Exquisite Dice for A Small Price? A Review of D&D Dice From MAGISEVEN
"I've got enough dice," said no RPG player ever. If someone in your gaming group says this, then you need to roll for deception. You are probably dealing with a mimic, or an alien that has assumed the form of your friend. Like a dragon's horde, gamers look for new shiny and sparkly trinkets to add to their dice bags. But if you are like me, you've got the dice bag filled with assorted dice, but then you also have "that set". The set of dice that is your go-to for gaming. It might not even be in a dice bag, but a fancy dice vault or some other special container that makes it more accessible and ready to use.
This special "go-to" set of dice is usually more expensive that a standard set of dice you bought off the shelf at your local store. In fact, this is where you see the high end dice sets at gen con from places like Dispel Dice or Norse Foundry that can vary in price and be as high as $100+ for a dice set. For the past couple of years, my dice set of choice was a set of nice metal dice from Easy Roller Dice that I got from one of their Kickstarters. However, I have a nickel allergy, and I've noticed that if I use these for a prolonged period of time that I would start to notice. Specifically, when it's 4 am at Pax Unplugged and you've been playing a RPG for the past 4-5 hours, that's not when you want to have to dig out another set of dice.
A New Challenger Approaches!
Prior to Gen Con this year, I got contacted by another company specializing in fancy dice: MAGISEVEN. This company specializes in making Gemstone and glass die, very similar in style to some of the other more well known brands. They offered to send me a set of dice to review, so I took at look at their listings and picked out the Amethyst gemstone dice. I also really liked the look of their Black Obsidian dice, but when the website talks a lot about the quality of their gemstone dice, I really wanted to get a set that would showcase that.
The first thing you notice when looking at the website is the price of the dice. Yes, if you are used to paying $10-15 for dice sets, seeing sets that go up to $75 is a bit of a shock. For me, who has spent many a Gen Con drooling over dice sets that I know I can' t afford, the prices seemed reasonable - if not a bit cheaper than other brands. The Black Obsidian dice that I mentioned before are currently listed for $43.99. If you are looking for a more high quality dice set, that's not an unreasonable jump in price, compared to other sets. The Amethyst dice that I got retail for $56.99, and when I googled gemstone dice, I saw similar Amethyst sets going from $90 to close to $200!
The Time Has Come…
Under 2 weeks later, I had the MAGISEVEN dice within my possession. I was actually quite surprised at how quickly the dice arrived to me. The tracking number associated with the dice was for a site I wasn't familiar with and appeared to be Asian in origin, so I was assuming that the dice would probably get held up in customs. I was mentally prepared for the dice to take well over a month to get to me, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got the notification that they had arrived
How are they? First of all, I was surprised to see that when I opened up the package, there was no fancy box showcasing the dice like a set of fine jewelry. Just a simple felt bag holding the dice. This is probably one reason the dice are cheaper than some alternatives - the money is going directly to the dice, not to fancy packaging. In fact, the company claims they offer free shipping worldwide (I cannot speak to this since the dice were sent complimentary to me anyways). Yet, the dice appeared to be in great shape, no issues with chipping or any damage from the shipping. That speaks to their durability, if the company is able to ship them in simple dice bags and not worry about the dice being damaged in transit.
All Natural….20’s I mean….
The MAGISEVEN website makes note of the fact that their images are not enhanced or edited at all. I thought this was a weird note to mention, but they are right. The Amethyst dice I got look just like the ones that I saw in the picture. I guess in the past I have ordered dice combinations that looked cool on the website, but when I got them the color of the numbers/material were not quite as advertised and made them hard to read (see above photo). That was definitely not a factor here. The MAGISEVEN dice are very legible, with the numbers in a gold contrast that makes them appear to be very regal in appearance. (Granted, this was one of the reasons I picked out that set was because of that look).
I love dice, but I can be very picky on my dice at the same time. They have to have the right "feel" - like I hate how wooden dice feel in my hand to roll. It's hard to explain. The MAGISEVEN dice feel just right to me. The size, the weight, etc. just seems to be what you would want in your D&D dice. There seems to be a glass coating or something on the outside, as the dice have a glassy feel/sound to them when they clank together. MAGISEVEN does warn on their website not to use them in dice cups/dice towers, as this could cause chipping. Their preference is to roll them on a softer surface - something I'm very familiar with since I've been rolling metal dice for the past 4-5 years.
Conclusion
I was skeptical at first since I hadn't heard of the company, but these dice are solid. A great set of dice at a reasonable price.
If you are wanting a new "upscale" set of dice for your RPGs, or a gift for a fellow gamer in your life that wont blow your budget, you should check out these dice!
In some RPG lore, a dragon loses its power if it's horde gets plundered. Maybe I should start putting bicycle locks on my dice bag.....