Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/03/the-mind-bending-world-of-nontransitive-dice.html
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11 Likes
If I catch anyone bringing these dice to our weekly gaming group without identifying them as such, their PCs will be unceremoniously shredded 
19 Likes
I’ll just use the dice from Pandemic: The Cure
8 Likes
Gerrymandering works the same way.
24 Likes
How about Sicherman dice? Only applicable in games that just use 2d6 of course.
12 Likes
Yep. Packing and Cracking. Good thing people like elections lawyer Marc Elias are helping. 
7 Likes
I remember one time we were playing paranoia where you are generally trying to roll low on a d20. My friend was rolling poorly, and then he rolled a 22. WTF? it was some crazy 20 sided die that was not numbered 1-20. I have no idea what game it was intended for, or how it got into his big bag o’ dice.
12 Likes
I have a d24 in my dice, could it have been one of those?
7 Likes
Or a glorious d30?
8 Likes
This does seem like a good way to mess with your friends, but to keep them from figuring the game out, I would add another level of complexity.
Instead of one set of each color of dice, have three sets of each color, for a total of nine sets.
Then, have each color set function as each of the dies.
For instance, the black die sets would have: a black set that functions normally, a black set that functions as a yellow set, and a black set that functions as a red set. You would have some subtle marking or texture to figure out which is which.
This way, even if your friend figures out which color beats another, and makes you pick first, you can then select the fake color that beats the real color.
5 Likes
No, it was an icosahedron, just numbered funny.
4 Likes
Problem with those is getting them to stop rolling before they fall off the table and disappear.
3 Likes
how so? i agree the graphics look similar, but we only have two parties - with gerrymandering you simply have more voters, so you win.
this seems weirder. you have 3 things, a beats b, b beats c, but c beats a. that is unexpected, and only works because of multiple rolls over time and - i guess - probability
it’s more like roshambo…
( eta - intransitive madness:
7 Likes
color the pips differently?
I’m half tempted to print out a set myself- I have a few sets of dice that my room mate (a dice hoarder) doesn’t have, and I’m proud of that little fact.
5 Likes
Especially when the cat discovered it…
1 Like
we tried an infinite sided die once.
trouble was, a) it wouldn’t stay on the table, and b) the print was so small we couldn’t figure which number was up. 
11 Likes
I recall reading an article (perhaps in White Dwarf, perhaps in Different Worlds) in which the author rolled a D100 5500 times and plotted a histogram of the results. His conclusion was that the d100 was far from random.
6 Likes
And then your other friend comes by and says, “hey, I’m in!” and grabs the yellow die, and you are all fucked.
5 Likes
