Role-Playing Games, as a form of entertainment, all seem to have one thing in common. No, I'm not talking about thick text books of rules, definitely not talking about miniatures and battle maps, and no, I don't mean that every GM in existence wears a cape to host a game of D&D (just the best of us do that ). Nope, I'm talking about dice! A number of dice manufacturers have risen over the years to answer the call for cooler and niftier dice by gamers the world over. From Chessex to Crystal Caste, there are some big names out there in the world of dice.

Q-workshop, a Polish dice company founded in 2001, stands out above the other major dice manufacturers in the industry. While some companies focus on mass-produced dice that are affordable for the masses and others offer dice made of the rarest materials at a cost only the wealthy can afford to touch with Cheeto-encrusted fingers, Q-workshop produces dice of the highest artistic merit available on the market. I was provided with two sets of dice for review today: the Deadlands and Steampunk themed sets. The dice sets can be on the expensive side at averaging $15.00 to $18.00 for your classic set of seven roleplaying dice, so let's see what they offer for their cost!

Deadlands

Deadlands is the classic game of the weird west. It's really western horror when you get right down to it, and in it's current form it uses the Savage Worlds game engine to run. Using Savage Worlds as its rule system, it naturally requires a full set each of the big six, that's a d4, d6, d8, d10, d12, and d20. These, along with either an additional d6 or d10, are what most dice sets include, and the Deadlands set is no different. We get an extra d6 in this set to act as the "wild card" die that is an integral aspect of the Savage Worlds rules set. This is key for a set of dice designed to use with a specific rules engine. A d6 acts as a kicker for the truly exceptional character (aka player characters) that is a back-up to the main die.

In the set, you get six unique orange dice and one white d6. The white d6 is the aforementioned wild card die. To match the theme of the old west, Q-workshop has replaced the top number of each die with a special symbol. The orange dice get a tomahawk crossed with a revolver and a buffalo head with a head dress. The designs are extremely intricate and eye-catching. The white d6 gets its "six" side replaced with a set of of playing cards matching the poker theme of the game. Overall you can tell that the designers did their research and really made an effort to match the flavor the world of Deadlands.

Steampunk

Steampunk is a popular theme nowadays. From Girl Genius to Genius: The Transgression, Steampunk is a genre that has real staying power. The Steampunk dice set comes with a d4, d6, d8, d10/d100, d12, and d20. Currently, black and white is the only scheme available, but I could see -- like many of their other themes -- having more colors to choose from in the future if Steampunk does well. The designs for the different sides are much more intricate on these than the Deadlands dice.

I'm particularly fond of the d6 as the large square sides offer most amount of room to show of the gears and cranks featured in this theme. Of course the other dice also have their strengths. The d4 is particularly ingenious in its design in that it really looks like some kind of machine just waiting to be activated. The crowning achievement of the set has to be the d20, and as well it should be! I know other Q-workshop dice can have d20's that are so busy and so in theme that it's difficult to make the numbers out. Some might say this defeats the purpose of the dice altogether! Fear not, the Steampunk set really puts the focus on utility as well as design. Each side is truly busy, but the number is set off by a circle to keep the dice easy and quick to read. The 20 side of the die is a really nice gear that tops the the whole set off.

Rolling the Dice

Both sets of dice are plastic, but have a nice heft to them that feels satisfying to roll. These sets have seen limited play for me, but I will point out that I have had the Call of Cthulhu Beige and Black set of dice for a couple of years now and the designs have worn off slightly. Of course these marks are carved into the dice, so if you don't mind some do-it-yourself, you can always take a black thin sharpies and recolor the patterns (carefully)! Cost is obviously going to be a factor with these dice. I'm more than a little superstitious about my dice and sometimes, embarrassingly, admit that I think my dice are cursed. If you're one to throw your dice out a moving vehicle or accidentally forget you put a deplorable failure of a d20 in your microwave before turning it on, these might not be for you. However, if you're looking to invest in a very nice set of dice that will last you awhile and wow your friends into letting you play with them after you spent years stealing their dice, this is a good place to start.

If you're looking for a place to buy them, there's lots. Q-workshop dice, at this point, are sold by any serious online retailer and more and more brick and mortar stores are also starting to carry their lines. I bought my first Q-workshop dice three years ago now at GenCon as they come all the way from Poland to supply us Americans with some fancy dice. I'd recommend taking a look at the Q-workshop site directly and ordering from them. One thing to note is the Deadlands dice are only available as a set given how the theme ties directly to a game. The Steampunk theme, and most of their other themes can be bought one piece at a time. Been trying to figure out where you're going to get two d6's for your steampunk version of Monopoly? Fear no longer! Just pick and choose on the website and get what you're really after.

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