I'm working on a project for my Folklore class on the dice superstitions of gamers - mostly because I've seen some strange things done to dice in my days and because the stories are entertaining. (Has anyone else ever stuck badly behaving dice in ice water or seen someone stick them in the microwave?) I'm currently in the information-gathering phase of my project, and I figured, what better place to collect information on dice than a forum of gamers?
The IRB requires me to tell you that all data will be used strictly for the project and that all names will be changed in both my notes and in the project itself.
So without further ado, here are the questions I have:
What do you do to make a die roll well?
What do you do when a die is rolling badly?
Are there other practices that you have heard of?
Have you heard stories of the success (or failure) of luck rituals?
Are there any circumstances where it is acceptable to destroy a die?
This is an interesting idea for a project and so I shall do my best to be of some help by answering your questions from my own experiences.
What do you do to make a die roll well? I tend to roll all my dice twice before each session and use the ones that rolled best.
What do you do when a die is rolling badly? This ritual of mine leads to my answer for your second question if a die is rolling badly I swap it for the second best rolling one of its kind and so on if the bad rolling continues.
Are there any circumstances where it is acceptable to destroy a die? That being said I feel it is never acceptable to destroy a die because at any given session one die may become "hotter" than the others and if I had destroyed it previously than I would not have it when I need it.
Are there other practices that you have heard of? As for other rituals I have heard of I know that in my original group we had two players that would not let their dice hit the floor or they would not be able to use the dice for the rest of the session. There is also one ritual that I have encountered many times and that is of course the taboo of sharing your dice with others.
Have you heard stories of the success (or failure) of luck rituals? I have witnessed firsthand when luck rituals have failed. One of the players whose dice could not hit the ground had a "standing order" (for lack of a better term) that a die that hit the floor would never count and he could re-roll. One day he rolled his twenty and it slid off the table onto the floor 20 facing up needless to say our DM ruled he had to re-roll (as was his usual) and he promptly rolled a 2 (not as dramatic as if it were a 1 but still funny as heck for everyone else at the table).
As a side note even though you do not ask it I feel compelled to state that while when it comes to my dice I have a quirk which is viewed as a superstitious ritual I do not have daily superstitions. For instance I do not avoid cracks for fear of breaking my mothers back or look for four leaf clovers for good luck and I bet if you asked gamers about that you would find that many of them are the same way. This is of course just an extra 2cps from me to you.
Well I believe that I have rambled long enough for one sitting and will depart wishing you good luck with your project. Also I for one would be interested to see a posting of your findings and conclusions if it would not be any trouble to you.
I would suggest asking if it is okay to use the information they have posted, though I am sure they will likely not mind if you do, it never hurts to ask.