My Piles o’ Dice

In the spirit of recent posts about my GM kit and using mixed dice for GURPS, here is a look at the dice I’ve currently got rattling around in various boxes, bags, and pouches.

During my “Great Purge of ’90-Something,” when I sold off close to my entire collection of games and gaming books, I also got rid of hundreds of polyhedral dice I’d collected over a decade or more… everything, in fact, except for a single blue die, my original D&D d20. So this collection is only a shadow of its former glory!

My Go-To Dice

These are the sets I try to always have on hand, especially at conventions when who knows what the next game might be?

• Green Box: Metal GURPS dice, five 3d6 sets of various styles. My workhorses, since almost all my RPG gaming is GURPS.
• Blue Box: Metal polyhedral dice, two full sets plus a couple extra d6s, as well as my already-mentioned original d20.
• Red Box: Plastic (three sets) and metal (one set) FATE/Fudge dice, four 4dF sets of various styles.
• Black Box: Standard plastic set of 10d10, pretty much solely for a World of Darkness campaign I enjoy playing at conventions.

Other Favorites

The case has all the “rest” of my dice, the favorites I like the look of and keep separate. The empty compartments are mostly where the “Go-To Dice” are stored when not traveling. Contains a bunch of d6 varieties for GURPSing, a few more polyhedral sets (including my one Gamescience set), and some FATE/Fudge dice. The leather pouch holds the dice I’m currently using for my Rogue in some friends’ Pathfinder game; three different colors so I can roll all three of my attacks at once, plus a bunch of d6s for Sneak Attacks’ damage bonus.

Odds and Ends

The bits that don’t fit elsewhere: wooden dice (that store in a bigger, wooden die!), color-coordinated GURPS sets and cups for loaners (especially great for conventions), specialty dice (still unopened, as I don’t have a lot of call for d3, d5, d7, d16, d24, or d30), blocks of d6s (12mm and 16mm), jumbo polyhedrals, and an electric dice roller.

The roller runs on two “AA” batteries, and spins the dice as long one of the buttons is held. That clear half-globe is removable, so you can place whatever dice inside you like. For GURPS, 6d6 of various colors seems the optimum mix, allowing for various rolls to be generated by only counting certain colors: 1d6 (gray), 2d6 (red), 3d6 (blue), 4d6 (gray and blue), 5d6 (red and blue), and 6d6 (all).

I originally tried the more standard 16mm, but six of them is just a scootch much for the spinner – 12mm dice work much better! Here it is in action:

Speaking of odds and ends… you know how five or six times a day you think to yourself, “Oh, man, I wish I had 3d6 on me”? A dice ring may be for you! (There are many varieties, not just this GURPS-y one).

Accessories

Great dice need great accessories! A variety of rolling boxes, a collapsible dice tower (which I don’t use much, as I usually prefer metal dice), a set case, and a leather rolling cup.

The Remnants

And finally, the leftovers, the bulk dice that I throw in a six-pocket nail bag as extras and mix-and-match loaners, sorted by type.

 

A lot of gamers love dice, and I’m no exception. Even though I have everything I “need,” I still stay on the lookout for new and interesting ones to add to the pile. Basically, they are my shinies… and I loves ’em!