Wonderland

Release Date: August 2000
Set Size: 6 Buttons
Designer: Oaktree
Artist: John Tenniel

Wonderland is a fan set created by Oaktree.

According to a brief questioning about the set, Oaktree shared a few tidbits, then referenced Button Men: The Book as having more about the design of the set.

I actually talked to him [James Ernest] about it back in '00, but his licensing fee was, well, let's just say it was geared towards other game companies, not some guy who designed a set on a whim. He liked the designs, tho.

The Whiffle Die is functionally a Null Stinger Die, but just like David S. Pumpkins, it's his own thing. Watch out when the Jabberwock comes whiffling through the Tulgey Wood. I wanted a die that looks really big and ominous and threatening--until you realize its effect on scoring is pretty minimal. Putting Null and Stinger together seemed like a good fit.

According to Oaktree's old website:

The artwork is taken from John Tenniel's magnificent illustrations for Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass. Fortunately for me, this stuff is in the public domain, so my buttons are only infringing one copyright, not two.

There are now two versions of the first four buttons in this set--I created "prototypes" of them two years ago using low-resolution scans of the art and printing them off in black and white on a variety of colored paper (blue, goldenrod, green, pink, and white). (I also inadvertantly left the Turbo symbol off Alice's Option Die, so if you've got one, note the recipe correction.)

Here's my thinking on Alice: sometimes she's big, sometimes she's little. One side of the mushroom and all that. The Queen of Hearts comes off as mostly reasonable--except for that Poison d16. Off with their heads! The White Rabbit is a little on the fast side, but otherwise is a pretty normal fellow (provided you can get past the fact that he talks, wears livery, and employs a house maid named Mary Ann...).

For Gen Con, I updated the set using new high-res scans of the art, which I colorized myself. I also added two new buttons, Tweedledum and Tweedledee, and created a rare, the Jabberwock. Only a very few folks in the world have any of these buttons (in either version).

Oaktree's thoughts on the four original buttons can be found here.

Buttons

• 

  Alice
  (6) (8) (8) (10) (1/30)!
• 

  Mad Hatter
  q(6) q(6) q(10) q(20) q(X)
• 

  Queen of Hearts
  (6) (8) p(16) (20) (X)
• 

  The Jabberwock
  (20) (20) (30) ng(30) (U)
• 

  Tweedledum and Tweedledee
  (2,2) (4,4) (6,6) (10,10) (T,T)
• 

  White Rabbit
  (4) (6) (8) (12) (X)

Rules Sheet

Rule Notes: Alice has a Turbo Option Die. As with any Turbo Die, the owner can change values each time the die is rolled. As with any Option Die, only two values may be selected.

The Mad Hatter has all Queer Dice. When they roll even, they behave as regular dice; when they roll odd, they behave as Shadow Dice.

The Queen of Hearts has one Poison Die. It also happens to be a d16. I shouldn’t complain too loudly if I were you.

The White Rabbit has no special dice, but don’t let that fool you—he’s very special nonetheless.

Tweedledum and Tweedledee can only face off against each other, in which case each uses his recipe as indicated (each has a recipe of (2) (4) (6) (10) (T)). Against all other Button Men, ’Dum and ’Dee join up, and their dice are paired up into a single all-Twin Dice recipe.

The Jabberwock has a Whiffle Die, which is a combination Null-Stinger Die. Like all Null Dice, the Whiffle Die is worth no points either to retain or to capture, and any die that it captures or helps to capture is worth no points. Like all Stinger Dice, the Whiffle Die is not counted when determining initiative, and when participating in a Skill Attack, the Whiffle Die can contribute any value between 1 and the number it currently shows (inclusive). E.g., a Whiffle Die showing a 30 could contribute any value between 1 and 30 to a Skill Attack (enabling it to capture virtually any opponent die), but any die so captured is not counted when calculating the score for that round.