Crafty DnD fan welds table

A welding instructor designed and built this giant DnD dice out of aluminium - the hulking metal d20 a celebration of his love of tabletop RPGs

Matt Bassil

Published: Nov 30, 2022

You’ll need a high Strength stat to roll this DnD die. The giant metal d20 is formed from aluminium and created by Avery, a welding instructor in the US, who built it to combine his twin passions of welding and tabletop RPGs.

Avery's project was inspired by the creativity of his student who, he says, "are always wanting to make things from scratch and create their own projects.

"We’ve made metal roses, metal logs, sculptures, grills, et cetera. We do community service projects too like repairing trailers and dollies, or creating things from scratch that people need.

"Two of my passions are welding and tabletop RPGs, and there's really never any opportunity to cross those two things over. But after watching all the creative things my students come up with to make I decided I wanted to make something myself in my free time. And a giant d20 seemed like a perfect crossover between my two passions."

To construct the metal D20, Avery had to create 20 identical aluminium triangles, then – the tricky part – figure out precisely the angle each needed to be positioned at (138.19 degrees) to form a perfect icosahedron. Avery says: "After it was all tacked up I welded every joint, then took a flap disc and ground it down smooth."

The process was surprisingly swift, taking just two hours in total. "I debated painting or polishing it but I decided I liked the handmade look it already had," Avery says.

We’re wincing just imagining this monster among DnD dice crashing down on our gaming tables, but according to Avery, it's lighter than you’d expect, weighing in at just 1.5 Ibs. Still, that's a lot heftier than most d20s, and according to its maker, "when you roll it, it shakes the entire table." If you use grids, you might need to stick your DnD miniatures down!

"I have zero plans to roll it on the wooden dinner tables we play on," Avery says – wisely, we reckon. "My plans for it are to use it as display and as a hands-on example of what you can achieve with welding for my current and future students."

Check out our DnD classes guide if you’re just getting started in the most famous tabletop RPG. And here's the key info on all the DnD races in the whole wide worlds.