Easy Roller Dice: Review

I am... particular about my gaming dice.  I don't just buy or use any old dice.  My main set is a collection of Chessex sparkled dice, themed after the elements (fire, earth, air, and water) and a set of Q-Workshop dwarven runed Fudge Dice, from their first production run.  I don't like other people using my dice, and I keep them in a custom embroidered Crown Royal bag which says, "TIM'S DICE, HANDS OFF."  I have a whole separate bag of dice that I use as loaners and to store the dice I've acquired which don't make it into my main dice bag.

I say "particular", others might say "insane".  I'm OK with that.

I was first exposed to Easy Roller Dice through their frequent sponsorship of Happy Jacks RPG Podcast, on which I am a part-time host.   Being something of a dice snob and perfectly happy with the amount and quality of dice I owned, I honestly didn't pay them too much attention.  But then they started showing up at my gaming table as most of the people I game with are also Happy Jacks related, and I couldn't help but notice them.  I decided that should the opportunity present itself, I would get myself some Easy Roller dice.

Well, the opportunity presented itself, and I am now the proud owner of a set of pristine black smoke Easy Roller dice and a matching dice bag.  Yes, they're the ones shown in the picture up above.
First off, the bag.  This is a nice little dice bag!  It's made of a thick, faux velvet, lined on the inside with a red, satin-esque material.  The drawstrings are thick, and there's an Easy Roller Dice Co tag sewn into the side.  This dice bag is going to hold up for a long while.

Now on to the dice themselves.  They're really nice.  The numbers are thickly and uniformly inked, and the white coloring makes for a nice contrast against the black smoke.  They feel solid, but not overly heavy.  They roll well, and by that I don't mean they provide the results I'm looking for.  I mean that when you roll them, they roll exactly as much as they should.  They don't stop short after a heavy "thunk", nor do they skitter all the way across the table.  Universally they seem to be just a hair smaller than my Chessex dice, but that's only noticeable under close scrutiny.

All in all, I really like these dice, and I'm looking forward to using them in a game.  They're certainly going to become a part of my main set, but they've given me a conundrum: I don't want to just throw the dice in my Crown Royal bag, but I don't want to shove another bag into it.  So now I have to figure a way to integrate my Easy Roller dice into my main set.  Like I said, I'm particular about my dice, heh.

And hey!  Easy Roller Dice is once again offering a discount for Happy Jacks listeners.  Simply enter the promo code "HAPPY" (minus the quotation marks) during checkout and receive a 20% discount on your entire order.  You can snag a single set of dice, a bag of 6 complete sets of dice (42 individual dice), or one of their brand new gaming mats.  Check them out at: http://www.easyrollerdice.com.

Labyrinth Lord: A Petty God

In support of the upcoming release of Expanded Petty Gods, and my own exceedingly minor contribution therein, I'm going to pen a brand new Petty God...

...I should state that Labyrinth Lord is not my old-school game of choice, so apologies if some of the stats seem wonky. This should also work in B/X D&D.




The remainder of this post is designated Open Game Content as outlined in section 1(d) of the Open Game License.

When it is late at night and you find yourself still on the road, when the inn you had hoped to reach by sunset must be just over that next hill, when the waning moon's light is so weak as to render your map nigh unreadable, that is when the darkened traveler has you in his clutches. 

The Darkened Traveler
Name: Cobryn (men), Nondil (elves), Hoibur (dwarves), Bidgish (orcs)
Symbol: a swath of black with a meandering brown path from side to side
Alignment: Chaotic
Move: 180' (60')
Armor Class: 0
Hit Points (Hit Dice): 72 HP (12 HD)
Attacks: Special
Damage: Special
Save: T12
Morale:10
Hoard Class: XII
XP:2400

Cobryn, the darkened traveler, is the petty god of those who have become lost while traversing a road, searching for an inn or way-station late at night.  In his normal form, when he's actually seen in his normal form, he appears as a dark-skinned and dark-haired gnome frolicking amongst the trees and bushes along the road.

While in his domain, Cobryn is a master of mimicry and illusions.  Should he encounter those who fall under his purview (and he always seems to be around when that happens) he will silently watch, unseen, to get a feel for the party.  Should he react favorably towards them, he will mimic the sounds of a full tavern just up ahead and lead the party to their destination.

Should he react unfavorably towards them, Cobryn will summon into existence an illusory inn and lead the party into it.   Only a saving throw vs. spells with a -10 penalty will reveal the inn's true nature.  Once inside, the party will enjoy illusory drinks, eat illusory food, stay in illusory rooms, and wake up after a few hours sleep on the ground along the road, with 10% of their coinage gone.

Cobryn is not a combatant.  Should one of the party make their saving throw, reveal Cobryn for what he is, and initiate combat, he will use illusions to make good his escape.  However, with the party no longer under his purview, he can only use the Hallucinatory Terrain, Mirror Image, Phantasmal Force, Project Image, and Ventriloquism spells as written, each which he can use up to three times per day.  Should Cobryn be bested in combat, he will not die (after all, he is a god) but he will yield and offer up his collected coinage in exchange for his release.

Cobryn is exceedingly fond of food and drink, especially ales, meats, and cheeses. Should an offering be made to him as soon as the party realizes their situation, anywhere from a +2 (for a basic spread) to a +4 (for a full selection of meats, breads, and cheeses with ale, mead, or wine) bonus can be applied to the reaction roll (which means you'd subtract it from the die roll, making the reaction more favorable).

Reaction Table (2d6)

Roll	Reaction
2	Friendly: Cobryn uses mimicry to lead the party to the closest inn.
3-5	Indifferent: Cobryn uses mimicry to lead the party to the closest inn, but not directly.
6-8	Neutral: Cobryn watches the party but takes no action for or against them.
9-11	Unfriendly: Cobyrn "captures" the party in an illusory inn.
12	Hostile: Cobryn "captures" the party in an illusory inn and takes 20% of their coinage.