#I have 3 Puzzling Trapezohedrons

[angrybatgaming]

I CAN'T BELIEVE I GOT STUCK IN A SECRET ROOM FOR A MINUTE OR TWO. DANG PS4 CONTROLS!!!! *shakes fist* Second time it's happened, actually.

[jotun-philosopher]

Image description: a set of 7 polyhedral dice used for Dungeons & Dragons in a line on top of a closed laptop covered in artistic stickers. The dice are made of blue-and-white plastic. They are lined up in order (from left to right): d4 (tetrahedron); d6 (cube); d8 (octahedron); two d10s (decahedron, specifically pentagonal trapezohedron), one numbered with digits 0 to 9 and the other numbered 00 to 90; one d12 (dodecahedron); one d20 (icosahedron). In the middle background is a lacquered box with a pattern of flowers. <end image description>

I kinda impulse-bought this dice set a little while ago because I thought they looked pretty XD I don't anticipate being able to use them for D&D any time soon, but they make for nice little fidget things, and it's fun to puzzle out the number placement rules for each different shape:

d4: If the number on the upward point is odd, the others run around the base clockwise in ascending order; if the upward-pointing number is even, the other numbers run around the base anti-clockwise in ascending order.

d6: Numbers on opposite faces add up to seven.

d8: If a number is odd, the next number in the sequence appears on the opposite face; 3 and 7 appear to the right of 2 and 6 respectively, while 5 appears to the left of 4.

d10: Odd-numbered faces cluster around one narrow point on the 'top' of the die, while even-numbered faces cluster around the narrow point on the 'bottom'; opposing faces add up to 9 or 90, depending on the specific d10.

d12: Opposite faces add up to 13.

d20: Opposite faces add up to 21.

(The lacquered box is just a small ornamental thing from my late grandmother's vast collection of ornaments; it's of a good size to hold all the dice, with room to spare, and the lid fits well.)

As part of the good-fidget thing mentioned above, these dice are kinda fun to use for small sleight-of-hand things, like this shilling-and-farthing trick:

(I bet you were wondering where the Good Omens reference would come in, huh? :P Always good to have some adorable angelic enthusiasm around!)

I use the d4 and d20, because they're about as visually distinct as a shilling and a farthing would be. The necessary hand movements for a discreet palming of the 'disappearing' die are different, too, because a lump of bright blue-and-white plastic is a lot easier to see from a distance than a comparatively dull-coloured coin. Still working on that bit! (Got it halfway worked out; it's possible to use the ball of the thumb and the opposing edge of the hand to 'hold on' to something like a d20 without seeming to, and discreetly holding a corner of a d4 between one's fingers is easy enough)

There's also a part of my brain that keeps saying 'THEY LOOK LIKE SWEETIES PUT ONE IN YOUR MOUTH!' and I have to keep reminding it that my age is measured in years, not months... Ehehehe