| (Phil Dutre) | 15 Aug 2013 3:55 a.m. PST |
On the 'Playing at the world' blog, there's an informative entry about the history of dice notation in gaming: link |
| ancientsgamer | 15 Aug 2013 8:02 a.m. PST |
Well, it is interesting if you are into D&D. One must remember that D&D wasn't the first to use dice though. |
 Mserafin  | 15 Aug 2013 9:22 a.m. PST |
One must remember that D&D wasn't the first to use dice though. No, but it was the first to use dice with more than (or less than) six sides. Before that, the only non-standard dice I'd ever encountered in gaming were normal dice. |
| altfritz | 15 Aug 2013 9:38 a.m. PST |
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| (Phil Dutre) | 15 Aug 2013 9:48 a.m. PST |
It is not about what dice are used, but about how what notation is used. |
GildasFacit  | 15 Aug 2013 11:04 a.m. PST |
Dice with 2, 3 and 4 sides were all used alongside cubic dice by the ancients and Victorian parlour games used cylindrical dice and spinners with more than 6 sides. I'm afraid the notation may be new but the concept of the dice is not. Even polyhedral dice are mentioned in some 1950's maths books – at least using polyhedral models as dice in probability experiments. |
| John D Salt | 15 Aug 2013 11:53 a.m. PST |
altfritz asked:
average dice?
I have seen these notated as d5. Although I have never seen it, it would on the same principle presumably be right to notate "wild" dice (by which I mean those numbered 0, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, like Sicherman dice, not any of the other senses of "wild" dice) as d7. All the best, John. |
| altfritz | 15 Aug 2013 12:28 p.m. PST |
I would have said a d5 was half a d10, like a d3 is half a d6. I was pointing out that average dice were used before D&D (by WRG at least) and while they have 6-sides are not ordinary dice. |
| Brian Smaller | 15 Aug 2013 1:06 p.m. PST |
average dice? They are six sided with 2,3,3,4,4,5 – no 1 or 6. |
| rmaker | 15 Aug 2013 4:37 p.m. PST |
The notation I've seen for averaging dice is DAv. |
| Kevin Cook | 21 Aug 2013 5:44 a.m. PST |
"No, but it was the first to use dice with more than (or less than) six sides. Before that, the only non-standard dice I'd ever encountered in gaming were normal dice." To expound upon GildasFacit's note The oldest form of dice were knucklebones which were 4 sided The Royal Game of Ur .. had Tetrahedral d4 … just like we use today The Egyptians used Icosahedral D20's and Rhombic Dodecahedral D12's Phil .. What specific info are you seeking about the notation? |
| Joes Shop | 22 Aug 2013 4:32 a.m. PST |
Interesting, thanks for posting. |
| pellen | 23 Aug 2013 12:13 p.m. PST |
Are dice notation like 2d6 so universally well-known by now that all rules should use them without wasting ink and reader time on explaining? |
discovers a better way to fill in hollow plastic bases.
