Dice Coin FAQ

In the majority of RPG systems, d20's are used to determine hits, saving throws, skill checks, etc.  It is the most important dice.

You can use a d20 Dice Coin in several ways:

• It literally represents your character.  For example, if you are playing a Paladin you can choose to use a d20 Paladin Dice Coin.
• It has meaning for you or your character. For example, your character was saved by an Owlbear as a child and thus you use a d20 Owlbear Dice Coin as homage.
• You personally like the art on a particular d20 Dice Coin.  For example, you love dragons so you choose to use a dragon d20 Dice Coin.
• DM/GM's can use them in much the same way.  For example, during a battle with skeletons the DM can use a d20 Skeleton Dice Coin.

Damage Dice Coins

Fantasy battle scenes are depicted on the d4, d6, d8, d10, and d12 Dice Coins.

In the majority of RPG systems, these are used to determine damage from weapons, magic, etc.

The art on these Dice Coins is themed to represent some of the weapons or magic that does that amount of damage for that dice type. For example, the d4 depicts a wizard using magic missiles and a rogue using daggers.  Both do 1d4 points of damage.

How do Character and Damage Dice Coins work together?

We will use the Paladin example. You use a d20 to determine hits, saving throws, skill checks, etc. However, when you use a particular weapon, you use a damage Dice Coin that corresponds to that weapon.

For example, if you are attacking with your long sword, you would use a d8 Dice Coin to determine damage. If you throw your Javelin, you would use a d6 Dice Coin. If your Paladin was desperate and needed to use their dagger, you would use a d4 Dice Coin.

Secondary Uses of Damage Dice Coins

You can also use the Damage Dice Coins to determine hit points when leveling. Or you can use them whenever you need a particular random number.

Inclusiveness and Representation

Dice Coins will typically be used in role playing games.  A central characteristic of a role playing game is that you play a character that you have chosen to identify with.

One of my goals was to make Dice Coins as inclusive and representative as possible.  

For example, there is no skin or hair color on any of the characters.  It is just a metal plating color.  This allows you to imagine or paint your character in a way that you identify with during a game.

In addition, we specifically designed some coins where the sex and species is not obvious.

This would allow you to choose if your character is a male, female, non-binary, human, elf, halfling, etc.  Examples of these include the rogue and paladin.  

As we release more Dice Coins in the future, we will continue this practice and are very open to suggestions for future characters.

Paintable

Dice Coins can be painted like any miniature.  You prime, paint, and add a clear coat.

Will the paint wear off by touching the coin? Most people will only paint the character and not the perimeter.  When you spin a Dice Coin, you generally touch the perimeter.

However, with repeated and rough touching to the painted area, you could get some wear.  Generally the clear coat would wear first. This would give you the opportunity to simply add more clear coat to protect the painted area.

Comparing Dice Coins to Dice

Appearance

Dice are beautiful but so are Dice Coins.

Immersive Gaming Experience

We discussed this before, but I believe there is no question that Dice Coins offers a more immersive gaming experience than regular dice.

General Use

Dice commonly wander across the table - thus you have dice trays and dice towers. On a rare occasion, you can get a Dice Coin that jumps off the base if you spin the coin extremely hard. Dice Coins are more contained and the results are right in front of you.

Learning Curve

It is very easy to roll a dice.  With a Dice Coin, there is a little bit of a learning curve while you get the right feel on how much pressure to use and which spinning method works best for you.  Once you have those down, which only takes a few spins, they are just as easy to use as dice.

Cheating

With regular dice, that are various ways to cheat.  Most of them are obvious. That is why in a casino they require you to throw the dice against a back wall.

It is the same with Dice Coins.  If you use them contrary to how they are supposed to be used, such as stopping them when they have slowed enough to see the numbers, then you can manipulate the results. However, this will usually be obvious.

The simplest way to cheat with dice or Dice Coins, is to simply "misread" the number, since others are rarely looking over your shoulder.

Durability

With metal spinning on metal, are Dice Coins durable?  Very durable.  Take a look at one of the prototypes for the Base.  I spun a Dice Coin on it over 4500 times. As you can see, some of the colored plating has wear marks. However, the surface below it is nice and flat.  

The same with the knob on a Dice Coin.  I spun this coin over 2500 times.  As you can see there are wear marks on the raised knob. However, it does not affect the spin.

Even though the function of the coin is not affected, you will get some wear marks on the knob and center area of the base within a few dozen spins. There will be NO wear marks on the front of the coin where the main artwork is.

Legal Information

We originated the brand name Dice Coins in 2016 and claim the trademark rights. In addition, we have filed a US Patent Application for the Dice Coin system (and variations).

Due to the nature of antique plating, plating color varies with each coin. In addition, due to the nature of the metal casting process, there may be minor imperfections and differences from coin to coin.  This is normal and not a defect.

More Info on Accuracy