Q-Workshop announced today new changes in its manufacturing, design, and pricing of its dice sets. To celebrate these recent changes, Q-Workshop sent sets of their new Classic Elven, Forest, and Celtic 3D dice for review.
To start with, here's a bullet list of the changes copied from the Q-Workshop web site and their humorous promotional YouTube video.
- NEW CHEAP CLASSIC RPG DICE SETS
- NEW PREMIUM 3D DICE
- NEW DELUXE METAL DICE
- NEW BOX PACKAGING
- NEW LOWER PRICES FOR OLDER MODELS
That last point has me really curious and excited. If this is true, I'm hoping we'll see a lower price on the Call of Cthulhu set which I've been wanting for a long while for use with my Savage Worlds Wild Die in a Realms of Cthulhu game!
Classic Elven Dice
The Classic Elven Dice, which cost only $4.95, are the new baseline dice available from Q-Workshop. They are a low-cost alternative to plain dice from competing manufacturers. The set I recieved are translucent with red and blue ink. The blue ink is actually a backing to the red ink that is painted into the etchings on the surface.
The translucent color is a bit smoky, concealing just enough of the blue ink to keep it from making the dice hard to read. The blue ink also provides a contrast to the red surface ink so as not to create more visual noise when reading the die.
Forest Dice
The new Forest Dice, priced at $16, offer a rich, complex design that evokes a feeling that these dice were created by wood elves or Oalian himself. They are also among the first sets of dice to feature Q-Workshop's new packaging.
When I first set eyes on these dice, I hated them. They seemed too busy, and too difficult to read. I couldn't help but ask, "When will Q-Workshop learn?", but then I actually used them, which changed my mind entirely.
While they might seem busy to the eye, they are actually not difficult to read at all when you actually use them. It didn't take any longer than usual to actually read any result on a die roll. Oddly, I kept trying to convince myself that the design was too busy to read the result, but I honestly couldn't complain about any such difficulty.
Celtic 3D Dice
Anyone who has followed Q-Workshop for sometime might already be aware of their Celtic Dice, but the Celtic 3D Dice are completely different. These dice, which have a $16 price tag, use Q-Workshop's reversed etching process and feature a much more complex yet clean design. Of the three sets sent, these are by far my favorite. They look great and are easy to read.
Conclusion
With these recent changes and new designs, it seems Q-Workshop is responding to customer demands for lower prices and better visibility. I can honestly say that they are heading in the right direction with their efforts. The only thing that might seem cumbersome about these dice is recognizing the font used for the digits (e.g. - the 2 on the Classic Elven Dice), but that's a very small hurdle that's easily overcome after you've actually used the dice at least once. If you haven't already, I strongly suggest taking a look at the Picasa Web Albums for each set of dice above. The images have high resolutions and really bring out the details in the designs; some I didn't even notice until I looked at the photos on my screen!
Update: Q-Workshop recently uploaded a new YouTube video titled "Making of Q-workshop STRIKE movie" giving a behind the scenes look at the fun they had making the video above.
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