Support your local game store even if that means buying terrible blind bag dice
Name: Xanathar’s Treasure – Treasure Packs
Description: This is a standard-size set of dull edge resin dice that I bought from one of the “Waterdeep Xanathar’s Treasure” Treasure packs. (blind bags) that WoTC / D&D are selling at local game stores. These dice are clear resin with a little bit of purple and green color swirled inside. The font used for the numbers are very similar to Helvetica but not an exact match. Some of the digits have feet (serifs) on their vertical strokes which is very un-Helvetica-like (thank you very much). I’m sure WoTC doesn’t want to add font licensing costs to the price of their dice. The numbers are inked in silver which is very hard to read from most angles. The 6 and 9 faces use dots to indicate their orientation and the d10 and d% have edged waists. These dice are available in several other color combinations and a few different styles that are a little nicer than this basic set. The dice come in a small cloth bag with a stitched Beholder and D&D “&” logo on it. There is also a metal token included with the dice. My bag had a copper-looking token with a single comedy or tragedy mask on one side with: “Bard Cutting Words” and “D6” embossed on it. The other side has a big D&D “&” logo. I think it’s a combination player class token and D&D monetary coin. I’ll bring it to my next in-person session and see if the Bard in my party wants it.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 19.3 mm (Point->Point) 23.5 mm
Where did they come from: The big box of Xanathar’s treasure at Lost Star Tabletop Games.
How much did they cost: $20
Material / color: Resin, clear with green and purple ink inside
Quality: Pretty poor
Readability: Nope. Unreadable at the table in front of you unless viewed at just the right angle.
Value: Poor. Even with the bag and coin/token they’re still not worth $20.
Overall Rating: 4/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 22 rolls
Fifty d20 rolls: 18, 2, 12, 12, 9, 4, 12, 11, 1, 3, 17, 9, 19, 11, 10, 2, 3, 16, 3, 17, 5, 15, 4, 12, 11, 5, 12, 8, 7, 11, 18, 11, 17, 6, 15, 1, 8, 16, 20, 11, 11, 5, 9, 2, 3, 8, 10, 19, 13, 18 (10.04 avg)
Mean: 10.04
Median: 11
Mode: 11
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 13, 9, 18, 13, 13, 15 (81 total) An Anxious Half-Orc Bard from a town of outlaws who was jailed for a crime they didn’t commit
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
Casting: Mass Healing Word (at 9th level)
As you call out words of restoration, up to six creatures of your choice that you can see within range regain hit points equal to 1d4 + your spellcasting ability modifier. This spell has no effect on undead or constructs.
At Higher Levels: When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 4th level or higher, the healing increases by 1d4 for each slot level above 3rd.
At 9th level, up to 6 creatures within 60 feet of you regain 22hp each. (um… yay?)
(This is another excuse for rolling dice)
Random Tables rolls:
NPC Physical Traits: 42 – NPC is blinded in daylight but can see perfectly in the dark.
Funny Gods: 62 – God of Dropped Coins: This deity is said to watch over the lost coins that drop from people’s pockets while they are walking, making sure they find their way back to their rightful owners!
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts:
I’m all for supporting small game stores so I usually try out the blind bags of dice when I see them at my LGS. The packaging on these dice was very nice with lovely blue colors and an illustration of Xanathar on each little bag as well as on the big box that the bags of dice came in. The last blind bag set from WoTC that I saw at my LGS was the Acerack set which were equally well done with dice that were equally bad. According to the printing on the side of the box of blind bags, there’s a 1:1000 chance that the dice in the blind bag could be a fantastic set of amazing stone or glass dice and a 999:1000 chance that they’ll be junk. I got the junk… just my luck.
I never have high hopes for these blind bag dice sets. I don’t bother to feel the closed bags of dice trying to see if one of them feels like a nice set of dice. I just grab one and open it to see how bad it’s going to be. I’ll often offer to trade whatever was in my bag with the LGS employee if they have other blind bag dice and are interested in swapping. I have so many sets of dice that I treat blind bags as a donation to the LGS and WoTC. Gotta support the team!
I don’t know why in the world silver ink made sense to whoever designed these dice. They’re sitting on my desk literally 14″ away from me as I type this and I still can’t read most of the dice. It’s not much different than if they were un-inked. The green and purple swirls inside of the dice smack of “minimum effort” to me. I’m sure the cost of the contents of the blind bag was < $1 and they’re probably selling them to my LGS at $10-$12/bag and then they sell them for $20 each and everyone makes a slight profit. Good for everyone. These dice will either sit in a dice bag unseen for the rest of eternity or I’ll give them away to the first person who asks for them. Will that be you dear reader?
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