If you haven't checked out Dog Might Games' website, you should, because it is filled with handcrafted, quality awesomeness. Full disclosure, Dog Might Games sent us their products in return for an unbiased review, and boy, I'd like to see someone biased against this stuff. I brought it to a gathering of my local D&D group where I play and DM games (pics and some review text courtesy of said D&D group), and we tested it all. The response could be described as "unanimously impressed". That's right, these have all been player tested and player approved in the real (and imaginary) world!
We reviewed three different solid wood dice accessories for all of you D&D (et al) players out there and here is what we found.
First up is an unadorned, but nice-looking Dice Chest, in the “Classic” model. It measures 9.5" by 5.75" (241mm x 146mm) and appears to be made of white ash. The wood is nice, and it even smells good! The construction, as with all of Dog Might Games’ products, feels solid and sturdy, and you can immediately tell you are holding quality. The interior is lined with a nice soft green felt, which many of the testers said reminded them of a billiards table.
Inside, there’s room for 96 standard-size D6s, or load it up with metal or over-sized dice if that’s your thing. It's also perfect for pens, pencils, papers, and all of the usual detritus that comes with the territory. The dice roll smoothly without any catches, and the roomy interior and tall sides make it easy to throw large handfuls of dice for things like high-level fireballs, without worrying that they are going to go ricocheting all across the room.
The unit comes with a lid that smoothly slides into long grooves, and it stays in pretty well on its own when not in use. There is a small groove at one end which is apparently meant to be used as a place to seat the lid so you can use the box as a DM screen; however, we were unable to find an elegant way to seat it that wasn’t awkward and unstable. Also, the screws used to hold in the corner guards on the outside were in need of some metal buffing in order to shave off the last of their rough edges; a number of testers commented that they would not want to put it down on a wooden table without a cloth or something underneath it. Note that the other models feature smoothed, inline rivets/brads on the guards, and will not have this problem.
Next, we have a Dragon Tray, which is a long, more portable carrying case meant to safeguard your dice and, depending on the configuration, even a mini or three. This tray is made from white ash with the dark red & deep blue “Imperial Ruby” finish; it features a detailed carving of an extreme closeup of a dragon's eyes on the cover. It measures about 8.5" x 2.25" x 2.0" and features rare-earth magnets on the corners that hold everything together nice and tight; the halves even come together with a satisfying snap! Interior type: B (1/4 length has foam inserts and is meant to hold one mini; the remainder is open and can hold a dozen or more standard D6s).
The case, while a little narrow for dice rolling, serves very well for storage purposes; those magnets work amazingly well at keeping it sealed. It's a great way for a player to bring along the basic supplies they need for a game that someone else is running – it's just the right size to hold a couple sets of dice (with extra D6s, of course), a pencil, and their own mini for use in combat. The finish is rich and simply gorgeous; the only blemish was a very small dot where the blue stain must have spilled or otherwise coalesced inside; no biggie. When you’re not using it, just set the lid up to display the awesomeness.
Finally, we have their new Traveller Dice Tower. This is an update of their successful dice tower design, and (as of this writing) is on KickStarter. They sent us a unit made of what we assumed was mahogany, stained a nice dark brown, lined with dark blue felt, with a detailed Howling Wolf carving on the back and a laser-engraved Mjolnir icon on the front (see picture). As with the Dragon Sheath, it features powerful rare-earth magnets to keep it together in your pocket, or when it's standing up to serve as a rolling tower; they, too, come together with a satisfying snap that just doesn’t get old. The unit measures about 6" x 3.5" x 1.75" and can store about 20 standard-size dice when closed. It can handle about 7 standard-size dice at a time when rolling (sorry, oversized dice are unlikely to fit).
This one was an imemdiate hit with our testers. They loved the look, the feel, and the compact size; most weren't quite sure what it was until I had opened it up from storage mode and snapped it together into tower mode. It's just the right size for player use, and it offers a bit of privacy for DM's who don't want their players seeing ALL of their rolls. We ran several different sets of dice through it to test just how well it randomized them, and the tower came through with flying colors!
