Building the Ultimate D&D Table(TTRPG): Part 2- Hidden Dice Tower Upgrade!

The kickStarter campaign has now ended, thank you to all of those who backed the project! I was able to make a limited run of product that I hope has made everyone happy.
However, after fulfilling this very limited number of orders, I found that even when optimized, it still takes a good amount of time to cut and print each one. In an upcoming project I will be redesigning/ improving and creating an all (or nearly all) digital option that will have the advantage of a much lower cost as well. Stay tuned for updates!
In this episode, I refine and upgrade my D&D table and the hidden dice tower design into a more compact, reliable and scalable product. By using 3d modeling software (fusion 360), 3d Printing, resin printing and laser cutting technology, I am able to bring these concepts into the real world.
Thanks for subscribing and watching this Dungeons and Dragons Build and following along with the TTRPG adventure!

[@ralexcraft990]

This channel is criminally underared

[@Slushi0]

I know I was expecting like 10x the sub count fro the amount of effort

[@hucz]

ok

[@Protocol-X]

You should look into putting pin holes on the side that can be slipped into, instead of sitting them on the top of the housing. It would look nicer as well as be more stable.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

That's a nice idea, the only issue is that having the pins separate from the button is already a difficult problem and if I were to move them further down, it would exacerbate the problem... I might try one prototype out though.

[@satibel]

@@MoreToolsThanSense might work if you put a pivot (or a catch) higher than the button, making pin farther away retract properly. having a fulcrum higher than the button means you don't have to press as much to make the pins travel further.

[@MichaelJKyzer]

@@MoreToolsThanSense They don't need to be separate. Just make two holes or recesses on each side on the inside of the tower base. It will add additional rigidity to the tower when it's extended. Literally no mod to the tower - just some little recesses in the base for them to click into instead of loosely resting on top of the base.

[@IronskullGM]

@@MichaelJKyzer I was thinking the same thing but having them ride in little grooves on the inside of the tower wall till they fall into and lock into the holes.

[@ChadBergeron]

@@MichaelJKyzer That was my thought too. Just a few divots for the pins to sit into instead of on top of a flat surface.

[@3boy779]

the mini table looks like a stool "hey I thought there were dice towers?" "there are, your sitting on them"

[@Geeksmithing]

Would that make it a stool sample? 🤪

[@RandomZephyr42]

Awesome work! Love seeing the process.

[@eris902]

Looking good! My first instinct would have been to try my hand at spring loading them as well. Though given the people I know, I'm 100% certain that someone wpuld see it as a coast, place a full glass on it, and release the spring as soon as they went to take a drink

[@RetTulcira]

It would be funny tho

[@satibel]

tbh it seems like a nice way to store glasses, instead of having the dice tower

[@eris902]

@@RetTulcira Oh very amusing, but also a pain as my peoples tend to drink things that will stain

[@BuriedFlame]

Heh. Fumble the roll, splash damage.

[@jakefairley6993]

It'd be nice if the ramp acted as a stopper when the tower is hidden, that way you could store your dice in them when not in use

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

I have it this way for the original wood ones, problem is that you then need a huge face plate that sticks straight up when it's open. I'd say if want to store your dice inside, just bag em!

[@vincentvoort7494]

​@@MoreToolsThanSense Sorry to use this comment, but I couldn't find a way to message you. I'm a physically disabled DnD player and am amazed by those towers. Rolling dices is a struggle for me, so I resorted to digital rolling. But seeing this, I think I could roll dices with it! Is there any way to get templates of the dice tower? I would only need the inside "box", where you throw the dice in and it rolls the dice.

[@seanbirger3036]

I've been super distracted by other happenings but I am trying to get a printable model together. In the mean time, lots of stand alone dice towers can be 3d printed or purchased that should be able to fill your need, good luck! @@vincentvoort7494

[@Cytrus-]

@@vincentvoort7494 You can actually find dice towers online, and probably cheaper

[@AidenCorvas]

Amazing. Just amazing. Great job they look awesome.

[@JohnGunter_Johnprime]

Just now watched this video and really like your concept of the hidden dice tower!

[@VGInterviews]

As a fan of cool stuff I love seen these crazy builds As a maker of cool stuff I love seeing the process and mainly the parts where you show how you needed to keep making new prototypes until you finally decided to use the spring design, that eureka moment when it finally works is the best thing ever and makes everything worth it and who knows maybe what you learned for the previous prototypes will be useful in a future project!

[@lukevoges4727]

Love it man! You got all the fancy tools and are doing good work with them! I enjoy both your DnD videos, and your automotive ones! Keep it up man!

[@burgesskj]

Brilliant work, thanks for sharing.

[@Geeksmithing]

Dude this is fantastic! Congrats on the Kickstarter! Def earned a sub!

[@brickdaddiy]

Geeksmithing just recommended I come watch this video. And I did. Love it. Subbed. Can't wait to see more

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Thanks! That BoTW Playhouse is nuts! love it.

[@DarkshiftGaming]

Awesome work man! Keep up the great work!

[@JonnyBoysVlog]

Just backed! Super excited for this!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Thank you for your support!

[@artofdominique]

dude, your stuff is awesome! 🤩🤩🤩 I also want to add how you keep at it until you get it the way you want is inspiring and uplifting! 🥰

[@lotusqueen440]

remember, the more tools you have, the more sense you can have while still having more tools than sense.

[@trexdrew]

This and the original video are sick and I love them not to mention how much I wish I had a table even close to this. That said I’ll also offer one criticism as well from the TTRPG side of things. It’s said that to be a properly randomized roll from a dice tower your dice needs to have at least 3 contact points with the inside of the tower. Otherwise your rolls are lacking in randomness. If I were to buy a tower like this personally that’s definitely something that I’d not only be looking for but would be a dealbreaker for me. If you look into towers online you’ll find the good ones always try to include 3+ platforms for dice to roll off of. Obviously it might be a bit difficult to include this in your table ones but if you’re selling these out and about I’d suggest making a larger sized one for sale maybe? That way folks have an option of how randomized they want to get.

[@Brendan_Myers]

Nice one, they turned out great!

[@DrSwolemeister]

the presentation of the tiny display table was absolutely hilarious. well done

[@WhoTookThomas112]

This is a great project! Looks good, fun idea, all in all a project which I might pick up myself one day. One thing I would change over the current design is for most pop-up things I'd probably use magnets instead of some pin mechanism. this allows for some fluidity in the movement and it also be easier to engineer a bracket to mount magnets on rather than a pin mechanism like this, which would require many prototypes before you get it right (like what happened here). also the magnets might be easier to hide than a pin mechanism, so you dont have to worry about designing for example a pop-up tower around one prop.

[@echodelta2426]

This is awesome. very clever idea.

[@DrHQuinzel]

Engineering at its finest and a beautiful upgrade

[@BiologyIsHot]

Buying a laser cutter seems like the kind of thing I would do during a manic episode

[@annaluizar.desouza9551]

THE EXISTENCE OF THE LITTLE TABLE IS JUSTIFIED ON ITSELF!!!!!!

[@InvictusSolDerauma]

My dude! You are a god at DIY!! I’m hooked on your channel, and you’ve inspired me to quit all my jobs and start making!

[@4321Enjoy]

from part 1 to part 2 there is an insane increase in audio quality! good job man! hope you get flodded with subs and sponsorships!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Thanks a ton!

[@benvalle8253]

Amazing can’t wait for the web shop

[@bushyman477]

Never seen this channel before, but this is damn awesome! Can't wait to watch more of your content!

[@gklecker]

Very clever execution. I'm impressed with the final design. I can appreciate the number of tries it takes to get a design just right. If you have a particularly challenging idea, let me know. I would love to help (no charge). I've helped a LOT of people and invented a lot of things.

[@agilemonk6305]

Just such great work. ❤

[@bobhihih]

Loving these. I have been wanting to make a D&D table with just the monitor in, but this is way more than I planned and I love it enough that I might try to do it myself.

[@DMKarnholio]

this is the very first I've seen of your content. you had me at 4:07, sir.

[@eastoforion]

very cool engineering challenge!

[@RIVERSRPGChannel]

Very cool You make some awesome stuff

[@lezen106]

While it could look quite crazy to use that level of engineering, spending and time just to get a dice roller tower straight for tabletop RPG, guess what : I totally DIG IT !!. Engineer myself this is amazing and slick as fuck... Well done bro

[@danacoleman4007]

WOW!!!! Very cool!!!!

[@scottgrimmlyon]

Great Job

[@SCUBAguypnw]

Adding that blue tape to the wood before using the laser cutter will help with the burned edges. Then again, it is one more thing that needs to be peeled off.

[@xboxx2783]

Very cool!

[@DrHQuinzel]

Also, best fricken closing line ever 😆 We call D&D Imagination Night

[@TheKnightArgent]

Thumbs up for Excitement Fists.

[@jamestaylor3805]

Laser cutting a wood veneer for cleaner printed components may give you the look you want on a layer project.

[@gledendarygaming9377]

Thats super cool

[@RetTulcira]

This is sick

[@insertpun4963]

As undeniably awesome as these dice towers are, for anyone without quite these capabilities can I suggest routing/carving out cavities next to each player and lining them with felt, to make an in built dice tray

[@henrygabriel2527]

glad i subbed to you all your videos are great

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Awesome, thank you!

[@lamborn3D]

Don't underestimate your Ender 3 friend, those things are capable of some pretty impressive feats. Especially for the price.

[@n8thegreat9121]

A few modifications to the alignment base would make a difference. At the top of the alignment base, cut sunken wells for the flex stop pins to rest in, so that the tower stays still in the center and the pins are hidden. You could also cut tracks into the walls of the alignment base for rounded flex stop pins to ride in, making a smoother movement.

[@thecreep7147]

Got this randomly recommended and seeing him pull up the dicetower got me flabbergasted

[@rhettdunn8788]

Use your laser to cut a template for creating a hole in the table. Hog out the majority of the hole with a jigsaw, and clean up with a router and flush trim bit for a perfect square. Well except for the corners which you can clean up with a chisel or just make your design have a rounded corner that matches the diameter of the flush trim bit.

[@sonofabinch]

The Bouncing Souls? Those F-ing New Jersey mooches!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

They only go on tour so they can eat other people's food!

[@daemonglasscock8768]

Might buy a 2 pack even without a table to fit it to, looks like I'll be in the market for a new table lol

[@thesqeaky]

Wish i would have found this sooner, would love to have a few of these. Any plans on releasing the STLs for purchase in the future? I have a laser cutter, 3D printer and resin printer.

[@Darkarious773]

You could also sell the cad files on sites for minis and 3D platforms such as thing a verse etc. double up on your money and cut down on your personal stores of print mats and the like.

[@happymushroom9729]

Part 3 will be something like adding holograms and voice acted dialouge for npcs

[@henrywong668]

Ai npcs

[@CyFr]

I kinda like it, but I think the overall design could be a bit better in some areas.

[@lexibyday9504]

I'm still going to make a massive terrain table with special themed paths for the dice to roll down because things like that are what excite me for tabletop gaming

[@ed2cute831]

I would have used that pop top as a cover for the hole, when pulled up it will display whatever emblem I put on there as well as reveal the hole to drop the dice down. I'd do this to either forgo or simplify the dice tray at the bottom. If I kept it, it would just be a cover that pivots up or down when the tower is down or up. As for locking when up, I'd just use some flat pieces with triangular extrusions that pop out slightly when the walls aren't there. Might have been slightly simpler than the button with the dots.

[@giacomobiagini9263]

Dude, you're using Iron man machinery stuff to craft d&d tower dice! That's awesome

[@ajcarbonell]

i would honestly buy that

[@ryanbolson23]

1:49 and suddenly I’m in the commander’s quarters mtg haha

[@lou5543]

The build is great and I'd just recommend some type of grooves on the inside that the tower can slide into the housing with to give it less jiggle jiggle and more smooth stability, but 100$+ just is too much for me! Would be more then the current table and materials Ive got so far :( Happy to see more of what you build!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

not a bad idea, would likely be tough to add without making the case a good bit taller and thus, more likely to bang into your knee or foot.

[@lou5543]

@@MoreToolsThanSense What if you did it more in a widening sense? So on the inside of the housing if there were like channels/grooves, or on the tower part that pops out, if you did them you could have them slide directly into placish. Kind of like the idea of how brackets or such on a keyboard tray work

[@rosaliamorales9893]

Tip I learned for those ugly burn lines from the laser cutter: cover the surface you’re cutting with painter’s tape. Protects that top layer from scorch marks. I’ve mostly used that with my laser etcher but I imagine it might help with an industrial cutter as well.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

The acrylic comes covered in protective paper tape but after you cut them it takes way longer to peel off all the little pieces than it does to just wipe them down with alcohol

[@rosaliamorales9893]

@@MoreToolsThanSense I meant when laser cutting wood

[@wheatloathe]

Playing DnD with this man must be like sitting at the table of the final supper with Jesus himself. But, you know, without the betrayal stuff. You know what I mean.

[@alfredbarnescomedy]

He's my DM and I can confirm there is some betrayal stuff.

[@stevenfett1539]

Vinegar and a rag for the edges and masking tape for the face, when cutting wood

[@raistnox]

You said that the holes in your table top are too big for the final iteration of the dice towers why not glue in some hardwood strips along the inside edges of the holes and file/sand to correct dimension. Seems like that would end up being less work overall and if you use a contrasting color of wood could be quite beautiful.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

A fine idea! However I am planning to make custom Veneer that will match the table and also fill the (pretty small amount of) gap. This will also let me refine the process so that I can offer hardwood veneer as an upgrade for future customers.

[@RoraighPrice]

there should be a sping underneath the tower that automaticaly pushes it upwards when the leaver is pulled

[@mythrilsentinel1]

Looks grand! Out of personal tastes for a taller tower; can you extend the tower a bit to allow for multiple baffles an a greater opportunity for randomization?

[@BiologyIsHot]

You can also add a raft with supports instead of printing the part itself directly as a first layer. Meaningful amounts of elephant foot should be very avoidable

[@foldionepapyrus3441]

Very neat finish and not at all the mechanism I would have used, which just goes to show there are many ways to a similar result. For myself I'd rather there wasn't a ring pull but a rotational lock - that ring pull drops enough that small based and heavy enough objects will just fall over and if you ever run a pen and paper over the top you will have a bad time. Where the rotational lock concept can have a flush finish and be a nearly perfectly smooth table top (if you care to put in the machinist time and skill to hit really tight sliding fits even an invisibly smooth finish to the insert (though that is excessive)).

[@danwhiffen9235]

Its pretty funny, the 3d printer could have done all the walls as well (and probably better with more effects/textures), but i support the purchase of additional tools! a CO2 laser is something that I grapple with necessitating the money (and probably more importantly shop space) for.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Could print the walls for sure... But since I am planning on selling a few the difference between 48 hours of printing and 20 mins of cutting is huge! Also, like you said, MORE TOOLS!

[@ATVOffroadFurry]

you should use a dremel tool to get rid of elephants foot!

[@emanuelkukucka9349]

Amazing video, watched it till the end. Just wanna ask, what's the pop-up actually for?

[@dragonstwilight6389]

Dungeons and Dragons requires a lot of dice rolling, and the pop up is a dice tower, designed to contain the dice while also randomizing the dice while it travels down the tower.

[@stephmo371]

Perhaps strong embedded magnets into the top of and bottom of either the shell box or pullout tower itself would give it a smoother operation without the need for the "button" release. With this methods you might just need a couple of coin magnets or small bar magnets. Love the idea of a tower in the table overall though, that shit is rad as hell.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Couple people suggested magnets and I even had that on my list of ideas early on. Not sure why I dropped it because...y'all might be right.

[@KazeTheStorm]

I'm pretty new to 3D printing, but I'd say infill probably helps with the stability of the swing arms, since they'd be more solid

[@theoracles8183]

When you make table Mk 2 (Which I'm completely convinced you will to incorporate a larger surface play area or larger television, or what have you), I'd love to purchase table Mk 1 from you!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

I'm more likely to upgrade the table instead of starting over but you never know!

[@brianatkinson1398]

9:48 “that’s what she said” lol

[@w4rhammer_tau993]

Here’s an idea, make one that when you push down on it, it flings up then the head comes off by itself

[@holgerb6103]

Hey, ich love your Videos around your dnd table. One i habe just ohne question, would you also offer a Version to place ontop of a table, because i don't have a table that i can Customizing like you

[@Ton369]

i cant believe all this technology is used to build a dice tower for DnD

[@mountainviper3842]

What a shame all this just for your players to call out and have to postpone another week lol.

[@davidhumble6892]

If they were collapsible then the underside form factor would be much shorter. Look at collapsible shot glasses for example.

[@Science__Politics]

Trying to make things like this drives me nuts. The more door the better...

[@garnerloudermilk1710]

After watching you struggle with that snap stabilizer...might I suggest magnets?

[@DarkLordZewo]

hmm looks good but...i would try and play around with springs..make it pop in and out like a pen..and make it automatically pop the top off aswell

[@michaelm5741]

The amount of views compared to the amount of subscriber numbers is shocking!

[@bappyplays]

These are awesome, went straight to your kickstarter to buy some, but for a single sheet of laser cut acrylic and some screws it's way too expensive sorry. Appreciate that thick acrylic isn't cheap and you need a margin to make it worth while. Maybe a cheaper mdf/ply version that could be painted by the buyer would be able to bring the price point down to a more accessible level as most people who want to install a pop up dice tower are going to want 4-6 of them lol. Great project though.

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Thanks! Yeah, I know the price point is a bit high. I hope to make some out of wood in the future but to be honest that won't lower the price all that much. A lot of the cost is tied up in the fact that I'm making them one at a time and even the DIY kits take over an hour to print, wash, cure, cut, inspect, fix imperfections, organize and box. If the demand grows, I may be able to higher some help or find a way to streamline the process but for now, to be honest I need the keep the quantities low. If I have to make 2 kits per day, there won't be any time left to make more videos! lol

[@bappyplays]

@@MoreToolsThanSense that makes sense. I've got resin and FDM printers myself, could do a self-print option for some of the parts but you do open yourself up to infringement if you do that. I wish you the best of success :D

[@joep041188]

f-ing cool.

[@johnpeterson462]

Haha, you have played the classic youtuber bit "The smart thing would be 'A' but why do that when I can just do 'B'" *Does B*

[@ellathompson3090]

u should paint the towers so that it looks like real stone!

[@Lan_ny]

For SLA printing you shouldn't be printing your objects directly to the build plate. IIRC first few layers are overexposed to ensure they stick to the build plate. I forget if a raft or just supports is the better option. Resin is also weaker than PLA in stress tests

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

True, you're not really supposed to stick it right on the build plate... but with an absolute square of an object, it's nearly impossible to get a nice finish on all 6 flat surfaces any other way. Also, I use tenacious additive to the resin, you can bend a 5mm thick piece nearly in half before it snaps, It's passing all of my stress tests!

[@ElCubodelNarco]

How many takes till you rolled that 20 for the intro? XDD jokes aside looks really good!

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

Only 3! (In the first video, it was a lot, lol)

[@WernerBeroux]

I was wondering for a while why you didn't do it in PLA using FFF. You're going to sell it as a kit and laser is so much faster and easier to ship, so makes sense. For the glue, I wonder why you're using E6000 which is very flexible glue. For this I believe you'd want a chemical welding glue. Given the likely overall investment for this, I'd also go for plastic threaded inserts.

[@rreevv.]

Any dude who just buys a laser cutter gets all my respect

[@MoreToolsThanSense]

I asked the wife about it and she said, "get the big one". (And that's how you know you've got the right partner)

[@rreevv.]

@@MoreToolsThanSense it’s so perfect

[@nautblue4284]

Holy hell! What do you do for a living?

[@brianfoster7064]

Why not use threaded wood inserts to mate with bolts instead of screws?

[@ThyTrueNightmare]

Video suggestion, add more background music to parts where your not talking, like unpacking

[@sommie666]

Im here for the excitement fists

[@targetdreamer257]

"In cases you use thicker wood" Ah-yoo

[@anthonysimon2111]

This video was 4mo ago, yet I do not see the web-shop mentioned in the description on your website.... any progress?