Dice Delve: Rogue Dice by PolyHero

I just got an overstuffed and slightly damp plastic envelope of dice, all the way from China, in the mail that I've been waiting on for a good long while, now: Rogue Dice, Polyhero's latest release, is finally here. I backed this Kickstarter her a while back...two years, nearly...I did it mostly on the strength of one of their dice, which would be a Kickstarter-Only Exclusive. Crom Give Me Strength.  More on that later.

Anyway, they are here, now. And so because in my previous review of their Wizard Dice, I kinda brushed them off, what follows will surely be my longest and most extensive review to date, with a ton of pictures. Are you ready? Let's get into it, then.



Rogue Dice by PolyHero
SCORE: 4/5

Clarity...Sorta
Heft...Yes
Color...Yes
Theme...Yes
Value...Sorta

These wonderfully sculpted objects purport to be dice, and they are the third such set that PolyHero has produced (after the Warrior Dice and the Wizard Dice). It's certain that Cleric Dice are next, since they have already shown some mock-ups of what they would look like. Conceptually, it's a wonderful idea: multi-sided "dice" that are shaped to thematically align with the four big D&D classes. Each set is different, with original sculpts that are unique to the set and the theme.

These sets are Kickstarted, because of the immense start-up costs of sculpts and molds and international shipping and so on and so forth. I get it: a lot of work goes into these little boogers. And as with any good KS crowd funding campaign, you get access to a bunch of extras that unlock and allow you to throw even more money at these people, because that's who we are and how we roll in the twenty-first century.

This is the whole set, including the Burglar's Bundle and the d20 Lock and Pick. You can click these pics to enlarge them.


I'm going to go through the whole set, Die by Die, and talk about what I like and don't like about it. I think this is useful because these things are so unique and whether or not they work as dice, a lot of artistry and effort went into their manufacture.

 Here are the most fiddly of the bunch, the d4 (dagger), the d6 (poison bottle) and the d8 (crossbow bolt). As sculpts go, they are nice. They look enough like what they are supposed to be that you don't have to imagine anything. But check out the dagger on the right. I turned the Y...I mean, the G...I mean, the 9...sorry, the 4 so it was facing up. I really wish there was a little less pizzazz on the numbers.

 This d8 is hard to roll. You have to just drop it, maybe adding a little back spin, to get it to randomize. And you have to look straight down at the number to see what you rolled.

This d6 rolls better than the d8, but it's still lightweight and requires a bit of English to get it to spin enough that you don't feel like you're just setting it down on the number you want. 

The d4 is just like the other two. Also, there's a strange skew to the shape of the die. It's not a stretched out pyramid, like you'd think. It's slightly flattened to give it more of a dagger shape. This doesn't seem to affect the rolling ability; in fact, it appears to be well balanced, but it gave me pause when I first felt it.

All of the above dice are very much like the other PolyHero dice in this respect.

These chunky monkeys are the d10 dice, and they are supposed to represent a loot sack and a gunpowder pouch. The bag with the dot under the numbers is the 10s d10, so you can glance down and see what you rolled. But I also like that these sacks are different enough in shape and size that I don't have to do that.  These dice DO roll, however. Again, if you have a tray, you should use it. And also be prepared for them to sometimes stop halfway between two numbers.

I do think this design is an improvement over the percentile dice for the Wizard Dice set.

 This gem is the d12. Ugh. I have the same problem with this d12 that I did with the pointy Wizard Hat d20 last time: this rolls around and around and stops facing away from you, forcing you to hold the number steady with your finger and slide it around. I'm still not sure if I'm supposed to look at the top number or the number that is flush with the table. No idea.  This shape is such a bad idea for dice used in a game. You have to train yourself to re-roll this thing  a very certain way. On the other hand, it IS the d12, so how often is your rogue going to need it?

Here's the goods, right here: this is a powder keg d20. And it's a monster. If you're playing D&D or any iteration thereof, this is the die you're going to need most frequently. As such, it's really the stand-out of the set.

This cylinder shape has been used before, so it's not ground breaking, but it may be table-breaking if you're not careful. This thing hits the table with a *thunk!* Heavy. It rolls wonky like all of the other dice, and sometimes comes up cocked (and one time, it hit the side wall of my dice tray and stood upright), but the heft and feel is so great that it's almost worth all of that to have them in play.

Kickstarter bonus number one: The aforementioned Burglar's Bundle, a d2 (skeleton key), a d3 (grappling hook) and a d4 (coil of rope) that would only be available for pre-orders. I gotta tell you, I was pretty jazzed about this set, even though the odds of me needing a d2 or a d3 are slim and none. It was the d4 coil of rope (in a rope color, no less) that made me buy three of these packs. 

Again, none of these roll. They flip. They skitter. They spin as they fall to the table. But if I'm playing a rogue in a game, I want these at the table for no other reason than the immersion they offer. A rope and grappling hook...as DICE? Come on!

This, however, is what made me pledge the Kickstarter. This is the Lock and Pick d20, and it's the single greatest thing PolyHero has come up with, period. Look at that. It's a lock, with a pick sticking out of it! Yeah!

But wait...

This is what it really looks like. It's a spinning wheel with a lock cover on top of it. 

To use this in a game, you slide the cover on top of the pick.

Make sure that the lock is flush with the table and the wheel underneath moves freely.

Then you grab the pick and give it a spin.

 Can you see? The top part of the keyhole is round. That's what is causing the pick to spin.

 When you're ready to see if you found any traps (or disarmed them), lightly touch the end of the pick and pull it down into the square portion of the keyhole.

The dial underneath stops spinning and pops the number up into the hole for you to read. A nineteen! Boom! Take that, Grimtooth!

You can see how this is the greatest thing ever, right? For a rogue? I would be walking through the world, actively looking for locks to pick and traps to disarm.

The lock and pick d20s were not available in the fancy colors, so I got one copper and one iron. I also switched the picks, like in this photo, for greater contrast. Because that's how I roll...er, I mean, spin.

I ended up with two sets: nightshade with gold, and midnight blue with silver. Both ink options on the dice were a nice contrast. And while I don't really like these dice as dice, I really love them as totems for a character or a particular type of adventure.

They do present a storage challenge, especially the Lock and Pick d20s; you can't throw them in a bag or you'll snap the pick. I have saved the plastic cradle these dice come in, and I'm eyeing a box option where I can glue the plastic in and use it as a permanent holder when I'm not obsessively spinning the pick at the table and irritating the other players.

The Good: Each new set PolyHero makes is better designed than the last and these are the best yet.
The Bad: There is still some usability concerns with some of the more common dice.
The Ugly: manufacturing time is way, way long, especially considering that these are molded plastic, which is the number one thing that China does at the moment. PolyHero was very transparent about the process and sent out regular updates, but that's still a long time from start to finish.

My recommendation is, if you like what you see, and have no illusions about "dice balance," then form outweighs function and you will be the envy of the table at your next session. Practice rolling these things ahead of time, especially the d20s; you are responsible for your own dice management in the heat of battle.