Remember those D20s from Basic D&D?

[LordMortis]

And how they were unrecognizable as dice in about a year?

QA needed to look at a 2000 year old d20 in better shape than an early 80s d20 to figure things out.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-575 ... s-of-time/" target="_blank

[Pyperkub]

That is awesome. Gygax must have made his saving throw vs. death back then...

[TiLT]

And how they were unrecognizable as dice in about a year?

Say what? Do people have dice that deteriorate? I still have my first set that I bought nearly 20 years ago, and it looks good as new. Well okay, it looks like crap, but that's merely because of the color choices, not because of wear and tear.

[IceBear]

All mine except the one that came in the red box (got that in the early 80s) that you had to color in the numbers with a crayon are fine. That one, however, is pretty bad...the edges are pretty worn and it will roll and roll and roll like a ball before stopping - though it does seem to come up 20 more than my other dice so I've kept it

[LordMortis]

And how they were unrecognizable as dice in about a year?

Say what? Do people have dice that deteriorate? I still have my first set that I bought nearly 20 years ago, and it looks good as new. Well okay, it looks like crap, but that's merely because of the color choices, not because of wear and tear.

My first sets of dice were from over 30 years ago and edges rounded and the plastic lightened and the grooves you had to crayon in wore away fast Just a year or two later in Top Secret, etc... the dice included, always seemingly with or pink d20 had numbers that were inked but not into groove and the ink just wore off while the edges rounded, etc...

[IceBear]

Yeah, I think those original dice from the early 80s were bad, but I believe those were quickly replaced with better manufactured ones. I was in a remote area so couldn't get more dice until the late 80s / early 90s and those didn't need a crayon to fill in the numbers. Those dice are still good

[Blackhawk]

Those original dice were made of horribly soft plastic. I've still got a couple somewhere.

Not mine, but illustrative:

[TheMix]

I may have had those exact ones.

At least, I know I have a yellow 4 and an orange 6.

Not so sure about the other two though.

[hentzau]

I'll try and dig out my original D20 sometime soon. It's almost like a marble.

[Smoove_B]

Yeah, I was going to say the same thing. My original powder-blue red box D20 is smooth as hell.

[Archinerd]

I spent way more time drawing on graph paper than rolling dice when I "played" D&D. My d20's still look pretty good.

[killbot737]

My basic set came with yellow dice and a white crayon. WTF? I colored them in with a mechanical pencil instead. You'd think I would have grown out of crayons by then, but I also own an expertly colored Monster Manual using markers, colored pencil and crayons. The Quasit and Troll were always my favorites.

[hentzau]

You never forget your first...

[Zurai]

Incidentally, the only reason greataxes deal 1d12 damage is that the company that supplied Gygax and Arneson with the dice for the very first boxed sets would only supply full sets of dice, 4 sided to 20 sided. They had to take the 12 sided dice, so they figured they might as well use it.

[LordMortis]

My basic set came with yellow dice and a white crayon. WTF? I colored them in with a mechanical pencil instead. You'd think I would have grown out of crayons by then, but I also own an expertly colored Monster Manual using markers, colored pencil and crayons. The Quasit and Troll were always my favorites.

The idea was that crayons were simple. You'd clumsily fill in the grooves by rubbing the whole surface really hard and then you'd remove the excess with a paper towel.

I couldn't imagine damaging my books by coloring them in. And yet the spines were destroyed on every single one of my AD&D books.

[killbot737]

I just meant there was barely any contrast. You'd think they'd pack a dark colored crayon instead. <shakes dice bag!>

[LordMortis]

I just meant there was barely any contrast. You'd think they'd pack a dark colored crayon instead. <shakes dice bag!>

My Basic set got a yellow crayon with red dice and my expert set got a white crayon with blue dice. Top Secret, Gamma World, etc... all came with numbers painted on D10/D20s.

[RuperT]

Incidentally, the only reason greataxes deal 1d12 damage is that the company that supplied Gygax and Arneson with the dice for the very first boxed sets would only supply full sets of dice, 4 sided to 20 sided. They had to take the 12 sided dice, so they figured they might as well use it.

I called 20 sided dice dodecahedrons for 20 years, until I ran into the right toponerd.

[$iljanus]

You never forget your first...

I have fond memories of that die. And bad memories of failed saves.

[Holman]

My basic set came with yellow dice and a white crayon. WTF? I colored them in with a mechanical pencil instead. You'd think I would have grown out of crayons by then, but I also own an expertly colored Monster Manual using markers, colored pencil and crayons. The Quasit and Troll were always my favorites.

Page 18 was my favorite.

[killbot737]

My basic set came with yellow dice and a white crayon. WTF? I colored them in with a mechanical pencil instead. You'd think I would have grown out of crayons by then, but I also own an expertly colored Monster Manual using markers, colored pencil and crayons. The Quasit and Troll were always my favorites.

Page 18 was my favorite.

I don't even have to open the book to know what you are referring to.

[silverjon]

(I am missing the joke )

[Isgrimnur]

My guess is either demons or breasts.

[Blackhawk]

My guess is either demons or breasts.

My guess is both.

[LawBeefaroni]

And how they were unrecognizable as dice in about a year?

QA needed to look at a 2000 year old d20 in better shape than an early 80s d20 to figure things out.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-575 ... s-of-time/" target="_blank

They didn't all hold up so well.




FWIW, I have the red ones in pretty much perfect condition. Never used them, replaced them with a new set since I didn't know what the crayon was for and they seemed too hard to read.

[Rip]

I wonder what the weight difference is between different color crayons?

[Holman]

My guess is either demons or breasts.

My guess is both.

Yep. The Succubus in the original Monster Manual is obviously just a traced Playmate with wings and fangs added on. This was quite a discovery at age 12.

Remember, we didn't have the internet back then.

[LawBeefaroni]

My guess is either demons or breasts.

My guess is both.

Yep. The Succubus in the original Monster Manual is obviously just a traced Playmate with wings and fangs added on. This was quite a discovery at age 12.

Remember, we didn't have the internet back then.

There was ASCII "art" on the BBS though.

[hentzau]

I was looking more closely at the D20 that I pictured above last night, and was really surprised by the shoddiness of the manufacture, not even counting on the the lousy quality of plastic the dice was made from. The 0 spot that I colored in black (to indicate it was a 20) is extremely concave, and the 0 on the opposite side is just as convex as the other side is concave. No wonder I never rolled any 20's on that freaking die!