Dice Digest — November/December 2020 (#11)

Just in the nick of time it’s finally here: No. 11 of my Dice Digest. I have to apologize for the long wait. This was supposed to be written up in early December, but things at work were kinda crazy in December, and then Cyberpunk 2077 got released, and that was that. πŸ™‚ Some of this was written up in November, so it may be old news by now.

Then of course, I would also like to wish everyone a Happy New Year and a good 2021 to come! Hopefully things will look up over the course of the new year, with the world getting closer to a sense of normalcy. Let’s kick this virus in the butt!

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 HD Dice

Photos by HD Dice

HD has released new sets in their Ribbon line that I think look really cool.

I own the blue and white Sea Mist Ribbon set, and I was positively surprised that it’s not ink swirls but actual flat ribbon-like sheets inside. It’s different from anything else I’ve seen in dice, and it’s particularly nice in the d6.

Two new sharp-edged colours are also now available. One is a plainer pink translucent set, the other a light blue and pink translucent set with gold flakes.

Photo by HD Dice

This new set is called Glacier Rose. It’s listed as layered set, but it looks like the layers have a pretty cool swirly effect. I would love to see these in person.

Photo by HD Dice

A new layered resin set called Frost Gale. Might be great for a sea-based character or maybe the Icewind Dale D&D campaign.

Photos by HD Dice

Last but not least, more colours for the Ancient line.


New from Die Hard Dice

Lots of new releases from Dice Hard Dice!

DHD released new d10 sets at the end of October for those who play d10-based RPG systems such as Vampire the Masquerade. There’s two sets currently available in their Avalore mould — in neon yellow and dark blue.

The yellow set is called Hunter’s Moon and the dark blue one Wolf’s Mane.

Harm & Harmony is a new two-colour metal design with a musical theme in red and green. Playing a Bard-barian? Maybe this is the perfect dice set for your character.

DHD was running a Holiday sales event before Christmas, part of which was a new polymer line called Untamed.

The latest cool new thing is their Multiclass d20, which is a metal d20 cut in half with a magnet inside, so that you can combine two halves of two different dice to create a half-and-half design. They have several colours available that can all be combined.


New from Haxtec

Photos by Haxtec

Haxtec added a new line called Chameleon to their range of metal dice. They have a colour-shifting surface, in their Facebook post they say that the surface shimmer layer doesn’t peel off since they improved their production technique.

The red ink in the photo doesn’t make them look very appealing to me, but they also offer different colourways and inks on amazon.com.

Photo by Haxtec

Haxtec is ringing in the new year with a set of bee themed dice — yellow dice with bee inclusions inside.


New from YuSun

Photos by YuSun

New releases from YuSun — more metal dice added to their lineup. These would be perfect for any necromancy character, as they have a skull theme going on.

Also new are more swirly sets, some of which look really nice, including that awesome (d)iced latte set. πŸ™‚


New URWizards Releases

Photos by URWizards

URWizards, normally known for their gemstone dice, is now expanding their range to engraved resin dice with holo flakes inside.

(This is just a personal observation, but they look very much like the Ice Dice/Auspdice with engraved faces, so they are likely out of that same factory.)

These are available from URWizards direct in several colours at a price point of $75.

Personal note:
I recently ordered the blue cat’s eye dice in this design from URWizards, and they are honestly one of my nicest looking and most precious dice I own.


New Heartbeat Dice Release

Photos by HeartBeat Dice

HeartBeat Dice is now offering 33mm layered rainbow d20s made from wood. These d20s have their signature heart logo in place of the 20.


New Dice Envy Release

Photo by Dice Envy

Dice Envy is adding new frosted dice to their lineup, called Forbidden Candy. These are frosted glass cateye with raised numbers.

They are currently available in four colours (red, yellow, teal, light blue) at a price point of $75 per polyset.

Photos by Dice Envy

New The Dice Lab Release

Photo by The Dice Lab

The Dice Lab is releasing a “skew dice” set, and, no, you don’t have a vision problem, these dice really are misshapen.

They look really fun!


New Hymgho Dice Release

Photos by Hymgho

Hymgho now offers their dice on amazon.com, and they have some fun designs, including hollow metal dragon dice.


New CozyGamer Release

Photos by CozyGamer

CozyGamer has another new exclusive set for us. These Dragon Scales dice are clear dice with green iridescent flakes that change colour to blue at certain angles.


New Udixi and Gate Keeper Games Releases

Both these companies have new designs out, but I won’t be mentioning or showing specifics since they both displayed unbecoming behaviour in the dice community recently that I personally think was inappropriate for a dice business. If you’d like to see what new products they have released lately, you can look for their webstores or Facebook or other social media pages. I won’t be covering their products as much as I used to in upcoming Dice Digests.


Lindorm Kickstarter Dice now available

Photos by Lindorm

If you missed the Norse Mythology Kickstarter from Lindorm that finished fulfilling recently, they are now offering remaining expanded sets in their webstore (some of which are out of stock by now).


Kickstarters

I had a number of Kickstarters compiled in November that I didn’t mention in previous digests, which have now finished their funding and can no longer be backed. I’ll focus on those that are still open.


SkullSplitter Dice 2020 Frosted Collection

Frosted dice with the SkullSplitter logo on the d20 and holo flakes inside. The funding goal has been reached and five stretch goals have been unlocked. Currently there’s a total of 10 colours available at a price point of $17 per 11-die extended polyset (2 d20s and 4 d6s). You have six more days to back this Kickstarter before it closes.

URL: http://kck.st/33Q4mBy


SP6 Dice

This Kickstarter claims they are producing the world’s most accurately balanced metal d6. They explain why this die is more balanced than others in their Kickstarter text. The dice are currently only available as d6 in anodized black aluminium at a price point of Β£9 per die.

There are no stretch goals. The project is fully funded, and you can back this one for another 23 days.

URL: http://kck.st/2J9I0nn


Ammo Dice

Not exactly a new concept, but a Spanish creator is currently offering dice that are shaped like gun ammunition. These come as d6 and d10 in different colours in 30mm and 53mm length respectively. There’s 10 stretch goal colours in addition to the four colours Plain Blue, Plain Red, Silver and Copper as the basic starter options.

You can own a pair of dice (one d6 and one d10) for 7 EUR, with more combination options at other prices. The Kickstarter was launched a few days ago, and is currently at 736 EUR of its 17,600 EUR goal. The Kickstarter has 27 days to go to reach its funding goal.

URL: http://kck.st/3rLXTSG

Personal note:
I wasn’t sure whether to list this one, as I think we have too much gun violence in the real world already, and I personally don’t want to be reminded of it in my roleplaying games or when I look at my dice collection. That said, I wouldn’t judge anyone wanting to back this Kickstarter, because it can be a cool accessory if you’re playing a gunslinger or a military themed RPG.


Forged in Frost

Recent Kickstarter by Bryce’s Dice that is now closed with the funding goal reached. Delivery is estimated for March 2021.

URL: http://kck.st/2IUeoKj


News

What else is new in the dice world? Take a look!


Heads up about Labmasu

Italian company Labmasu that makes and sells custom dice, recently started offering dice with World War II and Nazi symbolism, such as swastikas and sig runes. They say these are for “historically accurate” war games, and (unlike other countries such as Germany) using these symbols isn’t illegal in Italy.

Labmasu is the company that ran a Kickstarter with dwarf dice, you may recognize these when you see them. It’s up to everyone if they want to keep supporting a company that endorses Nazi symbolism, but at least now you can make an informed decision about it.


The Dice Shop Online “Limited” Editions

I wanted to add a quick word about how The Dice Shop Online is recently labeling some of the sets in their shop, because I think it’s misleading customers, and is somewhat of a FOMO (fear of missing out) method that I don’t personally condone.

TDSO has started slapping a “LIMITED EDITION” label on some of the dice sets that they brand as TDSO dice. That makes it sound like these dice are exclusive to TDSO and are only available in limited numbers, much like the cheap Kraken FOMO method of “if you don’t buy these now, they’ll soon be gone forever and you might miss your chance to own these”.

While we know that Kraken successfullly uses this for their exclusive and indeed limited dice, the thing is that the TDSO dice marked as “limited edition” are actually not limited at all. They’re widely available products made by companies like HD, Udixi, YuSun, etc. that are not exclusive to TDSO, and that are sold by many other dice shops all over the world. I can only speculate that TDSO labels them as limited because they bought a finite quantity for their store and won’t be restocking them. However, labeling them as “limited edition” seems to be a misleading sales trick to make unaware customers think they need to buy them before they are gone forever.

Not cool, TDSO.


Scammer Dice Shops

There’s still scammer shops out there that are advertising popular Kickstarter or handmade dice that they’re not actually selling. I have now put up a separate post about this with a list of the scammer shop names that I’m currently aware of. Sharing is encouraged.