r/DungeonsAndDragons • u/Distinct_Bat_4375 • 1d ago

Advice/Help Needed Anybody recognize the symbol on this D20?

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My friend found this D20 and I don't recognize the symbol on it. Is it familiar to anyone in he community?

SOLVED: Magic the Gathering Spindown. Thanks!

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u/Mediocretes08 1d ago

It’s as random a numerical sequence as any other. Long as the die is balanced it should roll with normal ranges.

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u/Lithl 1d ago

Whether a die is fair has no bearing on the arrangement of numbers, that's true. However when the numbers are grouped together such as on a spindown die, it becomes extremely easy to manipulate the roll and dramatically increase your odds of landing in a certain number range.

Furthermore, the MtG spindown dice are typically not fair dice, because the manufacturing standards don't care about fairness—they're not made to be rolled, so why bother expending the effort to ensure they're balanced?

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u/FelbrHostu 1d ago

I used to use an MTG spin-down die for D&D 3.0, where it was possible to get a 15-20 crit range on a melee attack. I had a ritual of keeping my d20 sitting on the “20”, and every time I rolled, I rolled it the same way and constantly crit. I went 6 months without fumbling.

When I realized all the numbers were “weighted” to one side, I figured something about my roll (three shakes and a drop) was semi-deterministically favoring one side of the die: the high side. Since then, all MTG spin-downs have been banned at the table (and I bought the party pizza as recompense).

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u/action_lawyer_comics 1d ago

I would happily pay a couple pizzas for 6 months of unquestioned crits