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Does anybody have recommendations for highly precise D&D dice as most dice aren't actually 100% random, I heard game science dice are supposed to be real precise but looking at some of the pics it seems the numbers are grooved in so wouldn't that make some sides heavier or

lighter than others (as each side has different numbers), therefore making it less precise?

Gamescience dice are indeed supposed to be significantly better than the average dice. I'm guessing any grooved numbers in the dice are a pretty small influence in the grand scale of things. I think I recall reading in a FAQ the creator put out somewhere that he admitted it was an influince, but his dice were still a lot more random than the other ones you could buy.

I actually own a set of transparent smoke grey ones, more for bragging rights than anything else.

I'm afraid I don't know of anything better that doesn't involve a custom trip to the 3D printers and a crayon to draw the numbers on.

Or you could just roll your dice on a computer. It's what I do whenever I GM since I'm running the game off my laptop anyway (sometimes I'll even take a projector and put a map on the wall with little dots for characters, but that's a ton of work if you aren't graphically inclined and can't find a map to meet your specifications right off.

The thing that makes Game Science dice so precise is the sharper edges. When you roll, say your standard 40k rounded edge d6, that rounded edge allows for more roll on the table once it hits. Game science dice, and any sharp edge dice, don't have extra roll. From what I can tell, they're also cast using plastic injection on a sprue, so that there is no "bubble" in the die. This bubble is a variation in the weight of the die that you can use to your advantage when rolling. The lack of "paint" for the numbers also means that they can control the weight of each individual side, like how a 1 side is technically heavier than a 6 side because on a normal pipped die the 1 has less plastic removed.

I personally dislike Game Science dice (I've got a set), because for something that is supposed to be super precise and "random" you have to generally shave down flash...

 Alfndrate wrote:
The thing that makes Game Science dice so precise is the sharper edges.

This. Very sharp edges and no warping during casting. I believe that this would have more impact on dice randomization than the miniscule difference in weight caused by the grooves for a "20" versus a "1", for example.

I have no proof to back that up. I'm just a disciple of Lou Zocchi.

They keep the flash on because they want to use the advertising point that they don't sand down their dice and potentially make them uneven. I actually saw a pretty convincing demonstration (admittedly put on by the creator of the company) where the guy made "towers" of about 15 d20 dice stacked 1 to 20. He did 2 towers from the same company and there was an incredibly noticeable difference in height between the two, implying bad/uneven manufacturing tolerances (or that the guy either shaved the dice or handpicked the wonkiest dice he could find, but I prefer to think better of people than that).

Of course the two towers of gamescience dice were exactly the same height

 dementedwombat wrote:
. He did 2 towers from the same company and there was an incredibly noticeable difference in height between the two, implying bad/uneven manufacturing tolerances (or that the guy either shaved the dice or handpicked the wonkiest dice he could find, but I prefer to think better of people than that).

Possible, of course. However, I have a bag of chessex dice and have seen the same unevenness when I try to stack a handfull of d20s.

 dementedwombat wrote:
They keep the flash on because they want to use the advertising point that they don't sand down their dice and potentially make them uneven. I actually saw a pretty convincing demonstration (admittedly put on by the creator of the company) where the guy made "towers" of about 15 d20 dice stacked 1 to 20. He did 2 towers from the same company and there was an incredibly noticeable difference in height between the two, implying bad/uneven manufacturing tolerances (or that the guy either shaved the dice or handpicked the wonkiest dice he could find, but I prefer to think better of people than that).

Of course the two towers of gamescience dice were exactly the same height

The problem is that when you try to trim the flash, you're leaving the reliability of a die's precision yup to you. Sometimes you slip and take out a little extra, sometimes you don't take off enough. I don't care if the dice towers are the same height, mine are always destroyed when I get a good one going!

Gamescience are considered more random, but if you're using them for DnD does it really matter? It's not competitive and there's no money put down (atleast in my games) and a bit of dice superstition adds to the fun, no?

You could buy a few sets of Chessex opaques for the price of one set of Gamescience and just randomly choose which dice to roll, plus have a load of extras when you need them.

Hey! this thread again! only now with more types of dice!

Unless you plan on running hundreds of tests on your dice (and wasting valuable hours of your life), spending a ron of money on "precision" dice is a waste. It is a known fact that a crucial roll will fail, is that a sign of a poorly made die? Nope, it's the gods of randomness punishing you. And especially with an RPG, it's a challenge of the game to overcome a poor roll. Remember, it's called ROLEplaying, not ROLLplaying, your dice aren't the entire point of the game.

So do what real veteran players do: buy several sets of dice. When one fails, set it aside and use another.

I don't understand how it's a big deal to have precision dice. The dice will be perfect, but then you have to factor in how you can change things just by letting them go from your hand in different ways.

Luck, as intangible as it is, has a bigger impact than the sharpness of the edges or the bubble in the middle being uneven. I have had the same set of run-of-the-mill dice make me a god one night and then fail at almost every single roll the next.