dice

[srn347]

If a player rolls a die(or dice, call it what you will) each time they play rps but they don't choose based on the dice and they make it look like they actually care about what it lands on, can that potentially decrease their chance of losing or even increase their chance of winning?

[C. Urbanus]

Yes, of course.

[rhymeswithsausage]

Are we talking d6, d12, or d20?

[martinburley]

Using the Decoy Die technique effectively comes down to showmanship/acting ability more than anything else. You have to remember that most experienced opponents will doubt you're actually making decisions based on rolling a die, particularly if you use it every throw, since they know you know that randomness is not conducive to excellence. So the ability to bluff them by acting the part convincingly is essential.

Here are a few other tips for Decoy Dicers:

(a) only roll for particular throws - for example if you only roll the die when you have just lost a throw, your opponent may be more inclined to believe you're using it for real, since this is a point when many players will rethink or shift strategies. Rolling it before the first throw may also be more convincing than at other points during the match

(b) only roll it when you've already decided you're going to repeat your previous throw - if the opponent believes you're using the die for real, he will assign 1/3 chance to you repeating the throw, whereas otherwise he may have assigned a higher chance to that possibility

(c) hide the die from your opponent, making it seem like you don't want them to see what you roll. Aside from making it more believable, your opponent may become frustrated, particularly if they're a nosey person who hates not knowing something, which may throw them off their game

(d) don't hide the die too well - if your opponent can see what number you roll sometimes, he will be trying to link the numbers to your throws, and the extra braincrunching involved may distract him and throw him off his game. Alternatively, you might roll the die completely openly, but use a different-sized die each time (you can purchase d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20 in most games shops), again causing your opponent to become confused and distracted as he tries to figure out your algorithm

(d) become a 'Dice Man' - if you act according to the die before the tournament (for example, letting it determine what beer you order, or - for more advanced dicemen - what mood to be in when talking with another player), espouse the benefits of Dice Living, and in general appear to random, spontaneous and borderline crazy, then other players may be more inclined to believe you will play according to the die. The bonus with this is that dice living is an insane and dangerousinteresting and creative way to live, so it's worth doing once in a while in and of itself, whether or not it helps your tournament chances.

 

[Midnight Rider]

I pioneered this technique as early as the 2005 Atlantic Yards Smackdown (my first professional tournament, which I won handily against a field including C. Urbanus, The Hood and Team All Too Flat.)  A die is too damn small, and rolling it doesn't have a lot of psychological impact, for me or for anyone else.  I used a coin flip instead.  I did this for several reasons.  As Martin rightly surmises, showmanship was a large part of it.  When asked about the coin flip, I would respond that "by imposing duality on the trinity, I have succeeded in squaring the circle...or something like that."  This never failed to confuse the questioner, and usually just made them shut the hell up and quit bothering me.

The coin flip tactic was inspired partly by the "Two-Face" villain from the Batman comics.  He possessed a coin which was scarred on one side, and would use it to decide the fates of his enemies.  This is the image I wanted to convey:  I was deciding the fate of the match, and there was nothing my opponent could do about it.  Perhaps I was deciding between two different strategies (I actually did this on occasion) or not; it was impossible to tell what was going on behind the mask.  There was an implied sense that my style of play was going to be non-reactive; well, sometimes it was and sometimes it wasn't.

I also chose a silver dollar for mythic resonance.  There's a song "Midnight Rider" which includes the lyric "I've got one more silver dollar."  To the alchemists, silver was the metal associated with the moon.  Lunar currents play a large role in the more occult aspects of my game, and carrying around a silver dollar is one way of invoking that influence.

One unexpected positive side-effect of flipping a coin before every match is that it provides me with a brief meditation before a match.  While concentrating on flipping and catching the coin, I am able to "tune out" my opponent as well as any psychological/occult influences they may be trying to perpetrate.  I enter the match with a clear mind and a strong aura.

A lot of people were intimidated by the coin flip, and it never failed to amuse the spectators.  When viewers (or even one's opponents) laugh at a particularly clever RPS routine, the adept can harness that energy and channel it towards other uses, namely success.  It's kind of like riding a bucking bronco until you break him in.

I have mostly moved away from the coin flip prior to a match.  Although it conveyed certain advantages early in my career, it occurred to me that doing it before every single match made me a little predictable.  I still retain use of the coin flip in my "bag of tricks" and even haul it out on occasion.

As for Martin's "tips for Decoy Dicers" I'd pretty much ignore them.  They're all applesauce, and he probably intended them to act as smoke and mirrors to obscure the more useful applications of incorporating random strings on RPS. 

Einstein once said "God does not play dice the Universe."  This is true, however he does play RPS.

[R Cohrs]

I'm just wondering when you're going to have enough time to start throwing dice out there in between throws.  I suppose there's no official time limit on most matches, but I probably wouldn't be too happy playing someone who frequently has that kind of strategy.  I suppose every now and then would be no problem, but if it happened repeatedly my coin flip or dice would probably tell me not to play that person anymore.

[srn347]

Excellent summary, and that adds another advanced tactic to the world of rps. One thing to be sure of is to wait for it to stop rolling before playing the next round so they actually think you care about what it lands on. And I typically would use d6, unless they were suspicious or skilled, then I would use d20 to keep them out of the loop for I while.

[martinburley]

I'm just wondering when you're going to have enough time to start throwing dice out there in between throws.  I suppose there's no official time limit on most matches, but I probably wouldn't be too happy playing someone who frequently has that kind of strategy.

Good point to raise, R Cohrs. Clearly, dice-throwing is a tournament strategy for use against one-off opponents, rather than something you'd use all the time, even in casual games or against regular opponents. And anyone tempted to try using dice in RPS matches should take the time to get their die-rolling technique up to speed, since referees will quickly take a dim view of any player who slows proceedings too much. However, if there's a small table between the players (as with most tournaments), an experienced dicer can roll the die on the table with their non-throwing hand pretty quickly. With practice, you can even roll it while you are priming if you want to (this is usually not advisable, since you should be watching your opponent rather than the die, but does have extra distraction value).

Also on the topic of timing: using a die creates an opportunity for a much more dubious piece of gamesmanship, akin to the 'shoelace' technique described in the RPS strategy guide: when your opponent is playing fluently and appears to be in the zone, 'accidentally' roll the die off the table before the next throw, so that you have to bend down and pick it up off the floor, delaying the match and making them wait. This is a very effective way to break their concentration, though it goes without saying that good players should be able to win without resorting to such underhand techniques.

[srn347]

It is better used between matches in tournaments as a way to fatigue and/or impress other players who will waste their willpower analyzing how your rolls and throws correlate. How much time is there between rounds?