Last updated on May 22, 2024
The AllSpark | Illustration by Volta Creation
Anyone who’s dipped their toes into Dungeons & Dragons knows what it’s like to play a session plagued by bad rolls. I’ve had a level 1 combat encounter go on way too long because I just couldn’t hit a thing. And while my tablemates’ dice weren’t balanced well, I didn’t have that excuse: Was I simply getting bad rolls, or were my dice misbehaving?
Magic players also have use for dice; that's one of the similarities between MTG and D&D. Just ask anyone who’s built a deck around Delina, Wild Mage, Wyll, Blade of Frontiers, or some of the Unfinity cards. Yes, I know that Adventures in the Forgotten Realms and Battle for Baldur’s Gate are D&D-related MTG sets; don’t @ me.
Regardless of your gaming needs, sometimes, you just want to put that naughty die in a corner. Let’s look at some of the best dice prisons to fit your style and budget!
Best Overall: The Brig by Wyrmwood Gaming
If you’re a Critical Role fan, you’re probably quite familiar with Wyrmwood Gaming. They only offer one dice jail, “The Brig”, but it doubles as a tracker for your 5e D&D games. It’s a closed-top dice jail, and it also works to transport your dice and tracker tokens between games.
The Brig is assembled from solid wood rather than plywood, and the price is fairly competitive for what you get.
Buyer’s Guide
Before springing for a dice prison, it’s good to ask yourself exactly what you’re looking for.
Size should be your first consideration. Do you want it to be a single jail cell for one die, or are you looking for some mass incarceration? Personally, I want a decent amount of space, but I don’t want my dice jail to get too big and unwieldy. This is especially important if you plan on traveling with it, but if you’re playing virtually, you’re the host of your playgroup, or you have a central playing location where you can safely store your game equipment, this might not matter to you.
Second, but also important, is the material that you want. Plywood dice jails can be just as nice as ones made from more expensive and/or exotic woods, and they have the advantage that they’re less subject to warping or cracking based on changes in humidity (I’ve got a wonky cutting board with cracked purpleheart to prove it).
Woods can also chip or dent if you drop them or don’t transport them carefully, so keep that in mind. Metal is typically heavier to carry, while plastic jails might not look as fancy as you want them to. Plastic can also melt or warp at high temperatures, like if left inside a parked car on a sweltering day.
You should also consider if you want a prison that you can easily access. Some come with large, open tops that you can easily reach into, while others have locking mechanisms so that you’re less tempted to release your dice early. The size of the opening can also be important if you’re using any oversized dice during gameplay.
The Cadillac of Dice Jails and Prisons: Norse Foundry
Norse Foundry offers these large, open-top dice prisons made from cherry, walnut, and wenge wood (when available). The bars are customizable with a variety of colors and designs. The jail can contain up to 55 20mm d20s, which is enough to probably hold your entire playgroup’s bad dice (unless you’re my roommate).
The wide, open top also allows you to use it for oversized dice, as shown in the product images on the Norse Foundry website.
Best Budget Dice Jails and Prisons
Arcanic Artistry
If you’re looking for a dice jail on a budget, you can’t go wrong with this laser-engraved option from Arcanic Artistry. And no, I’m not being swayed by the cat in the product images.
The price is right under $20, it can comfortably hold multiple dice, and it’s fairly compact and easy to store.
CZYY
A little pricier than Arcanic Artistry, this CZYY dice jail is a closed-top cage made from laser-engraved plywood. It’s small, although the hexagonal shape may be tougher to store without creating some dead space.
- 🎲DESIGN AND MATERIAL🎲 - This Dice Jail is made from birch plywood with laser engraving and has a working door with a lock. A cool devil's eye is inlaid on the cage center, taking more fantasy. Put your dice in and close the door, the devil's eye will keep watch on them for you!
- 🎲KEEP MISBEHAVING DICE OUT OF TROUBLE🎲 - Dice harming your character or your game? Aren't they doing their job? Banish those troublesome dice into your very own jail until they learn to behave themselves and allow you to reclaim your rightful status. Ready to shame your traitor dice!
- 🎲PERFECT FOR TABLETOP RPG TERRAIN🎲 - It's also perfectly sized to use as a cell or cage terrain in the tabletop game, as 25-32mm minis fit in it perfectly... Or use it as a display piece for your minis.
- 🎲PERFECT SIZE TO FIT BADLY BEHAVED DICE🎲 - The wood jail measures 2.6 inches tall by 2.6 inches wide, just the perfected size to hold 1 set of 7 standard-sized D&D dice.
- 🎲CUTE GIFT FOR ANY RPG NERD🎲 - This D&D Dice Jail comes with a 7 piece polyhedral dice set, perfect for use in Warhammer, Dungeons & Dragons, and many other games. It is a perfect gift for RPG players or will be ideal stocking stuffers!
Duck Duck Wood
Duck Duck Wood is a Canadian seller, another in the realm of plywood, laser-etched products. What’s neat with their products is that you can lock your dice in a jail that’s labeled as one, or that has another cheeky phrase.
Lay of the Land
Rather than shout out a specific product, I’m looking at their entire dice jail category. Most of these double as dice vaults, which is great for storage.
Lay of the Land’s dice prisons are thematically tied to Dungeons & Dragons. You can even get a Mimic to use as your dice jail! If I’m reading correctly, all these dice jails are 3D-printed models, but they’re quite detailed.
The only issue I have is that they don’t accept returns on any products. Their products may also require assembly or sanding prior to use.
Etsy
This list wouldn’t be complete without paying lip service to Etsy. There’s plenty of sellers on that platform that offer all kinds of dice jails, including chairs with dunce caps, toilets for (censored) dice, and plenty more that both resemble and are completely different from the other dice prisons we’ve looked at. As always, check the product reviews before you buy to make sure you’re going to get what you expect.
Custom Dice Jails and Prisons
Of the sellers we’ve discussed, artisanal shops like Duck Duck Wood can provide you a quote for a custom dice jail in the styles that they work in.
Lay of the Land has a surveyor service that allows you to custom order all kinds of D&D related game pieces. Anything in their store can be incorporated into a custom order, so have a look and see if anything strikes your fancy!
The DIY Option
The craftier among you may also want to make your own dice jails. You can take inspiration from some of the dice jails we’ve looked at so far, or you can come up with something on your own!
If you have access to a 3-D printer, you can design, print, and assemble your own dice, or you can get started with files found online, like from Cults and other sources.
If you’re more of a woodworker, you’re only limited by your skills, tools, and supplies. A simple, open top jail pretty much just needs a bottom piece, smaller pieces for the top, and dowels that you can cut into bars. You can start getting fancier by adding magnets to hold a solid lid on top of your jail.
Please note that I don’t encourage ripping off someone else’s design to sell yourself. If you want to become a seller of your own products, at least try to innovate on something before you try to market it, eh?
Wrap Up
Soulless Jailer | Illustration by Donato Giancola
And that’s our look at dice jails! There are all kinds of options and materials to browse, and this guide can’t possibly cover everything. Nonetheless, I hope you’ve found a dice prison for yourself or the high-roller in your life. Or perhaps low-roller, since they’re probably the one who needs a dice jail.
This guide has been pretty focused on Dungeons & Dragons, but don’t forget those dice roll MTG decks out there.
Got a favorite dice jail that we didn’t cover here? Shout them out in the comments below! And don’t forget to come over to our Draftsim Discord for more Magic and gaming content and community.
Best of luck on all your rolls!
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