Kickstarter Preview: Dog Might Games “Dragon Sheath”

By Nika Howard on

About Nika Howard

What do you get when you have a pinch of bishie sparkles, a dash of sass, and a whole lot of Dungeons and Dragons? The monster known as Nika. Jaela on Drunks and Dragons and Editor for board and tabletop games.

 

Role playing and tabletop games are wonderful in that they require very few supplies, save your imagination, character sheet, and a set of dice. However, in the ever evolving world of gaming, no longer do Crown Royal bags cut if for packing your crit machines around. In the past few years there has been a growing trend to produce custom and high end dice boxes and gaming accouterments to match each player’s personality and taste. One of the companies that is stepping out of the gate and raising the bar on these dice boxes is Dog Might Games. I was lucky enough during Gen Con 2015 to stop by their booth and chat with Michael Konas, co-founder of Dog Might Games along with Mike Cameron, and while there I was able to look over the already expanse and beautiful dice and card boxes they were producing.

When we heard that a Kickstarter was going on (and will be until March 13th), I jumped at the chance to take a closer look at their new line of products, “The Dragon Sheath”.  The “Dragon Sheath” is a smaller, more customized dice box than their current line, but that still gives clients the beauty and quality that is standard with all Dog Might Games’s products. Michael kindly sent me two options to try out, and let me just say how immediately impressed I was with unboxing these beauts.

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“Halberd” sculpt in Black Walnut with banded Flame Birch and “Police Box” sculpt in White Ash with Dark Walnut finish

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“Viking Dragon” sculpt in Black Walnut with banded Flame Birch and “Arcane Circle” sculpt in White Ash with Dark Walnut finish

The two boxes I was sent included a White Ash with Dark Walnut finish and the “Arcane Circle” and “Police Box” sculpts on the outside; and a Black Walnut banded with the Flame Birch with the “Viking Dragon” and “Halberd” sculpts. The White Ash box featured their “interior J” layout of two very spacious storage sections, While the Black Walnut box featured the “interior G” layout that has one section to fit a pen or pencil (which was perfect for me because I am always losing mine) and a large section for dice.

Interior J

Interior J

Interior G

Interior G

The first thing I noticed about both Dragon Sheaths was obviously the sculpts. They are detailed, and the quality of the work is great. What I found highly impressive was that the sculpts were not just separate pieces of wood that had been cut out and glued onto the sheaths. The designs chosen for the sheaths are actually carved into the wood, which I found was a nice touch and gives them a more high-end custom feel. The wood finishes on both of the sheaths is a beautiful highly polished finish that highlights the natural warmth and texture of the chosen woods.

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Braided interior with “Arcane Circle” sculpt

Upon opening the sheaths, it is very evident that once dice are inside, they will not be falling out anytime soon. The magnets used are a high strength magnet, ensuring that whatever you have inside your sheath, stays in there and not spilling out everywhere. Once I managed to get the boxes open (sliding the pieces rather than pulling worked like a charm), it is very apparent that no details were left behind. The inside features a different wood color (for the options I am reviewing) and there is a beautiful braided pattern on the inside of the sheath.

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Braided interior with “Viking Dragon” sculpt

So now that I have shown you the basics of the boxes, how do I feel they stack up against other custom dice boxes? To be completely honest, I was blown away. I had purchased a dice vault from another company over a year ago and while the quality was great, I feel it can’t hold a candle to the Dragon Sheaths. For one point, the White Ash sheath with the two larger sections was able to fit the following dice comfortably: 2d20s, 3d12s, 5d10s, 3d8, 11d6, and 7d4-for a whopping 31 dice total. For me this was a huge positive as I have different die I roll for different things (all gamers have their favorites), so being able to fit a large portion of my dice collection into one sheath was absolutely shocking and sold me. In addition to the sheer storage power these sheaths have, the quality is really something that is worth the investment in the piece. Holding these sheaths you can tell that Michael and Mike love their craft and it translates directly into the what they create. Nothing about these sheaths felt cheap or thoughtless; there was so much attention to detail, and the wood that is used that each sheath feels like a one of kind custom piece.

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With purposeful positioning-there is room for more dice than these 31

Speaking of custom pieces, the Dragon Sheaths have countless numbers of options to please every type of gamer. There are over 35 different and artistically created sculpts to choose from for the sheath and sheaths can have the same sculpt on both sides or, like my sheaths, feature different sculpts on either side. The Kickstarter features more than 25 wood and finish combinations and also includes some specialty tiers featuring exotic woods and finishes such as Purpleheart, Curly Makore, Bocote, and many more! These sheaths are also great because they can fit into anyone’s budget with the Classic Tier starting at $35 and going up from there depending on wood/finish choice. Everyone should definitely check out the full line of Dragon Sheaths on Kickstarter, going now through March 13th. Also, don’t forget to head to Dog Might Games and see the whole line of products that Michael and Mike offer, from full-sized dice chests, card stands, adventure cases, and many more!  

 

Get more information over on Twitter about Dog Might Games and hear my gaming ramblings:
Dog Might Games @dogmight
Michael Konas @konasmichael
Nika Howard @nika_howard

 

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