Inking Dungeons & Dragons Dice

Chasing the Perfect Roll and the Perfect Set of Dice Through Years of Experimentation

If you grew up playing Dungeons & Dragons or other role-playing games in the early days, you most likely have something in common with other early gamers: you “inked” your dice. I don’t recall calling it inking back then; it didn’t even occur to me because my dice never had ink applied to them. Instead, I would grab a crayon, fill in the numbers, and then wipe off the excess. I was rough on my early dice, plus I had a player who liked to take a pencil to the dice and scrape out the wax, thinking it was funny. As a result, I had to re-crayon them every few months.

As I moved from opaque to gemstone-style dice, I continued using a crayon. I even picked up a set of what were billed as "Dice Markers" but were actually just thick crayons. For years, the RPG store I visited had a case filled with shiny and glittering dice just waiting to be enhanced. Then one day, I went there, and they were selling sets of dice with the numbers already colored in. These dice were sold in sets, had rounded edges, and came in a rainbow of colors. We were smitten, quickly picking up sets in our favorite colors.

Taking them home, we studied them up close and realized that it wasn’t crayon but some sort of paint. What we would learn eventually is that the rounded edges were integral to getting the paint in those number grooves. These dice had been coated with paint and then tumbled in a drum with material that removed the top layer of paint. The result was dice with very clear numbers and smoothed-out edges. They looked cool, but these dice could also be biased when rolling, and with those rounded corners, they often rolled right off the table.

Having grown up with pointier dice, often referred to as “precision dice,” I preferred them for their appearance and the way they rolled more randomly. As my friends started to pick up new sets, I was happy to add their old sets to my collection. During my first five years of playing, I probably picked up a dozen full sets from companies like Game Science and The Armory, which I was constantly filling in with crayons.

It was in the new millennium that I started hearing the term “inked dice.” I encountered it while ordering dice online. There, I could get my preferred sharp-edged dice, where ink had been pre-applied by hand to the numbers. Some of the sets I bought were pre-inked, but I also ordered a few “naked sets” and thought I would try my hand at inking. This led to a trial-and-error process, with a few dice nearly ruined in the process. Ultimately, though, I figured out a good system and some good markers for the purpose.

How do I Ink RPG Dice?

First of all, you will want to clean the dice. I like to use warm water with just a little dish soap. You don’t need to scrub hard; you just want to remove any dirt, oil, or small plastic bits from the number grooves. When you are done cleaning, make sure you dry your dice well.

Then you need to start inking. Before you do, you will need to choose a color, grab a marker, and have a steady hand. I suggest considering the contrast when picking the ink color. If you have a light-colored die, using a light ink can make it difficult to see. On the other hand, if you choose a dark color on a light-colored gemstone-style die, it can dull its luster, darken it, or even make it look muddy. You might also be limited by the markers you can find. You will most likely want an ultra-fine point. If you can’t find a satisfactory one, you can use a thicker-pointed Sharpie, but you will need to wipe away excess ink while it is still wet. Be very cautious with this; you can easily damage a set of dice using this method.

I tend to use two brands:

• Sharpie Ultra-Fine Point Permanent Marker, which is pretty easy to find.

• Sakura Microperm Ultra-Fine (sizes 01, 03, and 05), which is not as common in stores but available online.

You will really want to figure out what works best for you. It takes a little practice, so if you want to ink your own dice, I suggest buying a cheaper set online and practicing with your marker of choice. Make sure you are in a well-lit and ventilated space before starting and experiment with how you hold the dice. How you hold it and apply the ink will give different results. Also, make sure you give you dice a good cleaning with water and a soft brush to remove any debris in the numbers.

Inking with Grease Pencils (Chinese Markers)

It was suggested to me that a grease pencil might be a good way to ink dice, so I orders some Sharpie brand ones off Amazon and gave them a try. The results were solid. The results were similar to what I get when I use a crayon, but the pigment laid down more easily. Wiping off required just a small amount of extra work, but I will definitely be trying it out more often on future dice.

A modern retro style die inked with grease pencil on the left and a classic die on the right.

Remaking a Set of Dice from my Childhood

When I started playing D&D, I was invited to join an existing group at a friend’s house. His older brother played with us as a very clever mage. While I was impressed with his roleplaying skills, I was more taken with a set of dice he had. It was a dark yellow gemstone set from the company The Armory. I was smitten. Every time we played I found myself staring at them, wishing I had a set just like it. When I went to store to see if I could find them? No dice.

A couple of years ago, I visited a now-defunct RPG store in Seattle, and they had a good collection of dice, including some precision dice from Game Science. I decided to pick up a set when I spotted what looked like a dark yellow un-inked set. They looked very similar to my friend’s older brother’s set. After purchasing them and getting them home, I realized that they were much lighter in color. They were lustrous, and I decided to keep that sparkle and inked them with a white crayon for old time’s sake.

Over the years, I have picked up various dice in shades of yellow, amber, and brown, trying to get close to a color of dice that was becoming a bit of a Holy Grail. Then, last year, I was re-organizing my game shelves and had left a set of dice out on the shelf. They were sitting on a dark book in a dimly lit room, and I realized that I was chasing a phantom! The dice he had weren’t a different color. The lighting was just darker in that basement, and he had used a black crayon to ink his dice.

So I picked up two sets of modern precision dice, inked one in black, and kept the other natural to compare. The results on the inked dice were exactly what I wanted. I had a set of dice just like the ones I had seen growing up. It was a different company, but with retro dice prices booming, they would have to do.

In the end, my journey with dice has been a long one, filled with trial, error, and learning. From crayons to markers, from opaque plastic to gemstone-style dice, and from chasing memories to making new ones, it has all been about finding what works best for me. These small, numbered pieces of plastic hold a lot of meaning for players, and the time spent personalizing them only adds to their value. Whether you’re using a crayon, a marker, or buying pre-inked sets, the important thing is to enjoy the process and the stories that come with it.