[TSoY] Making Fudge Dice

[Clay]

I recently made a set of dice to give to a friend when I gave him TSoY for Christmas.  I cut them from some scrap ash that I had kicking around, hand painted the markings, and sealed them with a clear spray enamel.  While they're pretty cool, the hand-painted markings don't give them as polished a look as I would like.  Sadly, purchasing fudge dice in my area isn't an option.

Does anybody here have any advice for homemade fudge dice?  I've considered picking up a set of metal stamps that Harbor Freight is selling for $20.  The indentation could then be painted and the surface sanded to deal with any slips (also, because my saws weren't intended for fine work, to make the surface smooth).

I tried the Sparks fudge dice, and they're definitely cool as a novelty item, but won't survive in a game bag.  They're also tedious as hell to produce, especially given that I might need a couple dozen to get through a game unless we want to be sharing dice around.

[Vaxalon]

Go buy some cheap dice at a toy store.  If they're cheap enough, the pips won't be dug in, they'll just be painted on.  Then you can paint your own symbols on them in enamels.  As long as you don't put the paint on too thick, it'll wear like iron.

And dude... you can order fudge dice over the internet.

[Twobirds]

I have no idea if this would work, but you could just try chiseling your own indentations for the marks.  I don't know much about woodworking, but in metalworking, you can use masonry nails (available at your hardware store for a buck or two) and filing down the ends - which are larger and flatter than wood nails to begin with - to make little awls, if you don't have any tiny ones to begin with.  If you're gentle and patient it usually comes out pretty nice.

Wikipedia is telling me ash is pretty elastic, so maybe not - worth a shot, though, if you have the time for it.

(Now I want to make Fudge dice from the metal scrap in my lab.)

[Clay]

The tiny awl technique could be good for low volumes.  I was thinking that it would be cool to have all of my dice at the table to be hand made, and doing that for a couple of dozen seems tedious.  To fill in the gaps in your information on materials, ash is hard as hell and not easily cut by cheap tools.  If I hadn't borrowed a very heavy carbide blade from my dad I wouldn't be doing this at all.

If I switch to a softer wood like maple I can probably wood burn the marks in, but I was warned that wood burning on ash is an exercise in patience.  Maple won't be trivial, but probably loads of fun by comparison.  Since a suitable wood burning tool for fudge markings is indistinguishable from a soldering iron I thought it might be an option.  For that matter, the tip of a screwdriver heated in a torch flame is probably suitable.

As to ordering them over the internet, it is possible in theory.  But Warehouse 23 is perpetually out of stock, and I'm distrustful of the other sources if Grey Ghost's official distribution site doesn't have them.

[Judd]

I made some dollar store Fudge dice.

I got a pack of dollar store d6's, some round stickers and put the stickers on the d6's.  Then I drew the +'s and -'s  right on.

We'll see how they work.  They sure are ugly.

[Brian Newman]

How much does a Sharpie cost?  You can make your own easily with that (and some six-sided dice).

If you have an inkjet printer, you can get some full-sheet labels, lay out die faces in your favorite DTP program, print them out, cut them out, and apply them.  That way, the die faces can be as pretty or as customized as you want them to be.

[Bankuei]

I used a Sharpie on 6-siders, and they look pretty enough, though you'll want to spray them over with some kind of fixative, even months after drying the ink can rub off, despite "permanency" of the marker.

Chris

[Chris Peterson]

Jonathan Walton has already spent WAY too much time thinking about Fudge dice. He has some good suggestions on how best to convert d6 into "dF".

http://www.fudgefactor.org/2001/12/01/babys_first_fudge_dice.html

[John Harper]

I've always liked Jonathan's "pip dice + sharpie" method because it's so damn clever.

Then again, nothing beats the real thing. And the multi-color GM pack just says "TSOY" to me. Pink, purple, teal, yellow, and brown. Groovy.

http://www.pen-paper.rpgshop.com/default.php?cPath=_30_316&

You can get the standard pack online, too (white, blue, red, and beige). 12 bucks.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Clay,

To make dice for The World, the Flesh, and the Devil, I used wooden cubes from the craft store, clear Avery address labels, and clear acrylic matte spray finish for the top coat. The clear pieces of address label with the pluses and minuses were invisible under the clear top coat.

Thread here.

Paul

[Brian Newman]

Thread here.

Interesting.  Is there a new server where those files referenced in that thread can be found?

[Clay]

Oaky, I finally broke down and bought a couple of sets of fudge dice.  The bright pack is without a doubt very cool for keeping the tone, and I liked the faint marbeling effect. 

I haven't given up on making my own dice though.  I have to build a new table for my table saw and buy a better motor (something I needed to do anyway).  Then I'm going to try using a punch to relieve the surface, hopefully without at the same time splitting the wood.  If it works out for me I'll post pics for people to see.

[Judd]

I bought a bunch of wooden cubes from the local craft store and a silver paint pen made to write on wood.

I need a stencil or osmething, I really butchered my first two attempts.

Or I could, as my girlfriend suggested, put tape in the shape of a plus and minus sign and paint the rest of the die.

We'll see.

[Paul Czege]

Hey Brian,

Since Ben Morgan's ad1066 site seems to be down, I've loaded the World, the Flesh, and the Devil truetype font here.

Paul

[Clay]

Paul,

I don't know those fonts are what you meant to put out there.  Windows XP refused to open the file you had.  Possibly they're Mac fonts, or the copy you put out was corrupted?