RPG Evolution: Skull Dice

I love playing necromancers in Dungeons & Dragons (long unlive Gauskel Blackcloak!) so I'm always on the lookout for skull dice. Unfortunately, nearly every form of skull dice suffers from the same flaw, and that's legibility. These dice are no different.

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The gothic aesthetic is striking, and the concept of embedding actual skulls and bones within the resin is a cool touch for anyone leaning into a darker fantasy vibe for their RPG sessions. The D20, featuring a detailed skull and the tiny bones rattling around in the other dice add a delightfully spooky element to each roll.

Beyond the thematic appeal, the emerald and gold accents set against the clear resin give these dice a look that's reminiscent of ancient treasures unearthed from some forgotten crypt. These dice feel substantial enough to handle regular use, being constructed from what durable, clear resin, and they have a nice weight in hand. They are also surprisingly lightweight and feature sharp corners.

But that's how all my reviews start when it involves "bone dice" and it's all downhill from there. Simply put, you can't read these dice; there's a sort of gothic font in black that looks fine until you get the bottom of the die. Each die has a bottom, all black, where the skulls rest. When you roll that side it's black numbering on a black background (notably not shown in any of the pictures on Amazon).

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The path to skull-filled dice is littered with the corpses of other polyhedral sets like this. There's the mostly-illegible Zombie Dice and a set of six-sideds that are not much better.

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For high end dice, you can't go wrong investing in Oyuide's Metal Skull dice, but they aren't cheap ($22). My favorite is the Hell Skull dice, which has a nice contrast between the skulls and the numbers in red (but is unfortunately out of stock). Whatever you choose, be sure to look carefully at the pictures, as more than one set never shows the black bottom that makes the skulls and bones contrast nicely ... except on one side.

You can purchase this product at Amazon: https://amzn.to/4isaPGL Please note that I'm a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Spend less. Smile more..
 

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Michael Tresca

Michael Tresca

They do look cool for a gift or something. It looks like you need to hold them and turn them around to see the skulls in most of them because of the angles of the sides and such. I know a few people who would love them, but again, I'm at the age where I need simple with good contrast to read them better over form.
 

I was struggling to read them if the picture wasn’t slightly enlarged. If I was 10 years younger, I’d enjoy them and the aesthetic but not so much now with the reading glasses at the table :)
 



Those metal dice look rad AF. Too bad they are so hard to read! Metal dice are very cumbersome too, IMO. Would love to see a slightly reworked hard plastic version of them.
 

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