If you have ever sat at a gaming table and found yourself transported, whether to the endless sands of a fantasy desert or the eerie quiet of a tundra, you already know the magnetic pull of biomes. They are more than just backdrops. They are living, breathing worlds that shape the way stories unfold, whether those stories come from nature itself or the campaigns we spin with our dice.
In the real world, deserts stretch farther than the eye can see, oceans hide secrets in their depths, and mountains stand as silent witnesses to millennia of history. Humanity has always been captivated by these landscapes. They challenge us, inspire us, and remind us of how small we are compared to the vastness of nature.
In fantasy games, biomes serve a similar purpose. They do not just color in the scenery, they define the tone, the challenges, and the kinds of adventures we will face. A desert trek in Dungeons & Dragons feels nothing like a jungle crawl, and it should not. Biomes are storytellers in their own right.
Biomes as Story Arcs: Campaign Ideas from the Natural World
One of my favorite things about running or playing tabletop campaigns is how every new environment feels like turning the page to a new chapter. You are still in the same book, but the setting tells you immediately that the story has changed. A swamp does not just mean different monsters, it means different moods, stakes, and survival challenges.
Think about deserts. In real life, deserts are vast, scorching, and dangerous. In a game, they offer the perfect setup for stories about endurance and scarcity. Your party might need to ration water, track supplies, or navigate sandstorms that threaten to bury entire caravans. The Dark Sun setting for D&D took this concept and ran with it, building a whole world where survival against the harsh desert is just as important as fighting the monsters that roam it.
Tundras tell a different kind of story. The cold isolates, the endless snowfields disorient, and even the hardiest adventurers find themselves tested. D&D’s Rime of the Frostmaiden is a masterclass in using tundra as a storytelling device. The environment itself becomes the villain, with freezing winds, limited daylight, and the constant threat of frostbite adding as much tension as any owlbear ambush.
And then there are jungles and rainforests. They are alive in ways that can feel almost overwhelming: buzzing insects, vines closing in, and creatures camouflaged among the greenery. Pathfinder’s Mwangi Expanse captures this wild vibrancy perfectly, making the jungle feel like a character unto itself. Adventures here often shift toward exploration, discovery, and encounters with civilizations hidden away for centuries.
The ocean is another campaign waiting to happen. Oceans in fantasy are not just vast waterscapes, they are gateways. They connect continents, hide monsters in their depths, and provide an endless canvas for stories of mystery and danger. Starfinder takes this concept to new heights (or depths) by extending biomes into space itself, with alien oceans, crystal deserts, or frozen moons that feel just as alive as anything we have seen on Earth.
The beauty of using biomes as story arcs is that each shift in environment feels like a breath of fresh air. You can run an entire campaign in one biome and still find endless stories to tell, or you can treat each one as a chapter, carrying your players across mountains, forests, deserts, and seas like an epic journey.
Rolling Through the Wilderness: Using Dice to Bring Biomes to Life
If you have been in the tabletop world long enough, you know dice are more than just number generators. They are tiny ritual objects, talismans of luck, little sparks of identity at the table. The feel of rolling them, the clatter on the table, the way everyone leans forward to see the result, it is part of the magic.
Now imagine that the dice you are rolling are tied to the very world your character is walking through. Desert dice for a trek through sun-scorched sands. Ocean dice when your ship battles a kraken. Forest dice when you are sneaking through moonlit groves.
Does it change the math of the game? No. But it changes the mood. It is an act of immersion, of ritual, that deepens the connection between the player and the story. Dice become another piece of the environment, a tactile way to bring the biome to life at the table.
I have rolled plenty of dice in my time, metal dice that feel like weapons, resin dice that sparkle like gemstones, and glass dice that catch the light in mesmerizing ways. Each has its own personality. Biome dice take that a step further. They do not just look good, they mean something. They are connected to a place, to a story, to the vast sweep of nature that inspired them.
Why Biomes Endure—In Life and at the Table
At the heart of it, our fascination with biomes comes down to the same thing that keeps us gaming: wonder. We are drawn to deserts and oceans and tundras because they are bigger than us. They make us curious, challenge us to adapt, and invite us to imagine lives and stories different from our own.
Tabletop games give us the chance to explore these places in ways we might never experience otherwise. Not many of us will trek across the Sahara, but we can live that adventure through our characters. We may never dive to the depths of the Mariana Trench, but with dice in hand, we can battle sea serpents in the crushing dark. Biomes expand our horizons, whether in the real world or at the gaming table.
And sometimes, a set of dice can be more than just plastic or glass. They can be little monuments to the natural world, a reminder that the fantasy we love is always rooted in the wild beauty of Earth itself.
If you would like to see how we have brought these ecosystems to life in dice form, you can check out our Biome Dice Kickstarter here: Biome Dice by Misty Mountain Gaming
FAQ
Q: Why are biomes important in storytelling?
Biomes set the stage for adventure. A trek through the jungle feels different from a journey across the desert because the environment shapes the challenges, dangers, and opportunities the characters encounter. Storytellers and game masters often use biomes to add atmosphere, variety, and realism to their worlds.
Q: How do games like Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder use biomes?
Tabletop games often pull directly from real-world biomes to inspire their settings. The frozen tundras of Rime of the Frostmaiden, the vast desert worlds of Dark Sun, and the dense jungles of Pathfinder’s Mwangi Expanse all show how biomes add richness and depth to a campaign.
Q: What makes rolling dice tied to a biome special?
It adds another layer of immersion. Rolling dice that reflect the environment your character is in—forest dice in the woods, ocean dice at sea—turns the act of rolling into a storytelling tool. It is a small ritual that connects the physical world of the table to the imagined world of the campaign.
Q: Who would enjoy our biome-inspired dice the most?
While these dice make a great addition for any collector, I imagine these have special appeal for anyone who finds wonder at the crossroads of nature, fantasy, and science. If you love the idea of holding a little piece of the desert, the ocean, or the tundra in your hand while you roll for your next adventure, these dice speak your language.
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Collectors will treasure them as unique sets that stand apart from the usual glass or resin. Their stackable design makes them just as fun to display as they are to roll.
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Dungeon Masters and Storytellers will find them to be perfect props, ways to reinforce the tone of an adventure. Imagine dropping the Arctic dice on the table as you describe a blizzard rolling in, it makes the whole scene feel grounded.
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Nature Lovers and Science Fans will appreciate them as an homage to the real-world ecosystems that inspired their design. They are a conversation starter as much as a game tool.
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Roleplayers will connect dice to character identity. A druid rolling forest dice, a sea-faring pirate rolling ocean dice, it is another way to stay in character and deepen the roleplay.
- Gift-Givers will find them to be a perfect bridge between gaming and the wider world. They are beautiful objects even for people who do not sit at the table every week.
