When Dungeons & Dragons appeared in 1974, its strange dice looked like physical evidence that this was not an ordinary board game.

The first boxed rules did not include them. Players had to provide polyhedral dice themselves, and TSR sold sets separately. The available dice were educational products before they were fantasy products, which helps explain both their assortment and their limitations.

Early icosahedra often carried the digits 0 through 9 twice. To use one as a true twenty-result die, players needed a way to distinguish the two sets. They might color one run of numbers, declare one color high, or roll another die to decide which range applied. For percentile results, two differently colored decimal d20s could represent tens and ones.

The plastic could be soft and fragile. Edges wore down. Faces chipped. Numerals arrived uninked. Players rubbed crayons into the grooves and wiped the excess from the surface. A die was not yet a polished lifestyle product. It was a scarce tool that sometimes required finishing at the kitchen table.

Even the language was unfinished. The 1974 rules wrote phrases such as “roll two eight-sided dice” rather than using the notation that now feels automatic. In 1975, D&D fan Ted Johnstone proposed systematic abbreviations in the first issue of Alarums & Excursions. Other fans quickly used forms such as D4, D6, and D20. TSR adopted the familiar lowercase style extensively in the 1978 Players Handbook.

The dice and their names were being standardized by the community at nearly the same time.

The 1977 Holmes Basic Set made the physical problem visible. As an introductory box, it needed to give new players what they required to begin. Some printings included a polyhedral set, and some included a crayon for filling the numbers. Yet demand could outrun supply. During the 1979 shortage, TSR substituted cut-out randomizer chits in some boxes and provided a way for buyers to obtain dice later.

This is the factual core behind a larger piece of hobby folklore.

The story is sometimes told that TSR bought an entire shipping container of polyhedral dice from China. The verified record does not establish that claim. TSR first resold sets supplied by Creative Publications. Specialist research ties those early imports to manufacture in Hong Kong. TSR also used GameScience dice for a period and later developed additional wholesale or direct supply arrangements. Taiwan appears in accounts of later sourcing. The exact size of the largest order remains unproven.

Calling it “China” also erases a historical distinction. Hong Kong was under British administration during the relevant years. More importantly, no located primary or strong secondary source documents one literal container purchase.

What the evidence does show is a young company trying to feed a market that barely existed a few years earlier. Dice crossed oceans. Prices rose. Suppliers competed for production. When shipments failed to keep pace, TSR put pieces of numbered cardboard in the box.

That scarcity shaped the game. Designers learned to assign different mechanical jobs to different solids. Players learned a common notation. Retailers learned that dice could be sold as an essential companion product. Manufacturers learned that gamers would pay for something tougher, clearer, and more reliable.

The first generation had accepted dice that chipped, rounded, and needed crayon. The next generation would ask why the tools of chance could not be made better.

AI-Assisted: This article was developed with AI-assisted research, fact-checking, and editorial support. Ken Whitman reviewed and approved the final text.

Copyright: Copyright © 2026 Ken Whitman. All rights reserved.

Sources Used

• Ian Tonat, “The 20-Sided Die” (2022).
• Jon Peterson, “How Gaming Got Its Dice” (2013).
• Jon Peterson, “The Origins of Dice Notation” (2013).
• Wayne’s Books, “Holmes D&D: The First Basic Set (1977–80).”