Dice & Gear
Dice Materials Compared - Resin, Metal, Stone & More
For everyday play, acrylic and resin dice are the right call: cheap, durable, and kind to tables. Metal dice are worth it when you want heft and permanence (with a dice tray). Stone, glass, and wood are display-grade materials you buy for love, not utility. Here's how the materials actually compare once they hit the table.
The quick comparison
| Material | Typical price (7-die set) | Feel & sound | Durability | Table-safe? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acrylic | $5–15 | Light, clattery | Very high | Yes |
| Resin | $10–60 | Light-medium, softer sound | High (sharp edges chip) | Yes |
| Metal | $25–50 | Heavy, authoritative thunk | Extremely high | Needs a tray |
| Gemstone / semi-precious | $40–120 | Cool, dense, smooth | Brittle; can crack | Needs a padded tray |
| Glass | $30–80 | Cold, glassy | Brittle | Needs a padded tray |
| Wood | $15–40 | Warm, very light, quiet | Medium (dents, moisture) | Yes |
Acrylic: the workhorse
Nearly every set that ships with a starter box is acrylic: mass-produced, tumbled smooth, practically indestructible. Colors and effects (swirls, glitter, layers) are endless because the material is so cheap to work with.
Get acrylic when: you're starting out, building a loaner pile for your table, or buying your first-session kit. There is no shame in acrylic; most dice on most tables in most game stores are acrylic.
Resin: where the pretty dice live
Resin is acrylic's artisan cousin: slightly softer material that takes inclusions beautifully. Flowers, foil, skulls, liquid cores, whole tiny dioramas. This is also where sharp-edge dice live: hand-poured, unmachined edges that look stunning and roll with a short, decisive tumble rather than a long scatter.
Two honest cautions. Sharp edges chip if they hit hard surfaces, so they want a tray. And handmade resin varies in quality; bubbles near a face can affect balance (see the FAQ on testing balance below).
Metal: the heirloom option
Metal dice are usually zinc alloy with a plated or enameled finish, and the first thing anyone notices is the weight. A full set has real heft, and a d20 lands with a thunk instead of a skitter. They essentially never wear out, numbers stay crisp, and the machining makes them consistently well balanced.
The weight is also the caveat: metal dice will dent wooden tables, chip glass ones, and gradually destroy other dice if stored loose together. The real cost of metal dice is the dice tray you should buy with them. Rolled into a tray, they're arguably the best-feeling dice you can own.
Stone, gemstone, and glass: display grade
Amethyst, obsidian, jasper, hematite, glass with dichroic finishes: this is jewelry that happens to be polyhedral. Dense, cold, beautiful, and genuinely brittle: a bad bounce off a hardwood floor can crack a $90 set. Owners roll them in padded trays and mostly display them between sessions.
Buy them as a gift, a campaign-ending treat, or a centerpiece, not as your everyday rollers.
Wood: the quiet ones
Wooden dice are featherweight, warm to the touch, and nearly silent. That makes them genuinely great for late-night sessions or players who find dice clatter overstimulating. Numbers are usually engraved and painted or laser-burned. They dent rather than chip and don't love moisture.
So which should you actually buy?
- Brand new player: one acrylic set, $10. Spend the rest on snacks for the table.
- Regular player, first upgrade: a resin set you love the look of, or a second acrylic set so you're never short on d6s.
- The "I've earned this" purchase: metal, plus a tray.
- Gift for a dice person: stone or sharp-edge resin, the sets they can't justify buying themselves.
Frequently asked questions
Are metal dice worth it?
If you play regularly and enjoy the ritual of rolling, yes. They're balanced, permanent, and feel fantastic. Budget for a dice tray at the same time, or your table (and your other dice) will pay the difference.
Do heavier dice roll better numbers?
No. Weight changes how a die feels and sounds, not its probabilities. A balanced $8 acrylic d20 and a balanced $50 metal d20 produce the same distribution.
How can I tell if a die is balanced?
The classic check is the salt-water float test: dissolve enough salt (or epsom salt) in warm water that the die floats, then flick it repeatedly. If the same face keeps surfacing, the die is weighted toward the opposite side. Machined metal and quality acrylic rarely fail; cheap resin with internal bubbles sometimes does.
What are sharp-edge dice?
Hand-poured resin dice whose edges are left crisp instead of tumbled round. They roll with a shorter, more decisive tumble, look striking, and cost more because each set is finished by hand. Treat them like resin generally: gorgeous, tray recommended.
Why do dice sets have seven dice?
The standard set — d4, d6, d8, d10, percentile d10, d12, d20 — covers every roll in D&D and most other tabletop RPGs. Our how many dice do you need guide covers when one set stops being enough.