Goodman Games

I know funky dice can be had now from Gamescience/Gamestation, but that entails (IMO) unappealling color choices and a non-matching d7. I remember seeing mention that Goodman Games was considering releasing a matching set or otherwise making these available directly to DCC RPG players -- is that still the case? And if so, how soon might those be available? I'd love to buy them, but if they're not on the docket I'll bite the bullet and go with Gamescience.

Thanks in advance!

At this point, the focus of Joseph & Co. is getting the core rulebook and modules ready and printed. That's the #1 goal and most other things have been shifted to lower priority.

Some posters have suggested that Goodman Games get into the dice business, but as far as I know Joseph has too many other irons in the fire at the momet. If anything has been considered seriously, I've not heard about it. If such a thing does happen, I assume it would be a ways down the road.

My suggestion is to bite the bullet, buy what you need now, and if GG ever does put out any special dice sets later you can grab those as well.

I don't like ugly dice, and for one reason or another, the dice I've seen are very ugly looking. On top of that, they ain't cheap, and in the UK, they aren't exactly all over the place. Well, the ugly dice can be found on one or two uk websites.

For GG not to have a dice set available when the game comes out, may be a massive marketing blunder. Well, for me at least it is a massive blunder.

I don't want crystal/gem non inked dice that cost a pretty penny. I want a nice dice set, non glitzy, and inked. If these aren't available, I can't see me looking any further than that.

I know it sounds petty, but I'm 44, I know what I like and what I don't like, and I make no apologise for that.

Semi rant over.

Well...

It's a tough one. Thane... I am with you on this...it's daft isn't it?
I would like a simple set for reasonable cost too.
Gamescience are a rip off and really you have to go that route for the dice, especially if you want some sort of matching set and not Dr.Frankenstein's dice pouch (err).

Yes you can fudge a set with what you already have or make all sort of wizardly control die calculations or rinky dinky computer simulations...but frankly...that sucks.

I was toying with forgetting about this game and just having the book as a cool novelty old school art collection on my shelf but then I started to ponder and reread the beta.

It's really very good. It's like nothing else out there. I have been convinced.
I went into my cupboard and found some old d&d books and stuff and sold them.
Just ordered my set of gamescience gems inked with a white d7 and pink koplow d30.
DCC Rpg will, I think be quite marvelous and worth the effort and barrier to entry (dice).

Dump some old guff and go for it Thane. It's not ideal but I think the fun to be had with this system and its supplements will be worth the headache of a crappy looking set of expensive dice. Hopefully in time, as this becomes popular enough, an official set made from pure gold with pearl numbering will be sent free to all us DCC players...delivered by hand from Harley, dressed as a pixie on a chariot.

(EDIT was @Thane)^...and I think there are many who will feel a similar way. A lot of people are turned off by the funky dice, but having a nice (cheapish) set would make more people think again. I would LOVE to see a DCC set not withstanding I have funky dice (but not the super ugly d7). I too think it is a marketing blunder not have an essential piece of the game at launch apart from doing a lot of hard work for a poor (non matching is poor IMO) reward. As an absolute minimum they dice should be offered via Goodman Games site, there is not even links to where to buy on a FAQ or something.

It is not going to stop me but I think it will discourage a lot of potential buyers.

I wonder if there is any way for a 3P to organise it, like using Kickstarter or something.

finarvyn wrote:My suggestion is to bite the bullet, buy what you need now, and if GG ever does put out any special dice sets later you can grab those as well.

Thanks! I'll keep an eye out for a possible superior Goodman set down the line, but find some GS dice I can live with in the meantime.

Even before the beta was released I purchased a set of funkies in the UK. It cost me the price of the DDC RPG book itself . I'm OK with that as my means allows for such eccentric purchases, but many, many others will not swallow the extra cost AND extra hassle of hunting down a source for them.

I agree that a set of matched dice sold direct from GG would help the popularity of the game immensely. I'd suggest two sets, one with the funky d5 and another with a d10 marked as a d5. This is because the funky d5 tends to get the most doubts about it's randomness.

Stainless wrote:Even before the beta was released I purchased a set of funkies in the UK. It cost me the price of the DDC RPG book itself . I'm OK with that as my means allows for such eccentric purchases, but many, many others will not swallow the extra cost AND extra hassle of hunting down a source for them.

Exactly. I'm not questioning why GG chose to go the way of funky dice, but I still can't help thinking it was a terrible idea. Time will tell though. But dice almost the price of the core rulebook itself? That's going to be a massive hurdle for me to get over, and to be honest, I can't see me obtaining a set.

Not only that, can I see my 4 players (3 of which are out of work) paying good money for these dice? Absolutely no way on earth. So right there, my decision has been made for me. DCC, as good as it is, has priced us out of the market. And like someone said, using 'apps' to roll the dice is just lame, and again, not an option for us.

Stainless wrote:I agree that a set of matched dice sold direct from GG would help the popularity of the game immensely. I'd suggest two sets, one with the funky d5 and another with a d10 marked as a d5. This is because the funky d5 tends to get the most doubts about it's randomness.

Perhaps using the dice we have to ramdomize the other dice may be the way to go.

Don't get me wrong, I love what GG has created, but, that dice issue, crazy insane.

Just done a bit of digging Here

I've bought 2 d24s and 2 d30s for a combined total, including p&p of £11.79.

I already own about half a dozen d16s. For the rest I've done the following:

d3
Roll 1d6 and divide by 2.

d5
Roll 1d10 and divide by 2.

d7
Roll 1d8 and re-roll on an 8.

d14
Roll 1d16 and re-roll on 15-16.

d24
Purchase.

d30
Purchase.

I decided £11.79 was worth the expense considering the game looks awesome.

Nice one Thane!

I am in the UK too and that's the shop I used as well. Fair postage charges.
Great news that the dice issue hasn't put you off. It was a close call for me as well.

I think when you look at the value of the DCC rulebook preorder:
... 480 pages, full of amazing artwork and a terrific looking game and you get a 1st level module too. I think there was mention of a prize draw as well. It's much better value than most companies offer. For me I just looked at the dice as part of the game cost and then it didn't seem too bad. The biggest thing about this game will be the follow up support. It's already got loads of adventures coming from Goodman and plenty of others. Well respected old school companies like Brave Halfling have announced that they are on-board too, even before the book has hit the shelves. Impressive. Many times I have stumped up a pile of cash for a system that was good only to find the follow up support was hopeless and ended up selling the new shiny books.

I think the dice problem will put some players off and so Goodman Games could do with sourcing a cheap set to help sell the product to less reasonable gamers (there are many).

Also... I think the cheap pdf price of the Pathfinder rules was a good idea. 10 dollars i think.
That's low enough to encourage a trial purchase and to discourage some piracy.

Anyway, I am all set. All ready to play. Pencils sharpened. Notebook primed. Dice bought!

RevTurkey wrote:Nice one Thane!

I am in the UK too and that's the shop I used as well. Fair postage charges.
Great news that the dice issue hasn't put you off. It was a close call for me as well.

I think when you look at the value of the DCC rulebook preorder:
... 480 pages, full of amazing artwork and a terrific looking game and you get a 1st level module too. I think there was mention of a prize draw as well. It's much better value than most companies offer. For me I just looked at the dice as part of the game cost and then it didn't seem too bad. The biggest thing about this game will be the follow up support. It's already got loads of adventures coming from Goodman and plenty of others. Well respected old school companies like Brave Halfling have announced that they are on-board too, even before the book has hit the shelves. Impressive. Many times I have stumped up a pile of cash for a system that was good only to find the follow up support was hopeless and ended up selling the new shiny books.

I think the dice problem will put some players off and so Goodman Games could do with sourcing a cheap set to help sell the product to less reasonable gamers (there are many).

Also... I think the cheap pdf price of the Pathfinder rules was a good idea. 10 dollars i think.
That's low enough to encourage a trial purchase and to discourage some piracy.

Anyway, I am all set. All ready to play. Pencils sharpened. Notebook primed. Dice bought!

Wow, I had no idea the book was 480 pages long.

Fantastic stuff!

If you haven't already, don't forget to vote here:

http://www.goodman-games.com/forums/vie ... 60&t=21796

I think i read it right... 480 pages....200 spells, each with it's own table. Incredible

To quote Joseph from elsewhere on the forum:

"The two Free RPG Day adventures collectively take up 9 pages.

Out of 480.

Yes, I never quite thought it would be this large! But with so much art, and so many spells, the page count went up quite a bit. That original goal of 96 pages seems quaint now in retrospect!

The spells take up nearly 200 pages in total. Whereas the beta rules had a few sample spells, the core rules feature level 1-5 spells for wizards and clerics, plus level 1-3 spells for several patrons. Each spell has its own misfire and corruption entries (per request) and the layout no longer "merges" multiple spell results into one table. This makes each spell's table easier to reference as a single page (or in some cases two pages where one isn't possible).

And a lot of the book is art. I guess I should actually count the pages but I would estimate that there is at least 100 pages of "pure" art, ranging from the many full-page illustrations to all the 1/4 and 1/2 pagers if they were combined.

Wow. I can't believe I wrote so much! (With some help from Harley, Mike, and Dieter, as well.) Several years of work seems to have paid off..."

That post is what made me go and buy the dice! Awesome.

My group got away with my one set for several months, extra d3s will help at first and d16s if you have halflings. Eventually more and more in my group bought zocchis over the year, now almost everyone has a set. My group also found that grease markers are the best way to ink the numbers. I personally got them pre-inked, the extra buck or so is worth it to me. Gamescience dice have always been my favorite. I have a d20+ (a d20 marked 1-10 twice, with a + on half of them), it's my favorite die of all time. My d30, from Armory, looks like a gamescience die, but it's not and its inferior quality shows (edges are chipping.)

From one reverend to another...keep dungeons & dragons weird!

I still have 3 black wooden d6s with gold spots from when I took my AD&D books on tour with me when I was about 9 and just discovering roleplaying games. I didn't want to be apart from them...what a nerd those books went around France, Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I was on a coach tour with my parents...anyway...in Switzerland I bought the three black wooden handmade dice from a toyshop in the mountains. I must have rolled hundreds of characters on that journey. I loved it lol. Those dice are all I have left of those happy days...I think they may have to come out of their box to roll up adventurers for DCC Rpg....I had forgotten about them!

RevTurkey wrote:I still have 3 black wooden d6s with gold spots from when I took my AD&D books on tour with me when I was about 9 and just discovering roleplaying games. I didn't want to be apart from them...what a nerd those books went around France, Holland, Germany, Austria and Switzerland. I was on a coach tour with my parents...anyway...in Switzerland I bought the three black wooden handmade dice from a toyshop in the mountains. I must have rolled hundreds of characters on that journey. I loved it lol. Those dice are all I have left of those happy days...I think they may have to come out of their box to roll up adventurers for DCC Rpg....I had forgotten about them!

That is too damn cool.

//H

Harley Stroh wrote: That is too damn cool.
//H

Totally. I love my ancient dice. That d20+ is over 30 years old, I got it around 1980 or 81... which makes it older than some of the folks playing in my campaign. Craaaaaaazy.

Just spent an hour searching for my old swiss trio, turns out they were in a box of old coins.
First roll... A 16!
They must have been itching to come out to play

There have been a couple of threads on this.

Thane wrote:d24
Purchase.

d30
Purchase.

For both of these, you can base it on an easy-to-find die type. For a d24, roll a d12 and a d6 and if the d6 is 4-6 add 12 to the d12 roll. For a d30, roll a d10 and a d6 and if the d6 is 3-4 add 10 and if the d6 is 5-6 add 20. You don't use d24 and d30 dice that much, so it's not much of a bother.

I'm always a bit rankled when control dice get short shrift.

When I started playing D&D at the end of '77, the d20's were numbered 1-0 (i.e. 1-10) twice over -- you had to roll a control die with a d20 to determine if it was a low number or a high number. I suppose there were other ways in use, but I never saw any evidence of them, and there was a big, rambling, cross-pollinating group of us playing at the time... Plus, there were all those instances of things like "1-24 appearing" and again, you'd get a linear result by using a control die. I mean, c'mon, percentiles are essentially a control die situation.

I expect to be using control dice, much more than I'd seek out new 'civilized' methods, and new dice forms...

I will use my six "standard" dice to generate any numbers I need. I would like to have a set of non-standard dice, but I will not pay much for them.

If Goodman games makes money on them, I will be glad to support it. Yeah I know, I'm a butt kisser, but I want this whole operation to keep going!

Here is my funky dice set, including 30+ year old Swiss mountain toy shop black 3d6 tour set! !

My d24 and d30 turned up today.

Man that d30 is big! I had no idea

Guess I'm ready for the game now