this post was submitted on 02 Nov 2024
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This is honestly a legit die imo. I assume those balls are pretty well balanced.
This is more of a spin down or a counting die than something you would roll
uhhh you can see there are gaps between some faces and there arent on others, so it really isnt well balanced
edit: i somehow typed f`ces
But as long as all the faces are the same size, and the die never lands on the gaps (or is rerolled if it does), would that be a fair die?
Unless some numbers are opposite of a gap, then it could never land with that number facing up.
Each side needs an opposing flat part, and I don't think that can happen with a die with an odd number of sides.
Oh yeah u right, i didnt even look that close. I just assumed nobody would create such an asymmetrical atrocity. I can never look at golf balls the same. Not that i do ever look at them.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Two_similar_icosahedron_golf_ball_designs.jpg/440px-Two_similar_icosahedron_golf_ball_designs.jpg
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golf_ball
I think the D120 is the maximum possible isohedral (geometrically symmetric) fair die. A golf ball is probably pretty close to fair, though number 327 seems like it might be more difficult to balance than 12, 20, 30, or 60.
I'm just seeing a pattern here, but shouldn't you be able to go to 240? I mean, it'd have to be a big fuckin' die, but it seems like it should work.
Not really. The faces of the D120 are already asymmetric (scalene) triangles. There's no way to split these into additional faces while keeping them all the same shape.
Any larger geometrically fair die would have to be from an infinite family (prisms, bipyramids, and trapezohedra), which are "impractical in reality due to the tendency to roll for a long time".
A tendency to roll for a long time would be true for any many-sided die, no? I can't imagine the 120 stopping quickly either.
Yes, but since faces are essentially distributed over a cylinder, rather than a sphere, it is more of an issue.
Ah yeah, that's a good point
We have dice from them, the funny shaped dice are great to look at, terrible to stack
A D326 with one face a reroll.
Figuring out which number is up is PITA though.
Even worse: with an odd number of sides, there are cases where none is up.
Roll it on a glass table and crawl under it to check which number is in contact with the glass.
I like the way you think.