Here’s all the dice releated news from April that have caught my eye.
Disclaimer:
This newsletter is impartial, editorial content and is not aimed at commercially advertising products. I don’t receive any payment or free products for any content in this newsletter. Products mentioned here are things I personally find interesting and would like to keep the dice community informed about.
New from Chessex
Nothing to report concerning Chessex this month, unfortunately. People are starting to inquire about the next wave of Lab Dice, but there’s been no word on that. Wave 5 was said to happen between January and July 2021, so it might yet be a while until we hear anything.
New from Die Hard Dice
In April, three new metal designs were released. Two were for the Drakona line and one for the Mythica line.
The new Mythica set is golden with black and dark purple enamel faces, named Dark Arts Hubris. The two Drakona sets are named Ventus Zephyros (silver dice with copper scales on the faces) and Khaos Lunar Abyss (iridescent purple-blue shimmer with scales on the faces).
New from HD Dice
New sets from HD this past month in the well known translucent with fine glitter style. Colours include lime green, pink, red, purple, green and orange.
Also new are two colours for their Nebula line: Lake Teal (clear dice with teal ink swirls) and Sky Blue (clear dice with sky blue ink swirls).
New from CozyGamer
I’m not sure these two sets are really new, but they caught my eye. The clear set (called Arcanist’s Magic Aura) is made of clear resin with glitter and foil, the purple set is called Wall of Eyes and is clear dice with images of monster eyes inside. Both sets are 8 dice (extra d6), using CozyGamer’s custom mould with logos.
New from Sirius Dice
Sirius Dice has released a Cancer Awareness dice set, which as usual for Sirius sets includes an extra d20 for advantage/disadvantage. The dice are clear with little ribbon shaped inclusions, featuring one of 25 ribbon and ink colors per die, each signifying a different cancer type to show support for everyone affected by this disease. Each d20 has a the ribbon symbol in white on the 20 face.
Also fairly new are playing cards inspired sets that have the four classic card symbols in them. The Spades and Clubs sets are black, the Heart and Diamond sets are red.
New from Q-Workshop
The Q-Workshop Witcher Hybrid Dice Kickstarter has launched, more about this in the Kickstarter section. The regular Witcher dice sets (which are different from the Kickstarter ones) can be pre-ordered in their online store.
The glow-in-the-dark set that was teased last month can now be bought in their online store.
New from Lindorm
Lindorm is offering reinking kits for the creative folks who like custom ink. With this inking set, you get one set of dice (16 mm), 12 ml of Citadel acrylic miniature paint, and a small precision brush in size 1. For those who like surprises, you can even get a mystery set with mystery paint. The price point for these is $22.00 per inking set.
New from Udixi
New from Udixi this time around are glass dice with laser engravings on the inside in different shapes. They are available as full polysets and have gold ink.
In addition to those, they released two sets called Stone Pattern in grey and light blue with silver ink.
Kickstarters
Scroll down for this month’s compilation of currently active dice Kickstarters.
The fact that I’m listing Kickstarters here doesn’t automatically mean I highly recommend them, or that they are trustworthy and legit. I try my best not to list anything that looks dodgy or that I couldn’t in good conscience recommend, but it’s always possible that a project looks great on paper but ends up not delivering what it promises. I may add my own commentary to the text if I’m not convinced about certain projects, but ultimately it’s at everyone’s own discretion whether they want to back any of these Kickstarters or not.
Dice By Wyrmwood & Dispel
Undoubtedly the biggest dice Kickstarter this quarter, Dispel launched it on April 27 in collaboration with Wyrmwood Gaming (who specialize in wooden gaming accessories such as dice vaults, trays, towers, but also gaming tables).
This Kickstarter brings us 15 new sharp-edged resin designs with different types of inclusions (mylar, glitter, metal foil), which are reminiscent of designs from the first Dispel Kickstarter, but in other colours and also somewhat different designs. In addition, there are three new designs with resin-encased flowers inside clear resin dice.
Wyrmwood brings 25 different gemstone sets two the Kickstarter table, which seem to be mostly gemstone dice you can also buy elsewhere without the WW logo. Those who like it heavy and expensive can pledge for a huge solid tungsten d20 (The T20).
Available add-ons are wooden dice vaults in different designs, ranging from simple rectangular or hexagonal vaults with the Dispel logo to those with more elaborate holographic flake and brass inlays.
Price Point
- Non-flower Dispel polysets: $60
- Flower-inclusion Dispel polysets: $95 (because the production process is more involved)
- WW gemstone polysets: between $80 and $125 for a full polyset, depending on the material
- Giant tungsten d20 (T20): $2,500
- Single d20s for both Dispel and Wyrmwood are available at different price points, and Dispel also offers 3d6 add-ons
- Dice vault add-ons with simple Dispel logo: $60-$165, depending on wood type
- Dice vaults with more elaborate inlays: $200
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: Fully funded within the first 15 or 20 minutes (now at nearly $1.5 million with over 14k backers)
- Stretch Goals: High variance d20s (not clear if this applies only to the Wyrmwood or also the Dispel dice)
- End Date: 27 May 2021 (only wave 4 is still available with a delivery date estimated for March 2022)
- URL: http://kck.st/3vny5gr
The Witcher Hybrid Dice
Q-Workshop launched their latest Kickstarter the day prior to the Dispel/Wyrmwood one, and that one also funded very quickly. This time around, Q-Workshop is expanding on their new Witcher line, offering unique dice that combine different materials.
In the Kickstarter, you basically have two base options for the dice — metal or plastic. Each die’s body is made out of either solid metal or plastic, and the die faces have recesses that are filled with inlays (or inserts, as they call them). The inserts are available in a total of 14 materials and colours:
- 4 types of wood, only available for combining with the metal dice
- 10 types of composite material, available for combining with either the metal or the plastic dice
If you go with the metal base option, you get a silver metal die whose edges have Witcher symbol etchings. For the inlays, you can pick from one of four different wood options or alternatively ten different composite options. If you go with the plastic option, you get a simpler black plastic die with rounded edges that you can combine with the composite inlays in the ten available colours.
If I understand the explanations in the Kickstarter comments correctly, the word “composite” refers to them mixing different types of engraving foil for the multi-colour non-metal inlays.
Price Point
- Metal die with either wood or composite inlay – poker set (5d6): 66€
- Metal die with either wood or composite inlay – essential RPG set (2d10, 4d6): 75€
- Metal die with either wood or composite inlay – classic RPG polyset (7 dice): 83€
- Plastic die with composite inlay – poker set (5d6): 24€
- Plastic die with composite inlay – essential RPG set (2d10, 4d6): 27€
- Plastic die with composite inlay – classic RPG polyset (7 dice): 29€
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: Fully funded
- Add-ons: Expert Dice Poker Set (wooden dice tray for dice poker with two metal poker dice sets) – 349€
- Stretch Goals: additional insert types, free car magnet, new dice cup colour, free laptop sticker, additional dice tray option
- End Date: 19 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3gF2BhH
Mini Planet Sharped Edged Dice & Jewelry
Mini Planet Dice has rebranded themselves to open their own company and start making dice reminiscent of the Dispel Dice style sharp edged inclusion dice. Mini Planet Dice is the same company who stirred up some controversy in 2020 when they claimed that Dispel owed them money for dice they produced for the Dispel Kickstarter that Dispel refused to pay for. These dice were subsequently sold under the name Ice Dice, later also bought up and resold by Auspdice.
Mini Planet Dice used to specialise in creating resin jewellery, and are now expanding their dice making business through Kickstarter (though they are also selling their dice on amazon.com). Their offering in this Kickstarter are 15 different designs and colours with a font that is unique to them, but not strikingly different from other fonts used for sharp-edged dice of this kind.
One of their more unusual sets is a unique design with black iron shavings in clear dice that were aligned and shaped with a rare-earth magnet. However, the rest of them are very similar to Dispel’s first Kickstarter sets or other sharp-edged mylar and foil inclusion dice offered by brands like Dicebound, Auspdice, CozyGamer or Wild Earth Dice. They are also offering dice shaped jewellery such as earrings and necklaces in gold and silver colours.
Price Point
- Dice set with matching dice box: $45
- Dice jewellery: $30
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: ~58%
- Stretch Goals: none offered
- End Date: 13 Jun 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/2QvtQRl
Rolling Maze Metal Dice
Miracle Manufacturing from Hong Kong is offering metal dice with a maze inspired design. They say that they had to adapt metal ornament manufacturing processes in order to make these dice, and they are currently offering them in four different colourways, with one additional colour yet to be unlocked as a stretch goal.
Price Point
- 4d6: HK$ 501 (~$65)
- 4d20: HK$ 502 (~$65)
- 1 polyset: HK$535 (~$69)
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: Fully funded
- Stretch Goals: two additional colours, one currently unlocked
- End Date: 21 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3sZbaHM
Fortress Dice
Dice Dungeons previouly ran a successful Kickstarter for metal status rings for D&D (which I personally backed and am very happy with), and they are now branching out into dice. Straying from your regular polysets, they are kickstarting what they call Fortress Dice — unique, barrel-style d4 and d6 metal dice.
Each tower-shaped die is cast nickle-zinc with an electroplated nickel finish and inlaid with enamel for a bright, two tone effect. The d6s are 3 cm tall by 0.87 cm in diameter, the d4s are 1.5 cm tall and 0.5 cm wide on each face. The dice have crenellations at the top (6 for each d6, 4 for each d4). The pips are represented by arrow slits.
Price Point
- 4d4: $17
- 4d6: $19
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: Fully funded
- Stretch Goals: two additional colours, one currently unlocked
- End Date: 11 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3eDsBaE
New Vintage Bone Dice (2nd Edition)
Modeled after the shape of vintage bone dice, a company called Anan is offering new metal versions of these 6-sided dice. They ran a successful Kickstarter for similar aliminium dice in a limited range of colours, which they are now expanding with VTB 2nd Edition.
The offer is limited, each tier will only have 100 dice produced, with seven colours initially offered. Eight additional colours have been unlocked as stretch goals so far. The dice are made of aluminium.
Price Point
- £10 per d6 (less for larger pledges)
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: fully funded
- Stretch Goals: 11 additional colours, 8 currently unlocked
- End Date: 20 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3aLNxeL
11pc Gemstone Dice Sets
Talon & Claw who brought us whiskey barrel dice vaults in the past are now braching out into glass and gemstone dice. They are offering 11-piece glass and gemstone dice in well known materials such as dichroic glass, African bloodstone, raised obsidian, opalite, rose quartz and several more.
Each set comes with a standard 7 piece set of polyhedral dice, an additional d20, and three additional d6s. The d6s all feature the T&C logo in place of the 6.
In addition to the dice, 11-piece wooden dice vaults are also offered in a variety of different woods. What’s cool about this Kickstarter is that they also offer different types of engravings. For an additional $15, you can pick from a selection of pre-made designs, and for an extra $10 your choice of up to 25 letters engraved on the side of the vault.
Price Point
- 1d20: $15
- 2d20: $25
- 3d6: $25
- 11-piece polyset: $100
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: fully funded
- Add-ons: Dice vaults (between $35 and $55, depending on material, combo pricing with dice available), engravings available
- Stretch Goals: Hemp wood option for dice vaults
- End Date: 30 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3e6fwYl
Arcane Dice RPG D6 Dice Sets
Arcane Dice from Poland is coming with a Kickstarter for 6-sided dice with different themes that are geared towards roleplayers with d6 systems or mechanics. Offering 6d6 sets, they have a whole slew of themes that they offer in several different colours each, including forest, steampunk, nuclear and undead. The dice are engraved plastic dice in the standard 16mm size.
Price Point
- 6x d6: PLN 50 (~$14)
Kickstarter Specs
- Funding Status: ~6%
- Stretch Goals: none
- End Date: 31 May 2021
- URL: http://kck.st/3vBetpw