Alternative Combat Dice for HeroQuest

[MortiS-the-Lost]

I thought those of you wanting to get into playing HeroQuest but are having difficulty getting hold of the dice (or those of you who already play HeroQuest and looking for extra dice) might be interesting to know that the dice from HeroScape (a game published by Hasbro) make good substitutes.



Big Cat recently got hold of a pack of 12 of these dice (and a D20) off eBay. As you can see from the picture above they are marked with Skulls and Shields, they even have the same number of Skulls and Shields as the HeroQuest Dice, 3 Skulls and 2 Shields, however where the HeroQuest Dice have the Round/Black/Monster Shield (also know as the Special to my gaming group due to our houserules), the HeroScape Dice have a blank side. This shouldn't really be a problem though, just remember that the blank counts as the Round/Black/Monster Shield, make a little sticker of the symbol or just draw one on with a permanent marker. 

[Billiam Babble]

Ace!  There's nothing worse than trying to get dice for old games.

Wait a sec - if you're planning to draw on them what's the point of buying special dice!
Ah I see, - the modification is minimal.

Could Fudge dice* be modified for HQ?  Are are they just  3 "+"s and 3 "-"s?
There must be blank dice out there as well.

Nice find, Cat (and Mortis)!

*I think there's also some special dice for the FATE system.

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Billiam Babble wrote

There must be blank dice out there as well.

yes EM4 Miniatures do a range of Blank Dice and they also make Custom Dice to order. I am looking into getting a batch of non-copyright infringing combat dice made, when I can get enough people interested in splitting the cost of a large order  

[MortiS-the-Lost]

MortiS-the-Lost wrote

 EM4 Miniatures do a range of Blank Dice and they also make Custom Dice to order. I am looking into getting a batch of non-copyright infringing combat dice made, when I can get enough people interested in splitting the cost of a large order  

After initial enquirers during the week it looks like the costs are going to be far too high to get custom dice printed, we are looking at £3.12 per dice.
Plan was for each person partaking in the order to get 10 dice each, but that would mean £31.2p each.
I think it would be cheaper to pick up original HeroQuest dice from eBay, which is rather a shame

Still we can always buy blank dice and draw on them or stick printed stickers on them

[Billiam Babble]

I think it would be much more fun to buy blank dice and paint them manually.  
Of course, if you set up a sweat-shop and sell "unique" hand-painted sets on ebay (highest bid!). ;)

I had a look at these guys as well - http://www.chessex.com/Dice/Dice_Home.htm  like you said, pricey, but some of the blanks might be worth it.

Thinking practically, I'm guessing you can't hand make the dice (I love air dry clay) , because of accusations of them being irregular or weighted - at least you know factory dice + stickers are not going to start any arguments.

Oh, for the time and energy ...

Btw, I'm a bit rubbish at painting lettering and icons - I am in awe of miniatures with banners, but fine line permanent markers might just do the trick.

[Billiam Babble]

Crikey, this guy wants $10 for a set of custom HQ dice.  Actually, that's not so bad - perhaps he ships to UK?

http://pages.pacificcoast.net/~greg/Auction.htm  (halfway down page)


EDIT:
Overpriced dry/erase dice.  Hmm :-/
http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=60765

Green blanks - cheap-ish
http://www.frpgames.com/cart.php?m=product_detail&p=51442

[SamuelF]

I found this German guy a while back selling sets of custom made HQ dice. He is asking €8.20 for six dice.

The white and the red sets are standard HQ dice but the others either have more skulls or shields.

Here is a translation of his descriptions..

..and you can buy them here.

Hope it's of interest!

[MortiS-the-Lost]

MortiS-the-Lost wrote

Still we can always buy blank dice and draw on them or stick printed stickers on them

ok so I got some A4 sticker paper to go in my printer and had a go at making some budget combat dice using some 'blanks' I had lying round


 ^ ok some of the stickers didn't go on strait, the dice are by no means perfect, but they are perfectly usable


 ^  and here's the images I used, so you can do the same sort of thing

note the ying-yang being used as the 'Special' symbol on the 6th side, think of these as prototype MortiS Quest Combat Dice

[Billiam Babble]

Those dice look great!  I think you've got the size of the graphics just right too.

(apologies for very late reply, I've managed to miss a few threads recently)

[Dicecreator]

Instead of stickers, if you only want black and white (black image on colored background) images, you can print them, you just need:

Blanks
Sandpaper
Laser printer
INKJET (IMPORTANT) photo paper
Clothes Iron

Example:


Here's a howto:

Open Source dice making

Throughout the rest of the blog there are tons of examples ^^

[MortiS-the-Lost]

Interesting, I will certainly give this a try if I can get access to a laser printer some time.

from looking at the feed back on your blog getting the exact right materials is important to this method and it's not quite a simple as it first seems, so I guess my question is how did you come up with/discover this method?

other methods I'm considering giving a try include using a method similar to yours but with an print your own iron-on t-shirt (as some one suggested on your blog) and seeing if water-slide transfers might do the trick (there are a few websites out there that will produce transfers/decals from an image eMailed in to them and I understand that some craft stores sell kits for printing your own at home)  

PS thanks for dropping in to the forum, if your planning on sticking around and sharing some gaming ideas why not let us know a little about your self on the Introductions Page

[Dicecreator]

Mmm...a photocopy might work too, as long as toner is involved.

Well...my job is to do dice...and between expensive and expensive methods...I was wondering how to bring to us (gamers and such, me included) a way to have custom dice, better than plain stickers. I do have two stickered dice around...but...you know...they don't always feel right. also I can't stand the sticker itself...

As said, my job involves a great deal of creativity, long hours in front of the computer, machinetool and sandpaper. You get used to think sideways...

I remembered that the toner transfer method is used succesfully by the electronics geeks (I'm one of them too)...and some part of my brain did the following equation:

tonner is plastic -> dice are plastic too -> maybe the tonner will fuse with the plastic.

And there you have it.

From my point of view...there is no way back to sticker dice...compared with alternate options:

                                      Sticker          Permanent marker                       Printed

Scratch resistant:            Nope                      Nope                                  Nope
Rub resistant:                  Nope                      Not much                            Yes
Water resistant:              Nope                       Yes                                     Yes
Looks:                           Usable                  depends on skill                     uh...almost professional
Difficulty:                        Easy                    easy/impossible                     not easy
Color:                            Yes                       RGB?                                    Black and grey shades


As for the iron-on-tshirt option...chemistry is not in my expertise area, so I cannot be of help. I know from other sources that some people is using inkjet printers in doing printed circuits, and that the ink, at enough temperature, melts into a form of plastic...but the temperature might (or might not) be too high for the die to withstand...
As for the water slide transfers...I would not trust them...once dry, they are pretty sensitive and will scratch quite easily. A varnish coat might help...I'll stick with the toner ones ^^

Ok I'll introduce myself, as I might get around some more  ^^

[mo123813]

Funny you should post this!
I too use heroscape dice. They feel right when you roll and look waaaaay cooler!

[uncle phil]

In addition to the above methods, you can also buy special paper that lets you print your own water slide decals (aka transfers). The stuff for a laser printer you can print and then use. Transfers made on an inkjet need to be sprayed with clear acrylic varnish before use, since inkjet ink is water soluble.

Not tried this personally yet, but I think a friend of mine used some to make insignia for his White Scar marines.

[Nuadha]

I took a fine-point permanent marker last night and drew Chaos symbols on a bunch of my blank sides of Heroscape dice.    It looks pretty good, but I have some Chaos waterslide transfers somewhere that I may try with some of my remaining dice.   My monsters defend with the eight arrows of chaos!

While I was at it, I took the markers to my original Heroquest dice and colored in the faded symbols and they almost look new again.