Editing Zocchihedron

{{Short description|100-sided die invented by Lou Zocchi}}
{{Refimprove|date=October 2008}}
[[Image:Zocchihedron2.jpg|right|thumb|The Zocchihedron is approximately {{convert|1.5|in}} in diameter.]]

'''Zocchihedron''' is the [[trademark]] of a 100-sided [[Dice|die]] invented by [[Lou Zocchi]], which debuted in 1985. Unlike other [[Polyhedron|polyhedral]] dice, it takes the appearance of a ball with 100 flattened spots. It is sometimes called "Zocchi's Golfball".

Zocchihedra are designed to provide percentage rolls in [[game]]s, particularly in [[role-playing game]]s. It is an alternative to the [[Dice#Percentile dice|percentile dice]], which is used in conjunction with the [[Pentagonal_trapezohedron#10-sided_dice|d10 dice]].<ref>https://rpggeek.com/blog/1051/blogpost/38414/interview-with-lou-zocchi-the-first-dice-idea-i-wa</ref>

==History==
{{unreferenced section|date=March 2024}}
It took three years for Zocchi to design his die, and three more years to get it into production. Since its introduction, Zocchi has improved the design of the Zocchihedron, filling it with teardrop-shaped free-falling weights to make it settle more swiftly when rolled.

The Zocchihedron II is a further improved model, and has another filler.

==Probability distribution of rolls==
A test published in [[White Dwarf (magazine)|''White Dwarf'' magazine]] concluded that the frequency distribution of the Zocchihedron was substantially uneven. Jason Mills noticed that some numbers were spaced closer together than others, and suspected that this non-uniform placement would cause some numbers to predictably come up more than others. Mills performed 5,164 rolls and the results confirmed these suspicions; some numbers came up significantly more than others. Most notably, rolls of more than 93 or less than 8 were significantly rarer than middling results. Not coincidentally, these numbers were all spaced closer together near the "poles" of the die, as opposed to numbers near the "equator" that are more widely spaced.<ref>White Dwarf 85, January 1987 [http://freakytrigger.co.uk/sport/2006/05/we-are-all-goblins-now/ Text of letter and photo of graph at FreakyTrigger.co.uk]</ref>

After the test was published, the numbering on the Zocchihedron was redesigned with higher and lower numbers placed more evenly across all parts of the die. While numbers spaced closely together near the "poles" still come up less often, the numbers that are placed in these areas are more evenly distributed between 1 and 100, instead of consisting mainly of very high and very low numbers.

==Patents==
The aesthetic appearance of the Zocchihedron was protected by United States [[design patent]] D303,553,<ref name="US Patent D303553">[https://web.archive.org/web/20190702104526/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/D303553 United States Patent: D303553 (Patent Full Text and Image Database)]</ref> which expired on 19 September 2003. The original patent did not include mention of any internal braking mechanism.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.skullsplitterdice.com/d100Patent|title=D100 Patent|website=SkullSplitter Dice|access-date=2019-08-19}}</ref> There was never a [[patent|utility patent]] for the original Zocchihedron, although United States patent 6,926,276<ref name="US Patent 6926276">[https://archive.today/20120715145825/http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect2=PTO1&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/PTO/search-bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PALL&RefSrch=yes&Query=PN/6926276 United States Patent: 6926276 (Patent Full Text and Image Database)]</ref> may protect the braking mechanism of the Zocchihedron II. That patent will expire on 9 August 2025 and applies only to "spherical dice" containing "multi sized and irregularly shaped particles".

==Notes==
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[[Category:Dice]]
[[Category:1985 introductions]]