Explaining the why behind dicefrom @craighillcompany

Transcript

Reason that the small dots on the face of each die, which are commonly known as pips, are inset and then filled with ink is because if they were just printed on the surface, like type printed on a page, the normal use of that die would slowly wear away at the mark and eventually you wouldn't know which best of the die corresponded to which number. This construction essentially prevents the printed mark from ever touching the surface you're rolling on, so it's never gonna actively wear away. And even if time does wear away, the ink the physical depression still remains to denote the number on the face of the tier. There are ivory die from five fifty two BC that still have the physical depression of each pip on each face. You'll also notice on these ancient die that the specific graphic layout on each face no largely unchanged. The pip's not just a durable mark, but it's actually also the most universal and ancient way they represent a number. The beauty of the pips does not require any literacy. They are all units that you just have to count up. On top of that, as you add more pips, they're arranged in a way to maintain the maximum level of rotational symmetry. So anybody sitting around the table can just as easily quickly read what number is on the die. I truly believe that it's the most universal and also beautiful method of representing a number. Thankfully, hips are not confined only to the face of die.