This Beautiful Dice Box Brings Organizational Bliss to DnD Gaming Sessions
Mr. Volt built this awesome DnD dice box for Crescent Shay.
Tabletop roleplaying games, like Dungeons & Dragons, are popular because of the immersive storytelling, the social camaraderie, and the unparalleled gameplay freedom. Also, the dice. DnD gaming requires several dice to suit all of the situational mechanics, so players naturally end up with a substantial collection of them. Those become prized possessions, with styles and materials to suit every possible taste. While one could throw those in any old sack, they deserve more. That’s why Mr. Volt built this beautiful dice box that doubles as a dice tower.
Mr. Volt built this dice box for fellow YouTuber Crescent Shay as part of the famous YouTube Secret Santa gift exchange. Mr. Volt just happens to DM the DnD games that Shay plays and this dice box was an obvious gift choice. He wanted it to hold and display a standard set of dice in an aesthetically pleasing way, while also ensuring that those dice never go careening off the table following a vigorous roll.
He accomplished the latter feat in two ways. The first is a folding dice tower for physical rolls. The second is an “infinite dice” feature, which is a digital dice-roller that Shay can use if her wrists start feeling achy during a long gaming session.
The dice box is a 3D-printed black disc-like shape that resembles an undersized Roomba. Compartments on the side slide out to reveal the dice nestled in little pockets. The dice that Mr. Volt included are translucent and RGB LEDs in the pockets shine through them, creating a really nice glowing effect. A lid on the top flips up and becomes the dice tower. It has a chute that tosses the dice around as they roll through.
Opening the lid also makes a special interior pocket available where Shay can place a die that will glow. If she likes, she can utilize the digital dice roller. A Teensy 3.5 development board handles that functionality, displaying the results on a neat round LCD and accepting input through a pair of rotary encoders. The Teensy also controls the LEDs, as well as sound effects played through a small DAC and amplifier module. The Teensy 3.5 has a built-in micro SD card slot that was perfect for storing the sound effects clips.
Shay has already made her own Secret Santa video in which she opens Mr. Volts gift and it is clear that she loves the dice box. Who could blame her? It is awesome.