DEVELOPER: DUNGEONS & DRAGONS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
Dungeons & Dragons is a game that is at the height of its popularity right now with over 40 million fans worldwide. With more people than ever before reaching out to each other to play games, the demand for new and accessible material is higher than it’s ever been before. And, of course, you’re going to need dice to play. Which is where the incredibly deluxe Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand’s Explorer’s Kit, because it’s essentially a load of dice in a very nice box.
Sure you can use an online random number generator or an app, but there’s something unique about actually rolling dice that gamers take very seriously. After all, if you’re about to sweet-talk the Lords of Waterdeep or take on Tiamat herself , you want that physical feeling of actually touching the dice that will either save or doom you. This explorer’s kit includes a very nice box of rolling dice in, some information cards and of course, dice.
These are lovely and chunky ice-blue bits of plastic, with a translucent ‘swirl’ effect that makes them look like frozen pieces of magic. The numbers are very clearly marked in silver ink and they’re just a little bit larger than most sets of dice. We get eleven dice in total. We get four six-siders , two-ten siders (each inked differently to work as percentiles), one twelve-sider, one eight-sider, one four-sider and, of course, two twenty-siders.
We also get a felt lined box that doubles as a pair of dice trays. (It helps to have two; one for active rolling and the other to rest the dice in). It works as storage for the dice and is nicely roomy. Like the dice, there’s plenty of space for big hands, which is good.
We also get a map insert detailing the Sword Coast and Waterdeep, two major locations in the Forgotten Realms setting. We also get twenty illustrated, double-sided card that have in-universe descriptions of the major locations, characters and organisations that you can find in a typical Forgotten Realms game. These are pretty and reasonably concise, useful for Dungeons Masters looking to get players up to speed quickly and great for players looking for snippets of information. The only drawback is the set doesn’t come with anywhere to store these cards if you’re using the box as a dice tray.
Understand that you absolutely do not need the Forgotten Realms Laeral Silverhand’s Explorer’s Kit. There are cheaper dice and dice mats. This set is very, very pretty however and it’s wonderfully presented. This a set intended as treat for players, either as personal indulgence or as a gift. It’s a great way to welcome someone to the game.
