Today, we're digging deep with Matías, a lifelong gamer, forever DM, co-director of the Twin Portals Podcast/Live Show on Spotify and iTunes.
Hi Matías! Please tell us what you do for a living.
I'm an ecological engineer for the State of Minnesota. Essentially I lead a team that manages and designs publicly funded conservation projects related to soil, water, and wildlife health in the northeastern part of MN.
How did you get into that line of work?
I worked summers with the Conservation Corps of Minnesota which assigned me to the Soil and Water Conservation District in Duluth as an apprentice. When I finished school, I started full-time as an engineering technician, and one month into my job the region was rocked with the 2012 flood, the most destructive rainstorm in decades. This essentially defined my work for the next several years, learning the practices involved in flood management, stream restoration, and erosion control.
What’s your favorite part of your job?
I love the even split between time outdoors studying, surveying, and implementing projects, and time indoors modeling, designing, planning, and doing the backend work that leads up to conservation being installed on the ground. It feels balanced and there is so much variety in the work around the region that I feel like I'm always learning and stretching my comfort zone.
What advice would you give to people who are interested in having that job?
There is a huge need for conservation professionals worldwide. If you want to feel connected with your local landscape and ecology, I highly recommend a government conservation job. You'll get to know the regional professionals across the different ecological sciences, and spend a lot of time outdoors digging into the details of the natural world around you. There are so many angles to approach this field, you could start by finding things in nature that you're interested in, studying up, and asking around about work that will get you connected with it. There are also many local conservation organizations and government programs that will help you get your foot in the door through volunteering or seasonal work with various agencies. Again, there's a huge need, and it's rewarding work.
When and why did you start DMing, and for what systems?
I've been DMing since I was in elementary school... for myself. I would make up game systems and rules and draw out maps and have stick figures and spaceships wage epic sagas of battle in my notebooks at school, and with my Legos at home. In high school I learned about D&D and DM'd a bit for friends in D&D 3E and 3.5E, but it wasn't until my 20s that I really began DMing consistently for a wide circle of friends, in Pathfinder and D&D 5E. After leaving engineering school I became extremely involved in regional theater acting and improv (a yin and yang thing with engineering I think) which brought me in touch with all kinds of wonderful nerdy people, many of us realized we were fans of D&D, and we were naturally inclined to making up characters and letting our imaginations run wild. So, we were quickly off to the Forgotten Realms. Now that I'm a parent, I barely have time for theater outside of improv (which rehearses less frequently), so TTRPGs and Twin Portals are my main creative outlets.
How often do you DM now?
I'm a part of a handful of home games that I get to DM for once or twice monthly, and I DM a session for our Twin Portals podcast and live show every month. I also run a long-standing West-Marches-style game for anyone on our discord server looking to play, and I occasionally do paid events with Tales & Taverns and Heroes B&B as well as volunteer DM events around the community.
What is your favorite part of DMing?
It's such a rush. I love the sense of connection between the DM and the players at the table. Your job is to listen to everyone, and invite everyone to listen to you, and people get so excited and put so much feeling into playing the game and feeding each other's imagination, it's incredible to experience and be a part of. As a dad of two young kids, on a more basic level, I also appreciate that it's a thing I can offer for my friends that brings us all together face-to-face regularly.
Can you tell us your best memory from the table?
There are way too many to choose from. One that popped into my head immediately was the first time I had a player die during a live show, to an audience of 40-50. It was completely unexpected for me and for the player, the unfortunate result of a high roll on a disintegration ray. A moment after it happened as the audience and players recovered in stunned silence, I instinctively, quietly told my dead friend, "I love you buddy", and they immediately replied, "I love you too", and it was very low key but immediately brought me back into the game and reminded me just how joyful this is, through all of the highs and lows.
Do any skills you use for your day job help you when you DM?
I do a lot of work with streams, rivers, culverts, and bridges, so the sewers and underground rivers that my PCs explore in urban settings are always very detailed with a clear explanation for why water is flowing where it's flowing. There are some incredibly detailed maps of the Waterdeep sewer system out there, by the way. I also work a lot in CAD and other mapping software, which translates well to sketching out adventures on maps at home. Generally speaking, the science of ecology is the science of world-building and how everything is interconnected, so there are a lot of parallels that feed into session prep and running the game.
Can you please tell us about the live performances of your podcast, and what the process was like to gain artistic grants for it from the state of Minnesota?
Twin Portals records live episodes every quarter at the Teatro Zuccone in downtown Duluth, MN. We have a steady crowd of friends and gamers who come out to cheer us on and laugh through our antics while we play through our long-running campaign live on stage (up to episode 52 at the time of writing). Our cast are all veteran theater and improv performers, so the show has the atmosphere of a home D&D game while also unraveling a tight, entertaining, and hopefully inspiring thread of adventure and comedy. After each show we hang out and talk shop with other fans of TTRPGs, and we have a very active discord server ( https://discord.gg/aGQvvv3FmS ) where we talk about the game and all things geeky every day. My co-director Scott, who also edits each episode and manages our equipment, has done almost all of the grant application work, and in short we're very lucky to have a variety of supportive programs for artists in Minnesota. A few of our cast members have a lot of grant writing experience, so by our powers combined and by Scott's amazing hard work we've been incredibly fortunate to receive a few grants to expand our hardware and software tools, rent stage space, and pay our cast and technical help.
What advice or house rules would you share with new DMs?
Well this is the kind of thing I could go on about all day (and often do on our discord). Some bullets:
Today, we're dealing with a whole other type of click clack as we interview Sam Ferrell, who is not only my little brother, he's also a software engineer! Sam has been developing a VTT (virtual tabletop) that can be found at ogres.app.
He wants me remind you that it's still in major development, but I think it's already pretty dang good.
Today, we're dealing with a whole other type of click clack as we interview Sam Ferrell, who is not only my little brother, he's also a software engineer! Sam has been developing a VTT (virtual tabletop) that can be found at ogres.app.
He wants me remind you that it's still in major development, but I think it's already pretty dang good.
Right now I'm helping electric grid operators meet their energy capacity needs by carefully optimizing the use of thousands of devices like thermostats and water heaters simultaneously. When I'm not working, I'm usually playing games or rock climbing.
Working with smart people to effectively solve our customers' problems.
I got into programming because I wanted to create custom versions of the video games I enjoyed playing as a kid. The strategy game Warcraft 3 had a map editor that exposed advanced customization options for people who learned its scripting language. I kept developing more hobbyist things in my free time then realized I could put that new skill to lucrative use.
Software is a wide field and goes very deep. Learn a wide breadth of things and go deep on a few things you find especially interesting. Those deep topics tend to define how you're able to market yourself to the industry.
Since being introduced to Dungeons & Dragons 5E by my sister a few years ago, I wanted to create compelling worlds that people would be dying to return to every week. Playing a character is great, but shaping a world from the ground up scratches a different itch entirely. So far I've only run games for DND 5E but hope to explore others eventually.
Once every Sunday for about 3-4 hours per session I run Curse of Strahd (5th Edition) for 5 other players. This has been the first time I've DM'd for a big campaign and I'm only about a dozen sessions in. Before that, I've run about half a dozen one shots for D&D 5th Edition. So far it has been great! I really like the open-ended nature of the adventure, the tone of the setting, and how my players have leaned into the gothic horror nature of it all.
Watching as players become invested in their characters and really feel like they have full agency of their adventure.
One of my favorite memories is when a player was able to placate an aggressive shambling flesh mound by creating an illusion of someone it cherished before it was a monstrous meat mountain. She connected the dots of several story elements provided in the dungeon and put it to good use to resolve an otherwise horribly difficult encounter.
I put my skills to use quite literally because I developed my own light-weight virtual tabletop from the ground up to help run my games' encounters. (you can find said VTT at ogres.app) Besides that, collaborating with people with diverse skills and different ways of working is something important in both software and tabletop games.
Lean into your players’ intuitions about the world.
Prepare to improvise.
So, Joanie, what were you doing before Dice Envy buried you in boxes of dice?
What does a typical day at Dice Envy look like for you?
That sounds like a lot! What do you do to decompress?
Concerts? Sweet! What sort of stuff do you listen to?
You mentioned WoW and Baldur's Gate, how have they helped shape your expectations of D&D?
Office campaign? Awesome! Tell us more about that...
Finally, the question we just have to ask, what's your favorite dice set!?
Our dear friend Adam Werth is here to give you his version of what it's like to work in the movies!
You can find Adam on Instagram at @awwerth and keep up with his latest projects at www.awwerth.com.
]]>You can find Adam on Instagram at @awwerth and keep up with his latest projects at www.awwerth.com.
I am a Director, Writer, and 1st Assistant Director in film, television, and commercials. I am also a stay at home dad when I am not on set.
The dad part? Well, when a man meets a woman...
Oh. I was a child actor in local theater and commercials in the Toledo, Ohio area growing up. That got me hooked on telling stories. When I was in high school I had a project to make a trailer for a book. I chose Cujo. I fell in love with being behind the camera. I took the opportunity to make as many videos as I could. I went to film school at Grand Valley State University where I learned not only how to make films, but the critical role of each department. I came to LA and started working as a Production Assistant and Assistant Director. After a decade of hard work, I am now privileged to be writing and directing feature films. Though I work on mostly low budget horror movies, I am excited to have both a sci-fi thriller and a medieval action adventure movie coming out soon.
I love being able to tell stories. I grew up in a fairly economically depressed city. Movies, sports, theater, museums and games all helped people forget about their problems, even if for just a little bit. Having the ability to temporarily help people escape their worries through storytelling drives me.
Make sure it is something you love and save your money. The film industry is not glamorous. The hours are long and often the work conditions are not ideal. You will be turned down as often as, if not more than, you will be hired. Save what you can so if you hit a rough patch you will be okay. You never know what people are going through or what the future holds. Don't be a jerk!
The first time I DM'd was around 2001 or 2002. It was on the Star Wars Role Playing Game. I have always been a giant Star Wars nerd. My friends and I used to have massive lightsaber fights in our yards once it was dark enough to see the lights. I was a latecomer to D&D. I had played many other systems before finally relenting. Now I wish I hadn't been a jerk to the people who tried to get me to play in the 8th grade.
About once or twice a month. During the height of the pandemic it was once or twice a week.
I love to be with friends and tell stories and build characters. I also love to try and reward players for coming up with fun backstories.
I was running an Old West game for a few years. In one session, the party was in a fight with one of the main bad guys, a gunfighter who had turned himself into a trickster god. The goblin gunslinger (this was the player's first campaign), who had previously worked with the bad guy, tried to stop the fight by calling on their previous bond. He rolled a natural 20 on the persuasion roll with a 4 on the guidance roll. I was so proud of the player. They had always been a shoot first kind of player and after that they started to really lean into the roleplaying aspect of the game.
Absolutely. I like to homebrew campaigns, which draws on my writing skills. Sometimes I test movie plot lines within campaigns. Directing and Assistant Directing are both similar to DMing in different ways. As a Director, I oversee lots of moving pieces to help an overarching story come together. As a DM, I keep track of what the player characters and NPCs are doing, how all of these actions affect the world around them, how the other storylines are progressing even when the players aren't paying attention to them, etc. As an AD I am trying to help a bunch of creatives tell their story in a timely, safe, and exciting way. If that isn't a DM I don't know what is.
I love to let players perform cantrips as a reaction at the cost of a level 1 spell slot. It can add a little extra frantic aspect to some fights and traps. My favorite of these moments was a cleric using guidance to help the rogue avoid blowing himself up when he didn't bother to check if the door of an "abandoned" warehouse was trapped.
]]>The name Dice Envy actually came from a friend at one of our games. I brought out a new set of pretty dice and he was in awe. He said as an aside that he had “dice envy”. I really liked that turn of phrase, so I leaned into it because I wanted our dice to always give people that feeling of, well, envy.
Fresh out of grad school I wanted to marry my then-girlfriend. I knew I couldn’t afford that, so I started looking into picking up side jobs. My day job was hour-intensive so rather than applying for another hourly gig, I knew I needed to sell something. I figured, if I have to do retail, it might as well be a product that I love. The timing was also very important: I was fortunate enough to start just as 5th Edition D&D started gaining traction. The company grew up alongside that success.
Year 2 (2019) - We expanded our convention schedule, and started attending larger conventions. I got married, moved, and the company moved from my bedroom to the spare room. I hired some of my friends, Ian and Dylan, to help with designs, order fulfillment, and customer service. I met Aabria, who would become so important to our company, and hired her to handle marketing for us. By the end of the year we had become too big for my spare room, and Dice Envy needed to move out of my apartment and into its own office.
Year 3 (2020) - A friend of mine who is a pastor rented us an old Sunday school room to run the business out of. We moved into it shortly before my first child was born. I took some time off for paternity leave and left Dice Envy in Aabria’s very capable hands, which was going great until the world fell apart due to COVID
We had to pull back from all our conventions. Everyone stayed at home and D&D went mostly online. Fortunately for us, people still wanted to buy dice, and we were so grateful for the community’s support during what was a very scary and unstable time. We were able to work from home, and arranged our schedules so there would be no overlap in the office as orders were fulfilled. I had to move out of town to take care of family, and the twins began streaming on Dice Envy’s Twitch channel, which helped grow our audience. That’s how we met Maria, who kept winning our dice-naming contests.
Year 4 and beyond (2021-Present) - Rebuilding from the pandemic. Conventions came back, we outgrew the Sunday school room, had to get a real office, and hired Maria. Aabria’s D&D career took off and she had to step away from Dice Envy. We hired Rach, a designer and Dungeon Master friend of mine, who does dice artwork and handles our newsletter and social media. I was able to move back to Los Angeles, and we released our first Advent Calendar in 2022, which sold almost too well, leading to us hiring Joanie, who is a huge help with the increased order volume, and a rockstar at conventions. In 2023, we released the first of our exclusive metal sets (designed in-house), and we have more on the way.]]>
Maria has only been at Dice Envy for two years, but she’s been an important part of turning this little-company-that-can into a smoother running ship. We literally didn't have running water until she showed up. Seriously.
Maria takes care of all of the icky paperwork, develops copy for our dice, and leads the charge on our partnership and collaboration initiatives. It's fair to say we'd be lost without her!
During the pandemic I injured my leg, so I was extra stuck inside, very isolated, and started doing the thing a lot of folks were where I was looking up old friends, reconnecting, all that good stuff. My friend Aabria (who I knew from a shadow cast back when I first moved to LA) was working at Dice Envy, and she tweeted something about their Twitch streams. I popped in, won the first impromptu dice naming competition, and just kept coming back to do more of them (with an honestly pretty unfair success rate).
This was around the time Aabria was gearing up and getting super busy, let’s say the spring before the Summer of Aabria. She wasn’t able to put as much time into doing dice copy and marketing any more, so I guess Dave asked her if I was a good candidate to fill in for her. I got a job offer, did a Zoom interview, and, once the vaccines were all taken care of and we reopened in-office work, I started officially at Dice Envy.
No, I definitely came along much later than that! They had moved out of the apartment, into a room they were renting from a church, and then out of the church and into our current office before I started. But it was early days for the new location– when I started working, it sort of looked like a prison mailing room– no kitchen, about half as many shelves as we needed, lots of piles of boxes only loosely organized.
We’ve come a long way!
I’ve been playing TTRPGs off and on for years– a side effect of my time working renaissance faires for a living– and had been in a long running home game of D&D for about five years before I started harassing the twins on Twitch. I was on the latest season of Tempus Multae, from Pseudonym Social, where I played Millie. But I will say I didn’t become much of a dice goblin until I started winning free dice from Dice Envy by naming them. It was a very steep downhill slope, though, and I ended up realizing I needed to take the dice job so I could quit spending all the money from my other work on dice.
I think my first really big project was the Advent Calendars, which we started last year. It was a sort of last-minute idea, and our first time doing it, so the version coming out this year will hopefully be more developed and even better– we’re working on getting stuff ordered now, so keep an eye out for those come the holiday season!
And! We recently did our first big collaboration, with "Adventure is Nigh!", which was my first chance to do something I want to get Dice Envy doing more of, which is partnering with and working with creators in the space to make unique and custom dice sets for their merch lines.
As far as upcoming stuff, there are a couple of things– we’re playing a lot with the idea of what sorts of fun packaging we can create that will add value and be thematically appropriate for some of our sets. I’ve also done a fair amount of idea pitching to our designers, Dylan and Rach, for themes for new metal sets, but that might take a minute before they come out– that’s a long process.
I go in at the same time as everyone else, and help fulfill online orders. I know how to run the whole system on my own (and have had to once or twice thanks to scheduling, illness, or conventions) but usually it’s a team of 3 or 4 of us doing fulfillment.
Ian usually does the pulling (grabbing all of the stuff for an order), and then he sets it up for us to package everything in boxes to go to the post office.
After that’s sorted, several hours later, I grab one of every new dice set that has come in, to take home for naming and copy writing.
I’m also very much the designated adult in the office, so I take care of filing our taxes and keeping us up to date with our business requirements. Not the most glamorous or exciting work, but someone’s gotta do it.
From there, it’s a lot of emails. I’m the point-person for client liaisons, and I work with our suppliers from time to time on orders. I’m also the person in charge of scheduling deliveries and making sure someone is there when shipments of new dice arrive. Again, not as much fantasy and whimsy as one might like in a D&D-based job, but I play to my strengths.
I also do some community outreach stuff, attend events when I can (separate from conventions, which isn’t my department), and I often carry a big metal briefcase to give out free sets of dice when it’s appropriate.
You might see me around at various Los Angeles D&D events, and I’m often at Guildhall in Burbank, which is sort of my socializing home base. Be sure and say hi if you happen to cross paths with me! Even if I don’t have giveaways on me, I’m always happy to meet new folks.
]]>Presenting: Liar's Dice, a game of chance and deception played by pirates, most notably by the crew of lost souls serving on Davy Jones' ship the Flying Dutchman.
Grab some d6s, some cups, and some friends (or just hold the players at your table hostage)!
]]>Presenting: Liar's Dice, a game of chance and deception played by pirates, most notably by the crew of lost souls serving on Davy Jones' ship the Flying Dutchman.
Grab some d6s, some cups, and some friends (or just hold the players at your table hostage)!
Every player puts five d6s in their cup, shakes it up, and slams it down to create a hidden "hand" of dice.
After sneaking a peek at their hand, the first player bids, which goes something like this:
The turn passes clockwise to the next player, who has the chance to either raise or challenge the previous bid.
A raise can be either in face value or quantity:
or maybe
The other option, to challenge, puts the original bidder on defense:
If a challenge is made, all cups are lifted and the dice are revealed. If the original bidder was correct in their claim (at least as many of the face value are showing as were bid), the bidder wins and the challenger loses. Otherwise, the challenger wins and the bidder loses.
The player who loses a round walks the plank and loses one of their dice. The loser of the last round starts the bidding on the next round and the game continues until only one player has any dice remaining.
There are plenty of additional variations and modifications available online; you can break this one out the next time you and your table are three sheets to the wind.
]]>We are honored to have with us today the interview responses from the very talented DM of "Faster, Purple Worm, Kill! Kill!"
Give us just a moment, we need to politely excuse ourselves, shut the door behind us, and squeal with an embarrassing level of delight.
]]>We are honored to have with us today the interview responses from the very talented DM of "Faster, Purple Worm, Kill! Kill!"
Give us just a moment, we need to politely excuse ourselves, shut the door behind us, and squeal with an embarrassing level of delight.
I’m Jon Ciccolini, part-owner of Beadle & Grimm’s and I’ve been trying to improve my DMing since I first picked up the rulebooks for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons in the 1980s.
My friends and I pitched a “Platinum Edition” concept to Wizards of the Coast, including actually producing a real demo box, shortly after their Stream of Many Eyes in 2018.
The pitch was to create a product that helped DMs that had very little time, but some discretionary income, with preparation for an elevated table experience. Making the DM’s job easier is a north star for us.
Working with writers, illustrators, cartographers, and designers and watching our collaborative concepts come to life. I have the privilege to work with such incredibly talented artists. Also, DMing on Faster, Purple Worm! Kill! Kill! was an absolute blast.
Create something that fuels you creatively. Always keep quality as your top priority. Be patient. I contributed to Beadle & Grimm’s as a side gig for years, working late nights and weekends, before we made enough money for me to quit my full-time day job. It takes time, but if you focus on quality, and what you love, good things will happen.
I started DMing as soon as my older brother introduced me to Advanced D&D in grade school. I was awful, and made every beginning DM mistake, and despite that, we couldn’t get enough of RPGs. The full package of collaborative storytelling, art that fired the imagination, escapism, and tactical gameplay kept me hooked throughout high school and then again when I started playing again in my mid-20s. I primarily ran D&D, but also mixed in a game called Villains & Vigilantes, which was a superhero game.
Not nearly as often as I would like. I have several ongoing games, with some meeting more regularly than others, but I’d say about 4x month. Maybe when my daughter gets old enough to appreciate RPGs that will increase.
The reactions of players after a surprising or well thought out story beat. I love generous players - players that invest in the story and have big, emotional reactions to events/moments that collaboratively happen. I try to be that kind of player when I’m not DMing. Also, I was an actor for much of my life, so I love roleplaying a wide variety of NPCs and monsters.
There are too many, but I can say the best memories always happen when there’s a confluence of a strong story, players committed to their characters and the stakes of the story, and a collaboratively built freedom to be yourself and express at the table.
You bet. I’m constantly reading adventures from the best in the business as part of my work. Just like anything in life, if you want to be good at something spend as much time as you can studying the masters.
DM with a “Yes, and…” mentality, meaning avoid the DM as antagonist role and embrace the role of creating story opportunities for your players to have fun and shine. This doesn’t mean you eliminate the prospect of danger or failure - the stakes should be real and the players should feel like their actions have consequences - but the players should feel like they’re trying to prevail against the in-story challenges, not the DM. Keep the story moving - don’t get too bogged down in mundane details (encumbrance anyone?) or unnecessary skill checks (“make a Perception check to see if you spot the thing that's right there.”). Be kind to yourself. You’ll make mistakes, and y’know what? Everyone will still have a great time if you make it fun.
Ian is more than just a superhuman inventory management miracle worker; he’s also the guy you talk to when anything and everything goes wrong.
]]>Everyone say hi to Ian!
So Ian, first off, how did you get into the business of counting 90 bajillion tiny items in a single sitting?
Hello! Yes. That part of my life. Before I joined Dice Envy, I worked for the inventory service RGIS (no idea what that stands for, but the internal joke was “Really Good Inventory Service”) as an Inventory Auditor. My job there was to count things quickly and accurately, and I wasn’t the quickest, but I was accurate enough that they would keep me in stores after everyone else left to fix the areas others had messed up.
How long did you work in the big box world before finding the dice niche?
That would be five and a half years, which is a very long time to be riding the monotony train that is Inventory Auditing. Target, CVS, 7-Eleven, Kohl’s, Ulta, et al. So many places all over LA County and sometimes beyond. So much driving. Endless. Hours. Of. Driving.
So what brought you to Dice Envy?
I’ve known David since September 2010, just after moving to LA, one of my first friends out here. I, along with Dylan, had been helping David out with the subscription boxes for a while before either of us was officially hired.
Can you tell us a little about what the early years looked like when Dice Envy was just getting started?
Shoe boxes in an apartment closet. Bad inventory practices. Hard-to-pack shipping envelopes. Watching the entire “Tales from the Neverending Story” show on a DVD set imported from Germany while packing subscriptions. A shorter drive to work. Peaks and valleys. (TftNS is a great show. Starts slow, but by the end, you’re really invested. Highly recommend. Turn off the final episode when it feels like it ends because the Season 2 teaser is terrible).
There has been a series of improvements over the years, but what would you say is the biggest step up from way back then?
For me, it would have to be how we handle inventory management. I’m still working on improving it, but when I first arrived and wasn’t in charge of the inventory, it was not uncommon for us to sell more of a set than what we had in stock. Then I would have to send out a very sad email. I like not doing that so much anymore. To be fair, it still happens, but it’s more of a blue-moon situation these days.
What does your day look like on an average order fulfillment day at the Dice Envy office?
Wake up and immediately grab my phone. I check for any new customer service emails that may impact any current orders. Order cancellation, incorrect addresses, and the like. Eat something, maybe. Dylan drives, and I prep the shipments for the day and begin printing them remotely when I’m done. When we get into the office, I grab the printed orders, separate them, and organize them into piles by difficulty or common items from a new release or recently promoted set. Then I grab each individual order, stack the purchased dice on the label, and lay them on the table in a perfect unbroken grid for the others to pack. Once I run out, we’re usually pretty close to clearing the table, so I don’t have to pack any myself.
What is the wildest return/most puzzlingly damaged order you’ve ever seen?
I’ve got one for each.
Returns:
Back in 2019, we had an order get on the wrong truck/plane/boat several times in a row. It was supposed to go to Brazil, but first it bounced around the United States for a week or so, left via Florida, wound up in Denmark, came back to Florida, went back to Denmark, then came back to us. The second time out, it went straight to Brazil. We’ve had a couple of orders since then go to the wrong continent, but never twice.
Damages:
A fun thing about most Post Offices around the world: they have clear sealable bags to put damaged packages in, so they can get where they’re going in one piece (the piece that’s left). Most of these bags have “sorry” written on them in whatever the primary language of the country is. If you get one of those, the Post Office has messed up. We got one of those returned to us with the package maybe 75% intact and the only readable part of the label being the return address (not the worst I’ve seen). Inside was a metal set where most of the dice were noticeably lopsided, and the d20 had about a fifth of it scraped off of one side. Several of the numbers didn’t exist anymore. If that happens to you, know that your package was eaten by a post office conveyor belt, and you should let me know immediately.
While streaming on the Dice Envy Twitch channel, you became known for your fan-favorite characters and personae, most notably The Ol’ Prospector (recurring) and The Great Maul Winter (from our Honey Heist stream). Where do you pull these weird little guys out of?
The voice of The Great Maul Winter is my approximation of an 80’s wrestler doing a promo, and I have used it for multiple characters (a wrestler name The Boulder and a Gladiator Barbarian name “Crazy” Charlie Killigore come to mind).
The Ol’ Prospector, on the other hand, is a voice I’ve been doing for a very long time. He originated from my impression of the Hermit of the Hills from the “Scooby-doo, Where are You!” Season 2 episode: Jeepers, It’s the Creeper, from 1970. He doesn’t have a big part in the episode, but he made a hell of an impression. My Ol’ Prospector was supposed to have his Dice Envy debut in an ad we were going to film for the long-out-of-production “Eureka!” dice set, which was a clear set with gold flecks. Just the Ol’ Prospector rambling about his gold and how you can’t have it, but we didn’t make the ad. Maybe we will if we ever bring the set back.
Was it TTRPGs that got you started on your lore rich roleplays, or something else?
I’ve always been a creative type. Being a twin, and both of us being that way, we would often, and still do, bound whole-heartedly into bonkers little lore-rich discrete bits when we’re alone. Finding TTRPGs just meant there was a place to expand upon what might have been a little character chuckled about one morning and make them into someone I have to live in for a whole year.
Finally, can you tell us how many jelly beans are in this 32 oz. mason jar?
I can’t see it because this entire conversation has been a questionnaire I’m filling out alone at home. Can you send me a picture of the jar?
Most of us have the bad fortune of not being able to spend our entire waking lives playing TTRPGS, and instead have to go out and work to survive. Welcome to Nice Job, DM! where we interview cool DMs with cool day jobs.
What's cooler than being coal? Being a paleontologist! Today, we interview Trevor Valle, who can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @TattoosAndBones.
]]>Most of us have the bad fortune of not being able to spend our entire waking lives playing TTRPGS, and instead have to go out and work to survive. Welcome to Nice Job, DM! where we interview cool DMs with cool day jobs.
What's cooler than being coal? Being a paleontologist! Today, we interview Trevor Valle, who can be found on Twitter and Instagram as @TattoosAndBones.
Hi! I'm Trevor Valle!
Well, it depends on the day... occasionally it's being a professional DM! But most days, I'm a paleontologist.
When I'm working on a construction site, or out on a field expedition, when a fossil is discovered, I'm the first human to ever see that bone.
When I'm looking at these fossils, at the sediment they're found in, I'm looking back in time, possibly millions or even hundreds of millions of years.
Oh, wow. Well, you certainly have to love it. Natural history museums and such are critically underfunded, so the pay isn't always great, even in the private sector. Work can be sporadic and seasonal.
Today, we're introducing you to Rachel.
Oh hey, that's me!
I'm not as crazy as I look, I promise.
]]>
Today, we're introducing you to Rachel.
Oh hey, that's me!
I'm Dice Envy's newest team member and the artist who made several new dice designs we’ve put out in the past year. On top of that, I run all of our social media accounts, so if you’ve interacted with Dice Envy on Twitter or Instagram recently, there’s a good chance it was me you were talking to!
I'm not as crazy as I look, I promise.
Here's a little Q&A conducted by Maria (AKA Team Mom):
TTRPGs hit me a little later in life than I would have liked! My first was a D&D 3.5 campaign alongside Dice Envy’s Ian and Dylan, where I played a half-orc barbarian and instantly fell in love because I got to be SO BIG and SO STRONG. That was in March of 2015, and I’ve been absolutely addicted since. Intersecting with design just came naturally since I went to school for graphic design and have been tinkering with visuals since I was a wee lass.
I had to dig to figure this one out; there’s been so many since! My first Dice Envy set was Snowshoe, a white acrylic set featuring a pale blue, engraved bun-bun. Love that little guy. Do not recall why Dave (Dice Envy’s big boss) commissioned it from me, but I jumped at the chance to create a tiny, cute thing.
Yes! I am hard in the paint for cats, so Felis and Bengal definitely stand out, but being able to tap into my witchy side with Strigidae and Vampire was sooo much fun (especially with Vampire’s colors)! I have least favorites too, haha, but only because their silhouettes were extra tricky to figure out. Designing for small things can be hard!
Having recently played a druid in a Saltmarsh campaign, I initially shot Dave a list of wild shapes I thought would be good to show off, which included a ton of sea creatures. We adjusted and went back and forth a few times, toning down the ocean and most notably adding bees. I was originally against Bumble as an idea, since it’s not really 5E canon, but I’ve come around since the artwork turned out to be pretty dope. Overall, we wanted to try to include as many people’s tastes as possible, and a fair range of CR ratings, to boot.
That set was 100% Dave’s idea, but the second he spoke it, I knew it had to come true. A classic trope, and one I hope to continue in the future with other D&D troublemakers.
The empty canvas stage is the toughest part, for sure. I come from a graphic design background, not an art background, so I feel very secure in executing an idea using tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, or InDesign. Freehand-generating that idea on Procreate or with pencil can be a little more tricky. Occasionally, I get lucky and the concept is obvious to me immediately, like with our Let Loose set which probably took me a day to complete from start to finish. Other times, I’m at the drawing board for days before figuring out how to represent something well (looking at you, Thorn to be Wild).
Oh, yeah! Fortunately, being a graphic designer kind of sets you up for taking on client challenges. Recently, we even had to work with our manufacturer to allow for a more detailed engraving, blowing up our Infinity dice to be the new-and-embiggened Chonkfinities. Being able to trigger a response in someone’s brain with limited resources at your disposal is the name of the game. Finding the right silhouette, color, or accent that will elicit that shared concept floating around in the zeitgeist can be extremely tricky, but is also a lot of fun. It’s why I try to stay in-tune with meme culture and absorb as much popular art and media as possible, so that I can use elements as touchstones in order to connect with our customers. That all sounds really fancy considering some of the sets we’re talking about, but in essence it is a giant funneling and editing process that results in cat butts on a die face.
Metal dice are indeed a beast of a different feather. I have to give the lion’s share of credit to Dylan for this one, he’s well-versed in 3D modeling and has been able to take my very 2D renderings and convert them into something our metal pourers can use. It’s been interesting to design using line weight as depth indicators and having to hold each face in your head as you move on to the next in order to make sure they’ll line up on every plane. I still feel more comfortable with the flow of designing for engraved acrylics, but I’m excited to keep learning more from Dylan and put out some additional heavy metal work.
Speaking of metal dice, I am slowly but surely working on a set that will feature a feminine bird lover who may or may not be from Shadowfell (shout out to my Shadar-kai homies). It’s definitely the most texture I’ve ever attempted, so that should be interesting for Dylan to put up with, erm, figure out! Also, since we’ve already struck a bargain with our manufacturer to produce Chonkfinities, I have a ton of plans in the works for fun d4 illustrations to slap on all that empty die face canvas! That includes a brilliant alcoholic beverage concept brought forth by Maria, which I hope will be a big hit with old-school Tapper fans.
]]>Do you find yourself developing an allergy and/or aversion to dragons? Are dungeons getting a little too drafty for you in your advanced age? Is Sword and Sorcery simply not your schtick?
For those craving a little variety, Dice Envy would like to recommend a few favorites of ours!
]]>Or maybe you have best friends who you just know would love TTRPGs, if they could get over their refusal to play Dungeons and Dragons.
Well friends, the good news is that some of the best tabletop RPGs aren’t D&D. Don’t get us wrong; we love D&D and play it on the regular, but we know it’s not for everyone.
For those craving a little variety, Dice Envy would like to recommend a few favorites of ours:
For the kids:
Maybe it’s raining, maybe you’ve got a small group you need to entertain for the next few hours. Maybe there’s a pandemic and all kinds of craziness in the outside world, and it’s better to just stay inside. Whatever the reason, you’ve rounded up your tots and handed them dice and paper. Here’s a few ideas of what to do with them that have a shortage of built-in violence. (Look, we get it. We, too, have been hit with improvised weapons by tiny terrors a few times too many when the hype grew too strong):
No one wants to run it:
Everyone’s busy, no one has time or wants to have to prep, and you all want to play/ no one wants to be in charge? Great. We’ve got a couple of the best TTRPG suggestions for you! These games also offer a long distance friendly option, for those gamenights that can’t happen in person. And, wildly enough, none of these use dice. We know, we’re sorry. But trust us, they’re still worth checking out.
Powered By the Apocalypse
These games use D6s and frequently feature fail forward mechanics, where your losses cause you to grow as a character. We’ll recommend you a few that we’ve played, but look around- this system has launched a zillion indie ships, and there’s always more to discover!
Something a little different:
I know, I know, we’re tired of vaguely European medieval fantasy settings too.
Looking for more rules, not less?
Pathfinder. You’re looking for Pathfinder.
Pathfinder has a range of classic RPG elements: high fantasy, tons of dice, and tons of rules. I mean, the guidebook alone is 640 pages long.
It’s highly complex, even more so than D&D because of the character creation options and min/maxing opportunities those present. If you want to dive deep into a world and get positively lost in a game, you’ll adore this.
The Best Tabletop RPGs Deserve the Best Dice
Hey, maybe we’re biased, but these are our top TTRPGs! We would absolutely love to hear from you and what games you think are the best! One thing we can all agree on, however, is how nothing beats the feeling of rolling some expertly crafted dice. Dice that are balanced well, look phenomenal, and can be treasured for a lifetime. Our dice sets are works of art, and we take great pride in them! No matter which RPG you choose, get yourself a good set of dice to go along with it at Dice Envy.
]]>But let’s dive into that key little feature: balancing! For dice to be perfectly random when they’re rolled, they can’t give any face a slight advantage over the others. It’s disastrous for the game when the balance is off, but it’s almost impossible for manufacturers to get 100%, perfectly right. Let’s explore why!
There’s a surprising amount of math that goes into the making of perfect dice. Surprising, perhaps, until you remember they’re trying to make tiny geometric polygons.
A die is considered fair if it is “fair by symmetry”. The principle states that a die is completely fair if each side has exactly the same dimensions and shape. A die is considered more “fair” if it has more symmetries. The more symmetries the die has, the more chances physics has to change the way it tumbles, and the less likely a roll is able to be manipulated. Any way you roll a die would seem random enough, most people would argue, but it’s not always so: people in Vegas are actually taught how to roll a die “more fairly.”
The ancient Greek mathematician Archimedes hypothesized roughly 2,000 years ago that there are only 30 varieties of fair balanced dice. (Yes, this includes your D&D dice, don’t worry.) Fast forward to today, and a Stanford mathematician proved him right.
Balanced casino dice are pretty different from balanced D&D dice. It's no secret that casinos are insanely rigorous about the standard of their dice. When it comes to gambling with dice games, there’s a ton of money on the line, and people take fairness very seriously.
That said, the “perfectly” balanced dice used in casinos are made with extremely strict standards. The dice are made in hermetically sealed chambers to stop air from affecting the process. The dice will each have a serial number that refers to when, how, and by whom they were made.
In the actual casino, an inspector known as a boxperson will do a quality inspection of the dice before play. They will check if all the opposite sides equal seven, the dice are free from defects, the dice have valid serial numbers, and the pips in the dice are equal in depth.
Sometimes the boxperson will use tiny measuring tools like an electronic micrometer to test even dimensions, a balancing caliper to test weight, a steel set square to check squareness, and a magnet to test for added metal.
Even with these extra steps, the dice are still changed roughly every 4-8 never to be used again lest some micro fracture occurs.
Good luck implementing this in your next D&D game. Personally, we think it’s a bit overkill.
Without resorting to the micro tools that casino die makers use, you can still use some simple tests to check for balanced D&D dice. If you’re having strange luck with your rolls during your D&D game and some players are starting to suspect dodgy dice, you should try to test if the die is good once and for all!
One great way to check if your dice are balanced is to use a glass of water mixed with a lot of salt. By using this simple method, you can roll the die in the water and test if it’s genuinely a random result every time. If it’s unbalanced, it should be quickly obvious that the same number is popping up on the top every time.
You can also simply record about a thousand dice rolls and see if the results are roughly even, but we wouldn’t wish that on our enemies.
Now you know the wild lengths dice manufacturers go to in order to make their dice as balanced as possible, but even they know that balanced dice can never truly be perfectly balanced. Maybe they can get to 99% accuracy, but physics prevents perfection here.
An article by Inside Science (which, incidentally, starts with the words Dungeons and Dragons) explains in great detail why. It’s the same reason that we can’t predict if a rocket launch will work every time, even if the science checks out and everything works perfectly in theory.
It’s because physics is calculated in a vacuum. It can’t perfectly account for minute randomness in air resistance, friction, human factors, gravity, and other tiny variables. Table friction is especially important. A table with less friction causes the dice to roll more, while naturally, a table with less friction will cause the dice to roll less. The laws of physics are a bit more like guidelines when you get into the minuscule, nitty-gritty details.
One important thing to note is that while perfection is not technically attainable, we’re talking about the difference between 99.999+% and 100% randomness. It probably isn’t going to affect your Dungeons and Dragons game whatsoever, so don’t worry: any solid quality pair of balanced D&D dice will do the trick!
As a dice company, we obviously take our dice manufacturing very seriously! But we’re not just about the cool aesthetics (though we’re DEFINITELY about the cool aesthetics, too), we genuinely care about creating high-quality, balanced dice. We take great care to avoid uneven weighting and poor symmetry. If you’re after a good game with your friends with quality, reliable dice, visit Dice Envy and find your favorite set.
]]>Gather round ye merry fellows and lend an ear for the tale of tabletop gaming dice like no others—unique dice sets to dazzle and amaze all but the crotchetiest old curmudgeons. That’s right: unique polyhedral dice to whet your imagination! Feast your eyes upon these real, genuine, 100% authentic antimatter dice!!
Uh…hold on. We’ve just been informed that the antimatter dice have gone off. And the city they
were in is—missing? Jeez…
But worry not, gentle traveler! For we still have the illegal endangered whale teeth dice!
What? We don’t? They’re illegal?!?! Why didn’t anyone mention that?! Who confiscated them?
Well…nuts. Okay, bring out the chocolate and nuts dice!
What? WHO ate them?!?! That was our most edible, most unique dice set! Seriously?!
Fiddlesticks. What have we got left?
Oh, that’s right, we’ve got ALL THE FRIGGIN’ AWESOME DICE because we’re Dice Envy, fools!!! That’s literally what we do!
We do have some real treats for you today. These 6 unique polyhedral dice sets are perfect for bringing a wide variety of new characters and campaign settings to life in your next RPG. Whether you’re RPing fantasy, sci-fi, mystery, punk, or some kind of wholesome (or unwholesome!) dating simulator, we have flavors of dice to delight and inspire your imagination.
Good dice are so much fun to look at and play with, so don’t settle for boring generic ones. Do us a capitalism and get yourself a unique dice set that speaks to your sense of play!
Goaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaal !!!
Perfect for athletes and those of us who merely roleplay them, our Home Game Hat Trick unique dice set is a fun, soccer-themed set that bristles with energy.
Named for the “hat trick,” which in soccer is the rare triumph of scoring three goals in a single game, the Home Game Hat Trick dice set features rose-gold–colored dice frames with royal blue glitter faces and a classic scoreboard number font. The dice themselves have rounded edges reminiscent of soccer balls, particularly the d20s.
This 10-piece unique polyhedral dice set features our standard 7 dice (d4, d6, d8, d10, d%, d12, d20), plus two bonus d6s and one bonus d20 with a special yellow gold frame—perfect for rolling with advantage or making other iconic rolls. This is a truly exciting and unique dice set!
The Home Game Hat Trick set is one of our Metal Dice Sets. In addition to our popular, highly affordable Polymer Dice Sets, we also make special dice sets using premium materials like wood, stone, and metal. With metal dice you will immediately notice their weight and temperature in your hand, which gives them a very distinctive feeling.
Rime, also known as hoarfrost, is ice that accumulates in blowing wind whenever it’s foggy and freezing—or, if you live in the mountains, whenever freezing clouds crash into you. Rime looks like snow, but you won’t notice much snow on the ground. Instead, rime loves to build up on tree limbs, railings, signs, and other objects that stick up into the air.
The beautiful, unique polyhedral dice in our Rime Scheme dice set evoke the frigid wonders of winter and elemental ice magic. Inspired by D&D’s adventure Rime of the Frostmaiden, we created this unique dice set with a sense of terrible splendor, evoking a cold power both beautiful and devastating to any traveler who befalls them.
This 7-piece resin dice set features ornate, bold white ice crystals and numbering which has been intricately engraved into a shimmering, dark blue background. You won’t find anything else quite like it!
Perhaps the most sophisticated of all building materials, marble has been used throughout history to construct some of the finest temples and palaces in the world. This unique dice set, which we call DLucks (say it out loud and you’ll get it!), features black and white swirled acrylic and elegant golden ink, evoking the beauty of marble and gold without the price tag.
DLucks is a full 10-piece unique polyhedral dice set, featuring the seven standard dice, an extra d6, one of our special Infinity d4 dice (in addition to the standard d4), and one of our special Chonky Boi oversize d20s that are so much fun to use on big, important rolls.
This unique dice set is inspired by the Maestro of the Renaissance himself, Leonardo da Vinci. Leonardo was an artist of great renown as well as a skillful scientist in medicine, anatomy, astronomy, and other fields. He invented the helicopter, solar power generation, the automatic adding machine, a theory of plate tectonics, and much more…all hundreds of years before these things actually came to pass. This cat was so smart he was scary.
For your next Renaissance-themed RPG campaign or any adventure where you’re playing a brilliant inventor, we’ve captured the passion of Leonardo da Vinci with the fascinating DaVinci’s Sanctum. This unique dice set has a perplexing look that brings alive the geometric patterns often associated with his famous sketches and illustrations. Reminiscent of stained glass, our design features a colorful iridescent foil layered onto black obsidian stone—real obsidian.
As one of our premium Stone Dice Sets, this 7-piece unique polyhedral dice set is an ultra-luxe product, so it costs more than the others on this list, but they’re an incredible treat to look at, with a solid weight in your hand that feels good.
Yes, that’s right, we’ve been holding out on you this whole time. We’re not sorry, either. We’re GMs at heart; if we don’t toy with you at least a little bit we’re not doing our jobs right. But now we give you…the Celestain dice set!
This unique dice set has two simple conceits. First of all it is beautiful, with translucent pink resin that catches the light beautifully, and elegant gold numbering.
Second of all, it’s an example of the Mandela Effect. Originally, we had another dice set called Celestine. But, like how the Berenstein Bears from our childhood memories were actually the “Berenstain” Bears, with an A, this whole time, so too are these our “Celestain” dice. Whether we all just remembered wrong and the Universe is gaslighting us, or whether there really was some hyperdimensional cosmic transposition into a new timeline…either way they’re cool dice.
Like the DLucks set above, this 10-piece resin set of unique polyhedral dice includes an extra d6, a special Infinity d4, and one of our signature Chonky Boi d20s. Don’t leave this unique dice set in the bad timeline: Take them with you into all the dimensions yet to come!
The Rainbow Wood dice set is another one of our premium dice sets, this time from our Wood Dice Sets collection. This unique dice set is a 7-piece masterpiece of pure dryadic inspiration. Seriously, if you don’t fall in love with these dice at first sight, roll for initiative, because you’re the villain.
To further discuss how these stunning wooden dice can channel the spirit of the woods in your local nature conservation zone, we’re turning it over to Forest Elf and city de-certified meditation guru Trisha Callsphere. Trisha, take it away, with our final unique dice set of the day!
Greetings and namaste travelers, for wide is the path we travel and so we travel it together. I am pleased to pray to whichever god will still return my calls, and thereby from his or her teachings i give you the sounds of the forest:
WHOOP!! WHOOP! CaKAW!
~ T ~ r ~ E ~ e ~ N ~ o ~ I ~ s ~ E ~
Wondrous are these sounds to our mortal ear, the ear we share in love, the ear which hears all that yearns to be heard. Oh, how we do lavish our affections upon idle distractions like cellular telephones, when the true core of our being longs to dwell among the other great beings of the deep forest, like the lichens, and the thistles, and the brambles, and the marsh lily, and the—
Um, Trisha…the dice?
Ah yes, the Rainbow Wood dice. a wooden dice set. a unique dice set. Many are the possibilities you might roll, depending on which die you choose, and in communion with the great pulse of the forest…
I have spoken with the dryads of the tree from which these dice were made, and they tell me the tree was talking crap about me behind my own back, which I find very rude, and so karma has come to that tree, and unique polyhedral dice come to you, if the price is right…
Well…uh…at least she’s better than the guy who thought he was a fence.
There you have it, adventures. Six amazing, unique dice sets by Dice Envy. These are our designs, our molds—you won’t find these dice anywhere else! And you know what? These are better than antimatter dice!
Which set is your favorite?
]]>If you’re looking to buy spindown dice, check out our Spindown Life Counters. These sleek, oversized spindown d20 dice come in your choice of a variety of color accents and match our radical new Cyberpunks Dice Set Collection.
But if you’re just here for the lore, read on!
Spindown dice, also known as spindown life counters, were invented in 2000 for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering. Their original (and still most common) purpose was to keep track of your life total over the course of the game. Since most Magic games start with you having 20 life, Wizards of the Coast (who make both Magic and D&D) got the idea of using a 20-sided die as a life counter.
On a spindown d20, each number is right next to the consecutive numbers above and below it: 20 is right next to 19. 19 is right next to 18. 18 is next to 17. And so on. This pattern makes it much easier to find a specific number on the die when you’ve taken damage (or gained life) and need to change your life total.
That’s right! Those mischievous Wizards changed the very nature of the dice with which the game is played! It’s just how they…roll. 😎
So the short answer is: Spindown dice are d20s with the numbers laid out radically different from normal d20s.
Regular tabletop gaming dice (as well as all dice used in board games and in gambling) are numbered so that the total value of all the numbers on a die is spread out as evenly as possible, giving you more variance in your rolls.
This high-variance numbering system makes the results of dice rolls appear more random—which, critically, makes it harder to cheat.
To understand how this works, imagine the die rolling to a stop: If it were a spindown d20, the die might first land on 16, then roll over to 17, and next 18, before finally coming to a stop on 19. In other words, you know you’re gonna get a good number even before the die finishes rolling.
In studies, it has been shown that this makes it easy for players to cheat with spindown dice because if they want a high roll (or a low one) they don’t have to land on one specific face. They just need to aim for any of the faces in one general area of the die: the area where all the high (or low) numbers are hanging out. A 17 or 18 will usually be as good as a 19.
This doesn’t work on normal dice, because the numbers are not consecutive. 19 might be right next to 10, or 4, or anything really.
These numbering patterns are not standardized across the dice industry. If you look at a regular d20 closely, you can find many different arrangements for the numbers. The opposite sides always add up to 21 (or at least they should), but the different pairs of opposites (e.g., 20 and 1, 19 and 2, 18 and 3, etc.) are often placed in different arrangements.
Different dice manufacturers and sometimes different individual dice molds can yield very different numbering arrangements. You can find this inconsistency on other polyhedral dice too.
Yes, you can! You can also poke a sleeping kitten or shake somebody’s can of soda before giving it to them. The point isn’t “Can you?” It’s “Should you?” And the answer to that is “It depends, but usually, you shouldn’t.”
Spindown dice are not meant to be used as tabletop gaming dice. They are meant to be used as fancy counters—for counting life totals, weapon charges, etc. Because it is easy to cheat with them, everyone has to agree to the honor system in order for spindown dice to work for actual dice rolls. So, in general, think of them as counters, not dice.
However, if you do want (or need) to use a spindown d20 for actual dice rolls, you can avoid cheating and get a solid, random result by thoroughly shaking the die together in both hands and giving it a hearty roll on the table. (Or you can use a dice tower.)
As long as the die is well-balanced physically (and if it is well-made, it should be), this will give you a proper random result.
Not anymore! These days you can find spindown versions for all the polyhedral dice types. However, spindown d20s remain by far the most popular and common type of spindown dice, and they are the only type of spindown counter we regularly stock at Dice Envy.
Spindown dice have grown far beyond their Magic: The Gathering origins and today you will find them used in many different tabletop RPGs and other games. In D&D for instance, it’s fairly popular to use them for life totals for lower-level characters, or as charge counters for items and spells.
To get your hands on some, check out our Spindown Life Counters. Like we mentioned, these cool, oversized dice are available in several different color accents and are designed to match our new Cyberpunks Dice Set Collection.
Or, if you want, you can mix and match them with any of our other dice sets. THE POWER IS YOURS!!!
]]>“It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules which is important.”
- Dungeon Master’s Guide (1st Edition, Page 230), Gary Gygax
]]>“It is the spirit of the game, not the letter of the rules which is important.”
- Dungeon Master’s Guide (1st Edition, Page 230), Gary Gygax
From the very beginning in 1974, the rules of D&D were made to be changed. We’ve put together a list of rules to consider for your campaign. And were written as 5E house rules (for D&D Fifth Edition), you can apply them to nearly any tabletop RPG system you play. With just the right DnD house rules, you can really make DnD your own, adding a whole new element of novelty and surprise.
Oftentimes players are rather reserved when it comes to using their inspiration, either on themselves or someone else. To help encourage the use of inspiration, you can treat inspiration as a community pool, with a limited amount of inspiration available for anyone to use. This 5e house rule can allow inspiration to go to the team members who need it most.
Combat is an important aspect of D&D, but it can get granular and tedious at times. This DnD house rule can be a good way to speed up and streamline it. When you have a crowd of low-level enemies, you can make them into a mob that shares HP and has a number of attacks based on how many creatures are in the mob. For Example, if 5 goblins are up against your party and each has 10 HP, you might combine them into a single character called “Mob of Goblins” that has a total HP of 50 and 5 attacks per round. This new DnD house rule adds even more action to the game.
This is another combat-centric DnD house rule. Like in the Mines of Moria, it’s always a good time when you have a big baddie waiting for you at the end of a campaign. And it can make your players feel like epic heroes when they decimate huge groups of minions before reaching the big baddie. Consider adding large groups of weak minions, with health as low as 1hp, allowing players to easily defeat them. Adding this DnD house rule is a great way to build up morale and excitement before the final battle.
A death save roll happens after a character reaches an HP of 0 and they fall unconscious. On all of their following turns, they must roll a d20 to decide whether they bleed out or stabilize. Traditionally, players know whether or not their characters are safe and how many more rolls they have before they die.
Unless… you roll death saving throws behind the DM screen. Then, it’s anyone’s guess whether a knocked-out player character will survive. That uncertainty created by this DnD house rule makes finishing the fight or tending to their wounds a HUGE priority, adding substantial risk and drama when combat is going poorly.
Critical successes and critical misses each have about a 5% chance, when rolling a natural 1 or 20 on a d20 die. There are tons of ways to liven things up when players make a bad miss. You might read from a table of pre-determined effects, or you may even make your player narrate his own mistake.
One common way to follow up a natural 1 is to roll a second d20 to determine just how bad the critical miss is. If the second result is above a 10, maybe something funny happens. But if the result is low, you might do something harmful at the DM’s discretion like accidentally hitting an ally with your attack. This helps bring the chances of doing unintentional harm on your turn down to 2.5% or lower. This dnd house rule allows for more group participation and engagement and keeps everyone on their toes.
Being a wizard is tough stuff, especially at early levels where anything might one-shot you on a crit. Kind DMs will apply this rule to remove the tedium of tracking the items necessary to cast spells. Did you remember to pick up enough bat guano from the last cave in order to cast your Fireball spell? With this 5E house rule, you don’t have to worry about that.
Despite extensive forethought and planning, a creative plan to deal with a problem might simply not work due to a poor roll of the dice. But if the Dungeon Master deems fit, they could allow a roll with advantage or even an automatic success for the creative aspects of the plan. This dnd house rule could further encourage out-of-the-box thinking with other elements of the gameplay.
There is no wrong or right approach when adding 5E house rules. The important thing is to keep everyone on the same page and remember to have fun!
Pathfinder is a fantasy tabletop dice-based RPG, very similar to Dungeons & Dragons. Players will travel the world solving problems, unraveling mysteries, and collecting treasure. As you travel the world, you’ll encounter brutish monsters and deceitful traps, mysterious ancient ruins, and politically corrupt cities.
Pathfinder 1st Edition is based on D&D 3.5, while 2nd Edition Pathfinder diverges from the formula to be more unique. You can also take the ruleset out into the galaxy with Starfinder, a science fiction variation of Pathfinder.
The End of the World is an apocalyptic dice RPG comprising 4 books – Zombie Apocalypse, Wrath of the Gods, Alien Invasion, and Revolt of the Machines. As the names suggest, each book offers a different apocalyptic scenario to explore. While each book shares the same rule system, they exist independently and are completely self-contained experiences. At the cross-section of horror and adventure, The End of the World is a great option for those wanting to branch out of fantasy roleplay with their polyhedral dice.
One Deck Dungeon is a more straightforward and comprehensible dice RPG. Conquer every dungeon, defeat every foe, prevail over every danger. Sounds easy enough, except there are enemies lurking around every corner ready to take you down. Once you clear all three foes, you can then take on the boss. But if your party runs out of health, it's game over. Compared to some other games on this list, One Deck Dungeon is a quicker game, but that doesn’t mean it’s easier to win!
Who doesn’t love a good steampunk setting? Blades in the Dark is a dice RPG game about overcoming the darkest troubles and hardships of society with wit, instinct, and communication. Players are members of a thief gang who steal from the ultra-wealthy in the city of Doskvol. Each session is centered around a job or operation. The gaming setup allows each session to flow smoothly, letting players make their plan as they go along rather than spending a large chunk of time doing so at the beginning.
From steampunk to cyberpunk, here’s a dice RPG game that’ll take you into the future. Players can create characters for all walks of nightlife. You’ll navigate the city’s social stratosphere as you fight for survival, interacting with gangsters, corporations, and everything in between. You’ll tackle various missions and jobs, with each player in your party bringing a different skill set to the table. This RPG dice game tackles all kinds of topics, ranging from unregulated capitalism to environmental devastation and the nature of humanity. Cyberpunk Red is just as topical and fun today as it was when its first edition came out back in 1988.
Quest is a highly accessible tabletop game, perfect if you want to include friends who aren’t as familiar with the format. Instead of focusing on details and rules, Quest focuses on the key actions of the roleplaying – explaining characters’ actions and immersing players into the world. Creating characters in Quest takes about five minutes and campaign preparations are more geared towards giving players fun and engaging storylines to follow. Additionally, the rule book is easy to follow for new players, so anyone can get involved. Because of all this, the Quest dice RPG game is especially recommended for playing with children.
A good scare is always a good time. Call of Cthulhu is the quintessential horror RPG dice game. Players take on the roles of investigators, scholars, and journalists who travel around the world, uncovering cults and conspiracies, and even otherworldly monsters. Unlike other dice RPGs, Call of Cthulhu focuses on the characters' psychological erosion as they uncover ghastly truths and oftentimes, players should run away rather than fight, giving Call of Cthulhu a distinctively terrifying vibe. Given its spooky atmosphere, it’s only appropriate that this polyhedral dice game got its namesake from an H.P. Lovecraft story.
This dice RPG is as socially relevant as they come! This game presents a futuristic version of Earth that has been transformed by the global climate crisis. But that isn’t all; this game goes one step further, and imagines a world in which colonialism never happened, thereby breaking from the ranks of traditionally eurocentric RPGs. Players take on roles that are indigenously inspired, using technology and a force known as Adanadi to navigate this post-apocalyptic world. The rulebook even details how non-Indigenous players can respectfully portray characters without relying on stereotypes and cliches.
Many of us are familiar with the source material, but often this RPG dice game has flown under the radar. A Game of Thrones takes players into the low fantasy world of Westeros, where you can explore the political intrigue, magical mystery, and harrowing adventures. While this game is a rare find, for those who do have access to it, it’s definitely worth the time. This dice RPG is especially good fun for those who are fans of the books and show.
Think of the neo-noirs of the 90s - Fargo, Reservoir Dogs, The Grifters - and put them into an RPG dice game. Fiasco divides the gameplay into a number of scenes, allowing players to develop their characters and craft their relationships as if they were in a crime movie themselves. Unlike other RPGs, there is no game master in Fiasco. Instead, players take turns describing what happens in each scene. This RBG is truly a cinematic experience (complete with an unexpected third-act twist) that’ll take players through numerous settings and scenarios, with both tragic and comic results. Fiasco is highly recommended for those wanting a non-fantasy polyhedral dice game experience.
]]>If you’ve played a game of Dungeons and Dragons before, you’ll know there’s a lot more to it than just really cool dice. Knowing the kind of background clerics generally come from, and the one yours comes from in particular is the first thing you should do before you begin playing.
Your cleric could be an exalted priest of a holy deity in a faraway temple, or just an ordinary follower who’s been chosen for greater things. If you’d like to spice it up, clerics in D&D 5e can be spiced up with inventive new backstories. Perhaps your particular cleric doesn’t worship a merciful god, but rather a destructive and maleficent force of destruction. The fun in D&D comes from what you can bring to your character, so consult your DM and feel free to play your cleric in 5e a way that speaks to you.
Once you’ve chosen a backstory, you can always tweak the way you’d like to play your heretic by specializing into a particular playstyle. Clerics can be played in a similar way to paladins that tank damage for the party, or even as melee characters that get into close range with enemies using faith-based magics. If neither of these appeal to you, you can always play your cleric in 5e the classic D&D way - standing afar and healing your party.
Actually getting down to play a cleric in 5e will involve at least a basic understanding of what your character can do.
Channeling divinity isn’t the same for every cleric in D&D 5e. One of the most exciting aspects of playing such a class is the fact that the god you choose to follow as a cleric can completely change your playstyle as a cleric. Choosing different gods for different campaigns will completely alter your experience and is a perfect example of the kind of versatility that clerics can bring to the party.
Since the gods you can choose may change depending on the campaign you’re playing, it’s easier to classify them into domains rather than going into detail about every divine being.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Pick your domain and squeeze the most out of it to really see how versatile clerics can be. If your chosen domain seems difficult to play or understand, stick with it for a while, you’ll be surprised how many struggling players later end up getting dice that match their characters.
Clerics are one of the best classes to get into D&D 5e. They’re versatile enough to deal damage heavily in close quarters or rain magic from far away, there’s always going to be a play style that suits what you’re looking to do. Whether you’re looking to get into playing clerics, or aspiring to be the DM of your dreams, you’ll find a veritable arsenal of dice and D&D accessories to match your campaigns at Dice Envy.
]]>It’s got to be said that there is no strict ‘best’ board game accessory. The tools you decide to keep at your side through those long tabletop sessions should be determined by what you’re actually playing and personal preferences. For example, A set of standard polyhedral dice is always fine when playing a cosmic D&D campaign, but a special metal set decorated in starry colors can do so much more for creating an incredible experience.
No one begins playing tabletop games with the intention of racking up accessories, but somewhere between your first nat 20 roll and your latest victory over a cataclysmic threat, you’ll end up with a sizable collection of dice. This board game accessory is one of the best ways to get all your precious dice together in one place and also protect them from the elements. Not only are dice bags handy for carrying your dice around to a friend’s place, but they’re also designed in a way that adds character to any gaming session.
Shelf liner is an unlikely hero when it comes to tabletop game accessories. Anyone who’s played an intense game of Catan has experienced the infamous ‘earthquakes’. A single jolt of excitement or even an accidental nudge into the table can send the tiles flying all over the place, making you lose track of where your settlements and roads were placed. Shelf liners save the day by keeping your board in place even through the roughest of games and campaigns. Just roll your shelf liner out on the table first before putting down your game board or tiles, and the textured surface will help keep everything in place.
They’re pretty much universally applicable to any tabletop game, but they’re especially useful for tile-based and role playing games that need absolute precision in unit placement. As a bonus, they usually come in a variety of colors that you can mix and match for a more atmospheric experience.
What was the name of that chaotic Elf wizard we met last session? What’s the potion we need to lift that curse? Great note taking saves campaigns, and a notebook just for your campaign keeps them all together. It’s a great way to save all the epic moments of your campaign, and let's face it, you’ll probably run out of room on the back of your character sheet by session three.
The best board game accessories make your life easier while still making the game an even better experience for everyone involved. It doesn’t really matter whether you’re a beginner or even an expert player, we’ve all had moments of confusion struggling to remember a cantrip or ability in the heat of battle or the middle of roleplay. Juggling a veritable mountain of new information that comes with every new D&D campaign can be a brutal task.
We’ve also got to give a shoutout to combat tracking pads a great tabletop gaming accessory for keeping last combat’s damage totals out of your main notes so you can find the important stuff sooner. You can use these to stay on top of all the developments that happen through a game. Keep track of your active buffs and when they expire, your abilities, any debuffs, and more with a simple sticky pad designed for tabletop games.
It’s one of the best board game accessories around - the mythical gaming table. Expect to find these in the home of a die hard tabletop gaming aficionado, and for good reason. This tabletop gaming accessory is designed completely with the player in mind, and every facet of it suits a particular need.
Gaming tables often have grooves to accommodate cards and tiles. They’re generally also made of special material that suits dice rolls. And some models even have removable tops to save your combat session for next week when you need to. The trade-off is that they are much more expensive than other gaming accessories, so don’t feel pressured to trade up from that old folding table before you’re ready.
As far as tabletop gaming goes, trays are some of the most inexpensive accessories you can buy for yourself and your friends. Component trays, for example, are inexpensive ways of keeping all the different moving parts that go into a table top RPG in one place. As different dice, tokens, and markers change hands throughout a long session, keeping track of everything can be a hassle, a problem that component trays solve.
As for those people who are fully specced into D&D, a padded dice tray is a must have to keep your premium wood dice safe from damage, or keep your metal dice set from damaging the table. It’s also a great way to keep them from rolling onto the floor. Dice trays are some of the best board game accessories in terms of the value you get for your money.
If you’re an avid DM or just a frequent member of a gaming party, chances are you and your friends probably have an accessory or two in common. The best way to differentiate yours from theirs is with a cute or kick-ass sticker.
Stickers are probably not the first thing that comes to mind when you think of tabletop gaming accessories, but the right set of stickers can add so much more personality and charm to your gaming desk or dice clutch.
The charm of tabletop gaming was and always will be that all you really need for a good time is a solid surface and friends to play with. That’s a vision that’ll keep tabletop gaming alive, but there’s no reason not to make this incredible board game tradition your own with some of the best accessories and dice from Dice Envy.
]]>Bards are an extremely versatile and complex class, as they have the ability to be proficient in many things; they can cast spells, fight in combat, and possess rogue skills. While this versatility puts bards at a great advantage, it does mean that they don’t have the sheer innate power of more focused classes, like wizards, rogues, or fighters.
Above all, bards are performers. This is important to remember because most of their skills and spells involve interaction with other creatures and NPCs. They thrive in the spotlight and in social interactions, making them a natural front-person for the party. As such, charisma is arguably the most important stat for playing a bard successfully. Other stats that are well-suited for bards are wisdom, constitution, and dexterity—which you choose to focus on will depend on how you want to play your character.
Wisdom is a helpful stat in social interactions, usually fit for bards that act as the face of the party. Constitution is great for players who want to focus on bards’ spellcasting abilities, as it will help them keep concentration on complex spells. A high dexterity stat is beneficial for offensive bard fighters.
You’ll want to keep these stat preferences in mind when choosing your race because certain races improve certain scores. Typically, half-elves, tieflings, and halflings are your best bet for a bard, but changelings, satyrs, and humans could work, too.
Colleges are subclasses for bards that you gain access to starting at third level. Each college has a distinct focus, which can slightly adjust how to play bard in your campaign.
If you’re playing D&D 5e, you can choose from the following colleges for official, non-homebrew campaigns:
Bards usually rely on magic during their adventures. Many of their spells are of the supportive variety, to help heal and aid their allies in battle. Their spell list does include some damaging spells, but this is typically not the bard’s strong suit. When you’re learning how to play bard, keep their charisma stat in mind, as this will affect their spellcasting.
One attribute that distinguishes bards from other spellcasting classes is their magical instruments.
While not all bards will have an instrument, they almost all start out with one, and many will use them for their spells. You’ll want to pick a good musical instrument—after all, you’re a performer!
Here are some of the basic musical instruments available:
Remember that you’re able to change your instrument throughout your adventure and that it can be a useful tool for roleplaying!
A great backstory is essential to playing a bard in D&D. Bards are storytellers, so their backstory is especially important! There’s no formula for crafting a good backstory—just keep in mind what a bard does and what that means for their lifestyle. Traveling from town to town, meeting different locals in taverns everywhere… Bards lead interesting, adventurous lives, and your backstory should reflect that!
Now you’ve caught up on some of the basics of playing a bard in D&D, it’s time to get started! Make sure you’ve got all the supplies you need, including your dice, a pen and paper (if you’re playing in-person), and your character sheet. Once you’ve got your group and your tools, all that’s left to do is play the game and have fun!
]]>When building your character, your abilities will help define that character. A rogue’s strengths are not in strength, and while there are other abilities that can help your class (we’ll get into those when talking about subclasses), when building a character remember that dexterity is what makes your rogue be a rogue. When learning how to play a rogue in 5e, remember that dexterity is what will save the day.
Along those lines, research playable characters. While you can be a rogue regardless of what race you choose, there are a few races that have natural advantages and will help you get an advantage in the early game when playing a rogue:
Halfling
High Elf
Forest Gnome
This is a tip that can really be applied to any type of D&D character, but if you want to know how to play as a rogue in 5e and have fun while doing it, it would be helpful to know your character before you play. Knowing whether your character is good or bad, chaotic or orderly, and what their backstory is can be monumental in how your character will act. Having a backstory is a great way to build this character, giving a logical explanation to why you are playing a rogue a certain way. But of course, writing a backstory off the top of your head can be intense, so if you feel overwhelmed when trying to think, I highly recommend talking to your other players and the DM, who can help flesh out your character, and therefore how you can play as a rogue in 5e.
Workshopping your character with your fellow players and the DM doesn’t just help build your own character’s background, it’s a great way to create world-building together. By workshopping your character with your DM, your DM might open up the possibility of quests focusing on your past, and how you and your fellow players have known each other and the world around them. Working together is what D&D is really about, it’s about collaborating and creating an exciting and heart-pumping story that you can live in with your friends, and all you need is a bit of imagination and a bunch of dice.
But don’t worry! If you can’t build a backstory, a lot of people build a character through simply playing. The best way to learn how you can play as a rogue in 5e is by playing.
Rogue’s are essential to any D&D party because of a few skills:
When building your character, make sure to prioritize these skills. As the rogue, you have a special set of skills no one else in your party can fulfill. And the more you use these skills, the more you realize how invaluable you are to the party.
You can always play the classic rogue, but below are a wide variety of subclasses, and each one can be played a certain way, and changes how you can play as a rogue in 5e.
Arcane Trickster
Assassin
Inquisitive
Phantom
Mastermind
Scout
Soul Knife
Swashbuckler
Thief
Depending on your DM, D&D can be a difficult game, and sometimes your character just might die. But remember, that thrill—the fear where you don’t know if your character will be caught or will even be alive at the end of the battle—is what makes D&D so much fun. And more importantly, it’s how you learn to play a rogue in 5e. The more you play a certain role, the better you are going to be. Failure is an essential part of life, without failure you won’t learn how you can be the best version of your character, and nowhere else is this more relevant than when you are playing a rogue.
Items are a whole new way to learn how to play a rogue in 5e. Before a character goes out and adventures, they are going to need tools, and a rogue, as a master of tricks and traps, is going to need a whole lot of tools. Do your research on items in 5e.
You’ll fall in love with researching every item because every item could be a new way to solve a problem. Grappling hooks, props, disguises, as a rogue, the world is yours, you just have to be mischievous enough. Playing a rogue is about being invisible, and navigating the world your way.
The rogue is a class full of fun and mischief. Its versatility allows you to learn how to play a rogue in 5e the way you want to. You just have to get out there and see what you like. Don’t be too afraid to break a rule or two. There’s a reason you put all those points into stealth.
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A seeking of forbidden knowledge who sifts through the sands of time with magic given to them via packs with supernatural powers, most often demons or devils. Now, you tell me that a set of flame dice inspired by Guy Fieri—the Mayor of Flavortown himself— aren’t perfect for a warlock? These RPG dice are just what your character needs. Besides the Eldridge flames and the demon conjuring and the general infernal powers that be, there’s always the mischievous flavor to a warlock. Unlike the wizard, a warlock has no time to stick around a dusty old library learning the powers that be, they got places to be. And let’s be honest, if Guy Fieri was to play DnD, he would be a warlock. What other class would zip around in a ‘68 cherry red El Camino with the top down?
A wizard is never late, nor is he early. He rolls precisely when he needs to. Get your RPG character a dice set that is just as wise. As a mystic who has learned to hold untold powers, a wizard needs these mystic sigil dice. Not only do they stand out as stunning dice with an amazing design, but like a wizard, they are absolutely magnificent. Crafted out of amethyst, these dice are truly one of a kind. WARNING: Like wizards themselves, these dice can be glass cannons of sorts, due to the carving process they are delicate, so please use a dice tray when rolling with these dice.
A fighter knows that you don’t need much more than a slab of metal and courage some would call ‘a bit foolish’, but that’s why you’re the hero, and they’re the NPC sweeping the tavern and filling your tankard. A fighter needs dice that reflect them: strong. The Ancient Bronze rpg dice set is your character incarnate. These seven metal dice (made from zinc) feel like a sword between your palms, heavy and true. It’s time for you to make your slab of metal sing.
The sun has gone down and the guards are putting down their swords, thinking this night will be like any other night. It’s a shame they don’t know you just arrived. It’s time to get up to some Midnight Mischief. This set consists of a brilliant dark blue metal set with wraparound glittering purple enamel fill. These super heavy dice are excellent for the rogue, who wants every sneak attack to have that impact that an extra d6 of damage can do to your enemy. Your RPG character needs a dice set to reflect that. Hit them where it hurts, and every roll will be just as sneaky and mysterious as you are.
You and your party are fighting the final boss of a dungeon, but things aren’t going the way you planned. Your rogue rolled a 2 and was spotted, smooshed into unconsciousness. Your archer rolled a 1, and his arrow is aimed at your fight, and that poor fight is taking a whole lot of blows. We don’t know if he can survive another round. And then, with divine retribution in your heart, and a holy light emitting from your palms, you come to save the day. The Bifrosting Dice set has the same radiant look your healing spells have. This dice set is perfect for the RPG character like a cleric, who brings the greatest skill to the party: the power to heal. The cleric’s dice should make others recognize just how vital your skills are to the party’s survival.
When the undead have risen up, order must be restored. The paladin is not one for messing about, and they look good smiting the enemy and banishing the forces of darkness back into the crevices of the deepest dungeons around. The Omega Dice set, with its black and white acrylic lines, it’s bold without needing to say much at all. Similarly, the paladin in their full armor sets are not here to make jokes but are here to slay the forces of evil. This dice set will get you into the RPG character, immersing yourself in the role of the paladin. With these dice, your smite is really going to leave a mark in the fight against evil and the undead of the world.
The woods are not simply at your command, but you are a part of them. Your dice should reflect this, and Thorn to be Wild is exactly what every woodland loving class needs (besides druids, it is also perfect for rangers and nature clerics) for their next playthrough. Also a perfect set of dice to use if you are playing a woodland elf. This RPG dice set can work for all woodland characters. This gorgeous dice set is made from cherry wood as well, making sure to immerse you in the authenticity of your characters.
Crush! Smash! Big man have club! Don’t mess around with big man! Big man needs dice. Big man (me—Barbarian, me big man) love carnage. When I hit little goblin, I laugh a lot. Gore core perfect dice for me! Pretty metal is just like my helmet, nice and shiny! And the red, so pretty and bright! Shiny just light the battlefield after I’ve spent a few rounds smashing skulls and breaking limbs! Most dice boring, too fancy or too boring, but Gore Core exactly what I need. This RPG dice set smash all characters! Gets the job done, feels good in hands (metal and blood, good good), and all my smartypants friends jealous when I pull them out.
Sometimes you just look at a pair of dice and know for certain what class the creators had in mind when designing their set. Song of Rest is exactly that. This dice set is perfect for the bard of your party. Its beautiful design features musical instruments and sheet music. It’s colors are royal purple and white, making them stand out with a flair of witty charisma only a bard could have. A gorgeous dice set that is perfectly built for any musically inclined player out there. Your RPG dice set is going to have your character playing all night!
When it comes to your character, you know them better than anyone else. These dice are here to help you flesh out that identity. Now get those dice moving, you have a character to make and a destiny to fill!
]]>A typical D&D dice set consists of 7 pieces. You can remember it because it matches the number of sins, all of which many D&D characters are guilty of. The pieces are d4, d6, d7, two d10s, d12, and d20. The numbers represent how many sides each die has. Some sets will also have more copies of one die to make things easier in the case of multiple roles. So, when you need to roll three d6s, you can roll them all at once rather than rolling a d6 three times. Because there’s nothing gamers love more than using the optimal strategy.
Most dice within a D&D dice set, the d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12, are used for combat functions. That includes damage, attacks, spells, and healing. When your enemies have chosen death, these are the dice you’re going to bust out. The d20, on the other hand, is used to check if attempted actions succeed. If you ever want to interact with anything, or just get real weird with it, this is the die to turn to. For more on D&D dice explained, we’re going to cover each die individually below.
The d4 is a seldom appreciated part of a D&D dice set, mainly because it’s very easy to step on and hurt yourself. It also doesn’t roll very well because of the fewer, flatter sides. (Unless, that is, you have our patented infinity d4 dice!) The d4 is often used for low variation rolls, with an average of 2.5. You can use it for calculating damage from small weapons, which comes up pretty frequently. It’s also good for healing spells. If you want bigger, powerful spells, though, this die often won’t cut it.
Everybody’s favorite, classic die of the D&D dice set is the cube. You’re likely already familiar with it, whether it’s from family-ending Monopoly games or a frustrating run through the game of Life. In terms of D&D, this die is used for quickly rolling multiples, such as attributes in character creation. How flexibly you implement multiple rolls is up to you. You can add an extra and discount the lowest roll if you want. Sometimes you just wanna play D&D on easy mode.
The d8 is an eight-sided die with triangular faces. It’s essentially as if you took two pyramids and glued them together by the bottom. Its role in the D&D dice set is to determine the damage done by large weapons. So if you love swords, axes, maybe even a mace, this is the die you’ll rely on. If not, then it makes a great spinning top for you to mess around with during slower parts of the campaign.
The two d10s you get for your dice set are slightly different but are used together. One has sides with 0-9, while the other has sides with multiples of 10, through 90. Their primary use for a D&D dice set is to be rolled together to get a percentage. So when you need to calculate anything based on a value between 1 and 100, these are your dice of choice. Note: two rolls of 0 equals 100, so you can never roll true zero. This die will fit in naturally for statistics lovers out there, not that there are any.
Next up on D&D dice explained is the d12. Its role in a D&D dice set is to calculate damage for large weapons carried by a raging barbarian. For people that love going berserk on their enemies, this die will suit you perfectly. Design-wise, each face has a pentagonal shape, and stacks really well for long dice-stacking intervals between combat turns. You may not use this die the most within your run, but you can get some mileage outside of the run. At the very least, it looks pretty and brings the whole set together.
The grandmaster die of Dungeons and Dragons, the d20 is the premier member of your D&D dice set. For one thing, it has way more sides than the others. And it rolls way better than others because it’s closest to being spherical. Functionality-wise, it’s used any time you want to know your attempt was successful. That can be for attacks, skill checks, ability checks, and more, with each value representing a 5% chance. You roll a d20 to see if you hit an enemy, and then the others to see how the damage plays out. It’s the core, the great decider, RNGesus distilled into one essence present on your game board. It wouldn’t be inappropriate to pray to it to get good results throughout your campaign. It would be an outstanding move if you did, really.
Now that we’ve explained D&D dice sets to you, all you need to do is find the right D&D dice set for you and get started. Once you find the right set, everything else will fall into place. Just remember, sets are like snowflakes, no two are alike. It might take you a while to find the perfect set, but that’s okay. With all the different sets around Dice Envy, you’ll be sure to find something. Check out the collection of metal, wood, stone, and polymer dice to start your D&D journey.
]]>Arcane Vein is a metal D&D dice-set that ranks as one of our most popular offerings. It makes a great D&D-themed gift because it’s sleek and versatile. It’ll offer something for a wide range of players, no matter their interest or skill level. People love cool-looking things. This is one of the coolest looking D&D gifts you can get for a DM or other players.
Holoverse can be best summed up in one word: colorful. Players can leave behind reality and enter the endless bliss of the Matrix with these dice. Colors are brighter, things feel more real. Your loved ones are going to love this D&D gift for how eye-catching it is. They don’t even need to play D&D to appreciate it. They can just stare and admire it.
It’s smooth, it’s transparent, it’s what Apple wishes the iPhone looked like if not for technology limits. True Neutral is the perfect Dungeons and Dragons gift idea for those who enjoy the mysterious qualities of crystal-clear coating or just like a classic aesthetic that will never go out of style. Black and white is classic for a reason.
Woodwind is a premium wooden d20 die that’s designed specifically for music lovers. Each side has music notes in place of numbers for the user to add up. It’s a great D&D gift for bards or anyone who appreciates a classic musical feel.
Okay, so we’re a little basic for this one, but that just means we’re widely appealing. Pumpkin Dice Latte captures all the greatness of Pumpkin Spice Lattes and the essence of fall. This D&D gift for a DM or anyone else works perfectly if they love pumpkin spice or love fall so much they wish it wouldn’t end.
There’s no denying it: everybody loves gold. It looks elegant, luxurious, and valuable. Combine gold with our unique patented infinity d4 design, and you get Infinity Dice (Metal Healer Gold Edition). In addition to its glossy feel, the dice have golden pixellated hearts as marking symbols. It’s a perfect D&D gift for any gold or retro lovers, ideally both. Both is good.
The MCU isn’t the largest film franchise of all time for nothing. This Dungeons and Dragons gift idea captures the classic feel of Captain America for any lovers of the franchise, or those who simply enjoy playing by a code of honor. With America’s Ass on your side, anything is possible. Your loved one will appreciate you for it.
They may not be flashy like our other D&D gifts, but Combat Tracking Pads are a crucial tool for any serious D&D players. They keep track of all the valuable combat and stat information so your loved one doesn’t have to! The greatest gift you can give to your loved one this holiday season is having to do less math.
If your loved one was as hyped for the release of Dune as we were, they’re going to love Desert Planet. Or maybe you just happen to really like the desert. Either way, this is a great D&D gift for a DM or anyone else. It has a smooth, reddish-orange finish mixed with light magenta to produce a dreamy, textured feeling that people love.
Help your loved one conjure power from intricate runes using Midnight Sigil. This D&D gift is a classic gold-on-black design that gives the impression that they were crafted long ago for magical purposes. And now they’re going to bring magic to the table. No Dungeons and Dragons gift idea is better suited for arcane enthusiasts.
Beyond securing the best gifts for D&D lovers in your life, you can be assured that getting them through us is as simple as possible. Not as simple as reading your mind simple, but pretty simple. Our online ordering system makes it easy to get dice shipped straight to your door. And you can contact us if you have any questions or issues that come up. You can gift smarter and easier this holiday season with some help from Dice Envy.
]]>Personally, I love the crunchy number systems like 3rd edition. I love a good crit at an opportune moment. I love a character that slowly matures from a one note joke to a complex hero with motivations beyond what I originally had in store for them. But most importantly, I love my D&D community. I think in a world that can feel impossibly isolating D&D is a promise to sit down with friends regularly.
Dice Envy's New Look
If you've been a fan of ours for some time you might notice are website has a new look. I want to talk about specifically about the banner image that welcomes people to our shop. You'll notice something different here from our competitors. Usually, a dice company will put their best and newest product on the top of the page. This is a totally intelligent move. However, after thinking about what makes D&D great we choose a new route. Instead of focusing on product we are focusing on the joy that emerges when playing with friends. We started a series of art commissions. The prompt is "Dungeons and Dragons Characters Playing D&D." Other than the prompt, we are giving creative license for the artists to draw whatever that means to them.
Who are the artists?
Fan art is so important to what it means to be in the larger D&D community. Not only do we have so many people that love art in the space, they love drawing their favorite characters from both their home games and from the streaming world. We wanted to include those voices in this project. We are reaching out to independent graphic artists and D&D fanatics to get some truly unique art that celebrates the joy found at are weekly (hopefully) game nights.
Our first artist is by @lassflores. You should check out her Twitter and totally hire her.
]]>I just wanted to give you a heads up about the March Pride Box. We had a little production error and it pushed back the completion of the order by a week or so. This pushed fulfillment back too. The Pride and Gluttony subscriptions should ship out next week. I apologize for the delay.
David
Dice Envy, Owner
]]>April’s dice are all in the mail. Everyone should have received the “Liches Get Riches” set.
May’s dice will ship next week but lack the additional d6. We will include the late dice in a future subscription. If your subscription expires before then, just send us a request for the late dice at hello@diceenvy.com, and we'll get it to you.
Envy and Gluttony Boxes
The Envy and Gluttony boxes for April and May will arrive in June.
April subscribers should have received an email with a $20 code to our site as an apology. We want to offer you a set of dice on the house. If you didn't receive the code, email us at hello@diceenvy.com.
We want to avoid this from happening again.
To prevent this kind of delay in the future, we have pre-ordered our dice for the next twelve months. In addition, we are now contracting with multiple factories in multiple countries to stabilize our supply lines.
Check our blog for any future updates. And as always, we appreciate your business and your patience.
Stay safe. Stay well. Play games.
6/16/2020 Update: We received the dice in the mail for all the prior month's. We are currently prepping the sub for shipping now. We are shipping everything (April-May-June) next week.
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