Sometimes you get your hopes up only to have them set back down again
Name: Celtic Knot Metal Dice Set
Description: This is a standard-size set of hollow metal dice that are probably made from Zinc but have been colored/polished to look like they’re made of bronze. The shape of the exoskeleton of the dice (the frame?) has angles and curves that are reminiscent of Celtic designs/knots. I’m not of Celtic descent though, so I’m mostly going by what little I’ve seen of purported Celtic designs and the name of the dice set that the seller chose. The dice are all a sort of polished bronze color, even the numbers. The font that they used is barely serifed and a little stylized. It’s like a bold but very much understated ITC Edwardian Script.
They’re hollow, so they’re quite light but because of what they’re made of, the have a much quieter, more dull clinking sound when shaken up together in your hand (well, in my hand actually. I’m the one with a set of these dice). You almost wouldn’t be able to tell that they were hollow if you only heard me shaking them up in my hands. In any case, they aren’t sharp. With enough commitment, you could step on the standard pyramid shaped d4 and have it go through the bottom of your foot, but you’d probably feel it before it punctured the skin. The d10s have edged waists and the 6 and 9 faces have tiny dots to indicate orientation. They’re very hard to see though, so good luck.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 22.2 mm (Point->Point) 27.1 mm
Where did they come from: dnddice.com (go check them out!)
How much did they cost: $40 including a cheap metal gift box that I’ll never use.
Material / color: Metal (Zinc) in a polished bronze finish
Quality: Pretty good. no major flaws, dings, or dents
Readability: Very poor. Forget about 4 feet away. I can barely read these from a foot away
Value: Decent value. This feels like a fair price for this set.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 1 roll !
Fifty d20 rolls: 8, 4, 3, 20, 2, 13, 3, 9, 10, 15, 16, 6, 1, 9, 12, 18, 15, 1, 18, 5, 18, 4, 7, 1, 3, 7, 6, 19, 18, 12, 14, 14, 19, 13, 18, 5, 10, 11, 20, 6, 15, 18, 6, 6, 13, 20, 6, 7, 15, 17 ( avg)
Mean: 10.72 (Average)
Median: 10.5 (Middle)
Mode: 6, 18 (most common)
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 11, 12, 14, 14, 10, 3 (64 total) A Sensitive Human Sorcerer from a cursed village who always gives the bad news first.
That’s the first time I’ve ever rolled a 3 for a stat. I had to roll four 1s in a row to do it too!
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
Casting Disintegrate at 9th level:
A thin green ray springs from your pointing finger to a target that you can see within range. The target can be a creature, an object, or a creation of magical force, such as the wall created by wall of force. A creature targeted by this spell must make a Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target takes 10d6 + 40 force damage. If this damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, it is disintegrated. A disintegrated creature and everything it is wearing and carrying, except magic items, are reduced to a pile of fine gray dust. The creature can be restored to life only by means of a true resurrection or a wish spell. This spell automatically disintegrates a Large or smaller nonmagical object or a creation of magical force. If the target is a Huge or larger object or creation of force, this spell disintegrates a 10-foot-cube portion of it. A magic item is unaffected by this spell.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, the damage increases by 3d6 for each slot level above 6th.
On a failed save the target takes: 19d6 + 40 (112) force damage
(This is another excuse for rolling dice)
Random Tables rolls:
Uncommon Magic Items: 74 – Ring of Swimming
Shields: 52 – The Indestructible Shield of the Dragon A +1 shield that can never be destroyed, except when the DM feels like rising the tension by destroying the previously indestructible shield. The shield can be restored with 10 liters of knights blood mixed with stardust. The shield is also small enough that can be used on the arm instead of hand.
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: These dice look nice, they have a good bronze color / buffed shine to them. The shapes are a little odd and they don’t make the nice jingle in your hand that some other dice sets make when you shake a few of them up at the same time. The weighting in the d6 is suspect to me after rolling 4 ones in a row while creating the Sorcerer above with the 3 charisma. I don’t think these will get much time at the table unless the d20 turns out to be a Diamond In The Rough or a Super Prodigy (great video). I could see someday bringing only hollow metal dice to a D&D session but I don’t think I ultimately like hollow metal dice enough to keep them in my regular rotation. There is one set that I have that gives off “Paladin” to me that I’d bring if I were ever playing a Paladin. I don’t know what it is about that set of dice, they just scream “Paladin!” to me.
I bought these dice from D&D Dice (dnddice.com) which is where I bought the fireball dice that I reviewed a few posts prior to this one. They’re a decent dice retailer and have a few nice dice / sets but they have way too much of the dull acrylic dice for me to remember to look there when I’m dice shopping. They do have some nice sharp edge resin, gemstone, and even wooden dice. Their prices are competitive, so I really should shop there more, maybe you should too. Keep them in business.
In summary: These dice are nice, not fantastic. They feel okay, roll okay and let me down in the sound department. I wouldn’t buy another set in a different finish, but I’ll probably hold onto them…. Or maybe give them to my LGS for a raffle.
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