093:Blind

Once was blind, and now I can see. I’m not impressed with the view.

Name: Blind bag acrylic set plus a metal d20.

Description: This is an average size dull-edge set of 7 acrylic dice plus a bonus metal d20. The acrylic set are made of clear and redish pink resin with bits of holofoil inside. The numbers are in a very basic font (Arial?) and inked in silver. This set uses small dots to indicate the orientation of the 6 and 9 faces. The bonus metal d20 is slightly larger than the d20 from the acrylic set. It has deep purple faces which sparkle when the light hits them. The font used is kind f a spooky font with wide characters. The numbers are inked in gold and the carved out numbers in the dice have a texture to them. This d20 uses underbars to indicate the orientation on the 6 and 9 faces. These dice all came together in a “blind bag”.

Size:
Blind Set d20: (Face->Face) 20.83 mm (Point->Point) 24.71 mm
Metal d20: (Face->Face) 20.66 mm (Point->Point) 25.39 mm

Where did it come from: Emberglow Gaming

How much did it cost: $0 (free with my order)

Material / color:
Blind Set: clear and violet tinted resin with holofoil glitter inside and silver inked numbers
Metal d20: Zinc with a dark violet finish on the faces and dark gold ink for the numbers

Quality:
Blind Set: Good-ish. No large flaws or blemishes. Quite a variation in the color of the resin for each die
Metal d20: Good. A few tiny blemishes but otherwise very clean.

Readability:
Blind Set: Decent. I can see them from 4 feet away but not 8 feet
Metal d20: Not very good. The gold against the dark background is hard to squint out from more than a couple of feet away.

Value: Pretty Good. They aren’t great but they were free.

Overall Rating:
Blind Set: 6/10
Metal d20: 8/10

Attempts needed to roll a natural 20:
Blind Set: 15
Metal d20: 13

Fifty d20 rolls (d20 from the blind bag Set): 14, 17, 15, 14, 20, 14, 11, 2, 15, 6, 14, 10, 9, 20, 19, 5, 19, 18, 6, 5, 12, 18, 2, 9, 1, 18, 10, 5, 11, 20, 19, 11, 10, 6, 15, 15, 4, 6, 4, 1, 17, 12, 5, 2, 18, 6, 13, 4, 3, 5
Mean: 10.7
Median: 11
Mode: 5, 6

Fifty d20 rolls (Metal d20):11, 13, 1, 17, 9, 18, 6, 3, 6, 19, 5, 8, 12, 11, 7, 5, 18, 14, 5, 20, 8, 6, 2, 14, 17, 11, 1, 12, 1, 9, 8, 1, 14, 8, 9, 2, 19, 18, 14, 3, 17, 1, 1, 14, 2, 17, 10, 9, 9, 10
Mean: 9.5
Median: 9
Mode: 1

4d6 drop 1 stat block: 16, 10, 16, 16, 14, 13 (85 total!!) A Romantic Half-Orc Barbarian from an abandoned fortress who believes plate armour is just a sign of being posh and over-privileged.

For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.

A 20th level Path of the Giant Barbarian with maxed STR/CON and Great Weapon Master fighting against a CR 23 Empyrean:

Initiative:
Cled The Butcher (our Barbarian): 7
Cedric the Empyrean: 14

Round 1:
Cedric: Maul attack: 6 + 17 = 23 HIT! 31 bludgeoning damage. Cled makes his CON 15 (8 + 13 = 21) save to avoid being stunned.
Cled: Bonus Action: rage and his size increases to huge, now seeing eye-to-eye with Cedric. Attack #1: 4 + 13 – 5 = 12 MISS! Attack #2: 16 + 13 – 5 = 24 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 40 lightning damage
Cedric: Legendary action: Trembling strike (DC 25 STR save). Cled: 17 + 13 = 30. Saves

Round 2:
Cedric: Maul attack: 20 + 17 = 37 CRIT! 52 Bludgeoning damage, reduced to 26 Cled makes his CON 15 (18 + 13 = 31) save to avoid being stunned
Cled: Attack #1: 4 + 13 – 5 = 12 MISS! Attack #2: 14 + 13 – 5 = 22 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 39 fire damage
Cedric: Legendary action: Maul strike: 17 + 17 = 34 HIT! 31 damage reduced to 15. Cled makes his CON 15 (5 + 13 = 18) save to avoid being stunned.

Round 3:
Cedric: Bolt attack: 3 + 15 = 18 MISS!
Cled: Attack #1: 18 + 13 – 5 = 26 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 41 cold damage Attack #2: 19 + 13 – 5 = 27 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 41 fire damage
Cedric: Legendary action: Trembling strike: (DC 25 STR save). Cled: 12 + 13 = 25. Saves

Round 4:
Cedric: Bolt attack: 14 + 15 = 29 HIT! 24 acid damage
Cled: Attack #1: 17 + 13 – 5 = 25 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 41 fire damage Attack #2: 20 + 13 – 5 = 28 CRIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 3d12 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 77 acid damage
Cedric: Legendary action: Bolt strike: 2 + 15 = 17 MISS!

Round 5:
Cedric: Maul attack: 9 + 17 = 26 HIT! 31 Bludgeoning damage, reduced to 15 Cled makes his CON 15 (9 + 13 = 22) save to avoid being stunned
Cled: Attack #1: 18 + 13 – 5 = 26 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 34 fire damage Attack #2: 16 + 13 – 5 = 24 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 38 acid damage
Cedric: Legendary action: Trembling strike: (DC 25 STR save). Cled: 5 + 13 = 18 (Indomitable Might only brings it to a 20). Fails. Cled is knocked prone

Round 6:
Cedric: Bolt attack: (at advantage) 8, 17 + 15 = 32 HIT! 24 fire damage
Cled: Attack #1: 14 + 13 – 5 = 22 HIT! (1d12 + 2d6 + 7 + 6 + 10) = 42 lightning damage and Cedric has been defeated.

Starting / ending HP for each:
Cedric: 313 -> 0
Cled: 285 -> 154 Raging really cuts down the bludgeoning damage, so Cedric switched to bolt spell attacks.

I hope that wasn’t too boring going round-by-round. It was a lot of dice rolling though.

Random Tables rolls:

Demon lords: 96 – Arhkshort, demon of paper. He is obsessed with paper and makes everything he draws appear. He is very small and usually just sits somewhere drawing on his notebook. If badly drawn, his drawing can come up as failures.

City encounters for a level 1 party: 74 –  group of four goblins are huddled in a dark alley, arguing over what appears to be a small sack of coins. They have been sent by their leader to collect taxes from the locals, but have had little success and are now fighting amongst themselves. The bag contains 1d4 gold pieces.

(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way

Final Thoughts: I didn’t plan to review this set of dice. I had ordered something else (upcoming review) from Emberglow Dice and they forgot to fulfill the order when the product was available, so they threw in a “blind bag” set of dice which came with this set of 7 sub-Chessex dice and a metal d20.

What I like about the dice: Not much. They’re really basic. I like the holofoil in the dice, and they did a pretty good job making them without blemishes and the inking / font is pretty good. The silver ink looks good with the color scheme. I think that the extra metal d20 is the star of the show though. It’s got a slightly glittery metallic paint job that’s a deep plum color which shines nicely when there’s a light source on it. The font on the extra d20 is one that I haven’t seen before. It’s got a slightly spooky feel to it but also sort of sloppy. The numbers are wide and non-uniform so the numbers have a little bit of a textured dragon scale look to them. It’s actually really nice. I’d love to see this on a more standard (yet wide) font.

The color consistency on the set of 7 dice is not very good. Some are very dark, and a few are quite light in pigment. I think it’s more “don’t care” than on purpose making a gradient set or something. The color scheme of the extra d20 is fantastic. I love the gold on shimmery dark purple.

Nothing much else to say about the dice other than it seems like the d20 in the acrylic set rolls low and the extra d20 rolls high. I don’t have the evidence to back that up, and the 50-roll tests told a different story oddly.