When would you reroll the dice in a board game?

[shiftless]

@MsWhatsit

I play a lot of board games, many of which involve dice.

The rule that most of my friends generally play with is that any time any of the dice 1) go off the table and land on the floor, or 2) land in a “cocked” position so that they’re not perfectly flat on the table (say, one of them lands partially on/off a drink coaster), you reroll all dice.

That’s what I would do, though. If someone else felt really strongly about only re-rolling the problem dice, that’s cool. I’m also happy to accept a “cocked” throw – yes, I giggle every time I use that term – if the person who rolled the dice wants to keep it, but some people have strong opinions about this sort of thing. I’m a pretty easygoing gamer, though.

Exactly the rules my gaming group uses, including tittering (hee hee) at the word “cocked” every time. I’ve gamed with a lot of people and that is almost universal. Anything that doesn’t result in all the dice being flat and on the table gets a full reroll, except for a few games that involve rolling a handfull of dice. Then we will reroll singles that are bad.

[Sailboat]

@Chipacabra

The most important thing is that the rules on when to reroll are clear before any dice hit the table, they’re consistent, and they’re objective.

For example, some of my gaming group, including myself, will reroll any die that’s even the slightest bit cocked. We reserve the right the sigh when we’re rerolling results that were good for us. On the other hand, some of our group will never reroll a cocked die if the result is clear. A few players will let a roll stand if you can place another die on it without it sliding off. All that really matters is that you can’t decide what the rules are after you’ve seen whether or not you like the result.

Agreed, although I’ll usually go farther and “spot” a player the first one. I don’t much care what a player’s criteria are for re-rolling, as long as those criteria are used for all *subsequent *rolls. It’s when people reroll sometimes but other times “take” the number that my BS meter pings.

As far as why one might play with people tempted to “cheat” – this seems like a common behavior in kids. I’d say most of the very young folks I play with – including relatives of adults in the game – don’t mean to cheat, but find it way too tempting to be iffy with the dice. “Setting them down” showing the desired number, carefully trying to flip them one revolution, “calling” a die before picking it up really fast, and the old favorite, rolling one die at a time and deliberately striking a bad die with the next one rolled to re-roll it, all seem to be irresistible at a certain age. Just this past weekend I played Monopoly with my brother’s family, and the youngest kid went through several of these methods. What’s funny is he never looked at the board before rolling, so I don’t think he was aiming for a specific die roll; he just wanted to exert some sort of control over the dice. Fortunately, his older brother, whom he idolizes, kept on him about rolling cleanly, without it becoming a fight, so one hopes he’ll learn.

Dice aside, one thing that drives me nuts in games is when one player makes a series of complex, subtle hand passes through the deck, the money, or the victory point supplies, and subsequently wins big. Or “makes change” through a series of complex exchanges. Or rapidly totals his points silently, dumps everything into the box (rendering it difficult or impossible to doublecheck), and then waits until everyone else announces their total before announcing his own, which (amazingly) wins! These people might be totally honest, sure. But it’s hard to take that at face value when sleight-of-hand is involved. I’ve definitely seen some dodgy behavior from certain players…sometimes people I can’t avoid socially, as they come to the same parties.

Plus it’s just less interesting if I don’t get to see how other people play (or can’t decipher their high-speed mystic passes and muttering).

Show your work applies in social games, not just grade-school math!

[Kobal2]

@Alessan

If the player was misinformed as to what he was supposed to be rolling for. For instance, if he thought he was supposed to roll high, but was actually supposed to roll low, and he rolled high, he gets to roll again. Or if he needed a six to win, but thought he needed a five, he gets to roll again - even if he rolled a two. It’s very important that players be allowed to give their dice the proper psychic instructions.

Pffft, you don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. It’s not about psychic instructions or any such woo. It’s about professionals picking the right tool to fit the specific requirements of the job at hand - the one that has expended most of its ones already for a high roll, the ones that you still owe a couple nat 20s to for low rolls.

[Mince]

@silenus

A re-roll is also called for when the dog swallows one of the dice.

Nah. Give the dog an emetic or an enema and (eventually) play it as it lies. Alternatively, you can X-ray the dog’s stomach.

[Maus_Magill]

@Lord_Il_Palazzo

Another option I forgot to add to the poll: If a player picks up the dice too quickly for everyone to read them, do you demand/ask for a reroll or take it on trust?

That’s why there’s rebar.