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View Full Version : Your favorite dice set: mine is pure obsidian



Drache64
2019-09-12, 07:59 AM
Hey everyone, what's so special about your favorite go-to dice set?

Metal was my favorite for a while, but obsidian is my favorite element and I always wanted to make a dice set out of pure obsidian, I looked online and couldn't find anything until I started searching for "obsidian icosahedron" then I found obsidian chakra Crystals that are pure obsidian in the shape of a d20, d12, d8, d6, d4, a ball, and a .... Never ending gobstopper?

Anyways, what's your favorite set?

Imbalance
2019-09-12, 10:04 AM
I don't know that I have a favorite set yet. I picked up my first set two years ago (before I even knew that I'd be interested in TTRPG's) as my only souvenir from a family beach vacation, since the swirling blue/turquoise/white Chessex pattern reminded me of the ocean. They ended up being a great fit for my fighter in my first ever D&D campaign, especially since the setting was predominantly nautical on accident. I added a blood red set from Kaplow for a backup and to have extras for (dis)advantage and damage, along with a set of uncommon sides dice (d3, d16, d24, etc.) and a Chessex d30 to match my main set for use in an upcoming game.

Since I started running a campaign at home, I bought myself a set of Q-Workshop Tech dice in white plastic. If I could have justified the $ for the metal set, those would probably be my favorites. But, since they were part of a larger order so that each player could have their own set, I had to set my lust for the shiny aside. The other sets we got from them are all very nice, as well.

I did eventually get some metal dice (blame Kevin Cook) that I haven't used yet, but the red/blue/silver set is my favorite of the three:

You should know that I hold you solely responsible for this.

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48216027567_298a30660f_h.jpg

https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48215987556_6e54b94881_h.jpg

So, my question is, how do I quit before it becomes an addiction?

Those and the starter dice are all I have so far, outside of a few dozen pairs of d6 from HeroClix and a bunch of other games. I used to make fun of dice collectors, but damned if I don't find myself shopping for more...

Kaptin Keen
2019-09-12, 10:05 AM
Mine's made of bits and bytes and pixels - it's a dice roller app on my phone. It's not ideal in every instance, but it's the one set of dice I'm never without. If I forget my dicebag (which is a trendy plastic bag from the local supermarket) ... I never forget my phone =)

Drache64
2019-09-12, 10:08 AM
mine's made of bits and bytes and pixels - it's a dice roller app on my phone. It's not ideal in every instance, but it's the one set of dice i'm never without. If i forget my dicebag (which is a trendy plastic bag from the local supermarket) ... I never forget my phone =)

blasphemy! Heresy!

The Library DM
2019-09-12, 11:37 AM
The original set I got from TSR back in 1980 ‘cause those chits that came in the Holmes box set were a pain.:smallbiggrin:

Other than that, I just use whatever Chessex I find. I go for solid dark colors with white numbers for ease of reading.

I won’t use metal dice because I find them noisy and they’ll damage a wood table. (Yeah, they look cool, but don’t bring ‘em to my house, please!)

I’ve been tempted to purchase the “precision” dice from Gamescience (these guys take dice seriously), but in all honesty, I think they’re probably over-kill when it comes to randomization.

Don’t trust dice-roller apps. Ever since my old programming days, I’m suspicious of “randomization” sequences in computer apps! Besides, I like the feel of a good set of dice rattling in my hands.

Kaptin Keen
2019-09-12, 11:49 AM
blasphemy! Heresy!

But it's so neat and practical, and doesn't require bags, or pads, and it makes no sound either.


Ever since my old programming days, I’m suspicious of “randomization” sequences in computer apps! Besides, I like the feel of a good set of dice rattling in my hands.

I too like the feel of dice ... but, with a single shake of my phone I can roll to hit for all my attacks, damage, crit confirmation, extra damage - and at the same time roll my dodge or parry for the round .. and so on. It's just immensely clever, and it speeds up combat exponentially. Even if it's only my round, because the others use antiquated physical dice.

Drache64
2019-09-12, 01:00 PM
But it's so neat and practical, and doesn't require bags, or pads, and it makes no sound either.



I too like the feel of dice ... but, with a single shake of my phone I can roll to hit for all my attacks, damage, crit confirmation, extra damage - and at the same time roll my dodge or parry for the round .. and so on. It's just immensely clever, and it speeds up combat exponentially. Even if it's only my round, because the others use antiquated physical dice.

**Piles wood and gasoline**

Kaptin Keen stands accused of heretical "facts" and "logic" with his "science" and "technology". WITCHCRAFT I say!!! He must be burned!!! The dice gods demand plastic, metal, stone, wood and nothing else! Let this man be an example to all of you!!

Kaptin Keen
2019-09-12, 01:51 PM
**Piles wood and gasoline**

Kaptin Keen stands accused of heretical "facts" and "logic" with his "science" and "technology". WITCHCRAFT I say!!! He must be burned!!! The dice gods demand plastic, metal, stone, wood and nothing else! Let this man be an example to all of you!!

*Chuckles*

While an app is unlikely to ever be beautiful or well crafted in the way precision tooled dice are .. an app can sure be practical =D

FabulousFizban
2019-09-12, 02:21 PM
my set is a mix of random dice ive picked up over the years. a d4 from a friend, a d12 i got at a store, etc.

Keltest
2019-09-12, 03:20 PM
Ive got a set of D6s that I call my fireball dice. Theyre gold with blue splashes on them. A couple sessions ago, our sorcerer nailed the big bad (who we stumbled across well before we were ready) with a couple of really, really nice fireballs using these dice, and it left a bit of an impression on the group. They may or may not actually roll any better than any other D6s, but they do have a really nice effect.

Drache64
2019-09-13, 10:52 AM
my set is a mix of random dice ive picked up over the years. a d4 from a friend, a d12 i got at a store, etc.

Is there specific sentimental value, or just a happenstance collection?

DrownsInCancer
2019-09-13, 11:09 AM
My favourite dice would be the blue ones that came in the starter set, basic of course, but they looked very pretty.

There is some art in the Player's Handbook I think, that has a hollow d3 with some green liquid in it, I'd love to get my hands on a set of dice like that! :smalltongue:

halfeye
2019-09-13, 11:53 AM
Obsidian isn't pure. It's basically natural glass. It's usually mainly silicon oxide (two elements, silicon and oxygen), with impurities. Pure elements are generally not good for us.

Drache64
2019-09-13, 12:25 PM
Obsidian isn't pure. It's basically natural glass. It's usually mainly silicon oxide (two elements, silicon and oxygen), with impurities. Pure elements are generally not good for us.

I'm not sure what any of that means, but I'm not sure I want to!

Did a little research, and by "pure" obsidian I meant the object is made of tumbled and cut obsidian, these are used for Wiccan healing rituals, I'm not into that stuff, but I imagine they don't tolerate fake healing crystals.

Here is what I found online:
Pure obsidian is usually dark in appearance, though the color varies depending on the presence of impurities. Iron and other transition elements may give the obsidian a dark brown to black color. Most black obsidians contain nanoinclusions of magnetite, an iron oxide.[20] Very few samples of obsidian are nearly colorless. In some stones, the inclusion of small, white, radially clustered crystals spherulites of the mineral cristobalite in the black glass produce a blotchy or snowflake pattern (snowflake obsidian). Obsidian may contain patterns of gas bubbles remaining from the lava flow, aligned along layers created as the molten rock was flowing before being cooled. These bubbles can produce interesting effects such as a golden sheen (sheen obsidian). An iridescent, rainbow-like sheen (fire obsidian) is caused by inclusions of magnetite nanoparticles creating thin-film interference.[21] Colorful, striped obsidian (rainbow obsidian) from Mexico contains oriented nanorods of hedenbergite, which cause the rainbow striping effects via thin-film interference.

These are solid black

As noted, pure obsidian is not only nontoxic but has been used to form or coat surgical instruments:
http://scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=1508

Xuc Xac
2019-09-13, 02:27 PM
Pure obsidian is usually dark in appearance, though the color varies depending on the presence of impurities.

So... not "pure" then.

LordCdrMilitant
2019-09-13, 03:43 PM
Mine's made of bits and bytes and pixels - it's a dice roller app on my phone. It's not ideal in every instance, but it's the one set of dice I'm never without. If I forget my dicebag (which is a trendy plastic bag from the local supermarket) ... I never forget my phone =)

I oppose die roller apps on principle, but I also use a trendy ziploc bag for storing my dice, if which I have many, 'cause Imperial Guard.

None of my dice are flashy, mostly GW brand D6's that are flat green with white pips and some Flames of War issue green and grey dice that have a odd 2, and a couple of sets of red and orange polyhedrals that also have white numbers. I prefer legibility in my dice, especially if I'm rolling 90 of them at once.

malachi
2019-09-13, 04:00 PM
Obsidian isn't pure. It's basically natural glass. It's usually mainly silicon oxide (two elements, silicon and oxygen), with impurities. Pure elements are generally not good for us.

"pure" doesn't mean "100% atoms of a single element". In this context, it means "unmixed with any other matter (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pure)".

I had 1 set of mixed polyhedrals (red with gold numbers) that started getting unreadable, so I randomly bought a set of 5 sets online which are MUCH easier to read. My favorite of these is the swirly blue-red set (the others are all mono-colors: red, green, purple, and ..... uh.... another one that I apparently never use so I don't even remember it. Maybe blue?).

I also have a set of 4x3x3 see-through red chessex d6's which I enjoy.

My least favorite dice are d4's. Now that I'm playing a character who will occasionally cast magic missile, I feel the need to buy myself a number of 8-sided d4's - at that point, those will likely become my favorites, if only because they keep me from having to plop a bunch of ungrateful little caltrops onto the table.

Drache64
2019-09-14, 12:05 AM
So... not "pure" then.

I'm not sure, I'm not a scientist. I'm just quoting an article.

There's an axe you're grinding here and I'm not sure why, but I wish you luck on your hunt. Go get them purists... Puritans? No... That's something else...

Kaptin Keen
2019-09-14, 01:12 AM
I oppose die roller apps on principle

But it's honestly so clever.

I know this thread is really meant to be about dice fetish, and all the cool and interesting materials dice are made from, and precision tooling, and how the dice look and feel and roll and dance and how a surgical steel die crits much harder than a plain old plastic one ... and so on.

I just want to make a case for the humble dice roller. Say I'm playing Shadowrun, it can keep track of my dice pools and everything (though if I'm using half a dice pool, I have to fiddle a bit manually). If I'm playing Dark Heresy, it keeps track of each individual weapon, attack and damage, righteous fury. It truly is a brilliant little thing.

Also, it requires barely any space on the table.

Floret
2019-09-14, 03:14 AM
How am I supposed to answer the question if I haven't been asked for what occasion? The right dice for the right times, of course, themed to what I roll for!

...that being said, probably a tossup between some pretty swirlies and my battle dice, because rolling many dice at once is satisfying, but rolling multiple dice inside one another is just amazing. At some point I hope to find a 3d20.


blasphemy! Heresy!

Quite so, quite so.

Floret
2019-09-14, 03:26 AM
Edit: Doublepost.

jdizzlean
2019-09-14, 04:06 AM
when i play sw f&D, the dice app is the way to go for sure.

i also have a regular dice app on the phone for emergencies.

otherwise, i prefer my dice to all be black, preferably w/ white numbering. i am considering a set of metal ones just because :)

Drache64
2019-09-14, 08:23 AM
But it's honestly so clever.

I know this thread is really meant to be about dice fetish, and all the cool and interesting materials dice are made from, and precision tooling, and how the dice look and feel and roll and dance and how a surgical steel die crits much harder than a plain old plastic one ... and so on.

I just want to make a case for the humble dice roller. Say I'm playing Shadowrun, it can keep track of my dice pools and everything (though if I'm using half a dice pool, I have to fiddle a bit manually). If I'm playing Dark Heresy, it keeps track of each individual weapon, attack and damage, righteous fury. It truly is a brilliant little thing.

Also, it requires barely any space on the table.

I had a player who only used an app, he got 3 natural 20's in the first encounter and I told him "no more".

What I really said was after he got 2 20s "bro, if you roll one more natural 20 in this encounter I'm outlawing that app". He then got another 20 on the second roll after I said that.

With an app it could be programmed wrong, bad RNG from the phone, etc.

Can't blame dice like that, if he had a physical d20 I would have just called him extremely lucky.

Keltest
2019-09-14, 11:06 AM
I had a player who only used an app, he got 3 natural 20's in the first encounter and I told him "no more".

What I really said was after he got 2 20s "bro, if you roll one more natural 20 in this encounter I'm outlawing that app". He then got another 20 on the second roll after I said that.

With an app it could be programmed wrong, bad RNG from the phone, etc.

Can't blame dice like that, if he had a physical d20 I would have just called him extremely lucky.

Weighted dice are a thing. Or, if youre feeling particularly unsubtle, dice that have the 1 replaced with another 20. An easy DIY test for dice balance is to just drop it into a cup of water. If its weighted to roll a specific way, it should tend to float with the same side facing up, even if you try and spin it a bit.

Drache64
2019-09-14, 11:41 AM
Weighted dice are a thing. Or, if youre feeling particularly unsubtle, dice that have the 1 replaced with another 20. An easy DIY test for dice balance is to just drop it into a cup of water. If its weighted to roll a specific way, it should tend to float with the same side facing up, even if you try and spin it a bit.

I've done that test and found a few weighted dice, they aren't anything too crazy. Still get 1s even though they are heavily weighted to the 18/20/2 axis.

And advantage dice (1,2,3 replaced with 18,19,20) are easy to spot.

jdizzlean
2019-09-15, 10:48 PM
i seem to more often than not roll crap all night long when i use the dice app.

the sw one is ok however, but the normal dX's from the dice roller app just plain murder me more than half the time.

Kaptin Keen
2019-09-16, 01:04 AM
I had a player who only used an app, he got 3 natural 20's in the first encounter and I told him "no more".

What I really said was after he got 2 20s "bro, if you roll one more natural 20 in this encounter I'm outlawing that app". He then got another 20 on the second roll after I said that.

With an app it could be programmed wrong, bad RNG from the phone, etc.

Can't blame dice like that, if he had a physical d20 I would have just called him extremely lucky.

Honestly, I never roll 20's.

I don't know what's going on there, but it's legit: I cannot remember the last time I rolled a natural 20 - not with dice, and not with a dice roller. So for me there's no discernible difference.

That's not an argument that the RNG couldn't be flawed, just .. personal experience has no significant variance between dice and the app for me. But I'll tell you what: If I was going to make an app that cheated, I'd have it roll more 19's, not 20's. 19 is still good enough to almost always be a hit - but no one will ever notice.

=)

Lord Torath
2019-09-16, 08:22 AM
My favorite dice are some I bought - dang! 30 years ago! - from The Game Keeper, a (now defunct) store in my local mall. I'd ask for dice, they'd bring out their tray, and I'd pick an choose what I wanted: Black, blue, and red (and purple, because I couldn't find all the dice I wanted in red). No clue who made them, though. My d6's are marbled (except for the red one) and have rounded corners (had one spin for literally ten seconds after dumping it down the dice-rolling tower before it finally settled).

I carry my dice in a trendy* Dewalt safety glasses bag.

I use a dice roller I've put together in Excel (hit F9 to roll the dice). I use it when I'm DMing, especially something like Shadowrun.

* For a particular definition of "trendy".

LordCdrMilitant
2019-09-16, 10:12 AM
I've done that test and found a few weighted dice, they aren't anything too crazy. Still get 1s even though they are heavily weighted to the 18/20/2 axis.

And advantage dice (1,2,3 replaced with 18,19,20) are easy to spot.

Also, the dice aren't machined to a particularly fine tolerance, especially the polyhedrals.

The mini d6's from chessex and citadel are known to have a lot of imperfections, so some players get casino-grade dice, but you can only really do that for D6's and it will run you quite a bit. In addition, casinos dispose of their dice often because wear and tear affects their even-ness, so odds are anyone's given set of dice is probably a little biased.

IIRC, the best dice are dice with no pips and sharp corners, the worst dice have dimpled pips and rounded corners.

Seerow
2019-09-16, 10:25 AM
So for the OP, Obsidian Dice are totally a thing you can get. They are somewhat pricey, but it's not unheard of or even super rare.

https://usa.levelupdice.net/collections/semi-precious-stone/products/usa-obsidian-semi-precious

https://usa.levelupdice.net/collections/semi-precious-stone/products/usa-raised-obsidian

https://www.etsy.com/listing/623201832/black-obsidian-dice-set-dnd-dice-set?ref=shop_home_active_46&frs=1

https://www.etsy.com/listing/658952580/full-set-obsidian-gemstone-dnd-dice-set?ref=shop_home_active_30&pro=1

Doing a bit more searching for Gemstone Dice should get you more options as well, but those are a few sellers I am familiar with.




As far as my personal favorite sets, I have two sets of dice I've gotten fairly recently that are fairly awesome:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/BQq2XW3T8Zv5GhVA7


https://photos.app.goo.gl/gtb4k5dTroANKF2h9


The first set is a set of stone dice made from Egyptian Marble by Level Up Dice. I got them as a birthday gift and they are probably my favorite current set. They're representative of one of the favorite characters I've played (basically a Dwarven Earth Sorcerer gish).

The second set is both one of the coolest and most unique I have. It's another set made through Level Up Dice, which they offered as a limited release for to members of the Goblin Dice Horde facebook group (anyone here who enjoys pictures of dice, I highly recommend joining). The set is made from Adventurine.

Beleriphon
2019-09-23, 07:45 AM
Have two sets of Haxtec metal dice I got on Amazon. Nice sharp corners, well weighted. d4 could be an actual caltrop.

They're easy to read, the colours a good. The one I have are copper and teal (looks like a polished copper and a oxidized copper recess) and silver and tiffany blue (they're classy).

Concrete
2019-09-27, 09:26 AM
I have a dream to have a full set of entirely useless dice without numbers. So far I have a few d6's, one with different weather symbols, one with different colours, and one from a star wars edge of the empire set. But I still need all the other shapes.

hotflungwok
2019-09-27, 03:08 PM
I collect dice, I've got lots of odd ones. I guess my favorite would be 6d6 made from Vesuvian Basalt I got in a Kickstarter.

Beleriphon
2019-09-29, 10:13 AM
I have a dream to have a full set of entirely useless dice without numbers. So far I have a few d6's, one with different weather symbols, one with different colours, and one from a star wars edge of the empire set. But I still need all the other shapes.

There might be some, but most dice that aren't numbered tend towards coming from board games, which almost universally use six-sided dice.

That being said:

https://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice-sets/482/all-dice-with-logos?view=ALL

Concrete
2019-09-29, 03:05 PM
There might be some, but most dice that aren't numbered tend towards coming from board games, which almost universally use six-sided dice.

That being said:

https://www.thediceshoponline.com/dice-sets/482/all-dice-with-logos?view=ALL

Man, that ten commandment one would've been perfect if they weren't numbered.

"Roll a d100"
*rolling*
"Honor the Sabbath and do not covet?"

RedMage125
2019-10-03, 01:54 PM
If I forget my dicebag (which is a trendy plastic bag from the local supermarket)
Assuming you are of age to buy one, Crown Royal makes excellent Dice Bags.

And they come with a complimentary bottle of whiskey!



I won’t use metal dice because I find them noisy and they’ll damage a wood table. (Yeah, they look cool, but don’t bring ‘em to my house, please!)
I used to play on a GLASS topped table, and had to ban metal dice in my home.


I’ve been tempted to purchase the “precision” dice from Gamescience (these guys take dice seriously), but in all honesty, I think they’re probably over-kill when it comes to randomization.

Don’t trust dice-roller apps. Ever since my old programming days, I’m suspicious of “randomization” sequences in computer apps! Besides, I like the feel of a good set of dice rattling in my hands.

So...you're familiar with GameScience dice, and why they're precise, which means youa re likewise familiar with why most Chessex and other manufactuerer dice are not. And yet, you use them while eschewing a dice-roller app? :smallconfused:

It'd be easier to program a dice roller app that genuinely gave a 1/20 chance of each number showing up than it would be to make a "skewed" one. I would think it would be MORE trustworthy.

For my dice, I have 2 dice bags, one that's for my use, and one that are "loaner" dice. My personal ones include some matched sets (that usually roll decently), as well as one plain white d20 with red numbers that -as a matter of ethics- I refuse to use as a DM, and only use as a player. It's bog-standard plastic, which means it probably has some internal air bubbles or something that make it imbalanced, but it rolls REALLY well fairly consistently.

A friend of mine got me a set that were made of actual Malachite. but they're more of a conversation piece, as Malachite is kind of brittle, and I don't want them chipped. My wife responded to this by buying a set of Chessex dice with their "Malachite" color scheme. Those I use.

halfeye
2019-10-03, 05:49 PM
It'd be easier to program a dice roller app that genuinely gave a 1/20 chance of each number showing up than it would be to make a "skewed" one. I would think it would be MORE trustworthy.

Sadly, some computer generated random numbers are not ideal.

There was a bug in the hardware of the original Pentioum, it probably wasn't bad enough to make much of a difference in most games, but it was certainly imperfect.

There are many quick "algorithms" for "random numbers" that turn out not to be perfectly random.

Then again, some people cheat, and there are almost certainly apps that are made to sell to cheats (I don't know of any particular ones, but I'd be utterly amazed if there aren't a couple of dozen).

Kaptin Keen
2019-10-04, 06:13 AM
Assuming you are of age to buy one, Crown Royal makes excellent Dice Bags.

And they come with a complimentary bottle of whiskey!

Ha! I actually collect whisky, but I've never bought one of the ones that invest all that much in the packaging. I mostly drink Islay, and I think they'd consider a pretty little bag with gold ribbons to be unmanly! =D