
Are Catan Dice Weighted? Catan Dice Guide
Are Catan Dice Weighted? Catan Dice Guide The game Settlers of Catan is an excellent choice for having an enjoyable board game night with your
These may just be the best weighted D6 dice on the market. They’re professionally made with an exceptional design, leading to far less suspicion and making it incredibly difficult to find out their weighted just by looking at them.
Not technically weighted, but rather a loaded D20 with multiple face of highers numbers placed on opposite sides. These D20 dice are great for D&D and come in a range of different patterns and colors so you can choose what you like best.
These are some of the best weighted D20 dice on the market – specifically designed for used in D&D.
Weighted dice are a fantastic way to tilt the odds in your favor. They’ve been used for decades in many different games, with the earliest patent we found filed in the 60s.
One of the most popular dice games there is, is Dungeons & Dragons – D&D. Estimates put the number of active D&D players worldwide at 13.7 million – beating out nearly all of their competitors.
There are two main types of weighted dice we’ll be looking at today, both used in D&D as well. The classic 6-sided (D6) dice used in the majority of games, and the 20-sided (D20) dice most commonly used in D&D.
Here are some of the best weighted dice on the market today:
The classic 6-sided dice was one of the first dice to be loaded to favor the roller. This particular set is produced by Koplow Games, a major dice manufacturer in the industry.
It’s high quality, well designed, and very inconspicuous, meaning it’s quite difficult to tell that they’re loaded. These dice in particular are weighted heavier on the side with the one, meaning you’re more likely to land on a 6.
A little tip to those new to weighted dice, a shorter roll randomizes the probability more, giving the dice less time to land on the 6. If you want to increase the likelihood of a 6, keep the dice rolling for as long as possible. More on this further down.
Loaded or weighted D20 dice are far harder to manufacturer and the faces of each number are far smaller. This requires the weight to be much larger in order to tip the odds in your favor great enough to see any real benefit.
Unfortunately, it seems no one is creating effective D20 weighted dice at the moment. The best on offer, are D20s with multiple high number (18,19,20) on multiple faces.
For example, a D20 may have two 20s and no 1s – with each 20 on the opposite side. So if a 20 lands on your roll, the other 20 will be face down, making sure no one can see the dice is loaded.
These D&D D20 loaded dice are created by Death Dealer Dice. If purple’s not for you, they come in a huge range of different colors including black, green, white, and more. Check the link to see how they look.
One of the best weighted D&D dice sets you can find on the market. The quality and design of this set is outstanding – no one will be able to tell the different without a close inspection.
In the set, you’ll receive 3 * D6, 2 * D10, and 2 * D20. Unlike the first set of D6 dice you saw before which are weighted to land on a 6 more often, these dice simply have multiple faces with higher numbers.
This allow for manufacture costs to be kept down, whilst still bringing the odds into your favor.
There are typically two types of weighted or loaded dice on the market.
The first are those which have been manufactured in such a way, that the weight of the dice is uneven. Meaning after a roll, the heavier side of the dice will be more likely to land face down. The heavy face is placed on the opposite side of the desired number.
In D6 dice, the heavy side will usually be placed on the 1. On D20 dice, most commonly used in D&D games, the weighted side will be played on the 1 face as well.
Here’s a great example showing obviously weighted dice:
Unfortunately, D20 dice have so many faces, that manufacturing effective weighted D20 dice can be quite difficult. This is why you’ll be hard-pressed to find reputable weighted D20 dice on the market.
D6, however, have much larger faces. And so it’s much easier to weight the face of the 1, which has lead to there being plenty of different options for effective weighted D6 dice on the market.
The second type of weighted or loaded dice are those that aren’t actually weighted at all. Instead, the faces of these dice have been altered to remove the undesired numbers in exchange for higher numbers. Resulting in a dice with multiple faces of the same numbers.
In this manner, D6 dice typically will have the 1 removed, and replaced with another 6. For D20 dice, the same will happen, resulting in two 20 faces on the dice. You’ll find D20 dice often use the second method in order to load them to your favor.
These dice, however, are easier to detect. Simply picking up the dice and inspecting it will lead to anyone being able to see the multiple faces of the same number.
Despite what you may think, there is a method to using weighted dice. It’s not simply a ‘do the same roll over and over and hope for the best’ type thing. But rather, a calculated roll each time to ensure the odds are in your favor, without making it too obvious.
It comes down to two things – a short roll and a long roll.
A short roll gives the dice less of a chance to land on the weighted side. These rolls are useful when a high number is not needed, or to lower suspicion after a run of good results.
A long roll, on the other hand, is used when you want to give the dice the highest probable chance of landing on the weighted side.
Both a short roll and a long roll should be used together in a game, whether that be D&D or any other dice game.
If the dice isn’t technically weighted, but has multiple faces with higher numbers instead, the odds will stay the same no matter a short or long roll.
There are plenty of products out there which can be effectively DIYed, resulting in a custom made item made by you, to your specific measures. Weighted dice aren’t one of them.
The intricacies of creating are weighted dice is not something you can simply do in your home workshop. You may be able to, but the resulting dice will likely be easily detected as not legitimate.
In saying that, who doesn’t love a little DIY project. If you want to give it a go yourself, WikiHow have a few methods you can tinker with. Or you can check out this video:
As you can see from the video, it’s still painfully obvious that dice has been tampered with. In the end, your best bet is to leave it to the experts and purchase a weighted dice that’s already been tried and tested by others.
Whether you’re playing D&D and after some weighted D20 dice, or some weighted D6 dice for character building in the ever popular 5E set, you’ll be pleased to know there’s something available on the market for you.
You’ll find some of the best products right here, along with a detailed guide on the types of weighted dice and how to use them.
If you have any more questions about weighted or loaded dice, feel free to leave a comment below.
Happy rolling!
Mike is one of the lead editors at Weighted Living and the author of this article. He's become fascinated with weighted products (a bit too much we think) and loves to see all the different ways they can improve our loves. He's written quite a few weighted product guides as well.
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Weighted Living features a range of articles, guides, and product recommendations for everything weighted. We believe anyone and everyone, including yourself, can enhance the way they live by simply adding a bit of weight into their life.
Weighted Living features a range of articles, guides, and product recommendations for everything weighted. We believe anyone and everyone, including yourself, can enhance the way they live by simply adding a bit of weight into their life. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.