role player may well swap out dice that are rolling poorly, or even pre-roll dice to select especially lucky ones. Much of that probably comes from the fact that the player has more invested in a wargame or RPG than in a simple board game. Army lists and character builds are oftentimes crafted with a care that can border on compulsion. It only seems fitting that we should obsess equally about the other deciding factor in this equation: the dice.
Finally, there is a bizarre mix of etiquette and ritual that has grown up around dice in the gaming culture. Here are a few simple rules to help you get along with people who may take gaming a bit too seriously:
1. Don't touch another person's dice without permission. This isn't just common courtesy, there are gamers who, upon seeing their dice contaminated, will wail mournfully, rend their garments, and proceed to perform a twenty minute purification ritual before rolling them again. To be safe, don't even touch someone's dice bag until you know how uptight they are about their dice.
2. Make all rolls where people can see them. This may not be as big a deal in an RPG depending on your game master, but in a war game you definitely want to make sure your opponent can see you roll. Addendum 1: war gamers, make sure that any scatter die are rolled as near to the target as possible without endangering miniatures. It makes life easier. Addendum 2: role players, never ask to see a roll from you GM. He may be fudging things a bit for the sake of the story, or to keep a player in the game. Trust him to be fair.
3. Don't try to cheat. There are all kinds of sneaky ways to alter the probability of dice, from "bowling" dice to prevent ones, to cooking dice in a microwave to alter their balance. For your own sake, don't. You're dealing with people who know dice better than a Vegas craps stickman. You're going to get caught, and it'll probably be fairly early. You'll likely get kicked you out of the game, possibly permanently. If you're really lucky, you'll just get a stern talking to about the importance of honesty and trust. Otherwise, you may end up hanging from the roof of a gaming shop by your shoelaces.
That's the scoop on dice. Weird as it may seem, this stuff becomes pretty normal before long. Also, don't be too concerned if you seem to accumulate dice at an alarming rate. I own over 100, as we've established, I'm a completely rational human being. See in you 48.