D&D Accessories: Wiz Dice
Today I’m going to try something a little bit different. Usually when I discuss Dungeons & Dragons, it is to talk about a book or provide an update on my home game. But there’s so many aspects of this hobby that can be of interest. For example, accessories are an absolutely crucial element to any D&D campaign. Now, when you think about D&D accessories, there’s two things that immediately come to mind; miniatures and dice. It’s dice that I want to focus on today.
A lot of times, when people mention D&D one of the first visuals to pop in my head is that of a Crown Royal bag filled with a slew of sparkling dice. As any D&D player knows, a set of polyhedral dice is required to play. For many players, their first set of dice was included in the D&D Starter Set. Other players often inherit a mismatched collection from friends or family. You’d think something as simple as little plastic dice wouldn’t really change much over the years. But you’d be surprised. Back in the old days, when I first started playing, a set of dice was sold in a plastic tube and often included a crayon. The crayon was used to color in the numbers on the face of the die so that they were easily readable. Back then, most die were either single-color solids or translucent. These days, dice come in a variety of various colors and the numbers are almost always pre-painted. Today, you can buy dice that are solid, transparent, translucent, or even a mixture of colors. Often times, the translucent dice are chock full of various eye candy (glitter, flecks of paint, etc). If you can dream it up, someone’s probably made a die to match.
Typically, a set of poly dice will cost you anywhere from $10-$20 depending on the quality. If you’re like me, one set of dice is just not enough. I’m not saying that with a collector’s mindset, I mean it. Often times you will need to roll multiple of the same type of die at a time. So having a handful of complete sets at your disposal is crucial. That’s why I want to talk about Wiz Dice.
Wiz Dice is a polyhedral dice manufacturer. When it comes to obtaining poly dice for D&D, they are my go-to company. Their products can be found in some hobby shops, but they also have a presence on Amazon. So why do I recommend Wiz Dice over other more popular die manufacturers? The answer is simple: VALUE. A single set of poly dice from Chessex is going to cost you around $12. While a bag containing twenty complete sets of Wiz Dice costs only $30. It’s a no brainer.
Currently, Wiz Dice sells four complete sets of dice. Each set constitutes a full “series” (or design run). Let’s take a closer look at what they offer:
First up, is a collection called The Bag of Holding. The Bag of Holding contains the entire run of Wiz Dice’s Series 1 offerings. The sets included at as follows:
1) Opaque Black 2) Opaque Yellow 3) Opaque Red 4) Opaque Purple 5) Opaque Green
6) Opaque Blue 7) Opaque White 8) Opaque Orange 9) Translucent Yellow 10) Translucent Orange
11) Translucent Blue 12) Translucent Green 13) Translucent Red 14) Translucent Purple 15) Forbidden Treasure
16) Smoke 17) Copper Sands 18) Serpent 19) Imperial Gem 20) Horizon
I REALLY like this collection. For starters, the sets included in this bag represent Wiz Dice’s earliest offerings. It features some really classic looking dice. Here we have eight sets of opaque dice, six sets of translucent dice, and six “fancy” sets. The opaque and translucent sets included here are reminiscent of the type of dice found in the early days of the hobby. By today’s standards, these basic single-colored dice may seem boring to some. But for me, they spark a sense of nostalgia that I absolutely love. For this reason alone, I think this may be my favorite collection of theirs. Not to mention it includes a classic style bag to keep them in. These are my go-to dice.
However, if you’re looking for something a little more interesting, there’s always the Bag of Devouring. This collection features the entire Series 2 run (also known as Alchemic Oddities). This collection includes the following sets:
1) Royal Bubblegum 2) Dwarven Brandy 3) Sylvan Spirits 4) King’s Random 5) Faerie Fire
6) Cloud Drop 7) Drowskin 8) Dragon Scales 9) Mountainheart 10) Boiled Bile
11) Abyssal Mist 12) Philosopher’s Stone 13) Astral Echoes 14) Stardust 15) Diamond Dust
16) Jade Oil 17) Arcane Aura 18) Basilisk blood 19) Swamp Ooze 20) Lucid Dreams
As you can probably tell, this series features a collection that is a little more exotic. Many of the colors in this bag are magic themed. There’s still a handful of translucent offerings, but this collection also features a number of “creamy” looking colors. There’s some really good looking dice in this collection, but it is honestly probably my least favorite set. Still, you can’t go wrong with anything here.
Next up, is a collection that features Wiz Dice’s entire Series 3 (Trickster’s Trove) run. It is the aptly named, Bag of Tricks. This collection includes the following sets:
1) Skystone 2) Dreamless Nights 3) Ambrosia 4) Bloodlust 5) Blighted Grove
6) Desert Topaz 7) Quicksilver 8) Sea Glass 9) Celestial Sea 10) Dragon Berry
11) Midnight Nebula 12) Forge Embers 13) Ghost Jade 14) Enchanted Clay 15) Cherry Blossom
16) Sticky Ichor 17) Goblin Teeth 18) Sparkle Vomit 19) Penumbra 20) Crimson Queen
I like this set quite a bit more than the Bag of Devouring. Here we have the return of some solid-colored sets, a couple translucent sets, and even some smokey-colored sets! I can’t put my finger on the reason why, but I really like the dice included in this collection. They are simple, yet colorful. It’s just an all-around attractive collection to look at.
But wait… there’s more! Finally, we have Wiz Dice’s newest release; The Bag of Splendor. As you might have guessed, this bag features the entire collection of Wiz Dice’s Series 4 run – also known as Painter’s Palette. This collection includes the following sets:
1) Cinderbloom 2) Northwind Breeze 3) Witching Hour 4) Nightshade Extract 5) Death Diamonds
6) Poisoned Apples 7) Precursor’s Legacy 8) Grimstone 9) Blood Oath 10) Harvest Nectar
11) Poxbringer 12) Frostbourne 13) Flamekeeper 14) Winter’s Dawn 15) Midnight Runes
16) Grave Moss 17) Mystic Matcha 18) Argon Ocean 19) Kingfisher 20) Fairy Quartz
This collection is probably my second favorite. It features a couple of translucent sets, but the majority of this bag features brighter, colorful dice. And I mean that all the way around. More than a few of the sets included here feature numbers painted with exotic colors. Most dice on the market have numerals inked with either white, black, gold, or red paint. This set features numeral colors like pink, orange, blue, green, etc. All of this makes for a very unique collection!
In closing, I have to admit, I’m a dice addict. I’ve bought multiple copies of these bags over the years. I know, you don’t really need THIS MANY dice. But, what can I say? I’m a collector by nature. Realistically, one of these bags contains more than enough dice for the average person. So if you’re just starting out, I wholeheartedly recommend any one of these collections as a launching point. You just can’t beat twenty complete sets of dice for the price you’d normally pay for three. Wiz Dice offers a quality product at a simply AMAZING value.
