Honest Dice

Dice sit at the center of tabletop RPGs and board games, and Honest Dice takes that role seriously. The Kickstarter project comes from Flying HorseDuck, whose real name is David, and it reworks his existing polyhedral dice designs in aluminum and titanium. According to the source, the campaign drew more than 2,000 backers and over $400,000, more than 40 times its goal.

Machined, not cast

Every die is cut on CNC machines, which the maker presents as a way to get crisper, smoother edges and more consistent shapes than casting or 3D printing allow. The broader idea is "honesty": the creator argues that some commercial dice suffer from uneven weight or skewed number placement, so Honest Dice analyzes the symmetry and balance of the numbering. On polyhedra such as the D20, each number is said to sit in an evenly distributed relationship with the others to reduce bias in results.

Design details

• Two materials: aluminum for lighter rolls and portability, titanium for heft and a more premium feel
• Hex d4: a new hexagon-based four-sided die the maker says improves readability, rolling and feel over the traditional pyramid d4
• Fonts and numeral placement chosen for quick reading, including in dim light
• Deeply engraved numbers intended to resist wear
• Finish options including polished and matte sandblasted, plus a storage case

The creator has also published explanations of the number layouts and balance theory behind the set, so backers can see the reasoning for why the dice are meant to be fair. According to the source, David has run several previous dice projects, and possible future directions mentioned include new die types, limited editions and community collaborations, though none of these are confirmed.