D&D and RPG Accessory Items you HATE!

[BruceWright]

Looking though Etsy and other online listings of TTRPG "merch", the same few phrases and themes seem to be on DM screens, dice, rolling trays, t-shirts...

The same ten "cute" phrases that overshare, show a veiled hostility to your players, or otherwise make you feel akward.

Which ones bother you? Which ones are cringe? Which ones are you just plain sick of?


Like, for example, you show up to your game and you see THIS:

 

[Thierry-Advent]

Dice towers! Useless gadget that takes up too much space on the game table.

 

[prabe]

Dice towers! Useless gadget that takes up too much space on the game table.

How do you feel about rolling trays? Because there's no reason a dice tower should take up more space than a rolling tray--none of mine do, at least.

 

[prabe]

As for me, what I dislike for at the table tends toward the very distracting. Most of what I see is either dice and such, or various ways to track character things, which is usually OK. I mean, those T-shirts are kinda the ick, but there are others that are plenty funny without the ick, and those are fine.

 

[el-remmen]

My players got me a “Because I’m the DM, that’s why!” sweatshirt as a gag gift for Xmas about 5 years ago. I have frequently worn it for sessions (we play in a sometimes chilly basement) but I could never imagine wearing it to a con or to a game with folks I don’t know.

As for something I don’t like? I gave up on screens a few years ago and have not looked back. (But I do have a dice tower and recently made one for the DM in a game I am in).

 

[Tigris]

How do you feel about rolling trays? Because there's no reason a dice tower should take up more space than a rolling tray--none of mine do, at least.

Hm but do they catch the dice as well? The dice towers I have seen which also catch the dice are slightly larger than a small rolling tray, but I don't feel its too bad, if everyone can take the same and use it with all dices. (We had one where D20 were too big making it not that useful).


About acessoires I dont like: Hmm ok the T-shirts shared are stupid and just kind of improve the negative sight of "GMs lover always gets an advantage."

Dice trays, nice dice, minis, (spell)cards, acrilic standees, dungeon tiles, are all fine nothing I dislike, GM screens can have their uses, although I am not a big fan of them, but they can have useful information and with some premade adventurers its easier if you can have the book open before you so thats fine use of them. GM Guide books are not really accessoires so cant name them, hmm this is hard.

 

[el-remmen]

Like, for example, you show up to your game and you see THIS:

I have to admit however that a group photo where the DM wears the one on the left and everyone else wears the one on the right would be hilarious.

 

[aco175]

All my player now use a dice tray, but my father still bounces them out a few times per night.

I seem to have seen a lot of gimmicky things over the years. I recall a button from the 80s that said "Negotiate my a_ _, let's kill something". It had some sort of barbarian on it. Some sort of bumpersticker. Maybe the "Eyes up here" shirt with a pair of d20s on the chest area.

At the table stuff, I do not encounter too much. Even at conventions and such.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Dice towers! Useless gadget that takes up too much space on the game table.

You clearly don't play with kids.

Free-rolling kids and tweens will shatter the neighbor's window about half the time when they're rolling dice. Dice towers and trays are there to keep things under control.

 

[Thierry-Advent]

I still don't like Dice Towers (or Dice trays). Just roll on the table for everyone to see. In 46 years of gaming, the number of times a die fell on the floor, per session, is negligible. They are gadgets.