slightly sentient – A new touch-driven d20 prototype doesn’t just generate random tabletop results. It appears to “respond” to streaks—getting cranky after sequences of natural 1s and brightening after runs of natural 20s—sometimes ignoring inputs or silently re-rolling into diff
A twenty-sided die that’s supposed to stay neutral doesn’t always look neutral once you start rolling.
In the build shared by its maker. the d20 is a touch-sensitive PCB that animates a roll and lights up twenty small charlieplexed LEDs around its perimeter—one LED for each possible result from 1 to 20. To trigger it, you touch a center pad. The device then delivers a result like any other tabletop die—until the streaks start to matter.
The prototype is powered by an on-board random number generator, and the behavior described is tied to what the RNG produces. When results come in unusually lucky or unlucky patterns, the die seems to shift its “mood,” and that mood can alter what you actually end up seeing.
After a streak of natural 1s, the die gets cranky. The device begins to ignore the occasional activation input. and it may glitch before a roll—both described as signs of a low mood. In that state. future rolls have a slight chance of being silently discarded and re-rolled into a low range of 1–6. which can stretch an already painful unlucky run.
The inverse exists for good luck. When a dice run includes natural 20s. the mood shifts high. with future results described as having a slight chance of being silently re-rolled into a high range of 16–20. The goal is to create the feeling of streaks—turning luck and misery into something that feels interactive rather than purely random.
The emotional design is the point. Gamers can already project “luck streak” stories onto ordinary dice. but this device acts as a mirror and an amplifier: it responds to the streaks it generates. making those feelings harder to dismiss. Adding another layer. each die is said to act slightly differently because it’s imprinted with different RNG seeds. timing values. and response times—factors that can make separate units feel unique even though they share the same concept.
The creator also hints that there are other hidden features beyond mood-driven roll tweaks.
If you want to make your own version, the maker points to the GitHub repository. The original design elements were heavily personalized for the creator’s gaming group. and the design files are in the process of being turned into a meaningful public release—meaning the “slightly sentient” part may soon move from a private project into something others can try and tinker with.
d20 tabletop gaming random number generator PCB charlieplexed LEDs GitHub game hardware streaks embedded systems
So it cheats in real time? Lol.
I don’t get how a touch pad and LEDs can mess with the randomness. If it’s rerolling secretly that’s just rigged, right? Seems like the maker made a “punish unlucky people” gadget.
Wait it “ignores inputs”?? Like you touch it and it decides to be dramatic and change the roll? This is the kind of stuff that makes me trust dice less even though it’s literally a prototype. Also “mood” after 1s and 20s… I mean isn’t that literally just probability being probability…
My nephew would love this because he always claims the die is haunted, so now there’s a device that agrees with him. But also why would anyone want a die that glitched before the roll? I bet the RNG is the real thing and the LED show is just to distract you. If it rerolls into 1–6 after bad luck then yeah good luck streaks are gonna feel fake too.