Wizards of the Coast was kind enough to send over a box of Tomb of Annihilation goodies to review. I’m still digesting the adventure, including the D&D Beyond version I purchased, so that review is forthcoming (spoiler: the adventure is really good), but I thought I’d at least give you a look at the dice.
The idea of themed dice is kind of odd to me, as I’m used to having a big old dice bag full of random dice (I’ve never been a dice snob to be honest), but here we are–marketing is strong with this one!
The dice come in a green-tinted tin ( 4.7 x 1.7 x 4.7 inches) with the iconic green devil face embossed on it. The tin itself is pretty cool, and I can imagine using it to store the shredded character sheets of characters killed as they make their way through the module keep your dice in it.
As far as the dice, the set includes 10 green tinted (maybe french grey) polyhedrals:
- 1d20 (mysteriously of a different color than the rest of the dice)
- 1d12
- 2d10 (one being a tens die)
- 1d8
- 4d6
- 1d4
The dice come on a removable foam tray, allowing you to use the tin for other things…. Like storing the shredded character sheets of characters killed as they make their way through the module.
A few thoughts:
- 4d6? Is that for new players to have enough d6 to roll stats at character creation? if so, nice touch!
- 1d20? Wait… Advantage/Disadvantage is a new ICONIC core mechanic for 5e…. In my opinion a new sacred cow for D&D. Why not include an extra d20?
The included d20 is of a different tint, which leads me to believe that maybe there was a plan to include another d20 of the same color as the rest of the set. Or not. Who knows? It seems like a missed opportunity.
Themed D&D dice sets should really include 2d20’s moving forward, especially considering the Adv/Dis core mechanic. Just a thought, WOTC!
By the way, I rolled the d20 a few times and it rolled well, so PCs beware!
So to close up this mini review…. the dice are nice. The tin is cool. I don’t know that I would pay $19.95 for a set of dice, but again, your mileage may vary, and you can probably find them cheaper online.
Disclaimer: Wizards of the Coast supplied the dice set for review.
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medievalmike
September 21, 2017
A player in the group I run for bought this set and brought it to the most recent session. The tin is nice and sturdy. Nice collectible. All his dice were the same color as your D20. He said he had heard people complaining about the dice but I have not. They felt nice in the hand, they had a soft felt like surface, unlike other “shiny” dice. Somewhat unique if a bit plain looking. The color is very good for the tie in IMO.
alphastream
September 21, 2017
I love the Tomb of Annihilation adventure and I love the accompanying minis, but these dice left me dissatisfied. The image in the marketing made the tin look a lot better – sort of a smoky green that changes tint and with far more detail on the devil face. It’s an okay tin, but it isn’t amazing.
The dice, to me, look really plain. If I put those in the center of a Chessex or Crystal Caste dice lineup, would anyone pick them? For premium dice, they fall short. I do like the legibility, though in my copy (which I purchased) the inking is missing in spots. Still, if I think of previous special WotC dice, such as the awesome set given out for Confrontation at Candlekeep or the recent set given out at Origins 2016, those were dice that stood out as being really cool. I think most gamers would have preferred the Origins 2016 set with green ink and the green devil face bag given out to a few gamers.
It’s not a bad set. I just think it falls short of where it should be for the price point.
Ace42
September 21, 2017
Did you use salt-water to test the D20’s bias?
Jorge Jaramillo Villarruel
August 29, 2018
So, people who buys or has bought themed dice, even a single set, are snobs?
newbiedm
August 29, 2018
I don’t believe that’s what I said.
On Wed, Aug 29, 2018 at 1:58 PM www. Newbie DM .com wrote:
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