Do you need coffee themed dice? No. Do you want some? Also probably no.
Name: DiceNest D&D Roasted Essence Series-Espresso Essence、Americano Dawn
Description: This is a slightly oversized set of sharp edge resin dice. They are clear resin with a slight brown tint and a roasted coffee bean in the middle of each die. The numbers are inked in white. The font is very basic/plain style font very similar to Acumin and Aktiv Grotesk. They’re both what I’d consider discount Helvetica lookalikes. Less offensive than Arial but not as nice as Helvetica. No serifs or little balls on the ends of any of the numbers. The 6 and 9 faces use underbars to indicate their orientation as the dice gods intended. The d10 and d% have sharply edged waists. They arrived in a faux-leather single-set dice box with foam inserts to protect them. Pretty simple dice really.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 23.35mm (Point->Point) 28.75mm
Where did they come from: Dice Nest
How much did they cost: $40
Material / color: Resin / clear with brown tint and a coffee bean in each one
Quality: Very good, a few small cosmetic issues with the inking
Readability: Very good. I could almost read them from 8′ away on the rug but the numbers are a bit small on the d20. The contrast of white numbers on brownish resin is a very readable combination
Value: Good. These aren’t as nice as other sharp edge inclusion dice but they’re well made with clean lines.
Overall Rating: 8/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 13 rolls
Fifty d20 rolls: 2, 18, 20, 20, 6, 1, 20, 2, 7, 5, 14, 8, 5, 8, 8, 19, 9, 2, 10, 9, 15, 10, 6, 17, 19, 8, 18, 12, 7, 8, 4, 19, 15, 12, 11, 18, 16, 14, 13, 20, 1, 13, 20, 17, 11, 10, 19, 11, 15, 8
Mean: 11.6
Median: 11
Mode: 8
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 15, 10, 11, 9, 14, 12 (71 total) A restless Dwarf Paladin from a city no one else has ever heard of who always speaks in the third person.
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
20th level Paladin attacking Acerak (a CR23 Lich from Tomb of Annihilation) The Paladin has maxed STR and CHA, using 5e rules, Oath of Conquest, improved Devine Smite, GWM feat, a +3 holy avenger Greatsword, and a belt of Storm Giant Strength (29 STR). I’m going a bit nutty with the magic items here but fighting Acerak by yourself is also a bit nutty.
All hits will use GWM + the highest available spell slot for divine smite
Weapon attack: 15 + 18 – 5 = 28 HIT! 2d6 + 6d8 + 2d10 + 10 + 9 = 81 damage
Weapon attack: 8 + 18 – 5 = 21 HIT! 2d6 + 6d8 + 2d10 + 10 + 9 = 71 damage
Extra attack: 20 + 18 – 5 = 3 CRIT! (2d6 + 6d8 + 2d10) x2 + 10 + 9 = 137 damage
Total: 289 damage and unless Acerak had some help on the battlefield, This is just enough damage to smite him and his body will turn to dust leaving his equipment behind. Don’t worry, he gains a new body within 5 feet of his Phylactery after 1d10 (3) days and becomes active again.
(This is another excuse for rolling dice)
Random Tables rolls:
Eberron’s Darkest Monsters: 40 – Vampiric Dragonmark Heir – A descendant of a powerful dragonmarked house, this individual has succumbed to the lure of vampirism, drawing on the power of the dark forces to gain immense strength and immortality. With their newfound power, they seek to extend their influence over all of Eberron.
Epic Forgotten Realms Villians: 72 – Anumaril, the Lich Lord of Undeath: This powerful necromancer was once a powerful archmage who sought to master the secrets of undeath. He succeeded in his endeavor and became a lich lord with vast powers over death, darkness, and necromancy. He is said to have crafted an ancient artifact known as the Crown of Undeath that grants him control over all undead creatures within a certain radius. His ultimate goal is to become an immortal god-like being that will be able to manipulate the laws of life and death for his own gain.
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: First, to get this out of the way… I love coffee. Black drip coffee or a proper Cappuccino. None of these 12oz – 20oz Lattes pretending to be Cappuccinos on the chalkboard behind the coffee shop counter. An actual 8oz Cappuccino. I blame the movie “The Perfect Cappuccino” for my blatant snobbery. Great movie about coffee.
I bought these dice as a “Well, I might as well throw these into the cart” after-thought when I was buying the dice that I’ll review next week. (Review #81). I love sharp-edge dice and these weren’t that expensive. I debated getting them and just gave in. I didn’t think that they’d be so cloudy / dark. It would be nice if the resin was a bit more clear instead of the brown tint.
I like that they used a nice simple font on the dice. Some of the fancy fonts are nice and fun to look at but anything that looks like Helvetica is going to make me happy. The symmetry and clean lines of the font just feel good to me. The inking of the font did not go well for the dice maker. There are a few numbers that don’t have a good clean white inking. It’s a shame too because this set has a lot going for it.
The dice feel very bias-weighted. I rolled a lot of 1s and 2s when I was testing them out on the table. I suspect that the placement of the coffee bean is affecting the rolls. I don’t know if I want to bring these to my in-person game (I probably will though). I don’t know if I’ll keep these either. I don’t love the finished product and don’t know that I’d take them out to play on even an occasional basis.
This will probably be one of those sets of dice that I’d give away to someone if they ever asked or even showed strong interest in them. Want some nice dice? Get to know me!
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