When you’re at your local game store, stop to smell the roses / dice sometimes
Name: Ice Castle Jumbo d20
Description: This is a sharp-edge resin chonk d20 made from blue transluscent resin with a liquid center. Inside that center is glitter and small pink/purple sequins. The font appears to be Neutraface Text. The numbers are inked in silver. The 6 and 9 faces use underbars to indicate their orientation.
Size:
d20: (Face->Face) 33.10 mm (Point->Point) 40.75 mm
Where did it come from: Guardian Games in Portland, OR
How much did it cost: $26.95
Material / color: Blue tinted resin with glitter inside and silver numbers
Quality: Excellent
Readability: Good. I can read it from 4′ away but that’s about it.
Value: Very good
Overall Rating: 9/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 12Fifty One Hundred d20 rolls: 17, 5, 2, 4, 10, 11, 1, 4, 14, 17, 3, 9, 4, 14, 7, 16, 5, 16, 3, 19, 16, 11, 1, 10, 11, 17, 9, 4, 8, 3, 6, 7, 13, 2, 2, 3, 8, 7, 12, 20, 12, 6, 12, 13, 2, 3, 7, 5, 4, 5, 13, 7, 16, 13, 3, 9, 1, 10, 18, 3, 11, 9, 1, 11, 18, 12, 10, 16, 20, 12, 10, 2, 2, 14, 1, 6, 1, 15, 4, 11, 19, 6, 9, 20, 18, 5, 7, 9, 9, 13, 6, 9, 3, 19, 5, 8, 19, 3, 13, 14
Mean: 9.13
Median: 9
Mode: 3
Chi-square: 13.20 **
Result: balanced
6d20 re-roll 1s and 2s stat block: 20, 19, 7, 9, 9, 7 (71 total) A Considerate Half-Orc Ranger from a foggy peninsula who just wants their money back.
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
Drizzt Do’Urden (stat block found at D&D Beyond) and his panther companion Guenhwyvar battling a Frost Giant that is refusing them passage out of the Frozenfar while trying to leave Icewind Dale
Drizzt (7 + 5 = 12) is first in initiative order before the Frost Giant (3 – 1 = 2)
Upon approaching the Giant, Drizz’t starts with his bow:
Drizzt Attack #1: 9 + 12 = 21 HIT! The arrow does 12 piercing damage
Drizzt Attack #2: 2 + 12 = 14 MISS!
Drizzt Attack #3: 7 + 12 = 19 HIT! The arrow does 12 piercing damage
Guenhwyvar runs at the giant and pounces with a claw attack: 14 + 6 = 20 HIT! and does 10 slashing damage. Now the giant has to beat a DC 14 strength save or be knocked prone: 18 + 6 = 24 SAVES!
The giant closes the distance to Drizzt.
Giant Attack #1: 3 + 9 = 12 MISS!
Giant Attack #2: 19 + 9 = 28 HIT! Does 28 slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #1: 8 + 11 = 19 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #2: 14 + 11 = 25 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #3: 7 + 11 = 18 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Bonus action: Second wind: Drizzt regains 16 HP.
Guenhwyvar Attacks: 12 + 6 = 18 HIT! A Bite does 9 Piercing damage
Giant Attack #1: 4 + 9 = 13 MISS!
Giant Attack #2: 13 + 9 = 22 HIT! Drizzt parrys the attack and the giant misses.
Drizzt Attack #1: 13 + 11 = 24 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #2: 9 + 11 = 20 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #3: 19 + 11 = 30 CRIT! His Scimitar does 20 Slashing damage
Guenhwyvar Attacks: 15 + 6 = 21 HIT! A Bite does 9 Piercing damage
Giant Attack #1: 8 + 9 = 17 MISS!
Giant Attack #2: 15 + 9 = 24 HIT! Does 28 slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #1: 17 + 11 = 28 HIT! His Scimitar does 10 Slashing damage
Drizzt Attack #2: 20 + 11 = 31 CRIT! His Scimitar does 20 Slashing damage
The Giant falls to the ground unmoving.
Total: 152 damage and the Frost Giant is no more.
Drizzt’s high AC (20) and the ability to parry an attack to add +3 to his AC really made the fight go well. Having pack tactics for advantage on the sword attacks was crucial as this d20 rolls very low.
Random Tables rolls 6d20:
Interesting Curses: – 69 A perpetually magical darkness surrounds the character for 25 feet. It is transmittable by touch.
Mythic NPCs of Homebrew Pathfinder: – 82 Athos, the Wild Mage – Half-Orc Wizard/Ranger (Chaotic Neutral) – An enigmatic figure who wanders the lands in search of adventure and knowledge, often using his mastery of wild magic to accomplish his goals. He is known for being unpredictable and chaotic in his actions, but also for helping those in need when it suits him.
(I’m getting these random tables at: https://d100tables.com by the way
Final Thoughts: I bought this out of the display case at Guardian Games in Portland, OR when I was driving through Portland recently. I love to stop there and see what they have in stock. Their D&D section is pretty good. It’s probably the best of any game store I’ve been to. They carry dice from several vendors so I often find nice things to buy there. This and the next 3 reviews will reflect that.
I love the color of this chonk d20 and the pinkish purple glitter and sequins in the liquid center look fantastic when they’re swirling around. The silver numbers work okay on the blue but they’re a little bit hard to see when the glitter is moving around inside. The finish on the die is very good and it’s a very clean die overall. Well worth the $26. I wish my LGS carried dice like this.
This d20 is gorgeous to look at, the only knock I have against it is that it seems to roll very low overall. I think the 8.4 mean on the 50-roll test is the lowest I’ve seen in the last ~50 reviews since I started charting a 50 roll test for the d20s. I suspect that it’s caused by the glitter somehow. That makes no sense but what else would it be? A water test would be interesting to perform for this die.
** I’ve added a new value to the reviews called “Chi-square” which is a calculation of the difference between of the number of times each value was rolled in the d20 roll test compared to the number of times each value would be rolled in a perfectly equal roll test. (perfectly equal means every value comes up the same number of times, or [total number of rolls / number of sides on the die]) Chi-square gives a sense of how far away from the statistical average the results of the d20 roll test were. It’s not a perfect measure of a die’s balance and fairness but it’s a good step in that direction. More information about die fairness / balance roll testing can be found here: https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/70802/how-can-i-test-whether-a-die-is-fair
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