Dice Contest Finalists

d20x5 5It’s Friday! And that means I have to pick a winner for the dice contest. I’ve been thinking about this all week with my thoughts gravitating toward certain entries. Then, when I sat down and lined up the entries according to the judging criteria I was surprised that ones that I wasn’t thinking about, came to the top of the ranking.

A bunch of these entries are things I’d want in my dice bag.

We still have two entries for fudge dice. I figure they’re reasonably universal because you could use them in other games to see if something swings one way or the other.

For an even larger swing, we have a die that goes between +9 and -9

A die that mimics the roll of 2d6

A GM, or solo play die for helping make up what happens next.

A playing card spin down counter.

What do you think? Which one would you want in your dice bag?


Jake P – Fudge Dice

1 | -4
2 | -3
3 | -3
4 | -2
5 | -2
6 | -1
7 | -1
8 | -1
9 | 0
10 | 0
11 | 0
12 | 0
13 | +1
14 | +1
15 | +1
16 | +2
17 | +2
18 | +3
19 | +3
20 | +4


Steffan O’Sullivan – A Fudge die!

1 face = +3

2 faces = +2

4 faces = +1

6 faces = 0

4 faces = -1

2 faces = -2

1 face = -3

(Steffan’s probabilities are a bit different than Jake’s)


Maurice Tousignant – A die with negatives could be cool -10 to +10 except you would need 21 faces for the 0. Maybe -9 to +9 and two 0s 


Uriah – You could make a d20 that roughly mimics a roll of 2d6 (for settlers, monopoly, etc) 

Sides would be: 3, 4, 4, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 7, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9, 9, 10, 10, 11, 2/12

The 2/12 is the only trick part as you would then need to determine which it was (by coin flip, re-rolling etc.). You could also color one each of 4, 6, 8, 10 and the 2/12 differently to show that it was a doubles roll for games in which doubles matter.


Steffan O’Sullivan – Sent in this entry, again, you can only win once but can enter as many as you like. His entry was more detailed than this but this gives an idea of what he’s suggesting. 

Thumb is either up or down depend on how it lands – a good yes/no or positive/negative – sideways is maybe or unclear!

Pointing finger can either point to an individual at the table or simply mean someone points something out.

Open hand can be giving, receiving, stop, or High Five!

Bomb and death’s head are obvious symbols, though there’s still a little time with the bomb – the fuse is still burning!

Flag: authority. Or Eddie Izzard.

Sun, Rain, Snow: weather impacts things.

Yin Yang: the turning of the wheel. Fortune becomes misfortune and vice versa.

Bell: an announcement.

Book: knowledge is acquired or required.

Letter: a message.

Super question mark: very mysterious!

Eye, ear: they see or hear something

Double arrows: a trade, or exchange of knowledge, or back to the beginning.

Spider: either a monster, or a gift (Grandmother Spider from Native American cultures) or a trickster (Anansi from African/Caribbean cultures)

Bag of money: it comes or it goes

Lightning bolt: something unexpected and powerful happens!


Lurking Meeple – A playing card “spindown” counter to denote things like trump, trump-rank, etc.

14 ranks: A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, J, C (Cavalier), Q, K
1 Joker/Excuse* star symbol: ★
4 French suits: ♣, ♠, 
1 Circle-backslash denoting no suit: ⃠


Update: I forgot to mention Shawn McCarthy’s dungeon generator die. Sorry Shawn!
Old school random dungeon generator:

2x == (Hall continues)
3x =+ (Side passage)
3x [ ] (Door)
2x ={ (Opens into chamber)
4x ➥/➦ (2 each of Passage Turns right/left)
1x X (Dead end)
1x ⌥ (Stairs)
1x N (NPC)
1x ? (Trick/Trap)
1x M (Wandering monster)
1x =:: (Building type changes)

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