Dice.
Those Math Rocks we depend on while we delve dungeons, sweet talk nobles and otherwise scale dizzying heights of prestige and power in our favorite tabletop role-play games. When I first entered into the hobby I had no idea the power seven dice would hold over me. I still remember picking out and purchasing my first set of dice from my friendly local game store Gods and Monsters.
The small, glittering purple dice matched perfectly to River, a Halfling Druid of the wilds and my first character for Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons.
I hadn’t played for long before I quickly learned of many superstitions regarding the care and use of a player’s dice. Are the dice stored in a communal storage or is each set stored separately? When not in use do they rest with their highest value facing skyward (as if training them to prefer this position) or with lowest value up to avoid “using up all of their good rolls”. Are dice sacred, soul-bound objects meant to be handled only by their player, and does straying from the dice code of ethics curse a dice to frequent poor rolls? Finally, do misbehaving dice deserve jail time? It seems that each player has their own creed they follow, and answers to these questions reverberate from every table and mead hall across the globe.
While I was still cutting teeth in the fields of social media, my first true popular posting asked players about their dice. In a similar spirit, I checked in with the team at Variant Ventures about their preference in design and religion when it comes to all things clickity-clackity.
Kait
Give Kait all of the dice! Boasting a hoard of over a hundred sets, she is by far the most formidable dice dragon of us all! She follows a strict set of guidelines with her sets, including:
1. Don’t let your dice be used by another player. Spare dice and old dice sets are to be acquired for this purpose.
2. Each character (and their followers or familiar) each require their own set of dice!
3. Sharp edged or metal dice are preferred, but all dice are welcome.
4. Dice colors and style should match the aesthetic of the character to which they are assigned.
5. Dice should not be recycled for a second character unless they were gifted or inherited from a previous character.
6. Each game a DM runs should have its own set of dice.
J
Doesn’t need more than two or three carefully selected sets with a preference for metal dice. Currently his favorite set matches his in-game deity, and his favorite d20 was earned during an Extra Life 2020 Gaming Stream. If possible, he prefers sets that come with addition d6. No superstitions. To quote J, “I don’t see the need to have hundreds of sets of dice, with all respect to those who believe differently.”
Liz
With just the one set of math rocks, this Variant describes her dice as “Feisty fire. Either love me or hate me, there can be no in between. I must be ready to lose any character I play using them.” She is open to ideas for new sets of dice!
Rory
He keeps each set of his dice in their own container, and rolls at the start of each session to predict how his rolls will fare. Dice are dice and can be reused for other characters, but only if the previous character is no longer played.
Berry
I keep one set selected for each of my characters, with an assortment of advantage or spell casting dice. Each character’s dice sets are labeled and stored in their own containers. Most dice are in shades of purple or a full rainbow. A recent TTRPG Advent Calendar from Green Leaf Geek and a set from RollPlayLead have added some vibrant new colors to the collection!
Which of the Variants do you most align with? Do you adhere to a strict set of dice laws like Kait? Do you believe in raw probability like J? Feel free to share photos of your dice sets, and/or the rules you follow in the comments below!
*Photo credit: KaitofVV and Variant_Berry
