You and your dice...

weem

First Post
This last Saturday my group (of four) and I kicked off our new 4e campaign. for fun I decided I would order some cool dice for each person, and I chose the dice for each person based on the character they were going to be playing - so for example, my friend playing a Ranger I got some green and gold gemini dice - it looks green and brownish and seemed woodsy. For the Wizard, I got the purple and blue gemini dice which represent swirling magic to me -- so you get the idea.

Anyway, a few of these players already had dice (2 are new to pnp rpg's) and I thought they may be too attached to use new dice, but I got them anyway.

As for myself, I am a little too attached to mine having had them since I was 12 or 13 (am 31 now), but it might be hard if someone gave new dice to me as a gift.

So here's the question for you -- everyone in my group used their new dice. If it were you in your current situation, would you have used new dice given to you, or are you too attached to a favorite set? And as a second part, do you have any odd habits, traditions, etc with your dice? (for example, one of the common ones being that you sit your dice so the highest possible roll is always visible when not being used).
 

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I think I have always given new gift dice a try. Sometimes I went back to the older favorites, but some nights the old favorites just are not in the zone. :)
 

Depends. I've got two sets of dice.

I've got my dice, which is probably about 1-1.5 pounds of assorted dice I've collected over the years, kept in a giant D6-shaped box with a magnetic lid. I use these as table dice; anyone's allowed to use them (but they must either use my dice or their own, I don't allow people to use both because I don't want them to get mixed up).

Then I've got my dice, which are a hand-picked subset of my dice which fit a theme of dark reds and blues, kept in a luxurious black velvet dice bag with red, tassled drawstrings. Only I'm allowed to use these dice, and they're the ones I take with me when I go elsewhere or when I'm playing and not DMing.

So if the gift dice I received fit the theme, I'd toss 'em in the dice bag. Otherwise, they'd go with the rest.
 

Typically, I've been the one with the most disposable income in a given game group. As a consequence, I like to "share the wealth" and often buy a lot of gaming material in order to share with those less able to drop dinero on D&D (and other games).

That eventually expanded to include dice after gaming for a few years with Alan Hench in Austin, TX (Hey, Dude!), who alongside providing gaming space, had his "Bucket 'o' Dice" as a centerpiece of the gaming table. When it was stolen, our game group pitched in to replace them.

These days, I have a BoD of my own, which means novice (and forgetful) gamers need never bring anything else to my house but their imaginations and their PCs*. It also allows me to indulge my dice-buying addiction. Old dice simply get moved to the bucket.

To answer your question, though, I'd at least give the new dice a try. I'm not superstitious about them, my considerations would be more along the lines of whether I found them 1) readable and 2) aesthetically pleasing.

Otherwise, they'd jump to the head of the line that leads to the bucket.

* OK, I don't own EVERY game & supplement out there, but I have 60+ systems covering various editions and most supplements for my favorites.
 

I'm afraid I'm heartlessly utilitarian in my use of dice. I use whatever dice I can find, I leave a trail of them behind as I go, and I'm constantly borrowing dice off people. I would've used the new dice, any old dice I had, whatever you give me.
 

I really love my dice set!

They are a dark blue with golden numbers which are nothing but classy!

Everything a DM should need!

They have seen many a death of a character
 

I like to pick out my own dice, but I'm not opposed to using gift dice. Whether or not I use it depends on how it rolls, and whether or not it's readable. Personally, I'm not a fan of dice with numbers in a color other than black or white; most often I find the others hard to read at a glance. I've used them in the past, and they just don't work for me.

Also, it would depend on the dice luck. Some d20s just roll better than others. :)
 

Ultimately it doesn't matter what dice I use but I do have my favorite set of fiery orange and red in a special black velvet bag. I am attached to them but if the new set caught my fancy then they would be a fine replacement and no second thought to switching them out.

I have about 5lbs of dice collected from 1977 to now in a big cloth bag that I let everyone at the table use. If someone is new with no dice of their own I usually let them pick out a set from the bag and keep them.
 

I definitely would, as my current set, mixed black and white with almost indistinguishable gold print, is cursed. I recently bought a new one, simple red with large black print, but it didn't seem a lot better. Giving it the benefit of doubt so far though.
 
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I'd use my current set.

Same ones Ive used as a player and DM since the early 80s (the original crystal/transparent dice, see through, icy blue, fill in the numbers with ink or crayon, and the corners are sharp as hell...even after all these years)
 

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