My two gaming acquaintances I'll call Spike and Jason. We were rolling percentile dice to determine who goes first in a multiplayer game. I don't remember what game because we never actually played it. 

Spike rolls a 30 and a 9. He says, "I got a 39".

I roll a 20 and a 4 and announce, "24".

Jason rolls 00 and 7. He shouts, "Hot DAMN! I got a 107!!!"

I look at him confused but Spike is just nodding like he's ready to begin.

Me: "That's a 7."

Jason: "No, if you roll double zero that's a hundred. 100 7 is 107."

Me: "Triple zero is a hundred, but only for TRIPLE zeros, anything else paired with the 00 is less than ten."

Spike: "Let me explain" He takes the tens die and starts turning the faces as he reads the values, "80 is eighty, 90 is ninety, and 00 is a hundred."

Me: (thinking they're trolling me at this point) "Percentile die go from 1-100%. They can't go above 100."

​

They both stare at me like Limmy.

​

Jason: "But double zero is a hundred."

Me: "Triple zero is a hundred."

Jason: "You just want to go first!" 

Me: "Spike beat my roll. I'm not going first regardless. I just want to make sure you understand how percentile die work before we begin."

Spike: "You CAN go above a hundred, I know because I play D&D. Anything above a hundred is a crit."

​

lolwut? I'm shaking my head

​

Jason: "Alright, smartass. How can double-zero be below 10 AND above 99?"

Me: "You know how when you play poker and the Ace can have 2 values? A 5-high straight has an Ace in the 1 slot, and an Ace high straight is above a king. The double zero is like that. A double zero and a single zero represents 100%. You can't roll above 100."

A few agitating moments tick by before I think of a good counterpoint.

Me: "If double-zero and 7 make 107, then what combination of these two dice makes 7?"

​

This question is met with silence. Spike is staring at the dice in his hands rotating them like a combination lock. His mental RAM has reached capacity and I can see the pinwheel spinning in his head. He looks like he's on the cusp of understanding. Jason looks like he's ready to argue more. 

​

Me: "Figure it out while I go pee." I get up from the table, "I'll go with whatever you decide when I get back."

​

I was hoping that Spike would have a moment of revelation and we could at least have a complex 2/3rd majority on how to interpret dice rules. DICE RULES JERRY! We haven't even started the game and we've wasted 10 minutes arguing over dice. When I get back from the toilets, Spike has dumped his dice bag out on the table and they're counting out d6s.

​

Me: "What is this?"

Spike: "We figured out a solution!"

Jason: "We're gonna use sixteen 6-sided die and one 4-sided die! It totals 100."

Me: "...really?..."

Them: "YES! It will take longer than percentile die, but we just have to add them up."

Me: "The percentile distribution will be skewed."

Them:...

Me: "...also, how do you roll any value under 17?"

Them: ...

Me: "I quit, I'm out."