Here is a Roman D20 carved from crystal in the 3rd century AD. These were used, historians suspect for telling fortunes. However, no one can *prove* they weren't used for some kind role playing game. Which is what getting a fortune told with a die is kind of like anyways if you ask me.
"roll for initiative"
reshared this
GeoWend
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •At least we know how this polyhedron was used. The "Roman Dodecahedrons" continue to confuse people. But, I don't think that is all that shocking.
There are many durable but baffling objects.
sauropods.win/@futurebird/1141âŠ
myrmepropagandist (@futurebird@sauropods.win)
Sauropods.winPaul Cantrell
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to Paul Cantrell • • •@inthehands
It's for drying the tea pot and lid after you rinse it with hot water.
Paul Cantrell
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to Paul Cantrell • • •@inthehands
uh... i guess??
Paul Cantrell
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Paul Cantrell
in reply to Paul Cantrell • • •Cainmark Does Not Comply đČ
in reply to Paul Cantrell • • •@inthehands
"It's all about the cones."
- Ben Wyatt character as played by Adam Scott in the TV show "Parks and Rec" referring to the role laing game he made, "The Cones of Dunshire"
đŒ Dagnabbit, Pascaline! đŒ
in reply to Paul Cantrell • • •@inthehands
I get the same smirk and feel joy when I write an exercise with a pitfall in it, that I KNOW students will fall for so their result will fail! I ask 'Did it work?' and sometimes 'Probably not' to be supportive.
Of course, I write the solution to it as well. But later in the book đ
@futurebird
Rory
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Luci Scissors
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •The Doctor
in reply to Luci Scissors • • •Luci Scissors
in reply to The Doctor • • •The Doctor
in reply to Luci Scissors • • •Luci Scissors
in reply to The Doctor • • •The Doctor
in reply to Luci Scissors • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to The Doctor • • •@drwho @bri_seven
Having used a jig like that to make fingers for gloves I don't understand the utility of having different sized holes. The hole size isn't what controls the size of the finger, it's how many stitches there are in the round (and the thickness of the yarn) and if you use these things it's always 5.
If I wanted a tool to make various glove fingers it'd need to have a way to adjust the number of pegs.
And then you have the icosahedron versions... they don't have holes.
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Luci Scissors
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to Luci Scissors • • •@bri_seven @drwho
I have several decorative dodecahedrons around my house. I just like them.
I know it's not exciting but they could just be nice things to have on a shelf?
Vereesh
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to Vereesh • • •@temporal_spider @drwho @bri_seven
You can do it with just two extra needles. And fingers go so fast... all that set up just to do like 30 rows tops?
Vereesh
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Solved? The Roman Dodecahedron
YouTubeMatt McIrvin
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Sam Easterby-Smith
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •đŠââŹ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Mobile Suit Larry
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Joana de Castro Arnaud
in reply to Mobile Suit Larry • • •@funkula RPGs also need a theme, and the realization, from the players, that they can *create* their own theater play, instead of only watching.
I think that RPGs weren't created in Roman times or the Middle ages, because of lack of critical mass: too few people knew how to read/write, and paper was expensive. It would be much harder to find someone able to create a RPG system - an endeavor much harder to do than, say, create a theater play.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to Joana de Castro Arnaud • • •I think it depends on what you'd accept as "an RPG"
When I was 8 I was desperate to play D&D, my older brother, 17 ran a game, but wouldn't let me play because I was 8.
So, I decided to try to start my own game. Only. I didn't have a rule book, or anything.
I got my friends from school excited about the idea "it's like getting lost in a story"
And we made up characters I designed places for them to explore and was kind of a DM
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula
We used dice for random events. Argued a lot. But had a wonderful time.
It went on for like three months.
This wasn't "home brew" it was "no brew"
Basically collaborative story telling with a leader and rolling dice every now and then.
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula
The campaign was about rescuing Prince (not a prince. The guy. Prince, the singer.) who was also king of the Fae. Only his court was planning to kill him and he didn't know this.
So, we had to break into the castle through the tunnels below which were full of various giant insects that could either eat you, or you could tame them and they'd help you.
You can guess which parts I was responsible for in all of that.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula
Only the purple rain could remove the glamor from the court and expose the ones who had turned against him!
Then my brother totally STOLE one of my custom bug monsters and used it in one of his games and I'm still salty about that.
Luigi
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula I loved this story! Did your brother eventually let you join his games, or you kept playing with your friends?
My brother is 9 years younger than me, and my sister 18 years younger and I got them to play as soon as they wanted. I was not around often while they were growing up, and they ended up GMing for other friends etc, but every time I went home I made a point to have at least an evening to play a one shot with them, for years.
Now we play online.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to Luigi • • •@luigirenna @jcastroarnaud @funkula
He did not! My brother is the worst. LAMO.
Luigi
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Virginicus
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Moss Wizard
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist reshared this.
edhaswell
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Love this. I played D&D in high school, the first version with six booklets. Very loose framework. Always thought the later AD&D was too proscriptive. It's really about the story and characters.
@jcastroarnaud @funkula
Joana de Castro Arnaud
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@funkula You created a freeform RPG, which I consider very valid: shared and guided storytelling, with little to no rules.
Now, you had the advantage of already knowing about RPGs, and living in a society with ample variety of entertainment, and where almost everyone reads/writes.
How harder would it be for a person in Roman times to create something like a freeform RPG, with no previous examples, but with access to storytelling, live music, theater, scarce news from outside one's city, and a very limited selection of books?
Medea Vanamondeđłïžââ§ïž â
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Very Stranger Things
Kim
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula
this is precisely how I started =)
we had 2d6 and a pack of cards. it was enough to get that variety, our dm drew up a random treasure table and a random encounter table.
we had 5mm graph paper, so random square crawls were a common thing in the library at lunch time =)
it is amazing to hear other people stories!
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
llewelly
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •the major purpose of the rulebooks and dice is enable people who've been beat to death by "you're too old to play make-believe" to give the games a chance. Without that, about 90% of people won't even try the games. (There are many other aspects of rpg in which the rulebooks and dice are a huge help, but those things only matter *after* you convince people to give the game a chance.)
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Willow
in reply to Joana de Castro Arnaud • • •@jcastroarnaud @funkula
Could the gladiator fights be considered a kind of violent RPG, where your body is the character sheet? A kind of extreme LARP? These were spectator sports, true, but they were much less often deadly than popular history suggests, and often played out elaborate scenarios from mythology and history, even filling the Colloseum with water for sea battles, which we weren't sure was true until a couple decades ago. To some extent, the stories for these scenarios were shaped by those that ran the game, with final, but limited, "DM" arbitration by the emperors. It's not a perfect analogy, but maybe enough to push back on the idea that there was no possibility of conceiving of such a thing.
I wonder if such cooperative stories were just the unrecorded province of children...I played out such stories with my childhood best friend, one as character, one as storyteller, years before I ever heard of an "rpg."
myrmepropagandist
in reply to Willow • • •@willowwren @jcastroarnaud @funkula
I wonder to what degree there was WWF style story telling for those game and matches.
Joana de Castro Arnaud
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@willowwren @funkula Someone must organize the matches; then, someone under that one would roughly script the spectacle.
The equivalent of "future-endeavoured" would be one of "freed" or "dead".
hazelnot
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Ancient Roman D&D!!!
Dvngeonvm et Dragonvm
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Robert George đłđđčđđ„đđ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •I only know about a stone one from Egypt with Greek letters, which is currently at The Met: metmuseum.org/art/collection/sâŠ
Twenty-sided die (icosahedron) with faces inscribed with Greek letters | Ptolemaic PeriodâRoman Period | The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of ArtRadio Free Trumpistan likes this.
Radio Free Trumpistan reshared this.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to Robert George đłđđčđđ„đđ • • •@rrgeorge
I'm trying to track it down. I've seen another example, but not in as good condition. The sources I can find are a little mid:
mymodernmet.com/roman-20-sidedâŠ
One claimed it's at "Musee Louvre"
Explore These Ancient Roman Unique 20-Sided Icosahedron Dice
Madeleine Muzdakis (My Modern Met)Radio Free Trumpistan likes this.
Radio Free Trumpistan reshared this.
Katzentratschen
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Yes, it's at the Louvre.
collections.louvre.fr/ark:/533âŠ
Also found a drawing of its sides (its net) in this blog post:
archimedes-lab.org/2021/07/15/âŠ
dé
Musée du LouvreRen
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
in reply to Ren • • •@rogueren
There are a few etsy sellers who make reproductions of various kinds, some from crystal, some in resin ... the later more affordable.
Radio Free Trumpistan likes this.
Radio Free Trumpistan reshared this.
potpie
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist reshared this.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to potpie • • •This is damning.
Might as well have a bunch of character sheets with all the stats in Roman numerals.
"The front face of the tower bears the words: PICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LVDITE SECVRI
When read as a sentence reads "The Picts are defeated, the enemies destroyed, play with confidence"
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
myrmepropagandist
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@potpie
The "Picts" were a bunch of LARPers IMO
Random Geek
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •David Nash
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@potpie
The legionaries approach the strange tower.
It intones, in a low, but indisputably *mocking*, voice:
âPICTOS VICTOS HOSTIS DELETA LVDITE SECVRIâ
The legionaries are genuinely astonished when the defeated Pictish army emerges from thin air, an army of angry specters.
They speak, in flawless Latin, and tell the astonished legionaries they are definitely not defeated. The last thing the terrified legionaries hear, before the Pictish army overruns them, is:
âRomani ite domum!â
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Alexander The 1st
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@potpie Brutus: "What's your THACI?"
Julius: "...Why do you want to know?"
Brutus: "No particular reason. Anyways, how many daggers can I buy with 70 salt packs? If I can get 60 to 70 daggers, that'd be great."
Pompey: "That'll net you roughly 23 daggers."
Robin Barton
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Alex Spehr
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Lazarou Monkey Terror đđđ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist
Unknown parent • • •@celeste_42bit @rrgeorge
So annoying. There are people who make stone dice to this day. It's not a "deep" process, but can be time-consuming for harder stone.
But with something like soap stone it's almost trivial.
1. Mill a sphere
2. Divide it to find the centers of faces.
Turn and flatten forever.
myrmepropagandist reshared this.
Ted
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Mike
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Radio Free Trumpistan likes this.
zaunkoenig
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •CrcordrayđšđŠ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •AlgoCompSynth by znmeb đșđŠ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist reshared this.
đČ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •There are a bunch of archaeological objects that look like games that archaeologists argue are for religious or other purposes. The Jiroft culture game boards, or the plausible Mancala boards found in various locations dating back to 3-6000bce.
In a similar, modern twist, tarot cards were originally a game and only fairly recently became predominantly associated with fortune telling.
Greg Burns
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •myrmepropagandist reshared this.
đ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Karen Strickholm
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •đšđŠđ©đȘđšđłćŒ æźżæđšđłđ©đȘđšđŠ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •There's also Chinese d18s, d14s, and d12s from the ancient periods.
Used for games.
Rauli HĂ€yrynen çŒ
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Voynich Manuscript
xkcdLuigi
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Jens FinkhĂ€user
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •stfn
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Feral Strumpet
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Klaus Frank
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •Frederic
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •lertsenem
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •â I don't know Gaius, roll an insight check.
â
â Well, Brutus is your beloved son and he does seem trustworthy.
â Okay, I guess I enter the Senate then.
Klaus Stein
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •@dieeinelms
Howard Chu @ Symas
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •regenera
in reply to myrmepropagandist • • •REVIEW: Lectures on the Icosahedron and the Solution of the Fifth Degree, by Felix Klein
John Psmith (Mr. and Mrs. Psmithâs Bookshelf)