During my first go with a new group and D&D 4E I quickly realized things were very wrong. I had fun, despite the fact my dice decided that they would rather see my Dwarf Cleric fail to heal instead of contribute substantially to the welfare of the group. By the end of the session, I believe they took pity on me, considering all we’ve been through together, but I just couldn’t shake the feeling that my go-to set was upset with me.
Now, I consider myself to be a logical, rational and pragmatic person (it’s probably the reason I play Dwarves so much). I know that when I roll a die, be it for combat, a skill check or a saving throw, it is a simple matter of statistical chance that will produce the outcome. I also know that when I’m seated at a gaming table, said rules of mathematics are absolute malarky. The dice are sentient and they must be appeased like the cruel, damning harbinger of fate that they are. My dice were angry with me on that Monday night because they weren’t being used for the character they belong too.
Every gamer out there has dice that play by different rules. For some of us, it’s a finite number of 20′s to be rolled. For others, it’s a matter of “these dice” are lucky and “those dice” aren’t. For me, it’s a matter of which character the dice belong too. My original set belong to my oldest and dearest character, Razumihin the Dwarven Battlerager, hence their anger at being used for a stranger. So, in an effort to alleviate myself of further “dice discontent,” I’ve decided that for every new character, their should be a new set.
First, I bought a GMing set, as no Player Character’s dice should ever be sullied by the roles of a malevolent GM. I decided to go with Q-Workshop‘s Call of Cthulhu Black and Green set. I figured it was appropriate given the influence the Lovecraft mythos would have on my game…OHMYGODMYBRAINISMELTING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The second set I purchased would be for my Scoundrel GMPC in that same game. Again, I went with Q-Workshop’s product line and got myself some nifty Steampunk Dice, because Steampunk will also play a role in this supposed game of mine…
Lastly (or is it finally?), I bought a new set of….. wait for it…. Q-workshop dice for my new Dwarf fighter for Robert’s 4th Edition campaign. It was a hard debate on what to get, but I settled on the red and black Dwarven Dice. I’m hoping these bad boys work out better than the Dwarven Stones* I bought…
*Protip – Be sure to know what you’re buying when it comes to gaming supplies. Those $35 Black Obsidian Dwarven Stones with red numbers sure will be wicked when you’re rolling them for your one-man wrecking crew of a fighter… until you realize how much smaller 12mm dice are compared to 16mm dice, and you find your implements of Epic Ass-Kickery being referred to as “cute.”
