They look good on paper but the inclusions leave something to be desired unfortunately
Name: Kraken Sharp Edge DnD Dice Set – Blue & Black – The Drowned Deep
Description: This is a set of seven sharp-edged resin dice made with translucent blue and an opaque black resin bottom layer. The dice have little medium blue miniature Kraken figures inside of each die. The font is a very close match to BW Modelica Bold. The font is inked in a medium-to-deep red color. The 6 and 9 faces use underbars to indicate their orientation. The d10’s have edged waists.
Size: (Face->Face) 21.10 mm (Point->Point) 26.11 mm
Where did they come from: Fennek and Finch
How much did they cost: $29
Material / colors: Clear transluscent resin, black opaque resin with blue Kraken figures in the middle. Red ink used for the numbers
Quality: Pretty good
Readability: Excellent
Value: Excellent
Overall Rating: 8/10
Attempts needed to roll a natural 20: 10
One Hundred d20 rolls: 5, 17, 19, 3, 19, 7, 6, 11, 11, 6, 7, 17, 13, 9, 3, 14, 4, 20, 10, 1, 1, 15, 13, 20, 14, 16, 4, 1, 17, 2, 14, 4, 19, 5, 19, 7, 8, 5, 6, 4, 17, 11, 12, 20, 2, 2, 19, 17, 20, 4, 19, 3, 3, 5, 11, 1, 19, 14, 15, 20, 16, 9, 1, 5, 15, 17, 20, 11, 9, 18, 10, 7, 20, 2, 16, 11, 8, 16, 15, 10, 18, 8, 16, 20, 1, 18, 19, 20, 7, 4, 19, 17, 8, 16, 17, 14, 9, 14, 2, 16
Mean: 11.29
Median: 11
Mode: 19, 20
Chi-square: 18.000 **
Result: Balanced
4d6 drop 1 stat block: 14, 11, 12, 14, 13, 12 (76 total) A Moody Dragonborn Warlock from Black Oak who is red-green colorblind
For reference: the Standard Array method totals to: 72 and the Point Buy method totals to: 69.
A 17th level Warlock / 3rd level Sorcerer with a maxed CHA using metamagic to cast Eldritch Blast both as a bonus action (Quickened spell) and as an action. Using the Agonizing Blast invocation to add CHA modifier damage to the blasts. Attacking a Hill Giant (AC 13) from 600′ away. The PC has a +11 spell attack bonus.
8d10 + 40 damage:
1. attack roll: 20 CRIT! 4 * 2 + 5 = 13 damage
2. attack roll: 3 + 11 = 14 HIT! 7 + 5 = 12 damage
3. attack roll: 20 CRIT! 8 * 2 + 5 = 21 damage
4. attack roll: 19 + 11 = 30 HIT! 10 + 5 = 15 damage
5. attack roll: 12 + 11 = 23 HIT! 2 + 5 = 7 damage
6. attack roll: 9 + 11 = 20 HIT! 7 + 5 = 12 damage
7. attack roll: 15 + 11 = 26 HIT! 1 + 5 = 6 damage
8. attack roll: 17 + 11 = 28 HIT! 10 + 5 = 15 damage
Total: 100 damage. Not bad.
Random Table Rolls (d100):
Major City Conflicts: 4 – … a strange madness that has overtaken the city guard, causing them to be violent and agressive… (fuck ICE btw)
Variant Wild Magic: 37 – The caster and every creature within 10 feet of the caster gains vulnerability to bludgeoning damage for 10 minutes
(I’m in-between random table generators at the moment so I’m scrounging for tables wherever I can, mostly in books)
Final Thoughts: Fennek and Finch make a lot of dice that aren’t my style (dull-edge resin / acrylic dice, faces that are too busy, inclusions that are marketed toward other people) but they make a small amount of dice that I do really like. I also appreciate very much that they’re a small woman-owned business making (and probably sourcing) dice to sell. They don’t have a huge catalog of styles that’s overwhelming to search through and they have a “what’s new” link that takes you to the most recent releases. Their mailing list also isn’t too pushy with the sales reminders or new release announcements.
This set of dice looked a little better in the online photos than in-person but that’s pretty common with good studio lighting and modern image editors. I thought that the little blue Kraken inclusions inside of each die would either look pretty cool or that they’d be too hard to make out much detail given the size and the tint of the resin. Unfortunately it’s the later, they’re a little bit blobby in there. Priced at just $29 for a full set, it was a gamble I was happy to make. I’m still very satisfied with the dice even though the Kraken aren’t easier to see behind the large numbers on the faces.
For the price, the quality of these dice is pretty good. There are some small dings and scratches on the edges and little shrinkage in the faces causing them to become ever so slightly concave. I wish the inclusions were a little bit more detailed and easier to make out. They’re kind of blobby when you look closely at them. You’re still getting more for your money than you’d get in any local game store where these would be $40-$50.
The red ink on the darkish blue and black resin looks great and is incredibly easy to read which delights me. I don’t know if these will be dice that I bring out to my regular D&D campaign often, but they’re definitely on the short list if I ever play in another Call of Cthulhu game.
I suspect that these are a little bit more off-balance than the Chi-square calculation and the histogram of rolls tell me they are. They’re so light that the inclusions are harder to compensate for. Vanity has it’s price.
Overall I’d say that these dice would make for a great gift to the right person who is into the Kraken / Pirate / Cthulhu vibe and they’re cheap enough to not break the bank as a gift. They’re a bargain at $29. Even if these aren’t in your wheelhouse (see what I did there?), go look at Fennek and Finch and I bet you’ll find some dice that make your wallet itch.
** Chi-square 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. (by “perfectly equal” I mean 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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