Like some people before me, I embarked on a quest to make my Critical Role Vox Machina d20s into full sets, trying to find existing polysets that matched the designs of the d20s. And let me tell you, it’s not been very easy.
However, I have now found good enough matches that I’d like to showcase them, in case someone else is looking to do the same thing and could use some pointers how to go about it. I own both the version 1 and version 2 Vox Machina sets, which is why there are always two d20s in my sets.
If you’d like to know more about the existing Critical Role dice in general, please check out my other blog entry on them, which also features mixed dice palettes for the Vox Machina d20s.
And without further ado, let me present my matched up sets.
Matt, the Dungeon Master
I chose a set of Crystal Caste Pearl Blue to match these. The colour and pearl effect matches one of the Matt d20s very well, while the other is a bit flatter in terms of the pearl effect. I touched up the gold ink with Culture Hustle Goldest Gold, mainly because the Pearl Blue set was one I got second hand and the ink had already worn off a little.
HD also has a Pearl Blue set that comes close, but the hue of the blue is not an exact match. If you can get a hold of the Crystal Caste set and you don’t mind the bottom-read d4, these will work very well.
Vax’ildan
The set I put with the Vax’ildan d20s took a bit of trial and error. I initially used a spare set of Chessex Gemini Black-White, but then I found this set of Metallic Dice Games Marble that looks a lot better, even though the white material isn’t pearly.
If you’re looking for alternatives, there’s two-tone pearl sets in grey or black and white out there, but it may be challenging to find a set that has the right colour ratio mix. Reinked Chessex Lustrous Black or Borealis Light Smoke could also work. For a more monochrome feel, you could go with Chessex Velvet Black, but then you’d be missing the light grey component.
Vex’ahlia
Not a 100% match where the teal colour is concerned, but the best that I could find. The teal in the d20s is a tad lighter than these T&G Marble Cream Teal dice, but they’re close enough to be a good match. Between Chessex Gemini Teal-White (which are impossible to unink) and Gemini Astral-Blue, the T&G set matches the closest.
I touched up the gold ink a little, because the factory ink was rather dull and more yellow than gold.
Pike
This one was pretty much a no-brainer, since simple pearl white sets aren’t hard to find. This is the HD Pearl White set, but can also be found under other brand names. The colour fits perfectly with one of the d20s, while the other is a bit more yellow.
The ink is also touched up with Culture Hustle Goldest Gold to make it more metallic.
Grog
This really was the hardest set to match up, and I will say I’m not super happy with them. But until I find something better, it’ll have to do.
The trouble with these is that the d20s are an opaque half-and-half two-layer design. There’s only one company who does such dice, and they don’t offer anything that matches these colours, aside from the fact that most of their dice use pearly material, and they are on my list of companies not to buy from anymore.
In the end I went with one of the HD Blend sets, even though the red isn’t the exact right shade and the dice are swirly and not layered. Other sets I have tried but wasn’t happy with was Chessex Gemini Black-Red, HD Blend Black+Pearl Red and Bescon Glow-in-the-Dark Hot Rocks. I will keep an eye out for anything to come my way in the future that could be a better replacement.
Scanlan
I wish I knew who exactly made these dice, but I haven’t been able to find out. The mould is different from a lot of the generic dice out of China. I purchased them from a German retailer who still had them in stock, and it might actually be that they are out of print. They originally came with white ink, and I reinked them to dark purple to match the darker, more readable Scanlan d20.
Dark Elf Dice currently still carries these. In terms of alternatives, there’s a Yusun set with coarser pink-purple glitter that halfway fits as well.
Percy
This also was a tough one. The one set that would fit perfectly is actually Chessex Nebula Purple, but those have been long out of print and are very hard to find, especially the d6. Not a task I wanted to embark on, so I started trying out different alternatives that were easier to obtain.
What I eventually settled on is a Yusun two-tone swirl set that originally comes with purple ink. I also tried Role 4 Initiative Diffusion Amethyst, but the purple colour in those was too dark, same for HD Nebula Purple. The Percy d20s actually only have swirls in one colour, so the fit isn’t as good as it could be. I reinked these to white.
I’m not aware of many alternatives. I don’t buy from Kraken Dice, but I could imagine Kraken Ethereal Fairy could be a good match. Or perhaps there are other Kraken sets out there that fit well — I’ll leave this to the Kraken fans to figure out.
Keyleth
Last but not least is the Keyleth set that I matched up with Role 4 Initiative Diffusion Glacier, reinked from white to dark green. The shade of blue of the swirls fits very well, but picky critters might be put off by the R4I dice being slightly larger than regular polysets (look at the d12, the numbers are massive).
I vaguely remember there being a Kraken set that fits these colours, but I don’t know what they are and if they’re still attainable. I’ve also seen photos of a Yusun set that looked like it might fit, but it’s always difficult to tell from photos alone.
Feedback welcome
I’d love to hear your thoughts on these, and if you have other suggestions of sets that could match better than what I found, please let me know! You can e-mail me, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, or Discord (aka_teejay).
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