Do you have a "go to" brand (such as Chessex or GameScience) that you always buy? If so, why?
What about a particular style (such as rounded edges or precision)?
I'm not so much interested in color preferences (although if there's something you find particularly beautiful, I won't complain about you posting it).
I had tons of Chessex dice sets (one for each character I played, including a mini-sized set for my Halfling), a small number of random dice leftover from when I played in the 80s, plus an original Zocchihedron from the 80s as well. I gave them all away when I had gaming burnout a few years ago (I gave them to a local woman whose teenage son had just fallen in love with D&D, because I wanted them to go to someone who would enjoy them & appreciate them).
I've just gotten back into D&D and I'm currently bumming dice from my new group (not that they mind, they offered). I promised myself I wouldn't go hog wild on buying dice again like I did before, figured I'd be just fine with what they gave me to use. I mean, they're just dice, right? But then one of them showed me these babies....
...and I thought "ooooh, I like those!" So now I'm seriously considering buying a set (just ONE set) of this style. They're metal/zinc dice, a little heavier than I'd like, but I really like how they have edges with raised numbers and recessed faces. They come in a few different colors, and I'm partial to a couple of them. If I could find these in a plastic version, I'd consider those too.
So, what do you say, people? What are your preferences?
One thing I've heard about metal dice is that they can damage the surface they are rolled on. I don't have any myself, partially for that reason.
I have Chessex, wiz kids, and one other brand of dice, whose name I don't remember. I will confess I got the wiz kids mostly for the fun colors. I have found some defects in the wiz kids sets: numbers that weren't stamped well, a scratch/gouge on one that got painted like a number, etc.they also feel lighter than the Chessex ones. The Chessex set I have has seemed more steady quality, although I found a set in the store a while back whose d4 has one point chopped off. (Store clerk thanked me for catching it and pulled the set, I'm guessing to send it back to Chessex). The third brand was ok, just really boring solid colors. That brand was a "pound" box of dice I got for the "drop-in" game I run at the local library, so that newbies had dice; when I realized how helpful it was for me to have multiple dice sets as DM, I used them until I got my wiz kids sets. I haven't noticed problems with roll results with any of them, but I have tracked or tested them eithe.
I prefer plastic all the way, not metal. Just don't seem worth the added price to me, though I have gotten pricey dice, in my opinion. Thing is, I like to think of different dice as having . . . not personalities or anything, but like ways in which you could roll better or worse depending on use. Totally not real, I don't actually buy into that whole rigmarole, it's just for the fun of it. It adds an additional level of entertainment to the process, is all.
The first set of dice I have I purchased at some corner market across the street from the junior college I was going to when I got introduced. Plastic dice with black numbers and swirly grays ranging from dark to light. They are still my absolute favorite dice, because of nostalgia and their propensity for high rolls. The four d6s they had are great for character generation. With simple rules of roll four, drop the lowest, I will almost always have at least two 18s. They never did that great when using them for damage, but that was okay with me.
I bought two separate dice sets from Q-workshop as well. Green's my favorite color, and they had two cool green sets marked with black Dwarven and Elven script. I used their d20s a lot for attacks, I always seemed to hit with them. I also got a Dwarven script dice cup from them, that I use to store my collection. When I started to get into Critical Role, I got their Vox Machina character set of d20s. Now that I DM, and I "play" a large cast of opponents during combat, I like to assign d20s accordingly. That's really all I have, aside from like ten d6s I got from Games Workshop because they came in a holder designed to look like a lasgun clip. Oh, I also got a set of d6s from a 40k site I moderate. We were doing a run of D6s with the site's logo on it and I got a handful. Also got a dice bag with it, and with the dice cup they can both just barely fit half the collection. The Vox Machina d20s came with a smaller dice bag, and if I go somewhere to play, like an adventurers league game at a local store, I'll use it and only take the bare minimum dice needed.
So I've got three sets of dice for each of the random d#s, but like ten d20s and maybe twenty d6s.
I have waaay too many sets of dice, including many metal ones. The metal ones look cool, but are too heavy and will bang up whatever you roll them on/in to. Even if I have a dedicated dice tray, they just don't roll/bounce around enough. While the dice you show look awesome, I'd vastly prefer plastic for game play.
And I also like simple, easy to read numbers at the table. I'd take a $2 set from aliexpress over a hard to read q workshop set any day.
Plastic all the way. Not that I don't find dice of other materials unattractive. Metal or wooden dice are very pretty but man, they get expensive.
I've gotten into the habit of buying a few sets knowing that many of the people I may play with will not have their own dice. I would just give them some. No dice, no problem, pick any color you want =)
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I have waaay too many sets of dice, including many metal ones. The metal ones look cool, but are too heavy and will bang up whatever you roll them on/in to. Even if I have a dedicated dice tray, they just don't roll/bounce around enough. While the dice you show look awesome, I'd vastly prefer plastic for game play.
And I also like simple, easy to read numbers at the table. I'd take a $2 set from aliexpress over a hard to read q workshop set any day.
Ah, y'see, now THAT'S one of the things I don't like about the metals. They definitely felt too heavy and like they wouldn't roll enough. They look awesome, but I'd be happy with plastics of the same style.
And thanks for the tip about AliExpress, I've never heard of them but I'm checking them out now.
I prefer metal dice using a dice tray. My favorites of both are Easy Roller brand. Plastic and wood feel odd (not heavy enough) after using metal for a year or so.
I have Game Science, Chessex, and other brands. Only thing I advise against is going cheap and ordering one of those “pound of dice” deals. My experience is there ends up dice in batch that have defects.
Edit: Painted metal dice (sides) lose paint if kept loose. Though Easy Roller metal dice come in a foam insert in the container. Skullsplitter is another decent metal dice brand as recall.
I have waaay too many sets of dice, including many metal ones. The metal ones look cool, but are too heavy and will bang up whatever you roll them on/in to. Even if I have a dedicated dice tray, they just don't roll/bounce around enough. While the dice you show look awesome, I'd vastly prefer plastic for game play.
And I also like simple, easy to read numbers at the table. I'd take a $2 set from aliexpress over a hard to read q workshop set any day.
Ah, y'see, now THAT'S one of the things I don't like about the metals. They definitely felt too heavy and like they wouldn't roll enough. They look awesome, but I'd be happy with plastics of the same style.
And thanks for the tip about AliExpress, I've never heard of them but I'm checking them out now.
Cheap dice are a godsend. When I DMI keep a bowl with 10 sets on the table, all the same unique-ish color - I got a 10 sets of transparent pink dices for like 12 bucks off AliExpress a while back. That way when people get bardic inspiration, or bless, or any other buff dice, they can pull it from the kitty, and they will remember what they are for. also, if you need a ton of dice for say fireball, or sneak attack damage, you have a big pile of them readily available. Yeah they are cheap, and may have a few minor printing defects, but they are just fine and really speeds up things at the table.
A thought just came to me while looking (unsuccessfully) for a plastic version of those metals I posted. If there aren't any manufacturers that make them, would it be possible to scan and print a 3d set and then just paint them myself?
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Do you have a "go to" brand (such as Chessex or GameScience) that you always buy? If so, why?
What about a particular style (such as rounded edges or precision)?
I'm not so much interested in color preferences (although if there's something you find particularly beautiful, I won't complain about you posting it).
I had tons of Chessex dice sets (one for each character I played, including a mini-sized set for my Halfling), a small number of random dice leftover from when I played in the 80s, plus an original Zocchihedron from the 80s as well. I gave them all away when I had gaming burnout a few years ago (I gave them to a local woman whose teenage son had just fallen in love with D&D, because I wanted them to go to someone who would enjoy them & appreciate them).
I've just gotten back into D&D and I'm currently bumming dice from my new group (not that they mind, they offered). I promised myself I wouldn't go hog wild on buying dice again like I did before, figured I'd be just fine with what they gave me to use. I mean, they're just dice, right? But then one of them showed me these babies....
...and I thought "ooooh, I like those!" So now I'm seriously considering buying a set (just ONE set) of this style. They're metal/zinc dice, a little heavier than I'd like, but I really like how they have edges with raised numbers and recessed faces. They come in a few different colors, and I'm partial to a couple of them. If I could find these in a plastic version, I'd consider those too.
So, what do you say, people? What are your preferences?
One thing I've heard about metal dice is that they can damage the surface they are rolled on. I don't have any myself, partially for that reason.
I have Chessex, wiz kids, and one other brand of dice, whose name I don't remember. I will confess I got the wiz kids mostly for the fun colors. I have found some defects in the wiz kids sets: numbers that weren't stamped well, a scratch/gouge on one that got painted like a number, etc.they also feel lighter than the Chessex ones. The Chessex set I have has seemed more steady quality, although I found a set in the store a while back whose d4 has one point chopped off. (Store clerk thanked me for catching it and pulled the set, I'm guessing to send it back to Chessex). The third brand was ok, just really boring solid colors. That brand was a "pound" box of dice I got for the "drop-in" game I run at the local library, so that newbies had dice; when I realized how helpful it was for me to have multiple dice sets as DM, I used them until I got my wiz kids sets. I haven't noticed problems with roll results with any of them, but I have tracked or tested them eithe.
Trying to Decide if DDB is for you? A few helpful threads: A Buyer's Guide to DDB; What I/We Bought and Why; How some DMs use DDB; A Newer Thread on Using DDB to Play
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ModeratorI prefer plastic all the way, not metal. Just don't seem worth the added price to me, though I have gotten pricey dice, in my opinion. Thing is, I like to think of different dice as having . . . not personalities or anything, but like ways in which you could roll better or worse depending on use. Totally not real, I don't actually buy into that whole rigmarole, it's just for the fun of it. It adds an additional level of entertainment to the process, is all.
The first set of dice I have I purchased at some corner market across the street from the junior college I was going to when I got introduced. Plastic dice with black numbers and swirly grays ranging from dark to light. They are still my absolute favorite dice, because of nostalgia and their propensity for high rolls. The four d6s they had are great for character generation. With simple rules of roll four, drop the lowest, I will almost always have at least two 18s. They never did that great when using them for damage, but that was okay with me.
I bought two separate dice sets from Q-workshop as well. Green's my favorite color, and they had two cool green sets marked with black Dwarven and Elven script. I used their d20s a lot for attacks, I always seemed to hit with them. I also got a Dwarven script dice cup from them, that I use to store my collection. When I started to get into Critical Role, I got their Vox Machina character set of d20s. Now that I DM, and I "play" a large cast of opponents during combat, I like to assign d20s accordingly. That's really all I have, aside from like ten d6s I got from Games Workshop because they came in a holder designed to look like a lasgun clip. Oh, I also got a set of d6s from a 40k site I moderate. We were doing a run of D6s with the site's logo on it and I got a handful. Also got a dice bag with it, and with the dice cup they can both just barely fit half the collection. The Vox Machina d20s came with a smaller dice bag, and if I go somewhere to play, like an adventurers league game at a local store, I'll use it and only take the bare minimum dice needed.
So I've got three sets of dice for each of the random d#s, but like ten d20s and maybe twenty d6s.
I have waaay too many sets of dice, including many metal ones. The metal ones look cool, but are too heavy and will bang up whatever you roll them on/in to. Even if I have a dedicated dice tray, they just don't roll/bounce around enough. While the dice you show look awesome, I'd vastly prefer plastic for game play.
And I also like simple, easy to read numbers at the table. I'd take a $2 set from aliexpress over a hard to read q workshop set any day.
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Plastic all the way. Not that I don't find dice of other materials unattractive. Metal or wooden dice are very pretty but man, they get expensive.
I've gotten into the habit of buying a few sets knowing that many of the people I may play with will not have their own dice. I would just give them some. No dice, no problem, pick any color you want =)
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Ah, y'see, now THAT'S one of the things I don't like about the metals. They definitely felt too heavy and like they wouldn't roll enough. They look awesome, but I'd be happy with plastics of the same style.
And thanks for the tip about AliExpress, I've never heard of them but I'm checking them out now.
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D&D Beyond FoundersI have a set of 6 luma dice for my d6 needs. :)
They're a bit expensive, especially now (I got them during the kickstarter).
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I prefer metal dice using a dice tray. My favorites of both are Easy Roller brand. Plastic and wood feel odd (not heavy enough) after using metal for a year or so.
I have Game Science, Chessex, and other brands. Only thing I advise against is going cheap and ordering one of those “pound of dice” deals. My experience is there ends up dice in batch that have defects.
Edit: Painted metal dice (sides) lose paint if kept loose. Though Easy Roller metal dice come in a foam insert in the container. Skullsplitter is another decent metal dice brand as recall.
Cheap dice are a godsend. When I DMI keep a bowl with 10 sets on the table, all the same unique-ish color - I got a 10 sets of transparent pink dices for like 12 bucks off AliExpress a while back. That way when people get bardic inspiration, or bless, or any other buff dice, they can pull it from the kitty, and they will remember what they are for. also, if you need a ton of dice for say fireball, or sneak attack damage, you have a big pile of them readily available. Yeah they are cheap, and may have a few minor printing defects, but they are just fine and really speeds up things at the table.
Legendary Bundle ~ Master Tier
A thought just came to me while looking (unsuccessfully) for a plastic version of those metals I posted. If there aren't any manufacturers that make them, would it be possible to scan and print a 3d set and then just paint them myself?