# Throwing Sticks / Two Sided Barrel Dice **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 18, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150 "2017-02-18T16:11:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/1 "2017-02-18T16:11:13Z")
I would like to purchase some two sided dice, but not the cubic or any other modern style. I want the original senet/yut/tab style throwing sticks. Even more specifically, I want them in different colors (e.g. 5-6 colors 10 of each). All I can find are wood. Does anyone know of better search terms? “Casting sticks” and “throwing sticks” don’t seem to get anything useful. Or alternately, does anyone know of a place to buy such a thing, or someone who could make such a thing? I’m fine with 4 or 6 sided rollers, so long as they are still explicitly giving boolean results and nothing more. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/2 "2017-02-18T16:41:02Z")
Can you clarify what you’re looking for? You say “all I can find are wood” which implies you’re looking for something other than wood. What material is acceptable? Does “long dice” give you what you’re looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/3 "2017-02-18T16:41:09Z")
Not the answer you’re looking for…but they really aren’t that hard to make! I made mine out of sculpey. A good hardware store will (maybe?) have square dowels (ok, that’s a contradiction in terms, but you know what I mean.) Scrounge around, and I’ll bet you find the perfect stock. ETA: Or glue a whole bunch of dice in a line… Or some crafts shops have clear plastic cubes: glue 'em together… Being a “maker” is lots of fun! ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/4 "2017-02-18T16:46:22Z")
I wasn’t aware there were any commercially made ones - they tend to be a standard handicraft or make-yer-own item, AFAIK. Get making. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/5 "2017-02-18T16:56:58Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > Can you clarify what you’re looking for? You say “all I can find are wood” which implies you’re looking for something other than wood. What material is acceptable? I mentioned “wood” in reference to color. I need various colors. The material can be anything. > [@](#): > > Does “long dice” give you what you’re looking for? Doesn’t seem to bring up anything two sided. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Not the answer you’re looking for…but they really aren’t that hard to make! I made mine out of sculpey. A good hardware store will (maybe?) have square dowels (ok, that’s a contradiction in terms, but you know what I mean.) Scrounge around, and I’ll bet you find the perfect stock. > > ETA: Or glue a whole bunch of dice in a line… Or some crafts shops have clear plastic cubes: glue 'em together… Being a “maker” is lots of fun! I want something that looks professional. I don’t have the time or space to make stuff, let alone make it look good, unfortunately. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/6 "2017-02-18T18:29:46Z")
Is it important that they be “sticks”? The usual “two-sided die” is a coin. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2017, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/7 "2017-02-18T18:44:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Is it important that they be “sticks”? The usual “two-sided die” is a coin. It just doesn’t seem sufficiently evocative of something like divination for what I’m going for. Plus they don’t really roll well (or they roll too well), so unless you throw them up into the air, they’re not very good as a randomizer. It looks like traditional people have used cowry shells and almond shells, but that these probably aren’t very close to 50/50 probability of results. Otherwise, I could possibly buy a few varieties of shells to make different sets. ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2017, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/8 "2017-02-19T16:12:34Z")
You could buy a senet game online or at a local game shop; the games usually come with throwing sticks. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/9 "2017-02-20T20:07:11Z")
[I think this is close to what you are looking for…](https://www.shapeways.com/product/35EH9VP63/modern-art-d2-2-sided-die?optionId=36643458&li=marketplace) Poke around the site, they have tons of dice. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2017, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/10 "2017-02-20T23:11:47Z")
I think that mahjong counter gets you the shape you are looking for. Also try divination or druid sticks. Unfortunately, I’m only finding the natural wood, which isn’t what you want. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/11 "2017-02-21T00:10:48Z")
What’s your budget? [Chessex offers custom dice](http://www.chessex.com/Dice/Custom_Dice_Home.htm). Minimum order is 10, $1 per side for that number. So $60 total. Those are ordinary 6-sided dice, so come up with your own custom pictograms for yes/no and put them on 3 sides each. They have a variety of colors. ---
**Author:** ![motu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/motu/32/259_2.png) [@motu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/motu)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/12 "2017-02-21T01:06:33Z")
[D2 Lens Black & White](https://www.shapeways.com/product/Q5BKXT4J8/d2-lens-black-and-white?optionId=59774131) [D2 Bicone](https://www.shapeways.com/product/B5EGXZVR8/d2-bicone?optionId=60662185) ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/13 "2017-02-21T16:10:57Z")
😕 “senet/yut/tab style throwing sticks”? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/14 "2017-02-21T16:44:39Z")
A picture of a Senet game where you can see the throwing sticks: [Senet Game - An Ancient Egyptian Board Game](https://www.amazon.com/WE-Games-Wood-Senet-Game/dp/B00005TNHI/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1487695264&sr=8-2&keywords=senet) ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 21, 2017, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/15 "2017-02-21T17:08:01Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “senet/yut/tab style throwing sticks”? [Senet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senet). [Tâb](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C3%A2b). [Yut](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yut). [Quote=Wiki article about Tâb] As in the Ancient Egyptian game senet and the Korean game Yut, four sticks of a roughly semi-circular cross-section are used as dice. The flat sides are (nominally) white, and the rounded sides are (nominally) black. The value of a throw depends on the number of black and white sides showing… [/quote] In other words, binary dice in the form of shaped and colored straight sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/16 "2017-02-22T02:16:41Z")
Do you just need the appropriately shaped/colors sticks, or do you need something printed or embossed on them? And what size? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2017, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/throwing-sticks-two-sided-barrel-dice/780150/17 "2017-02-22T06:47:38Z")
> [@Ranchoth](#): > > Do you just need the appropriately shaped/colors sticks, or do you need something printed or embossed on them? And what size? Thanks for the offer. I was considering developing my own RPG system, partially using the 50/50 dice rolling system from Burning Wheel - but removing the variants where it stops being 50/50 and a whole bunch of other rules - and throwing in some other features from other games. But now I’ve found a few games that seem more in the weight of what I was looking for, so I don’t need to invent something. And the 50/50 rolling system is gone with it. Largely, I was just surprised that the original randomizer had gone away so fully that you can do better shopping for 1-sided ‘mobeus strip’ dice. Even if not super popular, you would think that there’d be something out there. I figured I must have been searching for the wrong term.