This is a big heavy rainbow in your hand, use it all you can
Name: Queens Treasure metal 45mm d20
Description: This is a large metal nearly-sharp edged d20 die. The metal surfaces on the face is very polished and in the flame-torched / oil slick color scheme. The numbers are inked in a teal/turquoise color. The font appears to be Helvetica, the holy grail of fonts. I have zero complaints about Helvetica, it’s probably my favorite font. I wish more dice makers would use sensible fonts instead of the silly Dwarven / Dragon / Elven font garbage. The curves on the dice are very smooth. The 6 and 9 faces use underbars to indicate their orientation. The die came in a plastic case similar to what Chessex dice sets ship in.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 34.86mm (Point->Point) 42.05mm
Where did it come from: A small board game store near Portland, OR. (Made by: Norse Foundary)
How much did it cost: $21
Material / color: Metal (Zinc) with a polished flame/torched surface on all faces.
Quality: Very good. I see a couple of small flaws but they’re tiny
Readability: Excellent. Reading it from 8 feet away is easy. Reading the faces from 12 feet away is difficult but possible.
Value: Great value for a heavy chonk metal d20. Underpriced
Overall Rating: 8/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 1 roll !!
Fifty d20 rolls: 14, 8, 13, 18, 8, 9, 14, 10, 1, 3, 16, 3, 10, 18, 14, 7, 1, 15, 12, 5, 16, 19, 1, 10, 2, 8, 6, 20, 10, 20, 11, 3, 12, 1, 8, 4, 16, 6, 20, 20, 3, 13, 7, 13, 9, 14, 3, 11, 1, 15
Mean: 10.02
Median: 10
Mode: 1, 3
6d20 drop 1s and 2s stat block: 17, 13, 13, 4, 18, 20 (85 total) A Wary Half-Elf Paladin from an ancient monastery who has serious Daddy issues.
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
A 20th level Oathbreaker Bugbear Paladin with maxed CHA/STR and Great Weapon Master fighting against a CR 17 Death Knight. We’ll say that the Death Knight has somehow been frightened by another party member with a spell (eyebite/fear/cause fear/hallow /wrathful smite/etc…) and that the paladin had already activated it’s Dread Lord capability:
At 20th level, you can, as an action, surround yourself with an aura of gloom that lasts for 1 minute. The aura reduces any bright light in a 30-foot radius around you to dim light. Whenever an enemy that is frightened by you starts its turn in the aura, it takes 4d10 psychic damage. Additionally, you and any creatures of your choosing in the aura are draped in deeper shadow. Creatures that rely on sight have disadvantage on attack rolls against creatures draped in this shadow.
|While the aura lasts, you can use a bonus action on your turn to cause the shadows in the aura to attack one creature. Make a melee spell attack against the target. If the attack hits, the target takes necrotic damage equal to 3d10 + your Charisma modifier.
The Paladin takes two attacks with it’s Sun Blade sword and uses maximum level spell slots for Divine Smite on any hits.
Starting it’s turn in the Aura of gloom, the Death Knight takes 26 damage
Attack #1: 17 + 13 – 5 = 25 HIT! 1d10 + 7 + 2d6 + 1d8 +10 + 6d8 = 80 damage
Attack #1: 14 + 13 – 5 = 23 HIT! 1d10 + 7 + 1d8 + 10 + 6d8 = 56 damage
Bonus Action Melee spell attack: 15 + 11 = 26 HIT! 3d10 + 5 = 21 damage (reduced to 10 damage)
Total: 173 damage and the Death Knight is hanging on by a thread (7 hp remaining).
That one went a bit off the rails and would likely never be able to come together in such harmony but it was fun to craft.
Random Tables rolls (6xd20):
Tavern Events: 61 – An old drow tells stories about his long life in the Underdark. He tells tales of other drow, kuo toa, mind flayers, flumphs, and even a purple worm he encountered.
Encounters In an Ancient Crypt: 47 – The party finds a room filled with several sarcophagi, all of which are sealed shut. Each one is inscribed with strange runes and symbols, but upon closer inspection, it appears as if the runes are actually a complex riddle that must be solved in order to open them.
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: The obvious first impression is that this die is gorgeous. This is a factual statement. The shiny oil-slick finish that fades between, yellow, green, blue, and violet is fantastic and just looks amazing. The numbers inked in light blue works quite well with the color range of the oil-slick faces. I really appreciate that the designer went with a very easy to read classic font like Helvetica. The die is nice and heavy and makes the long-sought-after <thonk!> when rolled against the wall of a wooden dice tray. The die is large and heavy enough that it doesn’t wander when rolled. It skids a little bit at the very end of a roll but it’s round enough to get a good bit of rolling before skidding to a stop.
Now, here’s where it falls short… First, it’s not quite the advertised 45mm from point to point, it comes in at a hair past 42mm. Second, there are some creases in a few of the faces from the manufacturing process. They catch the light a little bit differently and are slightly distracting depending on how the die is sitting. From some viewing angles, the creases totally disappear.
There’s not much else to say about this die. At $21, it’s a great deal for a metal chonk d20, especially in such a beautiful finish. Get one if you can find one. I don’t see these for sale on the Norse Foundry website, I suspect that it’s an old design which has been discontinued. I’m glad that I found it and was able to support a small game store in the process, though they should have tacked on another $10 to the price which would have helped them stay afloat and changed the price from a “great bargain” to a mere “good deal”.
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