Rock and Role! Don’t Touch my Dice

Gamers are an interesting group. The stereotypical gamer is going by the way-side…I’m not going to get rude and describe them, but you know what I mean. The demographics are changing before our eyes, and a lot of people are starting to role-play now that you would never suspect are doing it. The age demographic seems to be the only constant these days. There are more female gamers than ever before, there are more professionals playing the game than ever before, more jocks, more families. Everything about the gaming community seems to be changing, except one thing.

Keep your hands off my dice.

There are certain things that are communal property when we game. Food and drink seem to be the big two. Gaming has become an event with some groups, and I’ve seen where it’s almost a pool-party-like atmosphere; there are people grilling, there are all manner of beverages available, deserts, and so on. People usually aren’t too particular about their pencils when gaming unless it’s a hand-crafted pencil or a special gift or their “lucky” pencil.

Dice are almost always the last taboo in any gaming group, however. There are a ton of superstitions about dice, and gamers everywhere usually make two or three rolls before things get going to “get them warmed up,” or something similar. Most of us have more than one set (some have more than 50 sets) and we’re usually okay with sharing those with people who don’t have dice. But, once the game starts, we have our own special set we plan on using, or a whole selection we will rotate through for the night.

That’s not to say that dice aren’t shared during the game either. If someone launches a 10d6 fireball, there’s nothing that slows a game down more than flipping a dice 10 times and adding. We want to see the clatter of 10 dice hitting the table at once, we want to hear it. We want to hear the sound of those 10 little plastic cubes rattling against each other inside two cupped hands as their shaken. Everyone’s eyes light up at seeing how many of the dice came up sixes. But once that roll is made, the dice get redistributed to their owners (or borrowers).

Given freely, dice are a gift, but just getting grabby with them might get you smacked. You’ve been warned!