Dice are one of the most essential components of Dungeons & Dragons. Want to save your friend from near death? Roll your 20-sided dice, or d20. Want to sneak past enemy lines to attack? Roll again. Nearly every action within the game is determined by the luck of your roll, imbuing an element of exciting unpredictability to the game's collaborative storytelling.
For avid players, dice sets themselves are customizable and collectible, often reflecting a character's unique traits through the objects or materials placed inside, or maybe just colors that you like. Now meet two local dicemakers who can mold your vision into a standard D&D set of seven dice, consisting of dice with 4, 6, 8, 10 (two), 12 and 20 sides each.
BRIDGE TROLL DICE
Michael Torkelson used to live in a house in Peaceful Valley, directly under the Maple Street Bridge. Fittingly, his younger brother began calling him a "bridge troll," a moniker Torkelson embraced when naming his dice-making business, Bridge Troll Dice, in late 2020.
"It was kind of like a COVID hobby; just something to do when I didn't have anything else to do," Torkelson says.
Since starting his craft, he's made over 100 sets of tabletop gaming dice for commission and retail sale at the local Uncle's Games.
Funnily enough, though, Torkelson has little opportunity to see his 10 different personal dice sets in action. He's played a few D&D one-shots (single-session campaigns), but mostly plays other tabletop games with his buddies online through the virtual game software Foundry.
Torkelson works in his basement, where dozens of colored powders are organized on a table alongside a polishing wheel and numerous dice in nearly every color of the rainbow on display.
Donning a respirator so as not to inhale harmful fumes, Torkelson uses a two-part epoxy resin, mixes it with colored powders and pours it into custom molds to make each set. The dice are then cured under pressure in a device called a pressure pot, which removes air bubbles. Finally the dice are sanded and polished.
All in all, a single set can take up to a week to finish, considering the time it takes to cure and fully harden the resin, plus hours of sanding and polishing.
Many of Torkelson's sets feature colors that shift in the light thanks to a fine glitter powder.
"It'll be different shades of red, orange and green and purple all at the same time," he says. "So, if you roll the dice around and shine in the light they look different."
Though it's hard for Torkelson to remember all the sets he's made, a few commissions stand out.
"I had somebody ask for Barbie themed, like before the movie came out... so I ended up doing, like, really pink, bright purple and white," he says.
Torkelson can get even more creative with the larger 50 mm d20 that he makes, as he can place larger objects and materials inside. Customers can embed miniatures of their game characters or, as he once experimented, even the shed scales of his bearded dragon (perfect for a friend who decided to challenge fellow players to face off a dragon).
As his colorful dice clatter across the game table in the hands of other players, Torkelson shares this blessing: "May all your hits be critical."
Bridge Troll Dice • $90 full sets; $60 single 50mm d20 • Instagram: @bridgetrolldice • bridgetrolldicecraft.square.site
JELLY BELLE
Elia Jones is an alchemist brewing up some magical dice. The sets she sells at Bear Totem in Hillyard under her artist name, Jelly Belle, come inside matching, resin-filled potion bottles, but she also takes direct commissions.
Jones is a self-taught artist who ventured into the world of resin molding about eight years ago when she kept seeing quick resin craft videos on social media. She started making resin elf and fairy ear pieces, and four years ago she first delved into dice making after falling in love with D&D as a dungeon master.
"It's not a super profitable business, but I enjoy it, and it's nice to see your artwork appreciated and enjoyed by other people," she says.
Jones follows a similar process as Bridge Troll's Torkelson, mixing whatever colors and materials suit her fancy or are commissioned, pouring resin into molds and curing them under pressure before the final surface finishing processes.
"I like putting things from the Northwest in them," Jones says of her dice that have dried lilacs from the gardens at Manito Park and wildflowers that grow near the North Spokane YMCA, where she works as a lifeguard.
Some of Jones' favorite dice creations she's made have a smoke-like effect that reminds her of a reaper's cloak, and sets with strips of ripped paper inside to resemble a spellbook.
Not every set turns out so perfect, though, and Jones has a big container filled with miscellaneous dice, the remnants of sets where one or more pieces came out with defects like pesky air bubbles. But when she sells the salvageable one-offs for a few dollars each in lucky draws at vendor fairs, the excited expressions on customer's faces makes all the trial and error worth it.
"Just seeing people excited about what I can make makes me feel more fulfilled as an artist," she says. "Dungeons & Dragons is a great outlet for people to be able to express themselves in a very customizable way." ♦
Jelly Belle Art • $40 per set at Bear Totem, $60 or more for custom commissions • Instagram: @jellybelleart
