Top 5 Dungeons and Dragons Accessories

5. Dice Storage

Don’t worry, we’ll get to dice later on. But how do you transport your dice. For me that is a bit of an all over the place question. I have some special cases for the metal dice or the set I got through Awaken Realms. And I keep another set in a bag that it came in. But for the bulk of your dice, and yes you’ll probably have more, what do you keep them in.

There are the classic clothe bags that you can buy. I’ve seen bags for dice that look like monsters from Dungeons and Dragons. Or, what I did, was convert a box we got that looks like a treasure chest into my dice storage. Because, what is more of a treasure than a pile of dice that you can roll. And it’s cool to open up a treasure chest when I need to grab a handful of dice to roll.

4. DM Screen

Now this one is specific to the DM. That is why I thought it could make sense to do two lists. But so many of the others work for both. But the DM screen, whether it’s the Dungeons and Dragons official one or a awesome expandable wooden one that looks like a castle, that is up to you.

As a DM, I own a screen but I don’t use it all that often. So this is one of those really fancy extra things that you maybe or maybe don’t use. But I want it on the list because it can be very useful. I think the custom ones even more useful. Those often let you customize with whatever you want on there. So the information might be the NPCs that you’ve created, the random monsters for your campaign or some campaign notes. And you really can make it work for you that way.

3. Campaign Journal

I say journal but you can use whatever you want. This is somewhere to take your notes while playing Dungeons and Dragons. As the DM, you use it for combats and keeping track of hit points and whose turn it is. Or I also add in the characters who I come up with, which I need to do a better and more consistent job of than just putting down a name. As a player, it’s taking notes on what is happening in the campaign. It might even have a spot for your character sheet.

I like something that has removable sheets. For me I run a 3 hole binder with some dividers. Why, because I can run two games at once, if I wanted. Or there is space to workshop future ideas. I also bring that notebook along at times to take notes on board games that I play or things that have RPG like elements. But there are a lot of specific and custom ones out there for Dungeons and Dragons that are awesome.

2. Minis

How I run and play Dungeons and Dragons you don’t need minis. Is it a hobby that I’d love to get into, sure, but painting minis and building terrain and battle maps is either a lot of work or a lot of money. But when you can create your character in the game, it’s awesome. It is great to have a copy of what you look like.

And now with 3D printing you can get your character. You might buy the file from some website and print it yourself. Or you might pay them to print it. Hero Forge is one that I think of which has a ton of different things that you can customize to create your character. A tiefling sorcerer with the entertainer background, you can customize your character to that if you want. That is an awesome feature. And I’d love to get a map and terrain and have my players bring their characters. But it can be pricy, so that’s why I don’t have this accessory yet.

1. Dice

You need dice to play Dungeons and Dragons. Are they really accessories? I say yes, because I don’t need as many dice as I own. And I don’t need giant squishy dice. I don’t need metal dice, I don’t need silicon dice. I own all of them. Not because you really need more than a single set of dice and maybe some extra D6. But because they are fun to play around with.

I can walk into a game store and have no plan of buying any dice, but if there is an awesome set, I’ll add them to my collection. That is the pull of dice. Plus they are something that you need for Dungeons and Dragons, but not as many as you probably have. And certainly, for me, not as many as I own.

And there is more…

I didn’t want to overload the list. I mention some other things like terrain or battle maps. There are also digital battle maps that you can use. Or with dice, since dice can’t be the whole list, there are dice trays and towers that you can get and use. And there are life counters, and really so much more that you can mess around with in Dungeons and Dragons.

Do you have a favorite accessory that you like to bring to your game? For me, I love my dice the best, but if I could start to dive into it, painting minis and terrain and making some cool set pieces would be awesome for adding a bit of flair to my campaign.

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Dice Set – Now, I am going to primarily suggest that you get the normal 7 dice set which has a D20, D12, D10, D10 Percentile, D8, D6, and D4. These are the most common, and for games like D&D and Pathfinder. If you play other systems, you need to look at what dice those games use. The Fantasy Flight Star Wars RPG and Genesys use specific dice that you can use normal dice for, but having a couple of sets of those dice make the game easier for everyone as well.

Dice Tray/Dice Tower – These are not something that you need for playing an RPG, but they can be useful. Both of them are basically something that can add for rolling dice. It’s nice if you have a wood table or something like that to use a dice tray as they are often padded so it makes rolling dice less noisy. It also keeps an enthusiastic roller from rolling them off of the table. A dice tower doesn’t make it any quieter, but it does the rolling for you. And it’s kind of fun to hear or see it bonk down the dice tower until it’s rolled.

The Core D&D Books – This is for someone who is getting into RPG’s and wants to run a game, the core D&D books are going to be great for getting them up and running. You get the Players Handbook, Monster Manual, and Dungeon Master’s Guide. That’s enough to run as many games of D&D as you want. It’s possible that they already have some of them, but you can buy them separately or as a bundle. If they don’t have them, the bundles sometimes have cool covers. I wouldn’t spring this on someone who hasn’t expressed any interest in DM’ing though, because they might feel like you’re pressuring them into DM’ing.

Adventure Modules – Now, it might be that you have someone who likes D&D plays, as a player, fairly often, but is intimidated by running their own game from scratch. This is where you can use the adventure modules. The starter kit would be a great one to get them, but there are a lot of other adventures. Curse of Strahd is generally the best received one, and while I didn’t have the best time running it, I think that it is put together well and that my issue was more the group than it was the module itself. But you have a ton to choose from, so if you want dragons, you can get that, demons you can get that, or giants, that’s out there as well. This is where I’d encourage someone who likes D&D a lot to maybe thing about DM’ing by giving them an adventure module.

DM Screen – This one is definitely for the person who is the DM in you game, otherwise there’s no real need for it, but if they have a makeshift DM screen, get them an official one or a cool one off of Etsy. The basic one from Dungeons and Dragons/Wizards of the Coast is fine, and I have it and I like it, but there are some custom CNC cut wood ones that are amazing out there and if you want to bling out your game, a custom DM screen, some with built in dice towers, but those tend to be a bunch spendier.

Adventure Zone Comic Books – What, this isn’t an RPG, no, but it’s RPG related, and with all the RPG podcast information out there, and all the people who are doing them, even me for a while. But this takes one of the actual play podcasts that is extremely popular and turns it into a comic. Definitely good for someone who likes the podcast and got into D&D because of the podcast, or just loves the podcast. I’ve looked a little bit at the books, but the artwork is nice, and definitely looks like a fun time.

Legacy of Dragonholt – This is often put into an area between choose your own adventure and RPG and board game, but I think that it’d scratch the itch for people who like the ideas of RPG’s but aren’t ready to make the leap. The character creation is simple, the role playing piece is low in it, but it’s story driven, and you have a character that can do things. It works simply on you either being able to do something or not. It is also a game that can be played solo, so if there is someone in your life who doesn’t have a group or who can’t play as often as they would want, this would be a solid option as well, though, a serious min/maxing player will find this way to light.

There’s so much more out there. There are a lot of indie RPG’s that people can check out as well that give you more specific settings than fantasy. And I talked only about the basic Dungeons and Dragons books and adventures, but there are other books that add in more monsters, more character options and many other things. Overall, there is a ton out there for RPG’s right now, and it’s a hobby that is growing still, which is cool. If you have someone who you think might like an RPG, you can also just give the gift of running a game for them, maybe you have a relative who they are their friends want to try and RPG, but none of them want to run it, you can give the gift of running a few sessions.

What would you want for your pen and paper RPG collection? Is there something on the list that looks really cool?

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