d4s need more love. They're delightful, solid dice and the best way to generate probabilities in 25% intervals. Yet they seem to be everyone's least favorite dice for two main reasons:
1) They're stabby,
This is a feature, not a bug.
2) They don't roll well.
I won't deny it. The d4's combo of acutely-angled edges and a low center of gravity prevents it from tumbling nicely when thrown in a normal roll, so you end up with that disappointing flop-slide we're all familiar with. The way to avoid that is to modify how you throw them.
A traditional dice roll is a low-angle throw that relies on the die's momentum and friction with the table surface to make it tumble and randomize. Works great for d6s and the rounder dice like d12s and d30s, but not for the elegantly stable shape of the d4. Instead of relying on a roll across the table, you need to make them bounce and tumble to get randomized before they hit the table.
You can do that by using a dice cup or tower, but the easiest way to do it is just shake the dice in your cupped hands to get some randomization, then throw them in an arc up instead of the normal straight-line toss. Your goal is to have the dice tumble in the air, then hit the table at as close to a 90 degree angle as possible so they bounce. You could even just drop them if you did a thorough shake first.
It works great. Try it. Do a few practice throws right now.
See? It's satisfying.
Now go and have fun with your d4s. Teach others what you've learned and maybe one day we'll live in a world where the d4 is only criticized for being stabby. (Because they are and always will be.)
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