Welcome back to 3rd World Gaming, a little series dedicated to gaming cheaper, without sacrificing fun. Being a resident of the Philippines tends to reduce your options when it comes to buying RPG related stuff to pretty much nothing. There’s only one store that actually has an active RPG inventory (hint: it’s not the one with the WotC distributor’s license!) and even that store doesn’t really carry corebooks on stock in a regular basis.
Because of this, it’s not surprising that Roleplaying games, and their materials are extremely rare, and likewise prohibitively expensive. So, in the spirit of frugality, here are a few things I’ve been making and doing to save on cash.
Make your own Dice Tray
Dice trays are neat to have. They make sure that dice don’t roll off the edge of the table and underneath a sofa, resulting in wasted time and the occasional dice lost to the void. However, dice trays aren’t that common here in the Philippines, as my girlfriend and I have realized after several weeks of trying to hunt one down, so we’ve decided to make it a simple arts and crafts project.
All you’ll need are:
- An old, tupperware or microwavable plastic container (rounded would be good, though rectangles are fine. If it has a nice tight-fitting lid, then that’s even better.)
- Some craft glue, and
- Some felt paper to line it.
A little bit of elbow grease is all you need to make this work. Lining the inside surface of the container with felt should serve to reduce the amount of bouncing around inside, and with a wide enough container (say 8″ in diameter) it should work just as well as any other dice tray in the market, and you don’t even need to know any form of carpentry to do it. And when the game’s over, you can keep the dice inside, just put on the lid and slip it into your backpack.
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My girlfriend and I have been thinking up of all sorts of ways to save on cash without sacrificing the quality of the game, At the moment we’ve got the following topic lines up and I’m hoping for some feedback on what else you guys would like to read about:
- DIY Gaming Supplies
- Alternative uses for old toys
- Pooling Resources, a shared library and common pool of dice
- Finding the right public venue for a game
- PDF or Hardcopies, which do you really need?
- Out of the basement and into the light
We’re very interested to hear about what you’d like to see more of. Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email over at pointyman2000 -at- gmail -dot- com with your suggestions.
You have my sincere backing on this issue, I live in Argentina and while our situation is not so devoid of gaming goodness it is still financially challenging to support the hobby.
I will probably try to add a few ideas to this and of course link back to this place, which you could very well use as a place holder for all the “Home Improvement” knowledge of DYI RPG implements.
Been a pleasure,
Fred.
Thanks, Fred!
I’d be very glad to hear any and all ideas on how to better ease the financial load of our hobby, and I’m looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
This is a very interesting topic! I’m also facing the same situation as you are in terms of gaming supplies!
Everything has to be DIY. My main problem now is mostly battlemats and minis (which I’m thinking of turning them into counters). But I would like to know and hear what you have to say about every other gaming supply alternatives that you have.
I would say that from your list, my priorities would be DIY gaming supplies, PDF or hardcopies and finding the right public venue, in that order.
Also, maybe for the benefit for the uninitiated (like me) pictures/photos would help!
The Best Dice Tray Ever?
A Porcelain Bowl. ¦D
Suggestion:
Home made D20s. I remember seeing one made by the engineering students back in college. It was made of out cardboard and it was the size of a golf ball.
You can also opt to programing or downloading a good dice rolling program.
http://3d2f.com/tags/d10/dice/roller/
This is an excellent series! While I don’t have the problems finding gaming supplies, I really enjoy having tools that are homemade and not found in stores.
Not only does it save you some $$, but you’re guaranteed to have something at the table that no one else does. Lastly, if you make the item yourself, you can customize and add options that aren’t available from store bought ones.
Hey Czar!
Yeah, there’s a certain kind of pride of craftsmanship going on when you make something yourself. If I remember right the first dice tower was just something someone put together for kicks with a bit of carpentry know-how.
I just bought a wooden bowl. Worked for me.
…ecxept it’s now known as the “Death Bowl,” since most players roll low in it. Ah well.
Hey Brent,
Yeah, wooden, flat bottomed bowls are a good substitute too. I just like the felt as a personal preference, possibly to provide better contrast against the dice.
It’s really interesting how gaming groups naturally create gamer superstition based on dice. Might actually be worth writing an article about later.
the bowl of death… good one lol
yeah now we also have the bowl of death, a very sturdy wooden bowl… to whack players in the head to keep em in line
I support all your future articles. I look forward to reading all your current one’s all the time.
good article, jay. the last time i was able to play, i used a rectangular biscuit tin as a dice tray. i’ll try lining it with felt to keep the dice bouncing back out — that was our main problem with it.
another good prop to have: a covered bowl in which to keep tokens.
Hey Dariel!
It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you, how are things on your end? Glad you like the blog, man. I’m having a blast writing for it.
hey jay,
yup, been absent from the gaming world for a while. really busy ever since i returned to my old loves of photography and writing.
please link to my site http://madmanscave.blogspot.com. am linking to yours now.
I think that a pretty cheap way to simulate a game mat would be by using a chess/checkers board, you can even use the pieces to represent the players! and if it is one of the laminated kinds, you can even use dry erase markers. another option would be to use graphing paper as a disposable option