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Western style d6. 5 pips on each side. Why? Where did it come from? (lemmy.dbzer0.com)
submitted 1 month ago by baahb@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/whatisthisthing@lemmy.world
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I know WHAT it is, but I dont know why it exists, what use it has, or where it may have come from. All sides are identical, its translucent green. The pips are scalloped, not painted on, and are otherwise unremarkable. Help me out here, its definitely my favorite d6, but I am struggling to figure out a purpose for a +5 dice.

...I mean, aside from that I need a +5 weapon, clearly.

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[-] calliope@retrolemmy.com 0 points 1 month ago

Magic tricks, for example.

Apparently they’re called Forcing Dice; obviously they sell different ones but the concept is the same.

Obviously these dice will not stand close scrutiny so they are most effective when used sparingly, substituted for a regular die at a critical moment.

Very useful to magicians who need to force a specific number as part of a trick, or as part of a humorous routine.

[-] lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com 0 points 1 month ago

How do you look at this for longer than 2 seconds without noticing it? Guess it's a good example of how much of magic is distraction

[-] davidgro@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

My guess is the magician rolls the forcing dice (perhaps after showing other identically colored dice for close inspection), instantly reads off the result, giving just enough time to see the top faces match what they said, then scoops them back up and moves on with the trick.
You might not get those two seconds.

[-] brem@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 weeks ago

Great guess, this is precisely it.

this post was submitted on 09 Sep 2025
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