Why I Buy Dice

I recently purchased another two sets of dice from a local game store. My logical side of my brain said no, but for some reason I couldn't resist. After my purchase, my logical brain analyzed why it could not override my spontaneous "wasteful" purchase.

Most likely I will roll a particular set of dice in an actual game less than 100 times before I die. Therefore there is not much utility in a purchase of a set of dice, if you already have several sets.

I have too many dice as it is. Filling two dice bags for my playing dice, and one dice bag for when I run games. My "DM" dice, that is, dice that do not roll very well. So it isn't a lack of dice that made me purchase these two sets.

Dice worn out? Nope. Don't like the colors of the current dice? Yes, I still like them. Current dice don't roll well? Yep, they roll just fine, if they don't they go into my DM bag.

As I sat there rolling the d20 (Always have to start with the D20, its the QB of dice) verifying randomness in a very unscientific way I traveled back in time.

I thought of my first D&D game where I taught myself to play, made characters, and ran a game against a party of me, myself and I in the Keep on the Borderlands. I remembered how the dice looked back then, and how now they look faded, chipped, worn down.

I glanced at my new D4 remembered how it used to actually be sharp, learning this first hand when I stepped on one and it made me bleed.

I remembered taking the books to school before I knew about the stereotypes of Devil worship, suicides, drug use, and social ineptitude. To me it was just a game, the greatest game on the planet.

I remembered when I ventured out into other role-playing games, Marvel Super Heroes, Car Wars, Shadowrun, Judge Dredd, DC Super Heroes, Champions, Cyberpunk, Traveller (for about 5 seconds), Ninjas and Superspies, Rifts and many more. Each time I would pick up a different sided dice, I would remember a different gaming system.

I thought to recent memories of the first time I tried D&D 3.0 after a decade plus hiatus. I remembered how much I enjoyed D&D and how much I loved the new edition. I remember the first time we confirmed a critical hit, thinking at the time you had to roll two consecitive 20s to do so.

As I looked at the D10s I thought about Jimmy blowing up Erik's character in Cyberpunk. And Erik's subsequent revenge.

When I looked at the percentile D10, I thought about the first time I ran a game where the players were "outdoors" in D&D. What a concept!

I thought about Beefcake, my ultimate tank superhero, using his shoe sent at a high velocity to knock out a fast moving superhero (Ie, flash).

I thought about Erik tackling two animated chairs at the same time, and the quote that would stick with him forever because of it.

I looked at the D6s and remembered Shadowrun and my trash talking coward hacker.

And most recetly, I thought about when I talked Seo's character into giving me a boost to grab a gun from a guard while I was in mid air, knowing I had to make 3 DC checks in a row to do so.

The openess of these games, and how enjoyable it is to both run and play them, all boils down to the dice. A string of luck, bad or good, can change everything in a game.

Dice are one of the important cornerstones to enjoying an RPG. They represent endless possibilities, catastrophic failures in TPK (Total Party Kills), and against the odds triumphs.

As I continued to roll my new dice, I realized that they represent a hope for new upcoming games. New experiences to forge with my friends and family.

I also realized that although these dice have not been used for any real games yet, their familar shapes provide a link to those dice used in the past.

Here's looking at you, Borealis Green and Phantom Orange, I look forward to crafting memories with you in the future.