PLAYERS KIT: LEVEL UP YOUR SETUP
Written by: Attic Arcana Dice
When I began playing Dungeons and Dragons, I owned the 5th Edition Player’s Handbook, a printed-out character sheet, and a single set of black and white Chessex dice. My Dungeon Master owned a screen, a wet-erase map with some markers, and a copy of Waterdeep Dragonheist. I didn't even think of taking notes at the time (oh boy, did I learn my lesson!). We had a blast pretty much every session, and while that’s truly all you need, there is such an array of beautiful accessories you can get to bring your games to another level.
When reviewing this list, think about yourself as a player: adding accessories to a well-established foundation is the way to bring the best out of your buys. For example, will a beautiful notebook cover and a set of dice to match your character help your immersion, or are you more about organisation and everything having its place? These kinds of decisions will help you curate your purchases to suit your playstyle, rather than piling up pretty products that never make it to the table.
The following is a highlighted list of my favourite accessories, but they don’t have to be yours! Allow this article to be a look into my tabletop gaming ecosystem and a showcase of wonderful products available to the tabletop gamer!
Game Notebook or Note-Taking System
Having a comprehensive space for the compilation of notes is one of the best ways to engage in a campaign.
My personal Tome of Lore is a 7” x 9” disc-bound notebook system that I began with materials from The Rook and The Raven, who have since transitioned to A5 sizes, so to continue filling my pages, I buy my refills from CantripsMedia. Disc-bound journals allow for the easy addition, rearrangement, and removal of pages, and they come with several different templates. I love my notebook’s NPC tracker, combat stats sheet, and session-notes. This way, I keep track of all my session’s needs in one place. I also have a larger archival tome of all my previous games. Disc-bound systems also make it easier to change notebook size and expand as your campaign grows.
For those who don’t care for disc-bound systems, a variety of makers specialise in notebooks perfect for chronicling your games. The Tinkerporium carries a variety of class-themed gaming notebooks, such as this Paladin Character Creation notebook. Elm Rose Books crafts gorgeous and customised notebooks bound in wood-engraved covers, along with 5th Edition class notebooks. Sphinx Stationary stocks both a physical and digital Campaign Journal. Rogue and Bard carries a Player Starter Kit that has a character sheet and wet-erase combat tracker.
Dice
The crux of most tabletop games, and the weakness of many tabletop aficionados, dice collecting is a universal trope amongst many dedicated players. As a handmade maker (self-plug for Attic Arcana) and a perpetual dungeon master, I have collections of dice dedicated to campaigns I’ve run. Many players have dedicated sets for their favourite characters, or an entire palette matching their colour schemes.
Dice can be acquired in a great deal of places. Standard plastic sets can be bought in any game store (we recommend supporting your local game store!), while small creators offer a prolific portfolio of designs, shapes, and capabilities. The Tabletop Creator Hub boasts an incredible ninety-seven handmade dice makers in the creator directory (when filtering by Dice Handmade) all across the globe, so there's bound to be a maker to suit any style!
As a player, something to consider for a long-standing campaign is commissioning a dice maker to create a set that encapsulates your character, especially if you plan on playing this character for a while. You can reach out to any maker who takes commissions and have them create a custom set of dice just for you!
Dice Boxes and Rolling Trays
Tabletop-centric woodworking is my kryptonite. Anyone who works with wood has a skill that I wish I could master, and I am constantly in awe of this craft. Tabletop woodcraft has a wide-range of applications - from Dungeon Master screens, to dice boxes, towers, trays, and more. I keep collections of dice in vaults made by Ravenwood Woodworks, but the beauty of variety is that each wood worker provides different styles and customisations to suit a gamer’s needs.
If you collect gemstone or handmade dice, consider pairing your set with a handmade box to store or display. Four Score Woodwork has incredibly satisfying dice vaults, where each die gets a little home within a circular slot. The Alchemist Circle offers hex boxes with innovative interiors, as well as a coffin-shaped dice vault sure to add a creep factor to any horror game! Crit Craft offers full gaming vaults hosting dice, cards, and minis.
Dice trays are typically made to be a barrier between the table and die, especially if you’re using metal dice or fragile gemstone dice. They also prevent dice from rolling away! If you want to keep that rogue die in its place, many of these brands offer wooden and non-wooden trays. Dice trays are also a great visual accessory.; Trayed and Tested has a vibrant variety which, much like the dice rolled on them, can be customised to suit your character!
Dice Bags
I am a dice dragon (a step up from dice goblin), as I consider my dice hoard both prolific and beautiful. While I keep my special sets in wooden vaults, I need to keep the rest of my hoard somewhere (as opposed to in a deep cave lair). For this, I have multiple handmade dice bags!
Handmade dice bags are offered by a great number of creators on the Hub, which can be denoted by filtering the Creator Directory by “Dice Bag”. Dice Bags come in a variety of styles, from a draw-string single-pocket dice bag (such as this Plague Doctor one offered by Dragon Master’s Hoard), to large bags with pockets (such as these bags offered by The Sunflower Emporium). Want something with texture? Check out these crochet bags from Roll for Creativity.
Tabletop Bags
When I was running Curse of Strahd prior to the pandemic, we would play in our college’s science library on Saturdays at brunch. Because I'm unable to be subtle, I carried all of my materials in the Enhance Tabletop Bag. Even though I currently host at home, I still use the bag for on-the-go gaming, such as when I run one-shots at friends' houses.
Of course you can use any regular backpack to haul books, but this bag has a 16-slot mini compartment where I would carry my little zombie and skeleton armies for combat. If you’re gaming on-the-go, Enhance carries a range of tabletop messenger bags and shoulder bags.
That's all for our rundown on player kits, but I'll be back again to go over everything needed to kit your table out as a game master!
