Behold, the Dice Goblin approacheth.
Picked up a couple of sets of math rocks recently, and sharing my thoughts on them for you, my dear reader(s).
First off, the Nuul 2d6 pair. I was alerted of these via an Agranak Studios video. As an unrepentant aficionado of the 2d6 reaction roll and its various uses, I picked up a pair from Tower House Creative via their Etsy page. The original run was 250 sets, and as of this writing, the dice are still available.
I received the dice, along with an instruction insert, bookmark (currently in my Shadowdark rules holding the 'Wizards Mishaps' page), a sticker, and a couple of random dice.
The dice are a good quality resin in a dark pearlescent green ('malachite' per the maker). Each is a d6 with numeral outlined with an icon. The purpose of the icon is to give information on the reaction and personality of an NPC. For instance, a 'skull' icon represents hostile or chaotic, and a 'mist' icon represents uncertain or neutral. The icons may be read singularly, or in pairs. The dice come with instructions on interpretations of the paired rolls (in a d66 format!) to provide suggested reactions or behaviors.
E.g. skull-bag may indicate that the NPC may attack unless bribed, or will fight for money. If you read it the opposite way (bag-skull), a bribe might piss off the NPC, or the NPC may attempt to bribe the PCs to fight something.
The insert includes tips and suggestions for interpreting the dice, or using them to further illuminate an NPC whose motives may already be known.
The instructions suggest reading left-right if using both dice. That said, I wouldn't mind the dice to be different colors or having differing number inking, just to be able to pick a regular first-second pair.
Will I use them? Yes. I haven't thrown them into the go-bag just yet, but they will end up there. I see their use being best for the rando NPCs on the street, etc. or a creature of indeterminate motive that may be encountered. Paired with a standard 2d6 reaction, they can inform a bit of color and roleplay and boost the play beyond the 'hostile-neutral-friendly' spectrum without a lot of fiddling.
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Next, the Hexacube alternative geometry seven-dice set. I think I found them on Esty while purchasing a new set of dice for the Shorter Half. They are weird dice. The dice are a good quality resin. I picked the pearlescent blue color.
According to the maker's website, the various dice were developed from variations of a shape called a truncated octohedron, then after much modeling and printing, formed from a a geometry called a chamfered cube. That is, a cube that has had its corners 'shaved' to create the requisite number or multiple of sides required to make a free-rolling die. Although each die may have two shapes for its faces, the individual side areas are proportional. The purpose of the dice is increase the number of sides to balance between rolling ability and impartial results. Ok, then.
Messing around with the d6, it seems to come up evenly between its 'square' and 'diamond' sides. I can't tell... But they do roll well.
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| Closeup, with ancestral d6 |
Of course, all of this started when the creator wanted to come up with a better d4. Yes, I have my variant d4s: d8xd4, d12xd4, tabular, faceted.
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| source |
The attraction (and annoyance) of the Hexacube dice is their uniformity. All of the die have similar shapes, differentiated by the chamfer faces (see info card, above). So one has to remember the number orientation on the individual sides to pick the die (the dice value is also pipped on each die). The D10/D20 dice are slightly larger. Until I learn the geometries, I'm picking through the pile looking for the right number.
Oh yeah, the 'D20.' In this form, the D20 is a pair of dice - the D10, plus a second die with '1' and 'null' sides. Rolled together: 'null'+1-9 = 1-9, '1' + 0-9 = 10-19, and 'null'+0 = 20. It's kinda annoying, as well. Again, I see the logic, but it's difficult to abandon a straight d20, even it it may be allegedly more biased.
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| Weird d20 pair |
Will I use them? Maybe. I tried them out for one session, but found myself picking about to find the correct die. That said, the D20 combo did help the monsters hit...
After reading more on the logic behind the dice geometry, I understand the rationale for their shape selection a bit better, and they may become more attractive with use. That said, if the makers were to put together a set with different individual colors for each die size, I'd be tempted. Our brewery game is at a table under somewhat dim lighting (dark tavern corners, anyone?), so being able to just grab a die is more important to me at this moment than to reference some math research project.
But, they are cool and weird.
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Oh yeah, these are the ones I bought for the Shorter Half.
They are pretty, the numbers are nicely oversized, and the D20 is oversized. The D4 is a faceted design, rather than the usual caltrop. Would recommend.
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