I’d make a deal with god and I’d get him to swap our places
Name: Hellfire Club Premium Metal d20
Description: This is a single metal d20. It’s larger than standard, just barely into the “chonk” size range. The metal is a dull gray color with triangular concave faces and carved numbers painted a deep blood red color. Ten of the faces depict two paneled scenes from “The Upsidedown” in the show Stranger Things. The 20 and 1 faces also have designs on them. The demon from the Hellfire Club is carved on the 20 face. The font is an outlined version of ITC Benguiat Bold. That’s the font. Period. I can’t believe that they used an actual font that they use for the show. Thank you GAMEGEN!C. (That’s how they spell their name, with an exclamation point for the ‘I’ in “GENIC”). The 6 and 9 faces use dots to indicate their orientation. The die was released to coincide with the release date of the 5th season of Stranger Things on Netflix, which I’m currently watching.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 27.00 mm (Point->Point) 33.60 mm
Where did it come from: Lost Star Tabletop Gaming (support the little stores!)
How much did it cost: $35
Material / color: Metal (Zinc), Gray with red numbers
Quality: Very good
Readability: Average
Value: Fair value
Overall Rating: 9/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural Hellfire Club Demon Mascot logo (20): 12
Fifty d20 rolls: 5, 10, 20, 18, 19, 11, 16, 1, 16, 20, 5, 1, 15, 9, 8, 17, 12, 2, 15, 2, 18, 18, 14, 11, 16, 1, 10, 4, 11, 4, 1, 5, 7, 18, 14, 3, 12, 3, 11, 19, 7, 19, 13, 9, 5, 4, 6, 12, 7, 12
Mean: 10.32
Median: 11
Mode: 1, 5, 11, 12, 18
6d20 drop 1s and 2s stat block: 15, 8, 4, 15, 7, 10 (59 total) A Dramatic Dwarf Wizard from a the North Plains who is planning to retire next year.
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
A 20th level Divination Wizard with maxed INT and the Resilient feat (INT) and the Skill Expert feat making 5 ability checks and one saving throw.
The Wizard has 3 d20 rolls prepared for their Greater Portent feature. (19, 1, 8)
Arcana Check: 8 + 17 = 25 *
History Check: 20 + 11 = 31
Investigation Check: 17 + 11 = 28
Nature Check: 6 + 11 = 17
Religion Check: 5 + 11 = 16
Intelligence Saving Throw: 19 + 11 = 30 **
* The actual roll was a 3, so I used the 8 from my Portent rolls
** The actual roll was a 2, so I used the 19 from my Portent rolls
Not too bad for a set of ability checks and a saving throw. Greater Portent is a nice feature. The Skill Expert feat is a waste as it only affects one skill. You’d be better off taking a single level dip into Rogue to get expertise in 2 skills.
Random Tables rolls (6d20):
Spell Corruption Table: (when you roll a 1 for a spell attack) 69 – Go to the Nightmare Plane
Zombie Gods: Funny Encounters: 68 – A large zombie shaped like a bull emerges from an ancient temple, bellowing and snorting as it charges through the streets. It is actually a god of destruction worshipped by a small cult of undead devotees who believe that it will bring about the end of days
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: The show Stranger Things just released their 5th (and final?) season. To coincide with that release, GAMEGEN!C licensed the D&D branding from WotC to release this chonk d20. It’s a great crossover given the recurring theme of D&D in the show (the kids play it in the show and the BBEG is a legendary D&D bad guy) Spoiler: It’s Vecna (Highlight this paragraph to see the spoiler)
The die is very heavy and well made. The 10 faces that have the scenes carved into them are well done (better than I expected) but they are a little bit hard to see because of the level of detail that they contain. They even put the main character of the show, who they call “El” which is short for Eleven, (the number tattooed on her by the evil doctors that experimented on her as a child… it’s a whole thing) on the 11 face of the die. The numbers are inked in a dark blood red color which looks neat but make them harder to see in dim light. I have to reiterate that the designers used the actual font from the show instead of saving money by taking a few existing fonts and mashing them together to avoid extra licensing fees. I’m really impressed with that. The die with the scenes on the faces, proper font, and red numbers makes for a very neat design based on a very good show. I’m also impressed that the die is actually the size that they say it is. 27mm on the dot, something that never happens. I’m guessing that these dice are all pretty close to that measurement and I got lucky and bought one that just happens to be exactly the right size instead of a few micrometers larger or smaller. The size is good for a metal chonk. As they get bigger than this, the weight starts to go past the tipping point and large metal chonks become a little unwieldy. I like sharp edge resin chonks a little bit bigger than this but 27mm is a fine size for a metal chonk.
The packaging design is good too, it was immediately obvious what this die was and the box give you a good look at the die before buying it. It was one of those purchases where I went from: “ooh, what’s this?” to “Oh yeah, you’re coming home with me” almost instantly.
I really like this d20. It’s definitely going to the table with me next session. The only real drawback is that it’s a logo on the 20 face. It’s a really cool logo as far as logos go but my brain still has to do the split-second mental table lookup of: Demon = natural 20!! For this die it fits the theme though. The scenes depicted on the faces of the die are pretty neat if you’ve been watching the show and recognize the people / places / creatures. I’m guessing that this die was made based on season 4 as one of the die faces features Eddie, the DM from the Hellfire D&D Club. Spoiler: Eddie dies at the end of season 4.
(Highlight this paragraph to read the spoiler.)
It’s a great show and this is a very good d20. Support your Local Game Store (LGS) and buy one of these before they’re gone.
Update: The I brought it to my in-person session and the first roll I made with it was a natural 20. Well done chonky Stranger Things Die.
Post-season 5 update: Will is a Warlock, not a Sorcerer. His power is not innate, he gets it from his patron: Vecna
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