Rolling for Ravenloft

Dice. Dice are so integral to the roleplaying game hobby that everyone has their own set. Probably more than one set. Whether they are the very first set that the roleplayer had when he started playing, the set that he pulls out from the many in his dice bag or his All Rolled Up, or a set that is specific to the roleplaying game he is currently playing—either because the roleplaying game in question requires its own special dice set or the dice are aesthetically designed to match the game—dice are a fundamental part of a roleplayer’s kit. Some roleplayers have traditions about their dice. They pick a dice set for each game, they do not like other players touching or rolling their dice, they will punish dice that roll badly by placing them in a ‘dice gaol’, they dump a set entirely because of the bad rolls, and they collect dice. They will peruse dice sellers looking for the perfect set or the most pleasing set, but that is not the only way in which roleplayers collect dice sets. They buy dice in blind packs, each containing a complete dice set, but which the roleplayer has no idea what the set will look like. This is much like a traditional trading card game with its booster packs. The difference is that instead of opening booster packs in search of better cards to enhance and improve the game play of the trading card game, dice blind packs are opened in search of finding prettier, rarer dice sets and in the hope that all of the sets can be collected. This is how the Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs work.

Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs are official, licensed Dungeons & Dragons dice, manufactured by Sirius Dice, and themed around the Ravenloft campaign setting inspired by Gothic horror and its supernatural monsters—vampires, werewolves, mummies, and more, but most obviously by Count von Zarovich, the Darklord of Barovia, who originally appeared in I6 Ravenloft. So, what do you get in a Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Pack? Rip open the pack and inside you will find an embroidered dice bag containing a full polyhedral dice set and a collectible metal ability coin. The complete set consists of fifty-five unique dice sets, thirty-one ability coins, and seven dice bags. The latter come in seven, different designs that in turn depict the famous Dungeons & Dragons ampersand, a raven on a skull, the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind (sacred to the Good-aligned Barovians), bats flying against the backdrop of the Moon, and more. Each is roughly four-by-three-and-a-half inches and done in soft material, with a strong draw tie that has Dungeons & Dragons embroidered on it and enough room to comfortably hold the ability coin and the dice set. The dice bags are not big, but will hold two dice sets. The ability coins are double-sided and depict a variety of images. They can also be round, square, or octagonal; bronze, gold, or silver. So, one might depict a ‘Werewolf’ on one side and the werewolf undergoing the ‘Shapeshift’ on the other side; a young or an aged Rudolph Von Richten on one side and ‘Monster Hunter’ with a stake on the other; ‘Dragon Flight’ and a Dragonborn on one side and the Dungeons & Dragons ampersand on the other; and others. The rarest is a replica of the Holy Symbol of Ravenkind and a colour coin depicting Count von Zarovich himself. The coins themselves grant no in game bonus, but they can be used to indicate whether a Player Character has Inspiration, is suffering a particular condition, has activated an ability, and so on.

The dice vary in look and feel, but are all standard polyhedral dice with an extra ten-sided die to use as the ‘tens’ die for percentile rolls. Some of the sets are standard sets in solid colours or clear gem style, whilst others moulded as if made from stone or brickwork. The latter style is not inked, so although they have a different tactile feel to them, they are not as easy to read. The rarity of the dice runs from common and uncommon through rare to super rare and legendary. The rarer dice have their top values marked with a symbol and there is also the legendary Ravenloft metal dice set. The Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs do not include any indication as to the rarity of the contents and complete range.

The Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs are nice. The embroidered dice bags are fetching and well made, the ability coins solid as you would expect, and the dice ranging from good to decent. Not all of the dice are as easy to read as they could be, but they all roll well, and it will come down to whether or not the look and feel of the dice is something that you find attractive. Ultimately, it is a matter of taste.

It is also a matter of age. Whilst many gamers and roleplayers of a certain age will be familiar with the pulling of cards from booster packs for trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, they will be less familiar with blind dice packs. They are more used to buying their dice—when they need to—off the shelf. In fact, the idea of blind dice packs, feels weird. Yet not to younger players, so there is a market for the blind dice pack, such as the Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs. As an older gamer, it is easy to dismiss these as for the youth, but given that as a roleplayer you are always imagining yourself being someone else, it is not difficult to imagine the roles reversed. As seeing the dice packs as perfectly normal and the attitude of older gamers being small-minded. Further, it feels appropriate for a dice and accessory range inspired by a Gothic horror setting for Dungeons & Dragons to have a sense of mystery and the unknown like the one imparted by the blind nature of these dice packs. Opening Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs is actually more fun than you might think and you might get lucky.

—oOo—

A video of opening Castle Ravenloft Treasure Dice Packs can be found here.

[Nice Dice?] Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set

When we sit down to roleplay, the one thing we invariably have in front of us is a set of dice. We have been using dice in roleplaying for as long as we have been roleplaying and just about everyone who games has their own set. They are of course tools, tools that we use to determine the outcomes of our character’s actions. Yet we come to invest our hopes and fears in our dice as we play and we place our characters in increasingly perilous situations, but this degree of investment and how it manifests varies from player to player. One player might hold on to one set of dice which he uses for every game he plays, another might build a set of dice he only uses for one character, one player might dump one set of dice and replace it with another due to poor results or character death, and another may simply collect dice. There is an amazing array of dice available in a variety of styles and materials—metals, gemstones, wood, and even moose poop. Then there are dice sets for different games. In some cases, particular dice are required to play particular games. For example, Star Wars: Edge of the Empire from Fantasy Flight Games requires its own set of dice, as does Fvlminata: Armed with Lightning with its ‘Talia’ or knucklebone dice and Free League Publishing’s ‘Year Zero Engine’ family of games such as Mutant: Year Zero – Roleplaying at the End of Days or the more recent Vaesen – Nordic Horror Roleplaying.

In most other cases, publishers manufacture dice for their roleplaying games which are absolutely not required to play their games. If such dice are not required, then what do they add? They certainly do not add to the game itself in terms of play, any more than any other set of dice a player might have in his collection. What they enforce is brand identity, so that if a player has a set of Call of Cthulhu dice when playing Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition or a set of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha dice for playing RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, they add to the idea that the players are playing those games, encouraging a degree of immersion, but without adding anything directly to that play.

So, the question is, does the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set do the same for Traveller? Manufactured by Mongoose Publishing, this is a set of twenty six-sided dice, white with blue dots for the numbers on the first through fifth faces. The sixth face though is marked with the symbol of the Travellers’ Aid Society—the letters ‘TAS’ in a hexagon, a spaceship marking the counter or space at the top of the letter ‘A’. In Traveller, the Travellers’ Aid Society is a private organisation which maintains hostels and facilities at nearly all class A and B starports across Charted Space, providing its members with somewhere to stay, a regular means of travel, and information about worlds throughout known space. Membership can be purchased, but most Player Characters will receive membership as part of their mustering out benefits for meritorious or heroic conduct in service. Thus, the Travellers’ Aid Society is part of the fabric of the Traveller setting.

As much as the Travellers’ Aid Society is a part of the fabric of the Traveller setting, it not necessarily a brand identifier or icon associated with the Traveller setting or roleplaying game, whereas perhaps the Imperial Sunburst is, and is used across different institutions of the Third Imperium. Thus, black with a yellow sunburst for the Imperial Royal Family, yellow for the Imperial Navy, red for the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service, and so on. Could the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set have benefited from some variety in terms of colours and icons—perhaps those of the Third Imperium and other polities? Admittedly, that would mean that the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set would not be the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set, but a Traveller dice set. Plus, it would have made manufacturing and packaging that little bit more complex. Then there is the question of twenty six-sided dice—are that many needed? In a game like Traveller, most players will be rolling two six-sided dice at a time for skill checks and similar actions. They are going to be rolling perhaps four dice at the most to determine damage in combat, although this may increase as many to six when employing particularly heavy weapons or in starship combat. Thus, there is enough dice for a single group, perhaps consisting of a Game Master and four players with four dice each, or even more if they have fewer dice in front of them. In effect, the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set is not a dice set for a player or the Game Master, but for the group. Even so, there is still the matter of the price. The Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set has a recommended retail price of £25 ($25).

Each die in the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set has a recommended retail price of £1.25 ($1.25).

Now of course, there are costs involved in the manufacture and shipping of any product. Of course, there are. Getting the moulds cut for the dice, designing the packaging, assembling the packaging, shipping, and so on. But £1.25 ($1.25) per die? For a set of dice that is not that interesting, does not add to the play of the game, and in play does not strongly enforce the brand?

There can be no doubt that the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set is nicely packaged. It comes a in neat little box. Yet it is no more than a frippery, a collector’s item that some Traveller devotees will want to have in their collection, because it does not add a great deal to the play of the roleplaying game and it is debatable whether it adds very much to the brand because the Travellers’ Aid Society icon is not as recognisable as others in Traveller. Could it be that the Travellers’ Aid Society Dice Set is just a bit dull and just a bit too expensive?

Rolling for RuneQuest

For as long as there has been gaming, there has been dice and every gamer has a set that he loves, loathes, and places the fate of his characters upon. A gamer’s dice can be as simple or as sophisticated as he wants, whether that is a set of dice that he can use with any roleplaying game or a set of dice particular to a specific roleplaying game, for example, the dice for Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s The One Ring RPG or any one of the Star Wars RPGs published by Fantasy Flight Games, such Star Wars: Edge of Empire, because their mechanics and their dice warrant it. Of course, this does not stop publishers and manufacturers creating and publishing dice for specific games which are themed around said games rather than mechanics. Chaosium, Inc. is one such publisher, working with Q-Workshop to create several dice sets for Call of Cthulhu, including for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition. This included a complete set of metal dice for the new edition of the roleplaying game. The very latest dice set from Q-Workshop for Chaosium, Inc. is for the newest roleplaying game from Chaosium—RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

In fact, Q-Workshop has published not one set of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha dice, but two sets of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha dice. Each RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Set is a complete set of polyhedral dice—one four-sided, one six-sided, one eight-sided, one twelve-sided, and one twenty-sided die, plus one ordinary ten-sided die and one ten-sided die marked in tens so that percentiles can be rolled. What sets the two sets apart are the colours. One set is Burgundy on Beige, the other is Gold on Turquoise. The Burgundy on Beige is nice nod to the original colours of Chaosium’s first edition of RuneQuest, whilst the latter has nice feel of antiquity in its choice of colour combination. The design though, is intended to follow that of the design of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. Q-Workshop describe Turquoise as being “...the stone for warriors, full of energy and hope for victory. Gold is the metal for victors. Both combined are the best talisman for brave adventurers.”

In general, the numbers on the dice are easy to read, but those on the Burgundy on Beige set are easier to read than those on the Gold on Turquoise set. Anyone rolling the higher numbered dice—ten-sided and above—will have to take care when identifying the six or the nine as the dot used to determine which way up they should be is a bit small, especially on the twenty-sided die. In addition to the numbers, the face on each die has a bronze age style pattern border and is marked with a single rune. They start off with Air, Earth, Fire, and Water—the four basic Elementals Runes—on the four-sided die, to which are added Darkness and Moon on the six-sided die to cover the full six Elemental Runes. The Death, Disorder, Harmony, Illusion, Life, Movement, Stasis, and Truth Power Runes appear on the eight-sided die, whilst the Form Runes—Fate Infinity, Luck, Magic, and Mastery—appear on the ten-sided dice not once, but twice. This is on both the standard ten-sided die and on the percentile ten-sided die. The Beast, Chaos, Dragonnewt, Man, Plant, and Spirit Form Runes appear not twice, but four times on the twelve-sided die—twice on two different faces. Lastly, the Air, Beast, Chaos, Darkness, Death, Disorder, Dragonnewt, Earth, Fate, Fertility, Fire, Illusion, Man, Moon, Movement, Plant, Spirit, Stasis, Truth, and Water Runes appear on twenty-sided die.

What this means is that it is possible for a player or Game Master to roll Runes as well as numbers. This can be useful in 13th Age Glorantha where the Runes have to be rolled at the start of adventures. That said, whilst none of the Runes impinge upon the numbers, there is problem with the Runes having to share the same die faces as the usual numbers. On the lower number dice, the four-sided and the six-sided, the Runes are easy to identify. On the higher number dice, especially on the twenty-sided die, the Runes are small and far from easy to identify. Again, the Runes are easier to read on the Burgundy on Beige set as the contrast is better.

Perhaps though, a Rune set of dice, with the Runes placed more prominently, might be a nice addition to the range? The good news is that Q-Workshop will be producing another pair of dice sets for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha. These are Expansion Dice sets, again in the Burgundy on Beige and Gold on Turquoise colours. They will include an easy-to-read Runic twenty-sided die, a twenty-sided Hit Location die, and a twelve-sided die for tracking Strike Ranks in combat. Should Q-Workshop decide to design a further set, then a Lunar-themed set might be an idea—perhaps ‘Gold on Scarlet’? And if there is a RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha metal dice set, then they definitely have to be bronze—at least in colour.

In the hand, the dice feel a bit light, but that is probably down to personal preference. In practice, neither the Burgundy on Beige or the Gold on Turquoise set felt any different when rolled. (A personal issue is that the Gold on Turquoise did not stand out as well on my dark green felt dice tray, but a different dice tray would solve that.) One problem for Gloranthaphiles is that more one of them at the table may have a set of these, so perhaps they need to take a little extra care in counting many dice they have their RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Set at the end of each session. The good news is that neither RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Set is just a RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Set. Of course, both will be used for that purpose and being a standard polyhedral set means that they can be used with many other roleplaying games, from Dungeons & Dragons to Savage Worlds. The fact that they can be used with other roleplaying games is of interest to both Chaosium and Gloranthophiles. The twenty-sided die can of course be used with HeroQuest Glorantha, whilst all of the dice can be used with 13th Age Glorantha. So devotees of all three roleplaying games—or even just one of them—will get use out of a RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Set. So of the two, which is better? The Burgundy on Beige set is better to use because its dice are easier to read, the Gold on Turquoise set is simply prettier. Opinions will vary though and other Gloranthaphiles will have their opinion. It is simply nice to have the choice to choose from. Either way, the RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha Dice Sets are nicely designed sets of dice, perfect for not just for one roleplaying game set in Glorantha, but for three—HeroQuest Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha.

Cthulhu Dice Go Metal

For as long as there has been gaming, there has dice and every gamer has a set that he loves, loathes, and places the fate of his characters upon. A gamer’s dice can be as simple or as sophisticated as he wants, whether that is a set of dice that he can use with any roleplaying game or a set of dice particular to a specific roleplaying game, for example, the dice for Cubicle Seven Entertainment’s The One Ring RPG or any one of the Star Wars RPGs published by Fantasy Flight Games, such Star Wars: Edge of Empire, because their mechanics and their dice warrant it. Of course, this does not stop publishers and manufacturers creating and publishing dice for specific games which are themed around said games rather than mechanics. Chaosium, Inc. is one such publisher, working with Q-Workshop to create several dice sets for Call of Cthulhu, including for Call of Cthulhu, Seven Edition. The very latest dice set for Call Cthulhu from Q-Workshop makes the dice go heavy metal.

The Call of Cthulhu Metal Dice Set is a complete set of polyhedral dice—one four-sided, one six-sided, one eight-sided, one twelve-sided, and one twenty-sided die, plus one ordinary ten-sided die and one ten-sided die marked in tens so that percentiles can be rolled. Altogether, the complete set weighs just under six ounces. Each die is roughly two thirds of an inch high and is sculpted with a tentacular theme along the edges with the corners on some dice ending in toothy, gaping, sphincter-like  maws. The faces are etched and inked in black so that the numbers stand out. Bar the four-sided die, the highest face on each die has been replaced with an Elder Sign—star not tree!

In practice, each of the dice in the Call of Cthulhu Metal Dice Set is a hefty gaming accessory. They feel sturdy in the hand and they do roll with solid thunk upon hitting the table. The fact that they do land with said solid thunk is a possible issue with these dice. They are not dice that you want to roll on a glass surface or any one that would be damaged or scratched. A tough plastic surface, a table cloth, or a dice tray is recommended if you want to roll these dice in anger. The other issue is one of legibility. The numbers on the twenty-sided die are small, especially in comparison to the numbers and faces of the six, eight, and twelve-sided dice. This makes them hard to read—the Elder Sign in particular—under low light conditions. So a good strong light is equally as recommended, though good strong light is not always inducive to the atmosphere of a horror roleplaying game like Call of Cthulhu. Though, that said, the twenty-sided die is relatively little used in Call of Cthulhu.

Ultimately as beautiful as the dice are in the Call of Cthulhu Metal Dice Set and as much as a presence as they can have on the gaming table, they are not absolutely necessary to your play of Call of Cthulhu—or other roleplaying game of choice (mine is currently King Arthur Pendragon, published by Nocturnal Media), but they work well for either. Except of course where you roll double Elder Sign on the percentile dice; that is very Call of Cthulhu! The Call of Cthulhu Metal Dice Set is a very nice set and if you like nice dice and you like Call of Cthulhu, then the Call of Cthulhu Metal Dice Set is a fetching accessory.