HeroQuest Combat Dice (16mm) with Classic Icons

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HeroQuest Combat Dice (16mm) with Classic Icons

The best thing about HeroQuest is the combat dice!

Being able to stare your players (or DM) in the eyes as you roll attack and defense in unison is one of my favorite parts of the game. Of course this only works with goblins and weaker combat moments since the re-release only comes with five dice…

So, the obvious solution is to print more dice!

These 16mm dice feature the symbols from the original set. The new dice are great, but I really preferred the symbols from the original set

Adorable Bunny. Symbol of Immortal Evil.

With these newly printed dice, not only can we stare one another down as we roll, we don't have to ask one another for extra dice. We have a pile on them on the table.

I made the die model in Blender. First I converted the old combat symbols to svg in Illustrator. Then I took those vector graphics and converted them into 3D meshes in blender. These meshes were then used to cut the symbols out of a beveled cube.

The dice are 16mm to match the scale of the new dice. The combat symbols are roughly 0.25mm deep. This is so that they are clearly visible, should be easy to paint, but do not require supports.

In addition to the die model, I also included the symbols I created in Blender as stls for anyone wanting to do thier own customization.

• Print them with solid infill.
• When printed in PLA the dice are slightly heavier than the dice that comes with the set (~1g heavier on my kitchen scale). They also have a satisfying rattle to them. Mine printed very nicely in PLA.

• No supports are needed.
• I made sure the designs on the dice were low relief so that they would print well without supports.

• Dice are fussy when being printed.
• This is because the bottom layer is as important as any other layer you are printing.

• Prepare your print surface:
• You need to be sure your plate is clean so that the dice do not release and run amok when printed. I had to do a good rewash with soap and water for my print.

• Ensure your have good first layer extrusion:
• You need to be sure that you have perfect extrusion on your first layer.

• I did not think I had 1st layer issues until I started printing dice. For myself, printing dice made me discover that my print bed was not perfectly level. Rather than recalibrate the whole bed (which worked fine for everything else I printed), I printed the dice in one corner where I knew my extrusion was perfect.

• Print with a brim:
• Even when the above were all sorted out, I found I would get a touch of lift on one of the corners of the die. Unacceptable! Printing with a brim resolved this.

Is this fine video:

(Which I make my friends watch whenever I introduce a new player to the game.)