Wednesday, 21 January 2009

Dice

I have a royal blue velvet dice bag I bought in c. 1986. It has a stain (that appears to be coffee, but is really unknown). It's stitching is true even after a score of years. The dice inside the bag dates from the same era save three (purchased last year at my FLGS).

There are 21 marbled d6s. I remember buying them for my days playing Shadowrun (dice pools need lots of dice). There is a split set of opaque dice, 2 d10 and a d6, in royal blue with white numbering and polished edges. Seems it probably belonged to a tube at some time; where the others have gone to is lost to history.

Then there is a full set of Gamescience crystal clear dice. All save the d6 and 2 d10s have the original wax coloring I did 23 years ago. I know this because I just pushed the wax out of the d6 and 2 d10s to re-ink them with a fine-point Sharpie.

Soon I will have two new sets of Gamescience dice: Coal Black and Saffron Yellow. I will hand ink them in Yellow and Black (opposite their face color of course). I just like that scheme... like yellow and black striping on cautionary tape or signs.

I'm writing about this because I have become an adherent to the Gamescience philosophy of dice manufacturing and design. Have you seen the video of Colonel Louis Zocchi on dice? If not, you should. It might change your mind about the dice you use in your games.

Part 1