How to play Gemstones by Mayfair Games

I love RPG dice. If it were not for their small size, I would say that my collection might even be deemed problematic. Fortunately even a few thousand dice can be kept in an attractive large bin and not be intrusive. The challenge with even a manageable collection though, is how to best enjoy them. With RPG dice, I can display them, which I do, but I also like to use them.

Even my most basic of board games are often dressed up with a pair of dice that give me more joy than the game itself.

Back in the 1980s, I remembered by a set of dice from Mayfair Games and Role Aids that featured a game that used a standard set of RPG dice and little else. For years I had been trying to remember what they were called. Then a few weeks ago, it hit me, Gemstones. A few bids later and I was in possession of an original package of Gemstones. Complete with Dice and rules.

Not mint condition, but pretty nice. As you can see from the printed package, they also sold untumbled or “precision” versions of these dice. Those were my preferred style and I tried to pick up a set of those, but was outbid.

While the front of the package is nice, the real meat is on the back, where they have the rules for Gemstones. If you would like to play, you don’t need an original set of Gemstones, although you will need a set of dice, a pencil, a piece of paper and at least one other player. Once you have all those things in place, you can start playing.

The object of the game is to be the player with the highest score over 100. Any number of people can play.

Here are the rules in detail:

I cannot be the only one who has been seeking out his game over the years. Hopefully if you are like me, this helps put that mystery to rest.

It has been a pretty big hit at my gaming table. A great casual use for RPG dice. If you play a game, I would love to hear how it goes.