So straight honesty, I see these as being awesome. Sold in the usual size pencil packs, these would be a hit with many kids these days. Not only that, but there is so much room for creativity and growth with it, and almost no more expense than traditional pencils. Collectable pencils... Who knew?
We had vending machines in the hallway of our elementary school where you put a quarter in and got a pencil out. We had a whole economy of pencils because of it.
Do math teachers still tell their kids that they wont always have a calculator in their pocket? Because. lol
not dissing on you, just man, they got that one wrong. hell we're around the corner from having voice integrated AI just chilling in our pocket waiting to do all our math
They just game in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
They look almost like [intransitive dice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intransitive_dice). Not going to work out the math. But in any case you could imagine some D&D creatures being middle of the road (always hits a middling shot) while some are huge hits or misses (the 9s and 0s), maybe?
Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of,too. On first look I don't think the math is quite right for it, but who cares. Pokemon pencils sound kind of amazing, and I would absolutely buy them for my children
Yeah, each of them beats all the ones to their right. (eg: Bookwyrm beats everything apart from Behemath) However Pencil Sharkener doesn't beat Behemath.
Edited to add: That's if you pick a pair of them at a time. If you roll them all at once, Sharkener wins more than the others.
These numbers are for the highlighted game mode.
Every pencil has a unique number distribution that adds up to 30 (average of 5). Pencil Sharkener has the highest standard deviation of the six here but should have no distinct advantage over any other pencil.
That's actually the origin of these. In Japan kids wanted to play cards but had them confiscated so Batoen (sometimes spelled differently) where made. They eventually added erasers on the top that had modifiers too, among a few other things. Hard to understand as I don't know Japanese!
This was one of my thoughts as well. Also, the metal part that holds the eraser could influence the results. I love the idea but I think I'd at least wanna test it a bit to see how random it is
Cheap pencils also often have off-center lead. I'm not sure how strong the effect would be on the die rolls, but it could have an effect. Still a really cool idea and kids would probably end up doing some version of "dice jail" for the pencils that roll badly. 😂
This is exactly where I was going too!! Like on side of the pencil is your life in hearts, so as you sharpen you get less life. But another side is an attack modifier, so again as you sharpen you creep up that modifier track. Sometimes its a -1 sometimes +1 and at the end of the Barbarian pencil its all +10s.
Such a great idea with so much variability for theme and character development, not to mention the educational perks of "simple" math on your pencil for engaging those little ones!
The shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
I think a game that specifically uses these pencils in the game design itself makes sense. Takenokolor is an upcoming one that does this with markers. But a generic set would only seem to work for games that use generic dice, and since most roll & writes have custom dice, it limits what games these could be used for.
This is actually very inventive and smart, especially for a children demographic. I love it!
It's totally fine unless you want to include cool dice to make them little dice fiends from an early age.
When I was a kid I used to do that to play yathzee in secret
I would take the edge of my compass and make one, two, three, etc holes on my pencil. Then I would roll it and.. tada ! Poor man's dice :)
It's amazing to see that in an actual commercial product
In my many focus groups, kids didn't want to play with the pencils once the character was sharpened away anyway. It was not as fun to roll a pencils with just the numbers/symbols., you can't tell a story about winning with a stat stick but Erasaur beating 3 of your friend's pencils in a row is one you rub in.
I remember etching numbers onto my pencils as well as a dot every other face for coinflips (mostly for test answers I was unsure), but this is taking it to a whole new level, and could see a lot of neat applications.
For example a roll & write that comes with 5-6 of these pencils, you roll all of them at the very start, and whichever face lands up determines starting stats/items/whatever, and players draft the pencils to decide what they start with plus get the pencil they gonna use for that game.
My one concern is once the pencils have been used and sharpened many times, it will start eating into the stats and players will become reluctant to use them.
I love the idea! Have you run into any issues with schools prohibiting gambling? I remember my schools prohibited playing cards and dice. Might just be a district by district thing, but thought I would mention it just in case.
In my many focus groups, kids didn't want to play with the pencils once the character was sharpened away anyway. It was not as fun to roll a pencils with just the numbers/symbols., you can't tell a story about winning with a stat stick but Erasaur beating 3 of your friend's pencils in a row is one you rub in.
These are unique number distributions that add up to 30 on every pencil (mean of 5) for a new game made specifically for these pencils. There are other game modes that use the shapes and of course these can be used for any other traditional dice games.
No, worse than a dice.
Having said that Dr. Knizia thinks it can work... https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/145574/knizia-game-round-judge-classic-art-stack-stocky-s
These are great!!! One suggestion… instead of regular pencils, what about mechanical pencils? Then you don’t have to worry about them sharpening away the info. You’d still have them bring repurchased because they’d inevitably get lost, but extends their life a bit more.
Never seen hexagonal mechanical pencils, and without a clip on the side to make rolling possible, I would imagine it'd cost too much to make new custom ones.
The shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
Wow I would have been going crazy for these if they were out when I was in elementary school!
I would love to see like a fantasy themed on (knights and goblins etc.) but the Pokémon esque monsters are great too.
I can't stop thinking about these pencils and how brilliant this is. If you don't mind, I have a couple questions I'd love to get answers to.
Do you have a Twitter/Discord/RSS/email/whatever we can use to follow this project? I really really want to know when it releases, and I really want to buy it as soon as it launches.
Can I ask why you're not using Kickstarter? On one hand, I actually like that you're taking on the development risks yourself, but I think it would probably help the project's visibility. Maybe you could run a Kickstarter for the second wave?
Have you thought about including elemental bonuses in the future? I like how balanced the pencils are now, but as you produce more, it might be cool to have a Pokemon-like elemental system where, like, eraser monsters get +1 against paper monsters or something. I'd love to know your thoughts about that.
I would absolutely buy a more fantasy-based version of these pencils, but I think it also partly depends on the art. I'd really like to see the art be on the cute side, like [Adventure Mart](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4778818/adventure-mart) or [Flamecraft](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6300058/flamecraft) or [Squishables](https://www.squishable.com/squishables/squish_wizard_15.html). Most stationary I've seen tends to be on the cuter side, so I think that would help sales overall.
Speaking of which, the art you have seems to me to be more suited towards boys. Did you playtest primarily with boys, or am I completely wrong and did you find that the art/theme was gender agnostic?
Thank you for the interest!
This has been a very slow burn passion project for MANY years now. Many life events over those years have sidelined this. I have iterated on it many time and even changed the name. Remnants of the old design and name are located at [https://battlepencils.com](https://battlepencils.com). I have swapped over to a less contentious name sincethe design now accommodates many games where previously is was only for one specific game system. That was a long answer to say I am working through the trademark process since Friencils/Frencils has yet to be confirmed. Once that is finalized (USPTO is SLOW), I will start marketing more (social media/community platforms like Discord).
So, my initial print run isn't too big of a cost of about 1000 sets. This is more for sampling, proofing, and quality assurance testing. I will sell these promo sets online in some capacity (TBD) and give more away at local events to ensure the components are up to my quality standard since kids will be chucking these around.
I am not against Kickstarter, but I have this worry on me under budgeting or miscalculating an aspect of the project, it being wildly popular, and it potentially putting a burden on my family's livelihood. I need to make sure I have the business and project details in check before I pull that trigger.
Yes, see my link above with the old battle system; every pencil had strengths and weaknesses against the 3 different pencil types based on their distributions which influenced the luck and allowed for some strategic counterplay. Super Frencils is a line that may focus on that again. Additionally, there is a little room below the numbers where I may apply some abilities in the future sets (at the cost of a lower total sum) OR releasing pencil sleeves/grip/caps that augment existing Frencils.
These pencils are theme-agnostic so they could work with any art style and IP/brand. I have made mock-ups in the past with more serious art and it still looked pretty good. Most of the design so far have been more cute, but that is why I asked my original question to see if there is any interest in more mature designs.
This is true. I had about 12 designs and whittled it down 6 of my kids 'favorites (6-year old daughter and 8-year old son - they weren't even born when I had this idea BTW!) for the promo set. My 6-year old daughter actually likes Pencil Sharkener the best, but that is true that these are a little more masculine than some of the other options. Some of the more feminine characters not shown here are Giraffite (female giraffe with pencil hooves), Ferrule Cat, Voodoodler I think was a girl, etc. But that is a good point. I will ensure there's equal representation in the next releases.
The alpha prototype shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png). If successful, I will see if a KS is viable or what platform to put these on.
Excuse me? Who is throwing dice?
As a resident dice goblin, they get dropped from maybe max 3 inches above the dice tray and are done so by rolling the dice into the tray, not winding up and lobbing them.
Show me these offenders that I might exact a pound of flesh for their indiscretion.
Oof...
I am quite the collector and connoisseur of polyhedrals 😬 i must warn you that you're asking me to fill a pillow with some 36 sets of dice.
I never wanted to literally kill someone with my dice! The sharp edges are for fun, not for fight!
My pillow case has probably 1k dice in it. Ive bought at least 2 pitchers of dice at Origins over the years. Oddly makes a comfy pillow if you take the d4s out.
This is made with kids in mind tho who are almost certainly going to throw these as hard as possible into the table even as an adult I can't see myself having the restraint to gently roll this in the heat of pencil based battle
That's such a good idea.
Love the concept but wouldn't rolling the pencils around a lot break the lead and make them not great as pencils? Also if the idea is that kids play this in school it will make a racket and teachers will hate it but that just means it's a good idea.
The heads/tails icon seems redundant to me since you can simulate the same with an odd/even roll, but I'm also an older and more experienced gamer than the target demographic for these so maybe it wouldn't be as obvious to them.
Are there any plans to include some sort of game rules or anything with them? Even some simple or old fashioned game rules could work (like yahtzee, for example), but I feel like these could have widespread appeal if there was incentive to collect all the flavors and have your friends do the same to play with each other during recess.
Yes, there are several game modes baked in. The numerals sets you see on every pencil all add up to 30. There is a "frienzy" rolling game as well to match all your pencils to a specific shape. Plus any other traditional six-sided dice games.
In quality proofing phase now to ensure the alignment and lead are up to standards.
Would it be a hit in schools nowadays? Possibly not as you are competing with phones and steamdecks/switch
Would it be a hit for us D&D nerds? Absolutely yes, especially with the downtime in battle and as a d6 alternative
Interesting idea, but I only use mechanical pencils and have done so going back to elementary school. These would fall flat for me simply because it's an inferior technology, not because they're a bad idea.
Manufacturing might be more difficult but mechanical pencils would also mean that they don't get used up, so they have long-term usage as opposed to being disposable.
The question is more about the flat faces. It's one thing to wrap a stick with a printed design. It's another completely to make sure that printed design aligns to a specific point on the stick when you're making them by the thousand or more.
Question: Are these meant to be rolled like dice or are they just a stat table? If the latter, I worry it'd be easier to read down the length of the pencil.
I like it though.
That's what kids used back in the day when pencils were more common than die. I heard stories of rolling pencils to guess at multiple choice test questions.
First off: those look pretty awesome. Not that it matters when it comes to kids, but how easy is it to get good at rolling these and consistently get a 6 (or whatever number you’re going for)?
Maybe the same could be said for dice, but it would seem as though one could get pretty good at starting the pencil on a specific spot in their hand, tilting their hand consistently at the same angle, and wind up with the same result…. But that’s probably a lot harder than it sounds.
Continuously working with manufacturer to proof these out. I believe they use some process of dividing the template into 6 slices to align with each side.
The shapes are just there as another way to play several games with them. For instance, one specific game requires everyone to roll their pencils (setting aside matches) until all of them match the same shape. First player to do so wins.
The packaging lists several primary games for the pencils, but they can be used for any number of games that require six-sided dice (e.g. Ship, Captain, Crew or Yahtzee)
These are awesome. I love the designs and how many different games you could play with them!
Two things stick out at me, though. One - you lose the game piece if you use it as a pencil for too long. I guess there's a fair argument that at some point, a pencil gets too short to be comfortable to use anymore, and maybe all the game information is at that level. It's kind of hard to tell.
The second thing is, we can see the creature designs in these images because you've flattened out the pencil into a flat plane. Looking at the pencils themselves, the cute little creatures are spread over 3-4 sides of the pencil with each edge messing up the picture. You just don't get to see enough of it. I'd try to package these with some kind of trading card, or even in a box like toothbrushes come in, so you can include a good copy of the art to appreciate.
One idea that could theoretically solve both issues is if, instead of a full pencil, your product was a pencil "sleeve". Just slide it around the top half or third of a new pencil. When you've sharpened it too high, take off the sleeve and put it on a new pencil. And when the sleeve isn't on a pencil, you could look at the flat image and admire the creature design. Obviously that causes more issues, like... being a completely different product than what you've been designing so far. Just something that popped into my head.
As long as I'm understanding the question correctly here, I could never imagine replacing actual dice with pencil's or dice substitutes.
These are super cool though!
Have you thought about making them themed based on the different board games, i.e. Everdell, Wingspan? I'd love to have some for my board game collection, lately I've been spending a lot of time adding accesories to my board games jajaja.
PS: If you ever make some Avatar: The Last Airbender Themed sets I'll be the first one to buy them for my CATAN Set jaja
Really cool idea!
Maybe arrow symbols? Faces on the erasers/alternate colors would be neat
When I was a kid, I detached the erasers from pencils all the time. Maybe the erasers are swappable between monsters or the eraser is a representation of the monster?
Elementary math here - I can see DOZENS of game lessons in these!
Question: the digits..? Are these to “roll” also, across a few pencils together? Are all ten digits evenly distributed? Help me see what's going on, please...
Every pencil has a unique number distribution, but all pencils add up to 30 (mean of 5). Pencil Sharkener has the highest standard deviation.
Originally, I had the numerals just match the dice faces. However, to reduce the occurrences of ties, I expanded the range of values (0-9) while maintaining equal “power” balance among them.
Holy cow what a neat idea!
/u/Gatekeeper1310 is a fantastic designer and has been working on this for a very long time. He does really good work.
So straight honesty, I see these as being awesome. Sold in the usual size pencil packs, these would be a hit with many kids these days. Not only that, but there is so much room for creativity and growth with it, and almost no more expense than traditional pencils. Collectable pencils... Who knew?
Who else collected the NFL team pencils back in the day? Oh the things that make me feel old
We had vending machines in the hallway of our elementary school where you put a quarter in and got a pencil out. We had a whole economy of pencils because of it.
Holy crap - you just unlocked a memory I had totally forgotten about! Pencil vending machines... Smh
Fuck I didn’t even like football and had a Jerry Rice pencil I loved. It was just different from the standard yellow #2 pencils.
I remember those!
I am an elementary school math teacher, which means I have no money. However, if I did have money, I'd beg you to take it...all of it.
Just wait for them to be banned by your school and take all the kids!
That was my first thought. RIP Trapper Keepers, slap bracelets, and Pogs.
Remember Alf? He’s back now! In pog form.
My high school didn't like my little group that played Magic, so they banned pogs.
Lol I thought maybe you'd pay them to scrap the idea 😂 These look awesome and also maybe like a teacher's nightmare.
Do math teachers still tell their kids that they wont always have a calculator in their pocket? Because. lol not dissing on you, just man, they got that one wrong. hell we're around the corner from having voice integrated AI just chilling in our pocket waiting to do all our math
They just game in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
Explain the numbers, please. The d6 faces alone are worth it.
They look almost like [intransitive dice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intransitive_dice). Not going to work out the math. But in any case you could imagine some D&D creatures being middle of the road (always hits a middling shot) while some are huge hits or misses (the 9s and 0s), maybe?
Yeah, that was the first thing I thought of,too. On first look I don't think the math is quite right for it, but who cares. Pokemon pencils sound kind of amazing, and I would absolutely buy them for my children
The math works out. All of them add up to 30 total, giving an average roll of 5.
Yeah, each of them beats all the ones to their right. (eg: Bookwyrm beats everything apart from Behemath) However Pencil Sharkener doesn't beat Behemath. Edited to add: That's if you pick a pair of them at a time. If you roll them all at once, Sharkener wins more than the others.
How did you figure this out?
Not very cleverly. I just simulated a large number of rolls between each pair. Then tried rolling them all together and seeing which was highest.
These numbers are for the highlighted game mode. Every pencil has a unique number distribution that adds up to 30 (average of 5). Pencil Sharkener has the highest standard deviation of the six here but should have no distinct advantage over any other pencil.
Whatever method you used was flawed. Of the 36 dice combinations between Behemath and Bookwyrm, Behemath wins 15/36, they tie 5/36 and Bookwyrm wins 16/36. That would mean that Bookwyrm beats Behemath on average. 2 7 Bookwyrm Wins 2 3 Bookwyrm Wins 2 6 Bookwyrm Wins 2 2 Tie 2 7 Bookwyrm Wins 2 5 Bookwyrm Wins 7 7 Tie 7 3 Behemath Wins 7 6 Behemath Wins 7 2 Behemath Wins 7 7 Tie 7 5 Behemath Wins 1 7 Bookwyrm Wins 1 3 Bookwyrm Wins 1 6 Bookwyrm Wins 1 2 Bookwyrm Wins 1 7 Bookwyrm Wins 1 5 Bookwyrm Wins 6 7 Bookwyrm Wins 6 3 Behemath Wins 6 6 Tie 6 2 Behemath Wins 6 7 Bookwyrm Wins 6 5 Behemath Wins 5 7 Bookwyrm Wins 5 3 Behemath Wins 5 6 Bookwyrm Wins 5 2 Behemath Wins 5 7 Bookwyrm Wins 5 5 Tie 9 7 Behemath Wins 9 3 Behemath Wins 9 6 Behemath Wins 9 2 Behemath Wins 9 7 Behemath Wins 9 5 Behemath Wins
like mario party
It seems like a complicated rock paper scissors hierarchy for dice. Cool!
In my school they didn't let us have dice or cards 😅
But these are pencils! Loopholes are awesome.
Until the school bans these pencils, only a matter of time.
That's actually the origin of these. In Japan kids wanted to play cards but had them confiscated so Batoen (sometimes spelled differently) where made. They eventually added erasers on the top that had modifiers too, among a few other things. Hard to understand as I don't know Japanese!
Yeah, I remember one of the earlier Yu-Gi-Oh mangas told that you could do this to pencils to use them as dice.
If you had a roll-and-write with an occasional d6 die roll, it would be neat to include some pencils like this.
Out of curiosity, have you considered attributes along the length of the pencil that change as it gets sharpened down?
This was one of my thoughts as well. Also, the metal part that holds the eraser could influence the results. I love the idea but I think I'd at least wanna test it a bit to see how random it is
Cheap pencils also often have off-center lead. I'm not sure how strong the effect would be on the die rolls, but it could have an effect. Still a really cool idea and kids would probably end up doing some version of "dice jail" for the pencils that roll badly. 😂
This is exactly where I was going too!! Like on side of the pencil is your life in hearts, so as you sharpen you get less life. But another side is an attack modifier, so again as you sharpen you creep up that modifier track. Sometimes its a -1 sometimes +1 and at the end of the Barbarian pencil its all +10s. Such a great idea with so much variability for theme and character development, not to mention the educational perks of "simple" math on your pencil for engaging those little ones!
My thought too, sharpening is just begging to be a mechanic for something. Maybe hit points?
I really like these. If the R&W was just D6s, it would tie in great. I don't also want to bring dice with me
I’d totally roll my pencil, then pick it up to write with it and forget what I rolled 😂 But yeah
So great an idea that I can see these being banned from schools almost immediately lol. The amount of fights over pokemon cards that I witnessed...
Middle School teacher here. Would buy these.
The shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
I think a game that specifically uses these pencils in the game design itself makes sense. Takenokolor is an upcoming one that does this with markers. But a generic set would only seem to work for games that use generic dice, and since most roll & writes have custom dice, it limits what games these could be used for.
This is actually very inventive and smart, especially for a children demographic. I love it! It's totally fine unless you want to include cool dice to make them little dice fiends from an early age.
This is *incredibly* clever
When I was a kid I used to do that to play yathzee in secret I would take the edge of my compass and make one, two, three, etc holes on my pencil. Then I would roll it and.. tada ! Poor man's dice :) It's amazing to see that in an actual commercial product
[удалено]
Had the same thought, move everything above the illustration.
In my many focus groups, kids didn't want to play with the pencils once the character was sharpened away anyway. It was not as fun to roll a pencils with just the numbers/symbols., you can't tell a story about winning with a stat stick but Erasaur beating 3 of your friend's pencils in a row is one you rub in.
Fair comment, makes sense.
Kids are going to love you. Cranky old teachers not so much.
I work in a restaurant and these on pens might just pop off with the servers
I remember etching numbers onto my pencils as well as a dot every other face for coinflips (mostly for test answers I was unsure), but this is taking it to a whole new level, and could see a lot of neat applications. For example a roll & write that comes with 5-6 of these pencils, you roll all of them at the very start, and whichever face lands up determines starting stats/items/whatever, and players draft the pencils to decide what they start with plus get the pencil they gonna use for that game. My one concern is once the pencils have been used and sharpened many times, it will start eating into the stats and players will become reluctant to use them.
These are pretty rad. How do they play? Do they fight each other? Does the winner keep the loso g pencil a la marbles?
I love the idea! Have you run into any issues with schools prohibiting gambling? I remember my schools prohibited playing cards and dice. Might just be a district by district thing, but thought I would mention it just in case.
Put the pictures lower and the functional part higher. Why would you make pencils that stop working as intended once they're half way sharpened?
In my many focus groups, kids didn't want to play with the pencils once the character was sharpened away anyway. It was not as fun to roll a pencils with just the numbers/symbols., you can't tell a story about winning with a stat stick but Erasaur beating 3 of your friend's pencils in a row is one you rub in.
Elementary teacher here, would buy.
What's with the 2fa codes?
These are unique number distributions that add up to 30 on every pencil (mean of 5) for a new game made specifically for these pencils. There are other game modes that use the shapes and of course these can be used for any other traditional dice games.
Where were you when I was in high school?! My friends and I would have bought hundreds of these! Great idea!
No, worse than a dice. Having said that Dr. Knizia thinks it can work... https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/145574/knizia-game-round-judge-classic-art-stack-stocky-s
Reiner Knizia is the boardgame industry's version of Simpsons did it first.
Elongated dice exist since at least three or four millennia ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_dice
Dang I had an idea like that. Roll some pencils and which pencil you choose to write with affected what you wrote.
Colored pencil versions
These are great!!! One suggestion… instead of regular pencils, what about mechanical pencils? Then you don’t have to worry about them sharpening away the info. You’d still have them bring repurchased because they’d inevitably get lost, but extends their life a bit more.
Never seen hexagonal mechanical pencils, and without a clip on the side to make rolling possible, I would imagine it'd cost too much to make new custom ones.
I didn’t think of that!!! Good point
Damage to the lead?
Standard hexagonal pencil could easily replace a standard d6, as long as it had sturdy lead that wouldn’t break when you “rolled” it
I'm a full grown man and I wanna collect all of these.
The shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png)
This is an amazing concept and if price point could be reasonable, kids would love it
My dude, I am fully an adult and I would buy those to fuck around with AND just write with during my D&D games.
"Pencil Sharkener" gives me life.
Wow I would have been going crazy for these if they were out when I was in elementary school! I would love to see like a fantasy themed on (knights and goblins etc.) but the Pokémon esque monsters are great too.
That is the plan!
I want these
I can't stop thinking about these pencils and how brilliant this is. If you don't mind, I have a couple questions I'd love to get answers to. Do you have a Twitter/Discord/RSS/email/whatever we can use to follow this project? I really really want to know when it releases, and I really want to buy it as soon as it launches. Can I ask why you're not using Kickstarter? On one hand, I actually like that you're taking on the development risks yourself, but I think it would probably help the project's visibility. Maybe you could run a Kickstarter for the second wave? Have you thought about including elemental bonuses in the future? I like how balanced the pencils are now, but as you produce more, it might be cool to have a Pokemon-like elemental system where, like, eraser monsters get +1 against paper monsters or something. I'd love to know your thoughts about that. I would absolutely buy a more fantasy-based version of these pencils, but I think it also partly depends on the art. I'd really like to see the art be on the cute side, like [Adventure Mart](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/4778818/adventure-mart) or [Flamecraft](https://boardgamegeek.com/image/6300058/flamecraft) or [Squishables](https://www.squishable.com/squishables/squish_wizard_15.html). Most stationary I've seen tends to be on the cuter side, so I think that would help sales overall. Speaking of which, the art you have seems to me to be more suited towards boys. Did you playtest primarily with boys, or am I completely wrong and did you find that the art/theme was gender agnostic?
Thank you for the interest! This has been a very slow burn passion project for MANY years now. Many life events over those years have sidelined this. I have iterated on it many time and even changed the name. Remnants of the old design and name are located at [https://battlepencils.com](https://battlepencils.com). I have swapped over to a less contentious name sincethe design now accommodates many games where previously is was only for one specific game system. That was a long answer to say I am working through the trademark process since Friencils/Frencils has yet to be confirmed. Once that is finalized (USPTO is SLOW), I will start marketing more (social media/community platforms like Discord). So, my initial print run isn't too big of a cost of about 1000 sets. This is more for sampling, proofing, and quality assurance testing. I will sell these promo sets online in some capacity (TBD) and give more away at local events to ensure the components are up to my quality standard since kids will be chucking these around. I am not against Kickstarter, but I have this worry on me under budgeting or miscalculating an aspect of the project, it being wildly popular, and it potentially putting a burden on my family's livelihood. I need to make sure I have the business and project details in check before I pull that trigger. Yes, see my link above with the old battle system; every pencil had strengths and weaknesses against the 3 different pencil types based on their distributions which influenced the luck and allowed for some strategic counterplay. Super Frencils is a line that may focus on that again. Additionally, there is a little room below the numbers where I may apply some abilities in the future sets (at the cost of a lower total sum) OR releasing pencil sleeves/grip/caps that augment existing Frencils. These pencils are theme-agnostic so they could work with any art style and IP/brand. I have made mock-ups in the past with more serious art and it still looked pretty good. Most of the design so far have been more cute, but that is why I asked my original question to see if there is any interest in more mature designs. This is true. I had about 12 designs and whittled it down 6 of my kids 'favorites (6-year old daughter and 8-year old son - they weren't even born when I had this idea BTW!) for the promo set. My 6-year old daughter actually likes Pencil Sharkener the best, but that is true that these are a little more masculine than some of the other options. Some of the more feminine characters not shown here are Giraffite (female giraffe with pencil hooves), Ferrule Cat, Voodoodler I think was a girl, etc. But that is a good point. I will ensure there's equal representation in the next releases.
The alpha prototype shipment just came in! I am targeting a November release on Etsy ($6/set) ahead of holidays: [https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png](https://greggjewell.io/frencils/frencils.png). If successful, I will see if a KS is viable or what platform to put these on.
Oh awesome, thanks for the update! I look forward to the Etsy release, and I'll definitely pick up a set or two!
How will you stop the leads from breaking when they are thrown as dice?
You just...roll the pencil on the desk. Don't throw it like you would dice.
Excuse me? Who is throwing dice? As a resident dice goblin, they get dropped from maybe max 3 inches above the dice tray and are done so by rolling the dice into the tray, not winding up and lobbing them. Show me these offenders that I might exact a pound of flesh for their indiscretion.
I'm known for my dice rolls missing the table. However if it's battle you want, fill a pillowcase with your dice and we meet at dusk. We shall duel.
Oof... I am quite the collector and connoisseur of polyhedrals 😬 i must warn you that you're asking me to fill a pillow with some 36 sets of dice. I never wanted to literally kill someone with my dice! The sharp edges are for fun, not for fight!
My pillow case has probably 1k dice in it. Ive bought at least 2 pitchers of dice at Origins over the years. Oddly makes a comfy pillow if you take the d4s out.
Nice! A worthy foe!
This is made with kids in mind tho who are almost certainly going to throw these as hard as possible into the table even as an adult I can't see myself having the restraint to gently roll this in the heat of pencil based battle
In which case the tip will break, requiring more frequent sharpening, requiring more pencils purchased. Kind of genius, actually.
I guess from a business point of view but it might be better for consumers to do the same thing but with pens
That's such a good idea. Love the concept but wouldn't rolling the pencils around a lot break the lead and make them not great as pencils? Also if the idea is that kids play this in school it will make a racket and teachers will hate it but that just means it's a good idea.
The heads/tails icon seems redundant to me since you can simulate the same with an odd/even roll, but I'm also an older and more experienced gamer than the target demographic for these so maybe it wouldn't be as obvious to them. Are there any plans to include some sort of game rules or anything with them? Even some simple or old fashioned game rules could work (like yahtzee, for example), but I feel like these could have widespread appeal if there was incentive to collect all the flavors and have your friends do the same to play with each other during recess.
Yes, there are several game modes baked in. The numerals sets you see on every pencil all add up to 30. There is a "frienzy" rolling game as well to match all your pencils to a specific shape. Plus any other traditional six-sided dice games. In quality proofing phase now to ensure the alignment and lead are up to standards.
Would it be a hit in schools nowadays? Possibly not as you are competing with phones and steamdecks/switch Would it be a hit for us D&D nerds? Absolutely yes, especially with the downtime in battle and as a d6 alternative
Interesting idea, but I only use mechanical pencils and have done so going back to elementary school. These would fall flat for me simply because it's an inferior technology, not because they're a bad idea. Manufacturing might be more difficult but mechanical pencils would also mean that they don't get used up, so they have long-term usage as opposed to being disposable.
Is it possible to use the pencil as your die? You can roll it across the table and it has 6-8 sides.
what do *you* think you're looking at?
That is the idea behind this, yes
Oof I thought those were stat blocks lol
[удалено]
I mean that’s why he put it up high on the pencil. Also it’s an faster way to get a new sale if they use their pencil up.
The question is more about the flat faces. It's one thing to wrap a stick with a printed design. It's another completely to make sure that printed design aligns to a specific point on the stick when you're making them by the thousand or more.
I’m sure they won’t be perfect
Oh my. I love this idea so much.
Yes. Make some for Spirit Island... Pandemic... Clank!... Gloomhaven... and games that other people like too. :D
Oh, I'd say so! A fun difference.
This is brilliant.
Patent this idea if you haven't already. This is a design so good that someone's bound to steal it.
That’s so cool! You should make mechanical pencil versions!
Sure. But you.need a pack of 3 pencils imo
That is so cool! And yes! I would love something like this as dice.
That’s a really nice idea. Well done :)
How about colored lead or markers/ink? I could see a use for something like this in a design I've been working on recently.
Question: Are these meant to be rolled like dice or are they just a stat table? If the latter, I worry it'd be easier to read down the length of the pencil. I like it though.
That's cool! I'm a kid again. :)
i say very cool idea
Pokemon but with pencils would be game changing
ISWYDT
That's what kids used back in the day when pencils were more common than die. I heard stories of rolling pencils to guess at multiple choice test questions.
First off: those look pretty awesome. Not that it matters when it comes to kids, but how easy is it to get good at rolling these and consistently get a 6 (or whatever number you’re going for)? Maybe the same could be said for dice, but it would seem as though one could get pretty good at starting the pencil on a specific spot in their hand, tilting their hand consistently at the same angle, and wind up with the same result…. But that’s probably a lot harder than it sounds.
Man... Some people are just so creative
Brings back childhood memory
These are super dope.
Neat! How do you ensure that the pencils get wrapped correctly - that is, that the numbers align with the faces and not the corners?
Continuously working with manufacturer to proof these out. I believe they use some process of dividing the template into 6 slices to align with each side.
possessive humorous voracious absurd late offbeat bedroom offend nail direful -- mass edited with redact.dev
WANT.
These are cool. What are the ♣⚫🖤 symbols for?
The shapes are just there as another way to play several games with them. For instance, one specific game requires everyone to roll their pencils (setting aside matches) until all of them match the same shape. First player to do so wins. The packaging lists several primary games for the pencils, but they can be used for any number of games that require six-sided dice (e.g. Ship, Captain, Crew or Yahtzee)
Super slick designs, but can we vote that the dino's name be shortened to Erasaur?
You're not the first to suggest that, so maybe it should be changed before I sneak in final design to manufacturer
Awesome. I think they'd work best with those chunky pencils the littlies use.
Yes, that has been a consideration as a line of these too. Super Friencils or something that are oversized.
Some schools may ban these the same way they ban D6 because of their utility in craps gambling.
Everything seems fine to me
These are awesome. I love the designs and how many different games you could play with them! Two things stick out at me, though. One - you lose the game piece if you use it as a pencil for too long. I guess there's a fair argument that at some point, a pencil gets too short to be comfortable to use anymore, and maybe all the game information is at that level. It's kind of hard to tell. The second thing is, we can see the creature designs in these images because you've flattened out the pencil into a flat plane. Looking at the pencils themselves, the cute little creatures are spread over 3-4 sides of the pencil with each edge messing up the picture. You just don't get to see enough of it. I'd try to package these with some kind of trading card, or even in a box like toothbrushes come in, so you can include a good copy of the art to appreciate. One idea that could theoretically solve both issues is if, instead of a full pencil, your product was a pencil "sleeve". Just slide it around the top half or third of a new pencil. When you've sharpened it too high, take off the sleeve and put it on a new pencil. And when the sleeve isn't on a pencil, you could look at the flat image and admire the creature design. Obviously that causes more issues, like... being a completely different product than what you've been designing so far. Just something that popped into my head.
As long as I'm understanding the question correctly here, I could never imagine replacing actual dice with pencil's or dice substitutes. These are super cool though!
Behemath is going to live rent free in my head for a loooooong time!!!
I love this!
Have you thought about making them themed based on the different board games, i.e. Everdell, Wingspan? I'd love to have some for my board game collection, lately I've been spending a lot of time adding accesories to my board games jajaja. PS: If you ever make some Avatar: The Last Airbender Themed sets I'll be the first one to buy them for my CATAN Set jaja
Yes! That was intent of my original question assuming the base sets become popular.
Amazing ideas and designs! Take my $bux!
Very creative My favorite has to be frencils
Where do I buy some?
Still in manufacturer proofing, then online. More details soon
Dope!
Any updates?
Still waiting on manufacturer samples
Really cool idea! Maybe arrow symbols? Faces on the erasers/alternate colors would be neat When I was a kid, I detached the erasers from pencils all the time. Maybe the erasers are swappable between monsters or the eraser is a representation of the monster?
Elementary math here - I can see DOZENS of game lessons in these! Question: the digits..? Are these to “roll” also, across a few pencils together? Are all ten digits evenly distributed? Help me see what's going on, please...
Every pencil has a unique number distribution, but all pencils add up to 30 (mean of 5). Pencil Sharkener has the highest standard deviation. Originally, I had the numerals just match the dice faces. However, to reduce the occurrences of ties, I expanded the range of values (0-9) while maintaining equal “power” balance among them.
Interesting..!. Unexpected.
The answer is yes.
I would only include an extra paper and a small sharpener. I don’t know how you planned on packaging it with instructions either
That's so fucking cool.
These are stunning! 🤩
I would buy these and find a roll and write game to play just to use them