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Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, page 141 says the following (emphasis mine):

Common in-game limits include - but are not limited to - [...]
Common out-of-game limits include unwanted physical contact, dice-sharing, dice-throwing, shouting, vulgarity, [...].

All of these make sense to me, except for dice sharing. What are the objective issues to dice sharing? Why would people find dice sharing offensive? What about it would be offensive? Would it be forcing a player to use your dice, or forcing a player to share their dice? Or would it just be someone would be offended by you sharing your dice with someone?

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    \$\begingroup\$ I agree with @SeriousBri. If this were rephrased to something like "What are objective issues with sharing dice?", I think the question would be permissible, as it would enable answers such as "I don't share dice, because I've had <this> bad experience with doing so in the past", which would make it rely on experience and not opinions. That being said, the title of this question also enables these answers, but the body is asking for opinions. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 16, 2021 at 16:40
  • \$\begingroup\$ @PixelMaster is that what you had in mind? \$\endgroup\$ Jan 17, 2021 at 0:05
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    \$\begingroup\$ Adding the word objective to this doesn’t make it any less opinion based. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 17, 2021 at 1:21
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    \$\begingroup\$ @ThomasMarkov: It's different from person to person (or table), but that doesn't necessarily make it opinion based. e.g. "what were the top 5 baby names of 2020" has a 100% objective answer. Without actual survey data being available, it's harder to answer a still somewhat objective question like "for players that don't want to share dice, what are the top 5 reasons they cite" (which is a slightly different question from this). If data is impossible to ever obtain, you could argue that only opinion is left, and IMO this question is in a bit of a grey area. I think it's interesting. \$\endgroup\$ Jan 17, 2021 at 1:46
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    \$\begingroup\$ Especially seeing as this has been reopened Imma hold my doubts until I see the answers it attains. I'll leave a reminder that comments are not for (partial) answers, if you can perceive a reason not addressed by an answer, post it as one or suggest it as an addition to it. Also to answers and voters, I'll leave a link to: What are the citation expectations of answers on RPG Stack Exchange? \$\endgroup\$
    – Someone_Evil
    Jan 17, 2021 at 2:05

1 Answer 1

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Various Reasons

The reasons people have expressed for offense about dice sharing are varied and often personal. Common (three or more instances) reasons I have heard are:

  • Dice luck: the superstitious belief that using other players' dice, or allowing others to use your dice, causes those dice to roll poorly.
  • Dice loss: the players borrowing dice do not properly care for or keep track of the borrowed property.
  • Power Play: borrowing dice from others is a kind of social dominance move, a kind of bullying, especially if the lenders are not enthusiastic or trusting of the borrowers.
  • Time Concern: in the rare case of "not enough dice", passing the dice around takes a surprising amount of time and can disrupt the narrative flow of a session.

There have been a dozen or so other reasons given but those were rare enough that they were probably personal opinions rather than common reasons.

Bonus answer: It probably made the list because it seems to be a relatively common concern - around 40% of the 300+ players that I have personally gamed with have expressed a similar issue. Not a majority frustration but common, and severe, enough to justify inclusion.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Also, gems. And it's a bit rude to expect others to regularly make up for your carelessness or indifference (not so much if it happens once or twice, but if it's happens frequently). It would be like going to play some sport and expecting to borrow the basic equipment. \$\endgroup\$
    – NotThatGuy
    Jan 17, 2021 at 18:08
  • \$\begingroup\$ @NotThatGuy Not sure what you mean by "gems" - possibly covered by the Dice Loss reason. The courtesy stuff is an aspect of Power Play, and I've only had two people bring it up out of my sample. \$\endgroup\$
    – ValhallaGH
    Jan 17, 2021 at 18:38
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    \$\begingroup\$ Whoops, I meant "germs". \$\endgroup\$
    – NotThatGuy
    Jan 17, 2021 at 18:53
  • \$\begingroup\$ @ValhallaGH I disagree that all forms of borrowing dice due to carelessness are attempts at gaining social dominance or bullying. There are people who are careless and forgetful enough to consistently forget their own dice, and who expect to be able to borrow some from another player at the game, without it being a deliberate play on their part to lord it over others. \$\endgroup\$
    – GMJoe
    Jan 17, 2021 at 20:11

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