Strange women lyin’ in ponds distributin’ swords is no basis for system of government
Name: The Officially Authorised Sanctioned, and Certified Polyhedral Random Number Generators* For Monty Python’s Cocurricular Mediaeval Reenactment Programme.
* Also referred to as “dice” by non-serious people
Description: There is not very much standard about this set of 12 resin dice. Polyhedral Random Number Generators. The set consists of: 1d4, 3d6, 1d8, 1d10, 1d12, 1d16, 1d18, 1d20, 1d30. The two larger d6 dice use a very simple font, similar to ITC Legacy Serif. The dice that are only numbers use something similar to TNR. The dice are all what I’d call: “cheap resin trash” in most cases and I wouldn’t ever buy them but these came bundled with a Monty Python themed TTRPG box set. The edges on all dice are very rounded and each die is a different color with a different color ink for the font. The lowest side of each die (except for the two large d6 dice) has a logo of a foot that goes up to the shin. Fans of the Monty Python show / movies will recognize this logo.
The d10/d14/d16/d18 all have edged waists and the 6 and 9 faces have dots to indicate their orientation. The large 2d6 are meant to be used as counters to determine how “Loony” and how Dead your character is. Five of the faces on each die have a description and an arrow that points to another face (The next state in your Looniness / Death.) When you need to advance your Loony/Death status, you just rotate the die in the direction that the arrow points until you get to the final face for that die. The faces on these large d6 dice are labeled (in order of best -> worst):
Loony:
Reginald Maudling
Sensible
Daft
Barmy
Crackers
Cocunuts
Dead:
Mr. Neutron
Fine, Fine
Getting Better
Not Dead Yet
Virtually Dead
No More (with a dead parrot)
These dice are mostly ugly but there are a few color combinations that look decent. The dice aren’t the star of the show for this game but they add some comedy to what looks like an already funny TTRPG. Also included was a plastic coconut cut in half that can serve as either a dice shaker or make the sounds of a horses hooves for traveling purposes. (It worked for King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail.)
Sizes:
d4: (Point->Point) 17.3 mm
d6(smaller): (Face->Face) 15.95 mm (Point->Point) 25.0 mm
d6 (larger): (Face->Face) 24.9 mm (Point->Point) 39.2 mm
d8: (Face->Face) 15.8 mm (Point->Point) 25.0 mm
d10: (Face->Face) 15.8 mm (Point->Point) 21.3 mm
d12: (Face->Face) 17.8 mm (Point->Point) 21.0 mm
d14: (Face->Face) 16.3 mm (Point->Point) 21.6 mm
d16: (Face->Face) 15.8 mm (Point->Point) 21.5 mm
d18: (Face->Face) 16.1 mm (Point->Point) 21.6 mm
d20: (Face->Face) 19.7 mm (Point->Point) 23.1 mm
d30: (Face->Face) 25.0 mm (Point->Point) 28.1 mm
Where did they come from: A Kickstarter campaign from Exaltant Funeral
How much did they cost: $25 if bought separately but these were included in the box set that was around $100 for the book, some game tokens, and a Gamemaster Head of Light Entertainment (HoLE) screen
Material / color: Cheap resin. Multi-colored (tan, pink, crimson, green, light green, blue, light blue, purple, light purple, brown, yellow)
Quality: Fair quality. They’re not trying to be fancy. The casting seems good and the foot logo on the low face came out okay.
Readability: Very good. I tested most of the dice from 4 and 8 feet away and they were all readable from 8 feet. The contrast of the die/numbers was well thought out.
Value: Good I guess? They’re a very specialized set of dice for one specific game. $25 for a full set of 12 dice seems like an okay price even though they’re the cheapest possible material.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 27 rolls
Fifty d20 rolls: 6, 13, 10, 13, 1, 7, 9, 12, 8, 2, 11, 15, 9, 15, 3, 16, 6, 14, 20, 2, 17, 1, 5, 10, 6, 11, 7, 12, 12, 15, 16, 11, 1, 17, 9, 1, 16, 17, 15, 7, 2, 10, 12, 7, 16,
11, 13, 15, 13, 3
Mean: 10
Median: 11
Mode: 15
Since this isn’t D&D related, I’m not going to bother with random tables, a character stat block or casting spells / making attacks. The game doesn’t use those mechanics as it’s much more RP based and less about dice rolling.
Final Thoughts: Back in 2022, mid-pandemic I was playing D&D online with some former co-workers and I was still getting deeper into TTRPGs (and thus dice collecting). I saw a Kickstarter campaign for a Monty Python themed TTRPG and based on the details in the Kickstarter it was obvious that the people running the campaign were huge fans of the show/movies/group. The game’s source book is packed with Monty Python lore, references, and jokes. The faces of the larger d6 dice (with words) highlight some of the jokes that the TTRPG uses.
This isn’t (per se) a TTRPG rating blog/website however, so the dice… They’re cheap, dull, and made of acrylic. They’re at the bottom level of dice that I own. I don’t buy dice like this on purpose because I don’t care for them. There are so many better types / styles of dice out there and I’m (quite obviously) a dice goblin / snob when it comes to dice. The one thing that they have going for them is that they at least picked nice color combinations for the dice. For the most part they’re very readable in any light. I look forward to using them as the mechanics of the game spread out which different die you use for each ability check / consequence roll. It’s not like the D&D 5e scenario where you use a d20 for 75% of your rolls. The only issue I might run into is that the game only came with one set of these dice, so the GM HoLE and the players will have to share this one set. I also can’t go buy fancier versions of these dice unfortunately. Some of the dice are in the common set of 7 dice used with D&D/Pathfinder but good luck finding a d14/d16/d18/d30. Maybe the people who made the game will offer a fancy set in the future if they keep up maintenance on the game after finishing delivery of all of the Kickstarter rewards. One can hope…
Leave a Reply