Tax Die for Decktet Magnate Game

I designed this die for use with the Decktet card game, Magnate. The Decktet is a brilliant new kind of card deck created by P.D. Magnus. The Decktet has a structure very different from conventional cards, with 6 suits, most cards having multiple suits, and individually illustrated and named cards. You can download and print your own Decktet or buy one (see www.decktet.com for details). More than a hundred games have been created for the Decktet.

The Decktet game of Magnate, created by Cristyn Magnus, is a resource management/property development game (think of something like a streamlined "Monopoly" crossed with "Settlers of Catan", but more fun than either...) played with the Decktet cards, two 10-sided dice, suit tokens (suit-illustrated chips used like money), and a conventional six-sided die to determine suit token taxation.

My wife and I really enjoy playing Magnate and I wanted a more elegant tax die for the game. The suit icons on this die are a mix of the formal suit designs (as printed on the cards), the "longhand" suit designs (used by P.D. Magnus in "The Revised and Expanded DECKTET BOOK"), and my own take on the designs.

If you enjoy card games, do yourself a favor and get a Decktet! The Decktet Wiki includes instructions for playing games of all kinds (http://wiki.decktet.com/).

I have no association with the Decktet other than being an enthusiast.

I custom designed this die using the excellent Die Customizer:
(Customized version of http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:131071)

Created with Customizer! http://www.thingiverse.com/apps/customizer/run?thing_id=131071

22APR15:
This printed well at 1.5x scale (making it 24mm tall instead of 16mm). I am now test printing dice of 1x, 1.25x, and 2x scale.

5May15:

The die prints well in the 1.25x to 1.5x scale and is a good size for rolling. The size of the die, unscaled, is a bit small for printing good image detail and for comfortable game play. The multicolored die in the photo is at 1.5x scale. I painted the recessed faces of the die in the different colors associated with each suit, then sanded the faces and the rolling parts of the die to remove the paint, leaving it only in the recessed areas. I used enamel model paint ("Testors") and it took a very long time to dry. I would use a spray paint, instead, in the future.

The "Old Bones" style die shown in the photo was printed at 1.25x scale and the recessed areas of the faces were stained with a Rosewood color gel wood stain (Minwax "Brazilian Rosewood" Gel Stain). The stain was wiped onto the whole die, especially into the recessed faces, allowed to soak in for a few minutes, then wiped off of the rolling surfaces but mostly left in the face recesses. Let it dry well, repeat until you get the look you like, then wet sand the die with 220, 400, and 500 grit wet/dry sandpaper.

The end result looks almost like scrimshaw on bone - perfect for a die used in a game from an alternate universe with penitent lizards and a horned-toad Consul who shoots blood from his eye when he is agitated!