I gambled on these dice and ended up in a dark place I enjoyed
Name: Foam Brain Gemstone Dice Mystery Loot
Description: This is a set of 7 standard-size black dull edge stone dice from Foam Brain. The dice have no inclusions / mineral veins / pattern on the faces. The faces have a gloss shine to them. The numbers are carved in the faces and inked in gold. The font contains elements of Courier Line Draw, Neue Swift, and ITC Galliard but isn’t one of those 3 fonts entirely. There are little sharp serifs on the ends of the 2, 3, 5, and 7 digits that aren’t unpleasant. The 6 and 9 faces use dots to indicate their orientation. The dice came in a cardboard box with stiff foam insert that had dice-shaped holes to keep them from scratching each other.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 20.18 mm (Point->Point) 24.50 mm
Where did they come from: Discordia Games
How much did they cost: $50
Material / color: Obsidian stone(?) / Black with gold numbers
Quality: Excellent
Readability: Very good
Value: Very good
Overall Rating: 9/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 31
Fifty d20 rolls: 14, 1, 14, 14, 20, 9, 15, 12, 1, 12, 17, 1, 14, 7, 20, 10, 8, 11, 15, 17, 6, 14, 8, 10, 18, 1, 14, 5, 1, 14, 19, 2, 7, 18, 15, 19, 5, 13, 16, 6, 11, 19, 6, 20, 15, 18, 17, 17, 11, 15
Mean: 11.84
Median: 14
Mode: 14
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 8, 10, 12, 14, 15, 10 (69 total) A Sweet Half-Elf Cleric from the Rat Catchers Guild who has no sense of smell
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
A 20th level Tempest Cleric with maxed WIS casting Chain Lightning at 9th level (using Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath) on a group of Seven CR5 Earth Elementals who are conspicuously standing in a tight group 120 feet away.
Chain Lightning: You create a bolt of lightning that arcs toward a target of your choice that you can see within range. Three bolts then leap from that target to as many as three other targets, each of which must be within 30 feet of the first target. A target can be a creature or an object and can be targeted by only one of the bolts.
A target must make a Dexterity saving throw. The target takes 10d8 lightning damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 7th level or higher, one additional bolt leaps from the first target to another target for each slot level above 6th.
Channel Divinity: Destructive Wrath: Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to wield the power of the storm with unchecked ferocity.
When you roll lightning or thunder damage, you can use your Channel Divinity to deal maximum damage, instead of rolling.
Dexterity Saving throws for each of the 7 Earth Elementals (DC 19 spell save):
Elemental 1: 3 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Elemental 2: 14 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Elemental 3: 18 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Elemental 4: 11 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Elemental 5: 14 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Elemental 6: 20 – SUCCEEDS! 104 Thunder Damage. 22 HP remaining
Elemental 7: 13 – FAILS! 208 Thunder Damage. Destroyed
Thanks to Thunder damage vulnerability and Channel Divinity dealing maximum damage, 13d8 x 2 = 208 damage every time. After casting this spell, 6 out of the 7 Elementals have been destroyed. Any DM that knows about either of those two things (Earth Elemental vulnerability to Thunder and a Tempest Cleric’s Destructive Wrath) would never allow those two things to align like this.
Random Tables rolls:
The Coat of Many Sides: – 9 Thief’s Cloak – Gain proficiency with Thieves’ Tools, understand Thieves’ Cant. When you make any CHR check with a criminal do so with ADV. All checks with lawmen is at DIS.
Books: – 28 Why the Banshee Wails A classic bodice ripper about a young heroine torn between several suitors. She finally chooses one…the wrong one…who turns out to be a necromancer. She is turned into the titular banshee. A rather well written and surprisingly gripping tale.
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: I bought another “blind” / “Mystery” set of dice from a local game store. All I knew was that this was a gemstone or glass set of dice. I wound up with a set of solid black stone dice. The packaging doesn’t have any information on what type of stone they are but I’d guess that they are Obsidian. I’ve never had Obsidian on my dice want list but they’re actually quite nice despite their simplicity. They’re just black with gold numbering. These remind me a little bit of the John Player Formula 1 team livery that was used for Team Lotus cars in the 1970s and 1980s and then again from 2014 – 2016. The design is still regarded as one of the most iconic liveries in Formula 1 history. I don’t think that highly of this set of dice but they are nice to look at.
I typically don’t bring stone dice to my in-person game with the exception of the opaque Diachroic glass set that glows. Those are just too pretty to leave at home. Anyway, like most stone dice, these hop and skip a little bit when you roll them and they take a little longer than average to settle down. I’ve had a few rolls with the d10/d% where it’s rolled on it’s waist edge for a few rotations which I never see with other types of dice. The font is nice and contrasts well with the black stone to make them very easy to read. The only downside I can give the font is that the kerning is very tight so that pairs of numbers almost touch in some cases which I don’t like very much. It’s done so that they can make the numbers as large as possible on some of the faces, so I understand why they did it.
I have no real complaints about these dice and I think that for the price ($50) that I came out with a nice set of mystery dice. I’m glad that I didn’t get Labradorite or Lapis Lazuli stone, or dice with silly markings on the faces like paw prints or birds or filigree. I’m lucky that I didn’t get a Dwarven, Norse, or Elven font like so many dice makers use on their stone dice. These dice are really nice. While they’re not a type of stone dice that I’d buy on purpose, I’m happy to get them. 9/10, would recommend!
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