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| Roll to save versus intoxication... |
I'm curious: where did this tradition begin? Was it something that came about in one gaming group and spread across the whole RPG community? Or did the use of these bags spontaneously arise among multiple groups with no connection to each other? On the surface, it's not surprising that gamers would gravitate toward using these bags. Purple is after all a color oft associated with royalty (thus its use in conjunction with a product called "Crown Royal"). Add to that the "royal" velvet fabric and you have a ready-made dice bag fit for a monarch! Not to mention that those who like to collect hoards of polyhedrals probably could not find a bigger container as beauteous as this bag!
I wonder, though: was there also a bit of the rebellious about the use of such bags, something that goes beyond mere utility and the royalty gravitas? Was there something about the fact that the bags once contained a bottle of an alcoholic substance? I can see this being a selling point for underage gamers: "Yo, look what I got my hands on! This used to hold a bottle of WHISKY! Yeah, I'm the man."
At any rate, one of the guys I current game with has one of these bags exploding with a mountain of dice! It's awesome, and brings a smile to my face every time I see it.
Please, dear reader, share your own experiences at the table involving this beloved purple bag!
Back in the late 70s it was probably the only drawstring bag available to anyone. And you needed a drawstring bag because it was medievally. As for experiences, I had my dice in it. Sure, it solved a murder once, but I was in the bathroom and didn't get the whole story.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing my first Crown Royal dice bag back in the early 80s. To me it was totally cool. The fact that it was something that was hard to get made it even cooler.
ReplyDeleteThese were probably the easiest available dice pouches back when. Combine typical boozy 70's parents with kids looking for dice bags...
ReplyDeleteWhat I can't remember is why we were looking for "dice bags" to begin with. Why not dice boxes? Dice carafes? Dice attaches?
I had a friend with a wooden dice "treasure chest" that was pretty cool.
Yeah, that makes total sense, the whole lack of dice bags during the early days of the hobby. After all, there was a time before companies started maniacally marketing RPG accessories like dice bags, right?
DeleteAnd you make a good point: what would things be like if a different sort of dice container gained prominence early on? Hmmm...
A lot of people in my early groups had these. Normally, people used these because they were readily available from parents or older gamers that drank the whiskey and didn't care about the bags. I still use one for my traveling dice.
ReplyDeleteStill, just as many people had other containers back in the day. I remember several small treasure chests, dice boxes, and even an old sock being used to store dice. For a time, I had a small treasure chest that had a tray with small compartments. I kept my dice in the bottom of the chest and miniatures in the tray.
We all had these. They told a story. Our parents were drunks...this sad reality made us turn to rpgs. Ergo we were ostracized. Break the cycle people.
ReplyDeleteHaha, the truth comes out! Share the pain, folks! Why, Mommy and Daddy, whyyyyyy?!
DeleteIt comes from the early days of the Hobby were your average D&D Player was not some snot nosed kid but an actual adult who would smoke a the table and have a shot or moe through out the night.
ReplyDelete