Dice trays are one of the most common items used in DnD and other tabletop games. They are especially useful when a bunch of people are playing so you can contain pesky dice from flying everywhere.
There’s no doubt that dice trays are useful when playing tabletop games, but are they really needed for Dungeons and Dragons?
Dice trays are useful but not obligatory when playing DnD. You can roll dice without any tools, but dice trays are very useful when rolling multiple dice at once. In most DnD parties, players have their own dice, and that can get messy if you don’t split up the rolling surfaces in any way.
In this article, I’ll go through the specifics of dice trays, what they do, why you most likely will want to get one, and more. Keep reading to learn all about it.
What Is a Dice Tray?
A dice tray is a tray with edges on each side. The purpose of this is for people to roll their dice on the tray and let the edges stop the dice from rolling too far. Dice trays are used in pretty much anything that uses a lot of dice at the same time.
Dice trays come in all kinds of shapes, sizes, and materials. In fact, you can quite easily make your own dice tray. I strongly recommend that you get or create a dice tray if you’re used to having dice rolling all over and off the table.
Why Should You Have a Dice Tray?
So, what are the practical benefits of using dice trays when rolling dice? Yes, they stop your dice from rolling too far as I mentioned before, but they have other benefits as well.
Let’s go through why you should probably have a dice tray below!
- Their primary purpose is to stop dice from rolling too far from where you drop them. No more dice knocking down miniatures, flying off of the table, or rolling under the sofa.
- Dice trays protect the table surface. This is especially true if you have metal dice and a wooden or glass table as a playing surface, but you can still scratch tables even with plastic dice. Gemstone dice are actually getting more and more popular these days, and you don’t want to be rolling them on too hard of a surface.
- Dice trays usually have soft surfaces so you can roll dice without making a racket. This is nice for the people playing but also for people nearby that don’t want to be disturbed.
- Some people have found that they roll more efficiently with dice trays. With a tray, the dice gather up nicely in the confined space.
- A lot of DnD players like getting cool stuff like dice towers, cool-looking dice, bags, and so forth. Dice trays can be another addition to this, as they come in various shapes, colors, and materials.
- Dice trays can help you organize and optimize space at the table. If everyone at the table has their own dice tray, you can fill the rest of the space with other stuff.
As you can see, there are a lot of reasons why you should get a dice tray for Dungeons and Dragons. When it comes to pricing, they vary from around $10-$400-500. However, you don’t really have to buy one if you learn how to make a dice tray yourself.
What Should a Good Dice Tray Have?
As I mentioned earlier, dice trays vary in price from $10 to around $500. This variation in price is massive, so what should a good dice tray have?
In my opinion, a dice tray worth the money will have a soft surface to roll on. As I mentioned earlier, this is to dampen the sound of rolling dice but also to protect the dice themselves.
While you want the surface of a good dice tray to be soft, it can’t be too bouncy since you don’t want the dice to bounce over the tray and on the table. Honestly, a fairly good homemade dice tray can be a slightly modified cardboard box.
Other than that, there are a bunch of good materials. For example, some of the best materials include felt, velvet, or neoprene. A good dice tray should also have enough space for the dice to roll around in, obviously.
If the dice tray has too small of a surface, you won’t get a properly randomized roll. Finally, a good dice tray should have edges that are elevated enough to stop your dice from bouncing over them.
What Can Be Used As a Dice Tray?
I mentioned that you can use an old cardboard box as a dice tray, but what else can you use? There are a lot of options here since a dice tray really is just an open surface with a padded bottom and elevated lips at the edges.
Plastic containers can also be used as dice trays. For example, if you have an empty chocolate box, you can just pad it down with good material and you have yourself a provisional dice tray.
Cigar boxes and other wood containers are fine to use as dice trays as well. Just make sure that you line the bottom with a smooth surface before starting to roll in the container.
Ultimately, you can use pretty much any container in your home as a dice tray as long as the space inside the container is big enough. Of course, you can always buy a dice tray from Amazon or something like that.
There are a lot of cool gaming dice trays available online with endless amounts of aesthetic options. Personally, I like the dice trays with style, but if you want to save money, you can always make one yourself.
Is a Dice Tray or Dice Tower Best For DnD?
Dice towers are another popular alternative way of rolling dice in DnD. The are a couple of differences between dice towers and dice trays. For example, you don’t really roll your dice with a dice tower.
With dice towers, your dice get randomized by rolling down the dice tower, and you simply put them in there. Dice towers usually have a little tray at the bottom that contains the dice.
Most people have dice towers because of the cool aesthetic that they bring to a TTRPG table. So, what is the best option for DnD? Well, that all depends on your needs and preferences.
Dice towers are usually a little bit more expensive than dice trays, and in practice, you get the same results.