Friday, June 27, 2008

Of Dice and Silliness


For the next six days, the top right corner of Ye Auld Grog 'n Blog will be occupied by an innocent little poll, and I'm asking folks to vote on their single favorite polyhedron for D&D. I'm interested to see if the d20 is in fact the most popular D&D die. This poll was suggested by Arcona aka Matthew of The Dwarf and the Basilisk fame, and I had this notion to make a friendly wager with him in regard to the outcome of this oh so scientific research. A Gentleman's Bet, if you will.

Regardless of our little wager, please take a moment and make a selection. If you don't HAVE a favorite die, and value them all equally, just come down off your high horse for a second and form an opinion by selecting one!

I'm not even sure if I can vote or not (edit: I can and did), but you already know which is my favorite. I'm fairly sure I'm in a distinct minority; and I believe that Matthew has a good chance of winning said friendly bet with his pick.

The loser will have to post an article on his blog written with a D&D related theme selected by the winner.

Feel free to comment here in regard to the poll, the wager, or even possible D&D related themes that the winner might want to throw at the loser. Matthew commented that he didn't even know what a cross-blog poll and wager was; well, neither do I, I just invented it on a whim. If this works out well, it might be something us Blognards* can continue as a theme 'round these parts of the Blogosphere.

~Sham, Quixotic Referee

*-Blognard: a term yoinked from Ktrey's banner at his blog found here. I can't claim it, but I can use it. I just did. Blognard. There it is again.

6/27 EDIT: 18 hours to go, get your votes in! As it turns out, this poll will close just before my new campaign is scheduled to start, so...as far as the Gentleman's Bet between Matthew and myself, I won't be around to comment or make good on the bet right away. I'm sure come late Sunday or early Monday I'll be checking in again.
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15 comments:

  1. Sham aka DaveJune 21, 2008 at 11:40 AM

    I'm going to keep this post 'refreshed' during the wager, so be sure to check lower on your screen for 'newer' posts.

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  2. AnonymousJune 21, 2008 at 2:15 PM

    I voted for d4. It's triangular! Plus, I love how when you roll it, the number you get shows up on all three sides.

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  3. noismsJune 21, 2008 at 9:38 PM

    d12s for me, purely for the pleasure of the roll. None of the other dice match it.

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  4. Patrick W. RollensJune 21, 2008 at 11:02 PM

    It's a d12 for me, because it just keeps rolling and rolling and rolling and ...

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  5. MaxJune 22, 2008 at 12:45 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. MaxJune 22, 2008 at 12:47 AM

    Lacking a preference I determined my vote by using a cubical solid to generate a random number between 1 and 6: d8

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  7. Sham aka DaveJune 22, 2008 at 8:02 PM

    Max, you used my favorite die to make your pick. I'll count that as half a vote each for the d6 and d8. :-)

    Thanks for the votes and comments thus far (I've found a couple great new blogs to visit; thanks Jennifer and Patrick!).

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  8. trollsmythJune 22, 2008 at 9:21 PM

    I voted d12. I've been fascinated by dodecahedron's since I was a child. The pentagonal faces, one for each month in the year, just suggest all sorts of possibilities to my mythology-addled brain.

    Carl Sagan seemed to have a soft spot for the dodecahedron as well, and felt it was an important symbol for ancient scientists. I remember him mentioning it a few times in his great TV show, "Cosmos". The Romans also apparently had a thing for dodecahedrons, and scattered bronze ones across Europe.

    All of which has absolutely nothing to do with dice and probabilities. What can I say, I'm easily distracted. ;)

    - Brian

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  9. AnonymousJune 23, 2008 at 8:06 AM

    Another vote for the d4. In addition to being the most unique, it's also the best weapon of opportunity.

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  10. ktreyJune 23, 2008 at 10:28 AM

    With my blog title, I don't think there was really any contest for my vote. d4s make vicious Caltrops!

    Although d12 is definitely a close second. I've loved those Dodecahedron's ever since The Phantom Tollbooth

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  11. KavondeJune 24, 2008 at 3:17 AM

    So very little love for the stalwart d10!

    I'm thinking it's because of Vampire. Stupid Vampire.

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  12. Sham aka DaveJune 24, 2008 at 8:14 AM

    Kavonde: Yes, I'm not only surprised that the d12 is smoking everything else, but that the d10 is in last place.

    I had assumed the d20 would be far and away the leader.

    Looks like the Gentleman's Bet will come down to the wire, it's very close now!

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  13. Matt FinchJune 27, 2008 at 4:58 PM

    Totally the d12. Also, as others said, it's for the way it rolls. d4's just plop onto the table like an inked, sharp, plastic turd.

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  14. Sham aka DaveJune 27, 2008 at 11:45 PM

    Wow, look at that little d12 go! Watch out, though, d20 is gaining momentum.

    I really like those older, smaller d12's. The newer ones are larger. Perhaps someone is still making the small ones, but the newer ones I have are as big as the d20's.

    If d12 wins, I'll write something displaying how it's simply a bloated version of my favorite die, anyway. :-) Seriously, though, the 3d12 bell curve has potential! Hmmmm...

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  15. trollsmythJune 28, 2008 at 12:33 AM

    3d12 would give you lots of room for really grainy results, which might work better for stats that try to represent everything from pixies to giants, and slimes to ancient dragons. That being the case, you probably shouldn't allow humans the full range of results, which means you'd probably end up rolling something other 3d12 to actually create the stats.

    Bah, just thinking out loud. If you do play with 3d12, I'd be curious to see what you do with it.

    - Brian

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