How to Choose Your First Set of Dice
One of the questions we get asked all the time is, "What dice should I buy?" It's a fair question because if you've never played before, walking into a game store and finding yourself staring at a wall covered in hundreds of different dice can be a little overwhelming. There are glitter dice, metal dice, resin dice, sharp-edged dice, oversized dice and colours you didn't even know existed. Somehow they all look like the perfect choice.
The truth is, there isn't a perfect choice.
If you're just getting started, all you really need is a standard 7-piece polyhedral dice set. That one set will cover Dungeons & Dragons and most other fantasy roleplaying games, so don't feel like you need to spend a fortune or buy something exotic just because someone online says it's the "best."
The advice I usually give is very simple: buy the set you keep picking up.
I've watched people spend fifteen minutes trying to work out whether a wizard should have blue dice or if a rogue is somehow required to own black ones. My advice is to ignore all of that. If a set catches your eye and you can't stop looking at it, that's probably the one you should buy. You're going to spend hours rolling those dice, so you may as well enjoy seeing them tumble across the table.
The only thing I'd suggest paying attention to is how easy the numbers are to read. Some dice are absolutely beautiful, but they're also a wonderful example of form over function. If you have to squint every time you roll a d20, you'll quickly wish you'd chosen something a little less artistic. Trust me, your fellow players will appreciate it too when combat is moving along and nobody is waiting for you to work out whether you rolled a 6 or a 9.
People also ask whether they should buy acrylic, resin or metal dice. Honestly, there's no wrong answer. Acrylic dice are affordable, durable and have introduced generations of players to the hobby. Resin dice can be little works of art, while metal dice have a wonderfully satisfying weight to them, although your gaming table may have a very different opinion after the first enthusiastic roll.
One thing I can almost guarantee is that this won't be your only set. Every gamer starts by buying one set because they "need some dice." A few months later they're buying another because it matches their new character. Then they find a set with tiny dragons inside it, or one that changes colour in the light, and before long they're explaining to friends and family that owning twenty-three sets of dice is perfectly reasonable because "they all have different personalities." It happens to the best of us.
So if you're standing in front of a wall of dice wondering where to start, don't overthink it. Pick a standard 7-piece set that's easy to read, feels good in your hand and makes you smile. The rest of your collection will almost certainly take care of itself.
