Hello all. I need to put together some 'custom' dice for a game prototype and thought I'd ask the experts for some advice. I'd like to assemble 3 to 4 prototypes and each copy will include 18 dice in 3 different colors (red, yellow, white) for a total of 54 dice / copy. The dice can be 8mm or 12mm 6 siders with an equal distribution of 1-3 (1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3).
I've looked at some custom dice manufacturers (eg, Chessex) and it looks like each die will cost $0.60 - $1.00 ea (USD). That's more than I'd like to spend since I'll be buying 162 or 216 dice total for 3-4 prototypes. So, finally, here's the question. Do I have to buy custom dice? This seems like a fairly common die for gaming, although admittedly I can't think of any games offhand that use them. Does anyone know where I can buy these stock?
I realize that there are other options (eg, buying blank dice and adding stickers), but I'd prefer to avoid crafting them myself if possible.
I should add that I don't care if the dice have pips or numbers on them.
Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks Quest. I considered that, but I can't make it work well with the key mechanic.
The theme is essentially mining and set collection. It's beneficial to collect dice of the same numerical value and color. On your turn you roll 4 randomly selected dice and may load any or all on your cart. Your cart size is limited to 6 dice however, so you must choose which dice to load and which to leave in front of you. The dice left in front of you are 'exposed ore' and, although they may not benefit you, they may benefit another player's set and that other player may choose to mine your 'exposed ore' in lieu of his own. The key is deciding if you want to load less useful dice on your cart or leave them exposed for an opponent.
The game currently supports 2-5 players. I could reduce the number of players to 4 and reduce the number of dice, but there's still going to be a lot of dice I'm afraid.