Of course I wear a pair of gloves when I’m rolling dice. Who doesn’t?
Name: Spiky Bronze Dice Set (??)
Description: A set of metal dice in a vary dark coffee bronze color (7 pieces). They are probably made of Zinc as that’s the cheapest non-toxic material to make metal dice with. The dice have a worn look to them which makes part of the dice look almost golden bronze and other parts look very dark brown like a nice cup of coffee. The font is a puffy tight typeface similar to Cosmic but blockier. It continues to amaze me that I can never find the exact font that dice makers use. It’s like they don’t want there to be any question that they are not using a licensed typeface. Searching for fonts on the Interwebs with just numbers to use is quite difficult. The numbers are raised up out of the faces (by cutting away the parts of each face that aren’t part of the number) and not painted. The faces themselves then have a slightly sunken appearance after the non-digit material is cut away. There are dots to indicate orientation for the 6 and 9 faces and boy are those dots tiny.
All edges are slightly rounded. All vertices are built up into near-sharp points with fine crown detailing around those points. The dice give off Prussian helmet energy. The points are not as sharp as the vertices of a standard sharp-edge resin set of dice dice but given the strength of the material, you would absolutely be headed to the ER if you stepped on one of these dice barefoot. The d10s have very edged waists and the points of the vertices are accordingly staggered, enhancing the visual effect of the dice. These dice absolutely 100% will wreck most dice trays over time.
The dice are inside of my perfect size range (21mm -> 24mm d20) and are quite ugly color-wise. Are they so ugly that they’re cool? Maybe. Do I enjoy asking myself questions in blog posts? Not really.
Size (d20): 21.6 mm (face->face) 30.4 (tip->tip)
Where did they come from: No clue. I couldn’t find the receipt
How much did they cost: $18 – $30 (depending on where I bought them)
Material / color: Metal (Zinc likely) / brownish bronze
Quality: Good. Very solid / heavy
Readability: poor, you really have to look closely even in bright light to see the numbers on the faces
Value: Good value!
Overall Rating: 8/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 8 rolls (very quick by Rate My Dice standards)
Ten d20 rolls: 6, 17, 9, 3, 8, 17, 2, 10, 5, 17 (9.4 avg)
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 11, 14, 15, 8, 13, 7 (68 total) A Demure half-elf Monk from the local tavern who was petrified for over two hundred years
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and Point Buy totals to: 69.
Random Tables rolls:
Arcane Outerwear: 17 – The Coat of Many Eyes – You can see in all directions, but you look like a horrifying Lovecraftian nightmare.
Masks: 81 – Mask of Barnacles: A wooden mask covered in barnacles — it is always wet. The wearer may walk across water (or other liquid surfaces) as if it were solid ground. Once per day the wearer may cast Control Water.
Final Thoughts: I first saw these dice when Liam O’Brien (from Critical Role) was using a set of them early in Campaign 3. I really liked the look of them and how dangerous and pointy they were. They were added to my dice bucket list and I found them not too long after. They’re not high quality dice and they are not at all easy to read save for the brightest light. They do however:
1. Stop on a dime, sometimes even skidding to a stop
2. Make a very satisfying “thonk” sound in a wooden rolling tray
3. Have a great feel in your hand when preparing to roll them. Sometimes you’ll just close your hand a little to feel the points before you let that roll go.
4. Double as protection. If you had only dice with you and were being chased by some kind of human or animal threat in a situation where it was you or them… you’d be reaching for these dice next after you threw your 55mm metal d100 and a few of your other metal chonk d20s at this creature pursuing you. Maybe you’d even use these as caltrops if you were sneaky.
Do you need a set of these dice? No of course not, that’s another stupid question for me to ask myself on this blog. Should you consider buying a set anyway? You bet you should! They’re satisfying to roll, and they’re quite a conversation piece. The first time you bring them to the table, you’ll maybe get 2 rolls into using them when another player will ask to see them and the game will be temporarily derailed with talk of dice. Isn’t this what playing ttRPGs is all about? talking about your favorite dice with friends?
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