The tabletop roleplaying community in Regency England was small, but avid, particularly among the landed gentry. Diaries of the period record many a long country evening engaged in extended dungeon crawls and enthusiastic hack n’ slash events. Correspondence recently discovered between Jane Austen and her publisher reveals that Pride and Prejudice originally included a chapter that described such a game night during the Rosing Park section of the book (Lady Catherine was Game Master, and Elizabeth Bennet played an elven rogue named Eilstine Foxwhisper). Unfortunately, the chapter had to be cut, due to copyright issues with the Keep on the Borderlands adventure module that featured prominently in the scene.

Dice used by tabletop gamers were unsurprisingly primitive by today’s standards. Plastics, of course, had not been invented, nor had D10 or D20 dice. Dice were usually made of ivory or bone, through some examples of stone or wood dice exist. Among the elite of Society, there was a brief fad for porcelain dice, particularly Limoges, with hand-painted designs, but the fragile nature of these dice made them unsuitable for serious play.

Of course, no matter what sort of dice Miss Austen and her compatriots choose to game with, it’s without a doubt that they used only the most stylish means for storing and transporting them. No studded leather or gaudy dragon scales for this refined set! No, indeed, only the most refined, sophisticated carrying pouch would do — like the elegant crocheted dice pouch shown here.