by QorDaq » January 15th, 2016, 12:07 pm
I think novelty dice are, at their core, meant to do two things, 1) offer a "Wow" factor when people see them, and 2) provide satisfaction for those people who like to collect dice. Or that's my take anyway.
Years ago, my local Klingon fanclub (yeah, it's a thing...*Chuckle*...), hosted a very fun event that was 1 part LARP, and 1 part mini-convention. Basically, we rented space in a local hotel, decorated it it up, and did a combination of laser-tag, hands on puzzles, RPG, and tactical gaming over the course of a long weekend. It was a team-oriented event where we invited chapters from other Klingon fanclubs to come and compete.
Anyway, I designed most of the event (We actually did it a couple of times), around telling a larger story that unfolded over the course of the weekend, and the progress each team made during a given portion was all scored and tallied at the end to identify the winners. As mentioned, some of the events were hands on puzzle-solving and the like, and some were tactical war games. For those, to add to the "Klingon" feel of things, I bought several sets of the the Dwarven Metal dice from Crystal Caste, including a bunch of the "Giant" D20s. And they were a serious hit at the tables. People loved picking up these really heavy dice and chucking them onto the table (we had dice trays to catch them)... In short, it really added to the experience in a way that plastic polyhedrals would not have. Were they necessary? Nope. Did they cost way too much money? Yep. But they served their purpose spectacularly.
Not saying that anyone, ever, NEEDS to buy metal dice, just saying that for those who enjoy unusual options, they can be pretty cool.
maj!
Post Script - And, yeah those D20s made from Mammoth dice are pretty cool... Kind of like a Mammoth steak right; destroying history to say you did it...*Grin*... Though in this case the dice could well help preserve it really.
- Q
maj! = Klingon word for "Good". Used in the context of "I approve".
- vay' DaneHbogh yIchargh!