Product Review - Dungeons & Dragons Masterworks Dice Tower

(Updated October 1, 2025)

[Note - I bought this with my own cash. This is not a paid review. I did include affiliate links if you want to help a brother out.]

I really don't need a dice tower, but I couldn't resist getting one of these cool D&D Masterworks Dice Towers.  They're put out by FanRoll. (If you're interested, use my promo code for a 10% discount: DAD-10).

I went for the classic piece of Larry Elmore art from the 1983 Basic Edition (i.e., the Red Box).  I'm very pleased. It's simple but quite nice. 

It does not come with a dice tray, although there are matching ones you get get separately, I believe.

Things I Like:

• The exterior is faux leather and it feels and looks nice. I prefer that over a hunch of plastic.

• It folds down for easy transport. As I'm typically a "road DM," this works well. I have to admit, I felt a little dense trying to figure out how to set it up, but this video made it clear: link. It's not hard - I'm just not too swift.

Front

Back

Little stand thing that attaches to the back for stability.

• It's quiet. The interior is lined with felt the rolls are nice and quiet (apart from the clanking on the table, ha).

Dice Roll Test:

In the video below, you can see me testing metallic dice, acrylic dice, and 4d6. It worked fine. You have to pay attention when putting the tower together. As long as you do that, you're good to go. More on that below.

Tips on Use:

• You have to pay attention to how you set up the ramps.  If you do it wrong, dice will get stuck.  It's not hard to get right, but something to pay attention to.  Make sure the magnetic supports are folded below the ramps, not above it.

Other Info:

I was tempted by the other two, particularly the Erol Otus one, which is from the 1981 Basic Set, but the Red Box art was too iconic to pass up. 

I really like Jeff Easley's art, but I wasn't familiar with the source used for this dice tower.

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit - My Dungeon Master Binder: Part 1

It's been a while. Time to come back out of the shadows for a it. 

Let's chat about a quintessential part of the DM's toolbox - the Dungeon Master binder. For other DM kit stuff, see my other posts about my Dungeon Tool Kit. I said that Part 6 was the final... but I lied.

If you don't get this reference, we can't be friends.

Now, if you're one of my eight fans out there, you might be saying, "Wait, Double D, didn't you already write about a DM notebook (Rocketbook)?"  And I would say, "Nay, my dear plebeian. That notebook serves a different function: namely prep notes and in-game notes." A DM binder is a storehouse of useful materials meant for use at the table.

I can't believe I found an image that explains that there are different types of tables.

After a lot of trial and error, I've whittled my binder's contents down to four key sections.

1. Combat:  Handy rule reference sheets, mainly for combat.
2. NPCs:  NPC resources, such as summaries of frequently encountered NPCs and tables for working up NPCs on the fly.
3. Encounters:  Random encounter tables, short encounter write-ups, and ready to go monster stats.
4. Treasure - Treasure tables for cool loot and such. These are things you don't find in your Game Master guide of choice.

I will detail what I have in each of these sections in upcoming posts. To start, I'm going to focus on the actual physical binder that I use.

So let's get into it.

My current binder of choice is this expandable binder. I'm assuming that a lot of my fellow gamers are office supply nerds like me (and if I'm wrong, don't shatter my dreams). As such, you'll appreciate this.

Here is the pre-nerdified Amazon photo.

Here is the post nerdified version in action.

Quick note: I found the cool "Hack n' Slash" graphic from Reddit and it was made by CastleGrief. This dude needs to start making shirts and stickers.

Okay. So why this binder? Well, because it's expandable. I apparently have a thing for things that grow in size. It isn't overly bulky like a traditional hardback binder, but isn't limp like a soft binder (insert joke about DD liking it hard here).

Other things that I find useful:

Clear sheet protectors.

• Print out all the good stuff you have from DriveThruRPG and put it in your binder.

Tabs/Page Markers

• Get to your good stuff fast.  Also handy for your hardcopy RPG books.

Binder Hole Reinforcers

• Sounds like something dirty.
• Not a big fan of plastic? Use these for your printouts.

Cheap 3-Hole Puncher

• Punch them holes, bitch.

More to come!

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 6 - Portable RPG Storage Carrier!

Well, here we are - the final post in my Dungeon Master Kit series! (Other posts: part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, and part 5.)  This will one will focus on how I cart around my materials. Obviously, there is the good ol' backpack, but, again, I'm a Grade A Nerd and need MORE.  

There are lot of cool deluxe bags these days, but they're are pricey. "Cases"  in point (get it?): example 1, example 2, example 3, and example 4.

Since I couldn't find a bag my speed and in my price range, I went with something else: the Quik Cart.  Sure, it's a "seen on Shark Tank" product, but it is handy. Plenty of room for my loot.

Here it is in action. As you can see, I can fit a good big of materials. 

I bought both the Regular and the Sport model, and kept the Sport one. The other one was too big. Here's a comparison, with a voiceover by my lovely wife.

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 5 - Map Case

All righty, a quick and dirty post (just how your mom likes it) for my Dungeon Master Kit series (part 1, part 2, part 3, and part 4).  Warning: copious phallic jokes within.

I'm running a Castles & Crusades sandbox game in the Haunted Highlands.  I love having a big physical map for the players and me to gaze at.  There is something frickin' cool about a good fantasy map. 

It's a Haunted Highlands hex map made by Darlene, who did the original Greyhawk map.  I bought the PDF from the Troll Lords site and had it printed at Staples.  (It doesn't seem they have it available at their updated storefront.) Since I can reprint it, I have no problem with us writing on it and making it our own.

What I present.

What my players see.

Well, it's kind of a pain to cart around without getting mangled, so being the top-grade nerd that I am, I bought a map case for it from Amazon. It was cheap and has been indeed handy. It's expandable too, which is nice.

Ribbed for your pleasure.

It's a grower, not a shower.

Impressive length.

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 4 - Affordable-ish Tablet for RPG PDFs

Finally, the Dungeoneering Dad has come back to his Dungeon Master Kit series (part 1, part 2, and part 3). 

Why PDFs?

As much as I love the usefulness, lack of eye strain, and, dare I say it, the beauty of hard copy books, I've found myself using PDF copies of RPGs more and more. They take up less space (duh), support smaller publishers, and are typically cheaper.  As of now, I have an online library of 693 items at DriveThruRPG (...not gonna lie, that's a bit embarrassing). 

An actual gamer using a tablet in sheer ecstasy. 

Why a Tablet?

• less to cart around
• access to a large library of PDFs
• can search books electronically
• feel like you're from the future

Why a Fire Tablet?

Rich Corinthian leather case.

Look, straight up, if you can afford an iPad, the Fire tablet can't compete. However, if you're budget-minded, I recommend the Fire. (It was known as the "Kindle Fire," but they seem to have dropped the "Kindle" part.) As I've mentioned a few times in ages past (linky link and linky link), I use a Fire for my RPG PDFs. 

Nice things about the Fire:

• Cheap-ish. Amazon puts them on sale multiple times a year (holidays, Prime Day, etc.).
• Expandable storage with an SD Card.
• From my understanding, you need an adapter to use an SD Card with an iPad.
• With a Fire (and other Android tablets), you just pop the card in.
• Spiffy cases: link 

How to Add PDFs "Officially."

PDF readers aplenty.

Since a Fire isn't a normal tablet, there are a few easy ways to add files for use with the official Kindle app.

1. Use the "Send to Kindle" website to upload them: link

• You'll need to use this particularly if the PDF files are large.

2. Email the PDF. 

• Each Amazon account has a "send-to-Kindle" email address (e.g., "Best_DM_Ever@kindle.com").
• Simply email the PDF as an attachment to that address and it will show up in your Kindle app library before too long.

3. Connect your Fire to your PC and transfer them that way.

4. Get an SD Card, put that into your PC, load up the card, and then pop that into your Fire.

If you want more detailed info on these methods, this site is pretty useful: WikiHow: How to Add a PDF to a Kindle.

How to Make Your Fire More Useful and Super-Duper Cool!

My DriveThruRPG library... behold and tremble.

Since a Fire isn't a typical Android tablet, you can't typically use it like a normal tablet. However, you can pretty easily side-load the Google Play Store and then, bingo, you can install a lot more apps including, the DriveThruRPG Library app, a variety of PDF readers, etc.

• Here is a great "How to Geek" article detailing how to get the Google Play Store: link
• Here is a kind of spiffy PDF reader: EBookDroid

Once you do that, you can use a variety of nice apps to organize your library, although I'm starting to use the DriveThruRPG Library app itself more and more. If you used the SD Card method above, you can access the PDFs via a variety of PDF readers.

There you go. Bingo bango.

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 3 - Dungeon Master Screen of Bad-Arseness

All righty... back at it here with part of 3 of my gripping Dungeon Master Kit series (part 1 and part 2). 

I have a problem... I own *a lot* of Dungeon Master screens.  I've been on the quest for the perfect one... never resting... never ceasing... until NOW. 

Behold, the Loreweaver GM Screen! I participated in the Kickstarter for this... because.  

It's excellent. You can get it at NTSD Gaming (amongst other cool stuff). 

It's made of vegan leather (WTF is that you may ask? It's a material made of polyurethane and polyvinyl chloride). It looks great and does indeed feel a lot like actual leather.

It folds up nicely with a strap for extra sassiness.

I opted for a few customizations. I figure this will be the last DM Screen I'll ever buy (God willing). I opted for:

• landscape orientation
• chestnut color
• name embossed on the one side

Totally my real name.

The NTSD logo is on the other side - I dig it.

• Sprung for art, namely this great piece by Everett Patterson called "Deadly Encounter:"

Shit is about to go down.

In addition to looking great, it has great functionality. It's magnetic, so it came with:

• Cool d20 magnets to attach my own inserts. I made my screen inserts via Marq (a great free service). 
• Related note: While I've found lots of screens with cool art, they never seem to have exactly what I want. A custom screen is definitely the way to go.

Adorable... like your mom.

• Magnetic initiative trackers that afix right to the screen.

My dice are totally not posing.

Initiative trackers... "Evil" is what I use for any opponent.

What the players see (well, this and my roguishly handsome visage).

• Two magnetic white boards (one with a grid and one without).

Whiteboards aplenty.

I also splurged for other goodies.

• foldable dice tower that magnetically attaches to the screen.

Works pretty well, despite what my players think. I can't help that I roll 20s, bitches.

• A sweet dice box with "The Duel" art from Sketchy Sermons. This art was a close second choice for the screen.

Shit is about to go down (again).

This is what dice look like in a dice box (FYI).

There were some other goodies, too, like magnetic spell cards and PC ards.

Spell cards. The PC cards are, sadly, MIA at the moment.

This was an awesome purchase. I love it and highly recommend.

However, if you want a more budget friendly customizable screen, there are options here: link 

Prior to finding the Kickstarter, I was on the verge of making my own screen. Here are some great ideas on how to do that. The DIYer in me still finds these options appealing.

My Dungeon Master Tool Kit Part 2 - Rocketbook

I'm picking back up my series on my Dungeon Master Kit (part
1 being here: link). (Technically, I'm a Castle Keeper these days, but let's not trifle.)

As much as electronic tools are great, I still like using analog tools as much as I
can. However, I'm not as organized with pen and paper. Notebooks, graph paper, etc... I'd grab whichever paper was closest. My notes would get scattered. This was especially the case when running one-shots that then later got resurrected into something more episodic.

My latest hotness is using a Rocketbook.  I've had the original one for a few years, but never made much use of it (for gaming or otherwise). Once I splurged for the executive-sized Pro (7 inch x 9 inch), that all changed. This size is perfect. I really like that it's a hardcover. It's freaking great. Most importantly - it keeps me organized!

Player names redacted to protect the reproachable

A Rocketbook uses special paper on which you can write, clean, and rewrite. (You need to use particular Pilot Fixion pens.) At the bottom of each page is a "destination" icon. You place an "X" through that icon, and then use the Rocketbook app to scan the page. 

"X" on the bell marks the spot

In the app, you associate each icon with a particular storage destination/folder (Google Drive, Dropbox, iCloud, an email address, etc.). You can get as granular as you'd like (e.g., direct to a particular subfolder in Google Drive).

Rocketbook destinations aplenty

Destinations in the app

Once you're good with the page being stored as you want it, you wipe the paper clean with a damp rag, let it dry, and bang, Bob's your uncle, you can reuse the page.

I have a separate Google Drive destination for my C&C campaign, a Through Sunken Lands episodic "campaign" (i.e., periodic, loosely connected one-shot games), a personal journal (which I really should use more), and one for general gaming notes.

The Pro model lets you swap out different insert Page Packs. For example, you can get one already set up like a planner. There is special D&D Page Pack that I did splurge for (because it was on sale).  It has pre-set pages for campaign notes, PCs, NPCs, random tables that you develop, etc.  I probably would not get it again (well, maybe I would at the sale price), but you really don't need it. Obviously, a lot of the pages are D&D-specific. It's not horrible, but you can also design your own permanent pages for any Rocketbook with a Sharpie. If you're really curious about the D&D Page Pack, there is good review here (and embedded below): link

Here are a few assorted shots of my Rocketbook for good measure.

Dungeon info

PC Info

Uhm... with the cover closed.

Good review of the D&D Page Pack