Frugal GM Review: Dice Tray and Dice Cup from Easy Roller Dice Co.

This week's Frugal GM review is a bit of a twofer because I'm reviewing two separate products that just seem like they belong together. I'm still working on the small treasure trove of review material I received from Easy Roller Dice Co.

The first item is the P/U Leather Dice Cup. I have no clue what "P/U" stands for, but the cup is on sale for $12.95 on the Easy Roller Dice Co. website, but $1 cheaper from them on Amazon. I'll get back to this....

The other item is the Dice Tray, which is only available on Amazon right now. I'm told they put up new items on Amazon to see how they are received before stocking their own website.

Neither of these items are something the average gamer "needs", but I'm willing to bet there are quite a few occasions that they come in damned useful. You know that guy (there is always "that guy" somewhere in everybody's history) who likes to palm the dice to tweak a result or is always rolling their dice and if they get a good result, no matter where it lands, they try to pass it off as their next result?

Using a dice cup and a DRZ (designated rolling zone) can cut down on a lot of problems.

A Quick Update

You might have noticed that this week is a little sparse on posts......

This is because I'm working a lot this week and my free time is prepping for North Texas RPG. Thanks to the generosity of Tenkar's Tavern I'm getting 1/2 of a dealer's table at the Tavern's room.

I'm printing up the game aids I've made over the last couple years and trying to tweak some things into a new format. I also have to prep some reviews and posts while I'm gone in case I cannot find the time while there.

I also have a few "special projects" I'm working on, mostly gifts for some of the community. I'm planning on having some freebies to give away at the con and I need to finish those up as well.

This morning I received a request to pimp someone else's Patreon campaign. That really isn't my thing, but if it is something I'd contribute to personally that is a whole different deal. This morning I did add The Forge Studios to the +12 Links of Helpfulness page. I'm pretty sure I've reviewed some of their product in the past (yes, I'm too lazy to look that up), and I know for certain I have some of their product in my DTRPG wishlist.

What took the request from "screw that" to "sure thing" was that I dig not only their cool black & white maps, but that they often include 1st person view illustrations of map locations. Being able to describe a location in-game is one thing, but having a graphic to show the group takes it to a whole different level....

.....yeah, I had to get in on that campaign. It puts me over my budgeted monthly Patreon support, but I think I'd regret not partaking in this one.

Frugal GM Review: Easy Dice Roller Co 105 ct Bulk Dice

About two weeks ago I was contacted by Michael over at Easy Roller Dice Co. about reviewing some of their product. I made sure they knew about the 1st two rules I had about reviews, which I should really put down on a page for posterity, and asked them to send me "something" instead of me cherry-picking product.

I get enough of that when I'm paying for review product, which inevitably skews my reviews in a favorable manner.

I was surprised when a much-larger-than-expected package arrived with enough stuff for three reviews. I did my customary quick glance at everything and figured I'd start from what I assumed (based on that initial glance) would be the worst of the lot and work my way up.

Free GM Resource: Grey Tower Games YouTube Channel

This week's Free GM Resource is another YouTube channel. You'd think I'd be sick of these by now, but I keep stumbling across interesting RPG terrain builders...

Grey Tower Games is a "newer" channel that has, at the time of this post, fewer than 400 subscribers. That isn't a lot, especially when compared to the other channels I've posted as resources.

What I really liked about GTG is that these builds generally tackle terrain building from a completely different perspective. Instead of heavy use of cheap foam core and lots of hot glue gun action, there is a lot of sculpy and modeling clay. I like being able to add a few new ideas to the table, and I think those of us who make terrain for their games will like Grey Tower Games as well.

FGM042: The Invasive Invertebrates Available now as PWYW

It is late (or early, depending on your interpretation), but I wanted to post about the finished Tweak & Toss OSR Adventure Seed called "The Invasive Invertebrates".

Unlike some of the other Tweak & Toss offerings, this one is a bit more subtle/in the background. I could see a GM using this to highlight a Druid PC or just letting things go on in the background. This little thing, left unchecked, can change the entire structure of the region and cause all sorts of interesting complications....an enterprising GM may wish to keep the name of this Tweak & Toss away from the players....

The Invasive Invertebrates is available as a PWYW product on DriveThruRPG (and other OBS sites). To go to the appropriate page, click on either graphic for this post or use this link.

A Little Tweak & Toss Bonus Content Available Over at Patreon (for free)

Even though I haven't finished my latest Tweak & Toss (actually I've barley started...) I decided to do a little bit of bonus content in the form of a one-page "Ecology of" article.

This is the Ecology of the Carnivorous Clam, which is almost a throw-away creature. Sure it could do some damage to a party in the right setting, but then so can everything else. This is a background creature central to what will be FGM042: The Invasive Invertebrate.

I was inspired by the scourge that is the Zebra Mussel, but put some spin on it, adding a couple of features not present in "real" mussels.

This bit of an extra "thing" is available over at my Patreon campaign. You don't have to be a supporter to download this and I won't be throwing it up over at DTRPG. Click on either graphic in this post or use this link.

Free GM Resource of the Week: Dungeons & Gluesticks

This week's Free GM Resource is another cool terrain-building YouTube channel called Dungeons & Gluesticks.

I heard about this channel last week and I've watched some of the videos.....some pretty cool stuff there.

Even if you aren't into making tabletop terrain...I've made some in the past but haven't broken out the glue gun in years....the videos are enjoyable to watch.

Well, at least I enjoy them.

Fat Dragon Game's Deluxe Edition Dragonshire is the Deal of the Day!

I just found out that Fat Dragon Games is having a HUGE (as the Deal of the Day) sale on one of their more popular offerings. Last time it was 50% off of an array of paper terrain models, but this time it is 70% off of the Deluxe Edition of Dragonshire.

If you have any interest in making cool paper models for your game, you want to check out this sale!