"Haunted Dice" Topic

A very close friend and gaming buddy of 25+ years passed away recently leaving me with a bundle of old gaming notes and many fond but now sad memories. In the jumble of stuff I collected together from our various games I found his favorite dice. Percentile dice we used for roleplaying 20 year ago that periodically reappeared anytime he needed a d10. It felt funny to hold the things and know that I would never again watch him screw up his face in that comical way and slam those babies down on the table – often bouncing and rolling across the room and me complaining heatedly.
I didnt have the heart to just put them away in a box somewhere, the little soldiers served him well through the years, bailing him out of countless tough spots and at times overcoming his tactical fumbling to hand me an undeserved defeat! Instead I put them in a clear little dice case and placed them with honor at the corner of my painting bench.
Lately, as I paint, I find my eyes drifing to those dice and in the dim quiet of my gaming shed I can almost hear his low almost whispered laugh when a roll would go well. The perpetual grunt when he got up for a soda or one of the old 50s rock&roll tunes he used to hum while planning a move. I catch myself looking around into the shadows and half expecting his apparition to appear.
Yeah, I know it silly but in those moments Im pretty sure he is there somehow. Letting me know he is ok and that he will conceed that final game of Gettysburg we never got to finish. The feeling seems to center itself around those dice, their chipped paint and fading numbers drawing me in.
Any of you guys ever experience anything like this? Im not normally prone to such imaginitive fantasies and Im pretty mainstream so this is really something Im experiencing, not just wishful thinking.
Thoughts?

Actually your story here I feel was a very fitting memorial to your friend. Very heart felt, I hope that one day someone would be able pass on similar feelings.

Well, I'm a skeptical believer (I have a Fortean outlook, I believe it's called), so my rational side says it's just a psychological reaction resulting from loss and nostalgia.

Then my irrational side remembers ~20 years ago; waking shortly after 1AM, getting out of bed and expecting to see my grandfather sitting in my living room. (No sound reason for this – I hadn't seen him in over a year, he lived almost 100 miles away, and he had no clue where I lived.) I still "felt" his presence there when I went back to bed.

It wasn't until the next morning that I found that he'd passed away during the night – shortly after 1AM.

Make of it what you will, but I'm a proponent of Hamlet's philosophy:

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

(And one for your late friend, Grumpy.)

Zen

My condolences on the loss of your friend. Good friends are priceless.

I propose you set up the Gettysburg game, by yourself. Then get out his dice and play both sides, using only his dice for "his" side.
Don't be surprised if "he" wins.

Good story about a good friend. I would suggest you conceed the last Gettysburg game to him.

Vince

Every so often, I get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and I find, written on the mirror in blood, in my mother's handwriting, "When are you going to give us some grandchildren?"

Good story … a fitting rememberence to your friend. After watching numerous episodes of Ghost Hunters on the Sci-fi Channel and Hauntings on Discovery … I'd say your story is not unlike many I've seen on those shows … You have nothing to worry about, IMO … And don't try to think too much about where, when, why … just be with it …

Science and modern philosophies are great for many things.

But not so great for honoring and memorializing a dear departed friend.

You were inspired when you put those haunted dice into their transparent shrine, and placed it where your straying eye could light upon it.

Again .. condolences and this is a fitting memorial for your friend

Speaking of haunted dice … I am hoping when I pass … that I can take advantage of lifegem.com and have my remains made into a man made diamond … and then have it crafted into a d6 or d8 (diamonds are octahedral crystals) … once this is done … I would like to be added to my collection by my heir :)

I have a set of glass bookcases. The space between the books and the glass doors is reserved for small treasures such as the dice you describe. A couple of times I've opened one of the doors and moved an item over so as to get at a book, only to start reminiscing about the object to the extent that I forget why I wanted the book!

Cheers

Dude as an honourific to your fallen friend the last game is a draw,to be completed later,honour his memory,venerate the dice and live knowing that he would have done the same for you.Haunted dice ,well i got a d-20 i can throw a 20 whenever i want ,old 70,s soft compound …a matter of grip position and speed of throw.Perfect for a D.M. with a rambunctiuos party!