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Jon Hodgson wrote:Here's funny thing about the dice - so Francesco worked really hard to make sure the game both benefitted from the custom dice, but was completely playable with regular dice. "Can't make people buy funny dice" runs the conventional wisdom. "People hate funny dice" it says.

In the very beginning, I toyed with the idea of having different sides for every culture, like Elves having more Gandalfs (Gandalves? ) or custom icons, but there are limited things you can do on a d12 before it becomes repetitive, or excessively complicated, or too 'boardgamey'... And then as Jon said, the need to make sure you could use your own dice prevailed.

I am very very happy about how the dice came out in the end, with the two special icons, and the tengwar numerals on the Success dice, and I would LOVE to see different coloured sets!

Francesco

Then please make it happen, Francesco! And then, like the other guy said, you can..."shut up and take my money!!"

Excellent idea, Dedicemancometh!

Jon and Francesco, have you thought about cooperating with these guys:

http://q-workshop.com/

?

They make high-quality dice for all sorts of board games and RPG's.

Perhaps you could take a look at their dice for Legend of the Five Rings. For each clan, there is a dice set in a unique colour.

Jon Hodgson wrote:Here's funny thing about the dice - so Francesco worked really hard to make sure the game both benefitted from the custom dice, but was completely playable with regular dice. "Can't make people buy funny dice" runs the conventional wisdom. "People hate funny dice" it says.

We can't keep TOR dice in stock, they sell so fast. And we're not talking small production runs here.

Can't make any promises on different dice colours, but it's certainly something that's been discussed.

As long as we're waving our magic wish wands, I have a request Jon.
As a retailer, having the One Ring dice sets merchandised in those little dice cubes only really makes sense if you've got a shelf to put them on (next to Chessex dice cubes for example), but of course, the best way to merchandise One Ring dice is next to the One Ring books!
Any chance you might consider putting them in a hangable blister pack (similar to how Fantasy Flight does their Star Wars dice) so we've got a few more options for merchandising them with the RPG books?

PaulButler wrote:

Jon Hodgson wrote:Here's funny thing about the dice - so Francesco worked really hard to make sure the game both benefitted from the custom dice, but was completely playable with regular dice. "Can't make people buy funny dice" runs the conventional wisdom. "People hate funny dice" it says.

We can't keep TOR dice in stock, they sell so fast. And we're not talking small production runs here.

Can't make any promises on different dice colours, but it's certainly something that's been discussed.

As long as we're waving our magic wish wands, I have a request Jon.
As a retailer, having the One Ring dice sets merchandised in those little dice cubes only really makes sense if you've got a shelf to put them on (next to Chessex dice cubes for example), but of course, the best way to merchandise One Ring dice is next to the One Ring books!
Any chance you might consider putting them in a hangable blister pack (similar to how Fantasy Flight does their Star Wars dice) so we've got a few more options for merchandising them with the RPG books?

Or a clear tube with a hook in one of the end caps. I think that would look classier than a blister pack on cardboard.

i would buy them too, all of them! Well, not all dices of course, but a set in every color would be mine... My precious...!

Elfcrusher wrote: Or a clear tube with a hook in one of the end caps. I think that would look classier than a blister pack on cardboard.

No, please no.
Tubes are never as good in function as the idea. They get shop-worn very easily with frequently broken hooks. Not to mention there is very little opportunity for trade dress of any kind on a tube. And most importantly, those stores that would *like* to merchandise the dice on shelves cannot do it effectively with tubes.

I really think solid plastic blister packs like what FFG does is the best solution, as these can be hung or set upright on a shelf.

Ugh. Maybe there's valid merchandising reasons for that packaging, but it screams "cheap" to me.

The little plastic boxes (like Chessex uses) I find appealing, both visually and tactilely. Maybe elongate those into a square tube; you could slide an insert down one side (or two sides) with trade dress. And if hooks are breaking it means it's the wrong plastic.

Maybe it will never work; maybe retailers simply need the blister packs. I'm pretty sure I'd be less likely to impulse buy.

Jon Hodgson wrote:Here's funny thing about the dice - so Francesco worked really hard to make sure the game both benefitted from the custom dice, but was completely playable with regular dice. "Can't make people buy funny dice" runs the conventional wisdom. "People hate funny dice" it says.

One of my biggest criticism of some of Francesco's boardgames are funny dices, and yet I think that with TOR he nailed the right amount of funny and playable.

mogul76 wrote:Jon and Francesco, have you thought about cooperating with these guys:

http://q-workshop.com/

?

They make high-quality dice for all sorts of board games and RPG's.

To each their own. All the dice I've seen so far from Q Workshop have put me off: they're generally beautiful, but almost always unreadable, which is a cardinal sin in dice-making as far as I'm concerned.

I much prefer the plain, straightforward numbering on the current TOR dice to the over-complicated Q Workshop dice faces I've seen.