We already knew this
by James on Jun.24, 2010, under Random
In yet another case of a scientist with too much time on his hands, and engineering professor rolled them bones some 144,000 times. He found that will roll a one approximately thirty percent of the time (instead of sixteen percent for true randomness.)
I think anyone who’s playing a roleplaying game for any length of time has discovered this little quirk. That’s why thieves with short swords always die horrible deaths and Star Wars D6 system was able to roll up a wookie who couldn’t break a stormtroopers neck.
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5 Comments for this entry
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Sit aut insanit , aut versus facit
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June 24th, 2010 on 11:09
I think the results the scientist received depend on the exact shape of the particular die he use, the air pressure where he was, and the fan across the room. True randomness is a mathematical construct, in a world of actual things there is always bias.
June 24th, 2010 on 11:25
Though in the article, he was able to get casino dice to roll the “odds”.
June 24th, 2010 on 13:45
Pesky articles. Now, I have to read them after the summaries? ;) Loading the dice is probably done to more exacting standards in a Casino. A complete neutral die I believe is not something that readily exists outside of pure math.
June 24th, 2010 on 13:50
Quite the opposite, it seems that the extra material on the one side (since it had the fewest divots) is what cause the extra ones to be rolled. Therefore, casino dice would have to weighted off center to compensate.
June 24th, 2010 on 15:11
That is a fine balancing act. All to represent in matter what can be done in an equation in math! ;) :D