SFR, Inc.

[FredMSloniker]

I ran across a mention of Dragon Dice on the Board Game Geek and was intrigued by the idea of dice as playing pieces, and by the news that SFR was republishing the game (so I'd be able to buy dice and get into the game). Still, I'm hesitant to get into the game. Part of it is the collectible aspect-- it's a certain amount of money-- but the main part is the amount of work I'd have to do to get into the game. I don't know anyone locally who plays Dragon Dice-- I know few local gamers period-- so I'd have to get some dice, probably practice the game against online opponents, then convince other people to buy dice, organize a league and stuff. That's a lot of work. Plus, there's the issue that, apparently, SFR isn't actually making dice yet, just selling off TSR's surplus (correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing that's why Amazons still aren't available for sale); I'd want to be able to convince my FLGS to stock Dragon Dice so people could impulse-buy.

So, I guess what I'm asking is: can you convince me to make the investment in time and money to play Dragon Dice instead of, say, D&D Miniatures (a collectible game there's already a league for in my area)?

[chuckpint]

SFR is making dice. We came out with Treefolk (TSR only had a concept). We reprinted Frostwings and Scalders. We will have new starters out first quarter of this next year (see numerous posts elsewhere about that). The only TSR surplus we will have left is Firewalkers and Magestorm. With any luck, we will be replacing Magestorm sometime in 2008 (go ahead a speculate now people).

We have Dragon Dice in full distribution. If your local game store says they can't get Dragon Dice, then they have not tried. All game distributors carry our product. And by all I mean world-wide.

I'm moving this to the forum on finding other players. That's what you really need...
_________________
You can never have too many dice.
First Place at the first ever Daemon Dice sealed starter tournament.
Battlefest tied for first GenCon 2012
Single Race Champion GenCon 2008-2009, Sealed Box Champion GenCon 2007,2009,
My collection is 21,500 Dragon Dice, 20,000 Daemon Dice, and others (too many to count).

[ddicerc]

I can address the production issue, at least.

SFR has made new dice, and has also reprinted some dice that went OOP quickly during the TSR/WotC/Hasbro transfers. Treefolk are a completely new race made by SFR. The currently availabel Frostwings and Scalders are SFR reprints. The Dragonhunters are new products produced by SFR, as are the Black, Gold, and Green Dragonkin Champions. SFR also did a reprint of the Dragonmasters and Dragonlord in gem plastic.

However, our latest effort is also our biggest so far. SFR is producing new Dragon Dice starter sets. While these will feature existing races, they are designed as two-player starters, so you can start play with just one box. In each, you will receive two starter armies (each of a different race), four terrain dice, two dragon dice, a complete rulebook (so when you start buying kicker packs and expansion dice you'll already have the rules for them), and a set of army marker cards with reference lists. This is a change from the TSR starter sets, which were one-player starters, so each player needed a set to play.

The starters will come in paired racial sets, so you can focus on a particular race if you like them. The initial relase will feature Coral Elves vs. Lava Elves, Dwarves vs. Goblins, or Amazons vs. Swamp Stalkers. (So you'll be able to get your Amazons in starters now, rather than in the mixed Amazon & Monster kicker.) The starters will also include monster dice for each race. (And, as an aside, there is also one new SFR innovation in the dice-the new starters will include ivory dragons as well as those for the five elemental colors.)

SFR has also done a complete revision of the game rules, which are more consistent and easier to follow than the old rule books. Again, where TSR released the official tournament rules in a separate book you had to buy, SFR will be including a complete rule set in every starter.

The new starters will be available in a couple of months. (They're currently in production, and we're waiting for an official time frame for the release.) The new rules are available now as a free download in PDF format from our web site (http://www.sfr-inc.com/StarterRules.pdf).

Why play DD over other games? I've done CCGs, minis, board games, and a variety of other games, but there's something about dice I really like. In Dragon Dice there are no terrain pieces to set up, no line of sight to worry about, no character sheets to maintain-it's just you and your dice against your opponent. While there are a few very rare dice in Dragon Dice, none of them are game-breaking dice that you just gotta have for your armies. You can build a very competitive army from easily available dice. (The current World Champion's winning army had no dice considered rare from a collector's standpoint.) Plus, dice are durable, unlike cards (which sadly are ruined by a little soda spill) or minis (which tend to snap when stepped on by careless children).

I can't help with players, as I live all the way across the country, but as you noted you can learn the game online. (I did that back when DD was still a TSR product!) If you have a local game store that might be interested in carrying the game, please let me know a contact e-mail or address and I'll let them know about our upcoming starter release.

I hope this helps you decide to become part of our loyal and growing DD ranks!
_________________
Steve "DDice" Braun
The Diceman's Gaming Pages: http://ddicerc.weebly.com
2014-2015 U.S. National Champion
(Just when you thought it couldn't get any worse...)