Final Names for the Chessex Pound o’ Dice 2023 Sets

The names for the exclusive sets that are distributed in the little brown envelopes together with the Chessex PoDs get voted on in a Speckled Collectors group on Facebook every time they release new sets. Below are the names for the current run that are now in circulation.

Please note the following:

The “Ocean Gravel” set cannot be found in the little brown envelopes. While full sets were made, it was decided not to distribute them as sets. The dice are available loose throughout the PoDs.
Not all sets were distributed in Europe. For the Europeans, you will be much more likely to find “Aquarium Gravel” in the PoD envelopes than any of the other sets.
“Francis” is based on an in-joke that was shared in the Speckled Collectors group. It has no connection to how the dice look.
“Almond Blossom” is named after a Vincent van Gogh painting that uses this colour scheme.
These 10 sets are basically five base colours in two ink variations each.
The sets that came with previous PoDs have been retired in lieu of these. There are currently nine envelope sets being distributed with new PoDs (i.e. the ones above minus “Ocean Gravel”).
The information in the Dice DB about these being released in waves is not correct. The ten sets were released all at once, there are no waves in the 2023 PoD set release.

The Francis Backstory

Taken from a post by Ilse H. on Facebook (used with permission):

For those interested in the story of ‘Francis’: in a conversation with a Chessex employee, [Ilse] asked if that particular new set had a name already (since it wasn’t sure at the time it was a new PoD set). They jokingly said the purple d8 looked like a Francis to them, then started to create a backstory about Francis, the purple 8-sided die.

The backstory of Francis, as “researched” by the Chessex employee:

I have done some research on the background of Francis and here is what I found:

Francis, the purple 8-sided die, lived a perilous life of risk and reward. He rolled into threatening situations with the swagger of a secret agent, always ready for whatever challenges lay ahead. From dungeon-crawling with a trusty longsword in the depths of horrific tombs to facing off against siege engines of the treacherous Shadows (Over Camelot) board, Francis fearlessly navigated the fickle world of tabletop games, his corners sharper than a ninja’s shuriken. He was the very definition of a “roll” model for dice everywhere, proving that a daring spirit and devil may care attitude can even tempt the affections of lady luck herself.

I had some time to visit the Chessex Archaeological Society and found some old manuscripts regarding the history of Francis’ ancestry. Take the following for what you will:

Francis Violicious, the rogue d8 die, hailed from a family of adventurous mushroom farmers in the Underdark. They cultivated the rarest of fungi, the Cortinarius Violaceus, with a passion that ran as deep as a natural 8 roll. It was this fungus from which they drew their family name.

In the pitch-black caverns of the Underdark, Francis’ ancestors rolled the dice on their farming skills, carefully nurturing these luminous purple mushrooms. Their underground farms were lit like a city of bioluminescent beauty, the Violet Webcaps reflecting their mystical glow under moisture laden stalactites.

But Francis, ever the risk-taker, decided to change the game. He rolled out of the family business, venturing into the world above to explore quests of his own, and his eight-sided adventures took him to places his ancestors could only dream of. Still, the legacy of the family’s fungal heritage remained a part of him, a reminder that even in the world of dice, some rolls are simply meant to be random.