Alien Dice is a webcomic by Tiffany 'Syke' Ross, concerning a young woman who follows an alien that has captured her pet cat as part of a game. Alien Dice debuted on May 16 2001. The comic is uses a combination of long sections of text accompanied by full color images, and is currently hosted in Keenspot.

Major characters

Shira Lexx 'Lexx' A twenty-one year old Rishan male, who plays Alien Dice. Lexx captures Chel's cat as part of the game, and allows her to come with him until the game is over to get her cat back.

Chelsea Reid 'Chel' A ninteen year old red-head human, home for the summer.

Riley A twenty-two year old Littan male. One of eight siblings, and Lexx's soul brother.

Damian Cera Taosh Yirakosa 'Damian' A twenty-six year old Sairah male who plays Alien Dice.

Claudia A thirty-two year old Kourwine female who plays Alien Dice. Enjoys flirting with Lexx, and indeed any eligible (or non-eligible) male.

Trasik A twenty-seven year old Littan female who plays Alien Dice. Riley's only sister. Hates Lexx, as he is the only person she has ever lost to. Lexx's arch-enemy.

What is a "Dice"?

Despite their deceivingly simple appearance, Alien Dice are a far cry from their Earth analogues: they're physiological reconstruction machines, even capable of re-sequencing DNA. When a blank (i.e., previously unused) dice is cast in the proximity of a living being, the dice becomes bonded to it, and nanomachines are released to alter its physical structure. This painful process grants extraordinary physical and/or mental abilities for use in gladiatorial-style engagements. The augmentations are somehow proportional to the result of the dice roll. As a result of combat performance/experience, players might be automatically rewarded with a "next-side roll" (e.g., a 5 becomes 6), which adds significant enhancements.

When combat turns unfavourable, damage can result in rolling down (demotion). In cases of severe injury, the bonded dice itself can deconstruct, store and reconstruct the wounded creature, a process that requires nearly twelve hours. A bonded creature can also also revert to this dice-stored state at will.

A different kind of dice is the Modifier. This dice, again depending on the roll, can boost the player's abilities temporarily.

Depending on their application, dice vary in the number of sides. Six-siders are used to reprogram animals for one of the variants of the Game. Shira Lexx himself is bonded to a twenty-sided die which rolled an initial two. Despite negative pronostics, however, Lexx has managed to survive and has become a celebrity of sorts. He now intends to win the Game, which would allow him to win his freedom.

Controversy

In March 2005, Tiffany Ross, the author and illustrator of Alien Dice, came under fire for violating her contract with Keenspot to display her newsbox, because she did not like an image from another comic of two men about to kiss. Her exact statement was:

<blockquote>"I will have this box at the top of AD for this week, due to events over the weekend concerning the Keenspot Newsbox that I did not want on my site. The comic's quite funny. I've read it a few times and it's not explicit, so I have no problem with it, but it does contain gay content."</blockquote>

External resources

Alien Dice

News article about controversial statements