Kdjykuj

I'm planning an encounter with the owner of a hotel casino who loads his dice, and for this encounter only I want my players to use special dice to roll poorly. If there is no website to purchase these from or a method to load my own dice, does anyone have an alternative suggestion to make this encounter have the desired effect?

As you've already mentioned the two most practical ways of doing it (actual loaded dice, which also seems most fun to me, personally), there are two ways that come to mind:

Rig the rules

There is an old notorious coinflip bet: "Heads – I win, tails – You lose". Unless one actually pays attention, this seems like a normal call out, totally fair. But it isn't.

You could devise similarily obfuscated ruleset for whatever game you intend to play in your casino.

Use the normal game mechanics

note: I am not familiar with pathfinder specifics, so take this as a general advice

This would include your standard "unless you beat the croupier's sleight of hand with your perception check, you get a (-3) on your next casino dice roll". This could be a bit dry and mechanical for your intended purpose, but it could be made into something more interesting (e.g. a detective scene: "investigate under the table when no one's looking to discover magnets...").

Loading dice can be fairly easy, if you're good with an oven or tools.

WikiHow article about it.

The two methods you're most likely interested in are:

1. Buy a bunch of extra dice (6 sided work well and fit the casino theme). Place them in sets with low numbers facing up, and carefully bake them to have the side currently down end up heavier than the up-side. Plan to expend some of the dice with this method, as each die will melt slightly differently and slightly overcooking (or simply being unlucky) will make the dice obviously tampered with.




2. Drill out some or all of the dots on a side opposite a low number. Place an appropriately sized ball bearing into the holes and refill them with super glue. Carve a nice curve after the glue sets and paint in your new groove. This method is more reliable if you have the skill and tools required.

Do you want to keep players in the dark to the fact until the casino game is over? If not, there are more options available. You can make players roll with a disadvantage (roll two dice, choose the lowest result), give them a constant penalty on their rolls or bonus on casino dealer’s ones. if you have access to some tools, just make loaded dice, and make it blatantly obvious that they are loaded.

You can buy loaded dices on some websites, not sure which ones would be available in your country, or you could have them 3D printed.

You can find files for loaded dices on websites like Thingiverse, available for free, and print them for free in many locations (Fablabs, libraries, etc) or for a small fee via one of the many online services and shops that proposes 3D printing.