Hoping I came to the right place. My son (24 and long time D & D player) put dice on his Christmas wish list. Now I, an another wise into it kind of Mom knows nothing about D & D. I would think that he has enough dice but not knowing, maybe that’s not a thing. Could it be that he just wants a fresh, new, and/or different set?
Any other D & D ideas? Thoughts? Help a Mama out please?! Need some gift ideas for this fantastic son that normally sees something he likes and buys it.
(Should add he has a good bit of a bookcase full of encyclopedia looking D & D books)
Technically speaking, only one set of D&D dice is strictly necessary. But more dice are helpful. A set is just one type of each kind of die. But there are times when a player needs to roll two or more...sometimes many more...of the same type of die. If a player only has one set, you roll that one repeatedly and keep a running total. But it is easier and more fun to roll all the dice at once and then add them up. Players can also get superstitious about dice—especially the 20 sided die (aka d20). If they roll poorly repeatedly, many players prefer to stop using it during a game and use another one. I know a store that sells “emergency d20s” for just such a purpose! There is also a fairly common saying among those of us who play: “you can never have too many dice.”
My son and I have dice on our Christmas list, too. My husband (who also plays, but not as often or as enthusiastically) said, “Don’t you have enough dice already? Why do you need more?” Our response: you can never have too many dice. In my case, I am often the Dungeon Master; it speeds things up if I can roll for lots of monsters at once. In my sons case, while he is also a Dungeon Master sometimes, I think he just likes having lots of dice.
It’s hard to tell you what else D&D related to get him. First there is the question of which edition of D&D he plays. Then there’s the fact that he has a bookcase full of books. You’d need to know what books (and other paraphernalia) he has. I suggest you ask him what other D&D things he would like for Christmas. If you have questions about what he tells you, I’d be happy to try to answer them for you.
Similarly, if you aren’t sure what D&D dice are, or how to decide what to get, post back and I or someone else can help you.
Dice are a collectible item. Some people even like the idea of having sets dedicated to just one character, one whose personality matches the color or material of the dice. And as mentioned above, sometimes having extras of various sizes speeds up play. There are premium dice, made of different minerals or stone, or metal. Some polished stone dice are on my Christmas list this year.
Other ideas are minis (or a gift card to places like HeroForge.com where they can design a custom mini and have it printed)
Geeky T shirts are always welcome. We, like the wizards in Harry Potter, appreciate a bit of showing off when we gather together around the table.
Along those lines, dice bags or trays or dice towers are always conversation pieces at the table, though unnecessary to playing the game.
You might research game conventions in your area and buy him a ticket to that.
Kind of depends on your budget. The Wymwood dice trays are amazing, as are Dogmight DM screens. I have a set of dice I had made on shapeways to they are super unique, they are a bit more expensive that regular ones but really cool. Then you can go with metal dice or stone or regular.... There is so much out there depending on what you want to pay,
For D&D, there are six die types. There's a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20 (representing the amount of faces the die has - with results of 1-4, 1-6, and so on). There's also a d100 idea, but don't worry about that. Different die types are used to resolve various actions in the game. When someone owns a dice 'set', they will have each of the die types needed. As a player's (real life person) character (in-game person) gets more powerful, they will 'want' more dice, because it's more efficient to roll ten six sided dice (yahtzee dice) at once than it is to roll a single six sided dice ten times. When you buy extra dice for efficiency and ease of gameplay, you'll often want the die types that are commonly needed in large numbers. That's why you'll often find a whole pack of d6s (the standard dice we've all known for centuries). Look up companies like Chessex, where you'll find little square plastic cube container things with a bunch of d6s in it (20+). You can find these dice at your local gaming hobby store (where they sell Magic the Gathering, board games, etc.), at Barnes & Noble and of course online at places like Miniature Market, Troll & Toad, and Amazon.
A gamer's view on dice
Dice are a collectible thing. Folk can only drive one car at a time, but given enough money, a 'car guy', might have 7 cars in his driveway/garage/barn. Pottery, trinkets, masks - we all have "our thing." For players, you only ever need the 6 die types mentioned above, but it is never enough. Companies and businesses know this. On Amazon, you can type in 'pound of dice' and you'll find a slew of options for a dice bag filled with hundreds of dice, in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. The 'bang for your buck' of these dice sets is among the best, as you'll get a lot for your $$. Here's where it gets more involved. Many of those dice aren't very good. So, you ask, "what makes one dice better than another?"
Superstition: Dice are used to resolve a players actions in the game. Words are thrown around such as, "if our dice rolled better tonight, we would have won that fight!" When a dice is performing poorly, it must be punished. This might mean a casual toss across the room, all the way to the freezer or perhaps in some other confined area (I gifted my players last Xmas with dice punishment bins). In this case, you need another dice, because it isn't you, or the random element, it is the dice that is responsible for your shit luck
Dice are beautiful..or not: Not all dice look the same. As businesses know roleplayers are all about their dice, they make and sell them in all shapes and sizes. Pretty colors, prisms, etc. This is the simple, "if it's shiny or blingy", I want it thing. Mechanically, you roll it and it resolves the same thing, but it looks a lot better. Remember that whole bit about dice sets above? Well, don't ever give me a mish mash of sets. It looks bad. If my d4, d6, d8, d10, d12 and d20 are purplish in color, then I better have some extra dice that have a bit of purple in them, or at least have some considerations towards color theory..yellowish perhaps?
Texture and roll: One major thing (which isn't prevalent so much anymore) is finding dice that roll well. This is no different than ensuring you don't have weighted or off balance dice at a craps table in Vegas. Generally, quality among all dice able to be purchased by the public is good enough that this isn't an issue, but if the etching, embossing and other details aren't sufficient, it could leave some marks/burrs that cause a dice to both feel and roll weird. The craze these days are really heavy dice. Metal and such. They look and are sold as "volcanic stone" or "magma dwarven steel golem stuff", etc. These dice sets (the six types) can easily run $50 - $100 for SIX dice. But damn, they feel nice. They're really heavy, feel weighty in the hand, etc
Legibility and usability: Dice need to fit the person. That's usually 1st, a combination of aesthetics and feel. I don't have the metal dice because I choose to spend my gaming budget on other stuff, but if gifted to me - hell yea I'd take them! I also have some color preferences. I don't just want the dice used during a game to look nice, I want my entire collection to look nice. 2nd, I have small hands. Dice can come in various shapes and sizes and I need to feel comfortable with the lot in my hand. Poorly designed dice (especially those with more faces - d12/d20) might not be sculpted well and when rolled, it may seem like they don't settle on a number when landing on the table. That's why the weighty metal dice are so good. Also, if I need to grab 15 six sided dice, I need ones at the right size (though the double hand cup is epic!). 3rd, readability is key. As a designer professionally, the sexiest dice ever is no use to me if I can't read the numbers at an immediate glance half away across the table. That's why the standard of black dice with white pips or white (ivory) dice with black pips is the tried and true. Once you get into the non standard dice (not a d6), you won't find pips, but have numbers instead. Here is another opportunity to check for quality. Hold the dice you will potentially buy in your hand. If the numbers and etching is crooked, and some are not readable, it may be a shitty collection of dice
That's just dice! For other ideas, I'll offer a small bit.
Dice storage: There are amazing bags down to the tried and true Crown Royal bag...many dice sets (especially in large numbers) will come with some sort of bag. Type dice bag in Amazon and you'll see what I mean. Again, this is a personal thing as to what a person likes/dislikes.
Dice trays: Some function as both holders and places to actually roll your dice. When you're rolling a lot of dice, you don't want it crashing all over the table. You can go from the underside of a used picture frame to a $150+ dollar oakwood epic thing as sold by Wyrmwood gaming (wyrmwoodgaming.com if you want epic D&D gifts for epic money).
Rare/collectible books: There are books like Art & Arcana, which is the 'collection of all of D&D art' since the game came out 40ish years ago. These aren't part of the game-play but they are big huge tome things that highlight the game. These sorts of things are like behind the scenes and making of DVDs for movies. Many official D&D books also have alternate art/special edition covers. The content within is identical, but they are simply much nicer. Some go beyond just a different visual (cover art) and actually feel different. The pages might have a bit of gold filigree, etc. (or whatever it's called). In this case, check out a place such as Beadle & Grimms..
Dwarven Forge: Think legos for dungeon masters. This route goes down the thousands of dollars path, but its terrain and sets that allow someone to build the spaces where the players will fight. This is more for the dungeon master (the storyteller and one who runs the game) rather than the responsibility of the players, but it's nice when all involved in a game can chip in.
T-Shirts and other swag: There's no shortage these days of shirts and other clothing items that scream, "I play D&D." If he is a fan of the some of the more mainstream/popular D&D "celebrities" out there, look into getting him some stuff from the following: critical role, dungeon run, acquisitions inc, etc. This might be a case where you simply have to ask him if he knows about or likes, but if he's into the game, he'll know what I'm referring to.
An amazing pen/pencil all the way up to an I-pad: Depending on the interface in which he jots notes down and tracks his character sheet, this can run the gamut from a cool $12 pack of mechanical pencils up to giving Apple a thousand dollars.
Custom miniatures: There's a site called heroforge where they make the miniature (the little toy figurine that represents your character at the table). You have to do some detective work and find out exactly what character is being played, and from those details (does he have a big axe or does he use a sword and shield, etc.). These custom miniatures do just that. They customize the miniature for you and make it personal. You no longer have a random goblin to represent the goblin that your son plays, you have HIS goblin. This is a much more complicated gift to pull off, but if you ever found out about a certain character that he was really attached to it, it's like giving a toy figure of that character.
Signed art: There are many artist associated with D&D. You look up everything from D&D artists to Wizards of the Coast Artists (Magic the Gathering artists, etc.). In this case, go to a gaming or book store (or your sons shelf), pick up a cool D&D book, flip to the credits and see who did the cover art. Go home, type that artist into google and you might find a shopping link where you can then get an 11x17 piece of artwork of the exact art that was on the cover of that cool book. Frame it and bam, you have something amazing to hang on the wall.
Dice are fun to collect and there are some features of dice gamers want. I want an interesting set of dice that are easy to read. I bought a special set of dice from Dark Elf that have new interesting shapes. In some collections they are called Crystal Dice but the set I favor is reasonably priced and includes the interesting shapes.
Dice are something that a D&D player can never have enough of. I've been playing D&D since 1981, and I've gone through a ton of dice. Sometimes you lose one, sometimes you find one (or a few) that are just unlucky and always roll bad numbers. Sometimes you loan dice to someone who needs dice, and then you need more dice. Also, whenever I start playing a new character in D&D, I buy a new set of dice to commemorate the new beginning.
But aside from dice - and more dice is always good - there are other dice related gifts to keep in mind.
What does your son carry his dice around in? Dice are such an important part of playing D&D, it's important to keep them safe. Simple cloth or velvet dice bags are common. Wooden dice boxes (often with fancy engravings) are very common. Also - a dice tray (to roll the dice into) is a standard table top item.
You can find all sorts of varieties and ideas on Etsy, or by checking out wyrmwoodgaming.com, krackendice.com, dnddice.com, etc etc. Or - if you're into the usual mom crafts - maybe you could knit him a dice bag. A simple pouch with a drawstring opening at the top, about big enough to hold a softball. Maybe lined with felt so there's no gaps. The personal touch is always the best. I promise he would be the envy of his entire gaming group with a homemade dice bag!
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Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
A lot of great ideas mentioned, but keying in on the fact that he asked specifically asked for dice and is the type that "normally sees something he likes and buys it" I would advise you to stick with the dice.
I've been playing for a long time, and have received plenty of D&D gifts over the years. Dice are my default request, but I've received other stuff as well. This has resulted in me having 3 dice trays (I only use 1, the others collect dust), 6 nice, leather bound notebooks (I've used 1, then switched to electronic notes), several dice rollers (I don't use them bc I only roll by hand), and other things that are doubled up or unused. But... any dice I have received have been used, one set from years ago still gets regular use.
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Hoping I came to the right place. My son (24 and long time D & D player) put dice on his Christmas wish list. Now I, an another wise into it kind of Mom knows nothing about D & D. I would think that he has enough dice but not knowing, maybe that’s not a thing. Could it be that he just wants a fresh, new, and/or different set?
Any other D & D ideas? Thoughts? Help a Mama out please?! Need some gift ideas for this fantastic son that normally sees something he likes and buys it.
(Should add he has a good bit of a bookcase full of encyclopedia looking D & D books)
Technically speaking, only one set of D&D dice is strictly necessary. But more dice are helpful. A set is just one type of each kind of die. But there are times when a player needs to roll two or more...sometimes many more...of the same type of die. If a player only has one set, you roll that one repeatedly and keep a running total. But it is easier and more fun to roll all the dice at once and then add them up. Players can also get superstitious about dice—especially the 20 sided die (aka d20). If they roll poorly repeatedly, many players prefer to stop using it during a game and use another one. I know a store that sells “emergency d20s” for just such a purpose! There is also a fairly common saying among those of us who play: “you can never have too many dice.”
My son and I have dice on our Christmas list, too. My husband (who also plays, but not as often or as enthusiastically) said, “Don’t you have enough dice already? Why do you need more?” Our response: you can never have too many dice. In my case, I am often the Dungeon Master; it speeds things up if I can roll for lots of monsters at once. In my sons case, while he is also a Dungeon Master sometimes, I think he just likes having lots of dice.
It’s hard to tell you what else D&D related to get him. First there is the question of which edition of D&D he plays. Then there’s the fact that he has a bookcase full of books. You’d need to know what books (and other paraphernalia) he has. I suggest you ask him what other D&D things he would like for Christmas. If you have questions about what he tells you, I’d be happy to try to answer them for you.
Similarly, if you aren’t sure what D&D dice are, or how to decide what to get, post back and I or someone else can help you.
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
Helpful threads on other topics: Homebrew FAQ by IamSposta; Accessing Content by ConalTheGreat;
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Dice are a collectible item. Some people even like the idea of having sets dedicated to just one character, one whose personality matches the color or material of the dice. And as mentioned above, sometimes having extras of various sizes speeds up play. There are premium dice, made of different minerals or stone, or metal. Some polished stone dice are on my Christmas list this year.
Other ideas are minis (or a gift card to places like HeroForge.com where they can design a custom mini and have it printed)
Geeky T shirts are always welcome. We, like the wizards in Harry Potter, appreciate a bit of showing off when we gather together around the table.
Along those lines, dice bags or trays or dice towers are always conversation pieces at the table, though unnecessary to playing the game.
You might research game conventions in your area and buy him a ticket to that.
Kind of depends on your budget. The Wymwood dice trays are amazing, as are Dogmight DM screens. I have a set of dice I had made on shapeways to they are super unique, they are a bit more expensive that regular ones but really cool. Then you can go with metal dice or stone or regular.... There is so much out there depending on what you want to pay,
1st, a bit about dice
For D&D, there are six die types. There's a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20 (representing the amount of faces the die has - with results of 1-4, 1-6, and so on). There's also a d100 idea, but don't worry about that. Different die types are used to resolve various actions in the game. When someone owns a dice 'set', they will have each of the die types needed. As a player's (real life person) character (in-game person) gets more powerful, they will 'want' more dice, because it's more efficient to roll ten six sided dice (yahtzee dice) at once than it is to roll a single six sided dice ten times. When you buy extra dice for efficiency and ease of gameplay, you'll often want the die types that are commonly needed in large numbers. That's why you'll often find a whole pack of d6s (the standard dice we've all known for centuries). Look up companies like Chessex, where you'll find little square plastic cube container things with a bunch of d6s in it (20+). You can find these dice at your local gaming hobby store (where they sell Magic the Gathering, board games, etc.), at Barnes & Noble and of course online at places like Miniature Market, Troll & Toad, and Amazon.
A gamer's view on dice
Dice are a collectible thing. Folk can only drive one car at a time, but given enough money, a 'car guy', might have 7 cars in his driveway/garage/barn. Pottery, trinkets, masks - we all have "our thing." For players, you only ever need the 6 die types mentioned above, but it is never enough. Companies and businesses know this. On Amazon, you can type in 'pound of dice' and you'll find a slew of options for a dice bag filled with hundreds of dice, in all sorts of shapes, sizes and colors. The 'bang for your buck' of these dice sets is among the best, as you'll get a lot for your $$. Here's where it gets more involved. Many of those dice aren't very good. So, you ask, "what makes one dice better than another?"
That's just dice! For other ideas, I'll offer a small bit.
Dice storage: There are amazing bags down to the tried and true Crown Royal bag...many dice sets (especially in large numbers) will come with some sort of bag. Type dice bag in Amazon and you'll see what I mean. Again, this is a personal thing as to what a person likes/dislikes.
Dice trays: Some function as both holders and places to actually roll your dice. When you're rolling a lot of dice, you don't want it crashing all over the table. You can go from the underside of a used picture frame to a $150+ dollar oakwood epic thing as sold by Wyrmwood gaming (wyrmwoodgaming.com if you want epic D&D gifts for epic money).
Rare/collectible books: There are books like Art & Arcana, which is the 'collection of all of D&D art' since the game came out 40ish years ago. These aren't part of the game-play but they are big huge tome things that highlight the game. These sorts of things are like behind the scenes and making of DVDs for movies. Many official D&D books also have alternate art/special edition covers. The content within is identical, but they are simply much nicer. Some go beyond just a different visual (cover art) and actually feel different. The pages might have a bit of gold filigree, etc. (or whatever it's called). In this case, check out a place such as Beadle & Grimms..
Dwarven Forge: Think legos for dungeon masters. This route goes down the thousands of dollars path, but its terrain and sets that allow someone to build the spaces where the players will fight. This is more for the dungeon master (the storyteller and one who runs the game) rather than the responsibility of the players, but it's nice when all involved in a game can chip in.
T-Shirts and other swag: There's no shortage these days of shirts and other clothing items that scream, "I play D&D." If he is a fan of the some of the more mainstream/popular D&D "celebrities" out there, look into getting him some stuff from the following: critical role, dungeon run, acquisitions inc, etc. This might be a case where you simply have to ask him if he knows about or likes, but if he's into the game, he'll know what I'm referring to.
An amazing pen/pencil all the way up to an I-pad: Depending on the interface in which he jots notes down and tracks his character sheet, this can run the gamut from a cool $12 pack of mechanical pencils up to giving Apple a thousand dollars.
Custom miniatures: There's a site called heroforge where they make the miniature (the little toy figurine that represents your character at the table). You have to do some detective work and find out exactly what character is being played, and from those details (does he have a big axe or does he use a sword and shield, etc.). These custom miniatures do just that. They customize the miniature for you and make it personal. You no longer have a random goblin to represent the goblin that your son plays, you have HIS goblin. This is a much more complicated gift to pull off, but if you ever found out about a certain character that he was really attached to it, it's like giving a toy figure of that character.
Signed art: There are many artist associated with D&D. You look up everything from D&D artists to Wizards of the Coast Artists (Magic the Gathering artists, etc.). In this case, go to a gaming or book store (or your sons shelf), pick up a cool D&D book, flip to the credits and see who did the cover art. Go home, type that artist into google and you might find a shopping link where you can then get an 11x17 piece of artwork of the exact art that was on the cover of that cool book. Frame it and bam, you have something amazing to hang on the wall.
I hope I've helped!
All things Lich - DM tips, tricks, and other creative shenanigans
Dice are fun to collect and there are some features of dice gamers want. I want an interesting set of dice that are easy to read. I bought a special set of dice from Dark Elf that have new interesting shapes. In some collections they are called Crystal Dice but the set I favor is reasonably priced and includes the interesting shapes.
https://darkelfdice.com/collections/10-dice-sets
I recommend the Pearlescent Dice from the selection of 10-dice sets at that link. Good Luck. Merry Christmas!
Thank you everyone for the intel! Very helpful and definitely gave me some ideas.
Dice are something that a D&D player can never have enough of. I've been playing D&D since 1981, and I've gone through a ton of dice. Sometimes you lose one, sometimes you find one (or a few) that are just unlucky and always roll bad numbers. Sometimes you loan dice to someone who needs dice, and then you need more dice. Also, whenever I start playing a new character in D&D, I buy a new set of dice to commemorate the new beginning.
But aside from dice - and more dice is always good - there are other dice related gifts to keep in mind.
What does your son carry his dice around in? Dice are such an important part of playing D&D, it's important to keep them safe. Simple cloth or velvet dice bags are common. Wooden dice boxes (often with fancy engravings) are very common. Also - a dice tray (to roll the dice into) is a standard table top item.
You can find all sorts of varieties and ideas on Etsy, or by checking out wyrmwoodgaming.com, krackendice.com, dnddice.com, etc etc. Or - if you're into the usual mom crafts - maybe you could knit him a dice bag. A simple pouch with a drawstring opening at the top, about big enough to hold a softball. Maybe lined with felt so there's no gaps. The personal touch is always the best. I promise he would be the envy of his entire gaming group with a homemade dice bag!
Tayn of Darkwood. Lvl 10 human Life Cleric of Lathander. Retired.
Ikram Sahir ibn Malik al-Sayyid Ra'ad, Second Son of the House of Ra'ad, Defender of the Burning Sands. Lvl 9 Brass Dragonborn Sorcerer + Greater Fire Elemental Devil.
Viktor Gavriil. Lvl 20 White Dragonborn Grave Cleric, of Kurgan the God of Death.
Anzio Faro. Lvl 5 Prot. Aasimar Light Cleric.
Go to amazon. Then search dnd bulk dice.
jack l p
A lot of great ideas mentioned, but keying in on the fact that he asked specifically asked for dice and is the type that "normally sees something he likes and buys it" I would advise you to stick with the dice.
I've been playing for a long time, and have received plenty of D&D gifts over the years. Dice are my default request, but I've received other stuff as well. This has resulted in me having 3 dice trays (I only use 1, the others collect dust), 6 nice, leather bound notebooks (I've used 1, then switched to electronic notes), several dice rollers (I don't use them bc I only roll by hand), and other things that are doubled up or unused. But... any dice I have received have been used, one set from years ago still gets regular use.