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Most of my minis are metal, so an estimated guess between 2... and 300lb being conservative, I must have painted about a 1/3 of that so far. 1 & 2) Nope, I always prep what I need in advance. If I don't have what I need I try to get/craft it and make it ready, if not I improvise. 3) I try to describe first, then put the terrain/battlemap/tiles on the table or do both at the same time if I have to puzzle them together. 4) The monsters I need are always in a box under the table or behind the DM's Screen so I can grab and place them quickly when I need to. 5) Whenever is possible, back when I started I used paper minis, over the years I've built a nice collection of metal and plastic so that I have most of the basics (goblins, orcs, bandits, etc) and some of the rarer (dragons, demons, aberrations, etc). 6) I try to prep and paint them weeks/months in advance, if I don't manage to do it on time, well tough titties, back when I started I had no painted minis so. 7) I plan for it, but sometimes I forget about it during the game. 8) Some day I hope I can go overboard XD, I love to craft stuff specially terrain and dioramas (I still have a lot to learn and put into practice). 9) Guilty, being "compulsive obsessive" doesn't mix well with this hobby in my experience XD. 10) Guilty, both IRL and Online.
I wouldn't tolerate for long a group of players that constantly ignores plot Hooks and goes wandering off on random things. I would obviously try having a discussion with them first about the social contract and how when a game master prepared something and delivers a plot hook it's understood that the group is probably going to go do that thing. But at some point if it becomes obvious that the game they want to play it's not the game that I want to run something has to give.
@Homebrew Stew Times like that, I declare a bathroom and drink refill break, giving me time to rifle through boxes. Though usually, I will prepare more of and more varied minis and terrain than I think I am going to use. First, just in case, and second as a misdirection of expectation.
The most important thing when using minis is to have an organized, well sorted, labeled and organized, did I say organized mini collection. If you can't find what you need in under 5 minutes, reorganize.
I put all my minis on display in Billy bookshelves, and then put big labels on each shelf and organized the monsters by type, and humanoids by weapon type.
For all those unpainted Reaper Bones - prime them black with a rattlecan, then get 2-3 brighter colored craft paints like white, grey , light brown, and drybrush them . You can get a huge batch done like this in a couple of hours and they look nice on the table.
I do love painted minis, and have never though of putting unpainted minis down...but I think that might help me save some time trying to paint everything I need before my games.
I am fortunate in that our group has about 4 decades of minis numbering in the thousands, most of which have been painted over that time period. The bad part is that over the last few years, all of adhesive for the box labels has dried out, and need to be replaced.
I just use roll 20, a map making software and art from dnd beyond. Also add in environmental hazards that the players/enemies can use can be really fun and add some tension to the fight.
I have only weighted those in boxes and carrying equipment. Nothing that was still in original packing or not assembled: 423 kg Collecting since the 80s and quite some metal stuff in there...
Leave to a cliffhanger before rolling initiative, call a break, then the players return to the table to a full set of miniature and terrain. And also 3d printing and mz450 make having every minis what you see what you get easier.
Love that Miguel (mz450) has free stls of every D&D monster! Except one I needed!! "Werebat" from DOTMM. But been printing his stuff for the last 19 months since I got a 3D printer.
Leaving to a cliffhanger is a cool idea, but it sounds like it would lead to a lot of very short sessions... Guarantee he does not. I play 3.5e and there are 5 monster manuals of monsters I use, aswell as fiend folio, all the monsters from various supplements (expanded psionics and the 'complete' books, as well as several others such as tome of magic and book of nine swords), and several other sources, mostly third party. Also I'd you ever make your own creatures you won't find minis of them.
@@nightfall89z62 I have done a take on cliff hanger before - a 15 minute smoke break - disrupts the flow a bit and I only use that in a sandbox when the party goes off the grid
I use paper cutouts, I call them Splats, for outdoor terrain. I use circles of paper for rocks, trees, hills and water. It helps a lot to visualize what's going on.
I do a similar thing for rocks trees and stuff. Just a simple Circles of paper. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done and helps the players know where cover can be found during a battle.
@@theDMLair I think it's important to show these simple shortcuts. It takes the stress off the newbie DM...they need all the encouragement we can give them. :-)
I was mid-crafting craze one day and showed my brother some foam rocks I was working on, and he said, "You know what else works as rocks? rocks. There's a whole much outside." It is amazing how deep you can crawl into the rabbit hole and miss the obvious.
@@MonkeyJedi99 lol, yeah. Do you do any traveling for any games, say to conventions or something? If so you could counterpoint with that the foam is lighter and easier to take with you to make sure you have your rocks available when you go to cons instead of having to route around in the dirt or rockbed outside for them at the last moment. Otherwise, yeah, your brother got ya there. XD
Much of this applies to VTT, too. Not having digital tokens ready, assuming that you don't need to describe the beautiful battlemap, not thinking through terrain effects mechanics
I definitely think that a map of an encounter shouldn't be revealed until after you've described it, it's been explored, and until the call for initiative. You can use the time that they're rolling initiative to bring in some terrain, roll out a map, or hastily scribble something on a mat. Minis should be right there and not hiding somewhere. I figure this is more likely for people who are playing at home and don't bother to get stuff ready, whereas if you're playing somewhere, you're going to need to take everything with you. Granted in real life, you're busy and you can't always get stuff together, but if you schedule something for a certain time, you should schedule it with time to get set up.
You make a lot of valid and interesting points Luke. In the end I guess it all depends on whatever someone likes and is willing to do without it becoming a burden. As someone who took the plunge recently into 3d printing, mini painting and foam building I’m trying to build terrain for my players. That being said, I see it as a part of my hobby and not as a must do. We still use theater of the mind and I try to put care into descriptions of the rooms, because as fun as terrain building might be, it will never fully capture the wonder of imagination. Terrain is meant to enhance and not replace the magic that is bringing a story into life.
I've recently started playing in person again with some friends and use unpainted minis and predrawn battle maps on gridded flip chart paper. I like using the mini PCs and monsters since I believe it helps get players more connected to the game. But the maps are very, very basic. And they still have fun.
This video came up while I was literally making terrain for a boss battle: ancient blue dragon in a room whose walls, floor and ceiling are covered in metal plates with runes carved into them. I etched the grid and runes into a piece of foamcore, glued a piece of aluminum foil over it (rubbing the foil into the grooves), the went over the grooves with blue marker and covered the whole thing in clear tape so the marker wouldn't rub off, and so the foil would not be too reflective (we' play by Zoom). Only cost me a few bucks, but I will admit it's been time consuming. Just hope the players appreciate it.
That's cool dude. Things like that are time-consuming but lots of dungeon Master's enjoy doing it. And they also enjoy the look on their players faces when they reveal that awesome set-piece.
My sessions tend to be so beautifully complex, with dungeons and locations and scenes that are so intricate and complex, that it would be impossible to pull off with 3D terrain, and in fact 3D terrain would restrict me from being able to make adventures like the ones I do. If I have to have a map and minis at all, it would have to be a hand-drawn 2D map.
@@jesternario thing is, no. Because it wouldn't work like that for me. I have upwards of 3 or 4 different locations that combats might take place, per session, and wouldn't be able to have that many tileset battle maps pre-setup. Heck, it would be a miracle if I even had enough table space for one! Frankly, theatre of the mind works better for me, and if my players can't play without a grid map and minis, I will hand draw all the maps I need.
Often, I find that at least representing altitudes and some scatter pieces is enough to elevate (pun intended) the encounter above a simple flat map. We have used all sorts of things to represent that verticality, from foam stuff I have crafted, to stacks of books or Lego bricks.
Our DM uses a grid and abstract token to represent scenes. As he says, he doesn't like using "wrong" minis and will newer have minis for each creature in his game world, so he prefers abstractions. We also often use dice and coins to represent some objects or conditions. I like this practice, and if I will ever be DM I think I will stick to it.
If you're going the paper token route, you could go "extra" and print art 'borrowed' from online sources to indicate creatures, characters, and items/structures/runes. You don't even need to print in color. You could print black and white, and then decide if you feel like applying color with crayons, markers or colored pencils.
You can get by with a good-sized plain battle mat, basic wet erase markers, and good sized collection of cardboard pogs or stand-up cardboard markers. It's a whole lot easier to transport too
When I use grid and minis for players, I use candy (flavored tootsie rolls right now) for regular monsters and minions. Now I only need "good" minis for PCs and bosses. They are different colored, so I keep track of hp by color of candy, players can say easily point out which orc they attack (I attack the red tootsie roll orc). And as an added bonus, when they kill a monster, they get to literally eat it!
I found some 8.5x11 sheets of one-inch grid paper, and I've been drawing my maps and terrain on that. For larger areas, I can put multiple sheets next to each other, and for dungeons, I can cut out individual pieces and set down one room at a time. It's flat, which is great for storage and transportation, and it probably only weighs a few pounds. Oh, and Luke Hart doesn't suck.
I made pullout shelves for under my table, I make the set ups in the drawers, open sesame, next area. As far as terrain, buy a proxon, paint and $20 sheet of foam and go for it, much cheaper. I only deploy terrain or draw maps (when playin live) for battles so players can use tactics. Theater of the Mind is under-rated, don't use terrain for shopping, tavern scenes without battle, encounterless travel and camping.
I've played and run all the different ways: Theater of the Mind, basic graph paper, 1" graph paper with pennies, dry erase board in college where we'd erase and redraw to move, basic roll out mat with minis, amazing terrain without grids and we used measuring sticks for ranges, movement, etc., and I'm sure I missed some. Guess what!? THEY ALL WORK!!! Nice/amazing terrain and miniatures are nice to look at and can help facilitate imagination BUT they're FAR from required.
Absolutely 100% correct here. It's nice to have minis sometimes, but realistically, they're just not necessary. Generally speaking I use miniature representations for the monsters and players, and dry erase graph paper for the terrain.
When I first started playing in 1983, we were kids that couldn't afford the books, let alone the minis. Back then if you could find them they were metal. We just used whatever you could. My friends from back then and I still lovingly refer to those days as the Notebook Edition. In the early 90s, we would use green army men, modified with a soldering iron and Tester's model paint. Due to family life and a career in the military, I took an extended hiatus. I missed it, but my youngest daughter has been playing for almost 10 years (3.5 is her favorite) and I've been back for a little over a year now, and game twice a week with a great group, mostly the kids of my buddies, their friends, and a buddy. The greatest thing is 3 of the players asked me if they could DM a One-Shot or two. We played every other week back then and my answer was Yes, please do. As I said 4 games a week and I don't have to be Forever DM.
I've actually made a conscious effort to find a balance between having items set up on the table for my players to look at and manipulate without breaking the bank . What that is meant for me is some battle-grids with dry-erase markers of various colors (to draw terrain), some monster tokens with generic icons to represent the monsters on the grid (we use some theater of the Mind for the monsters with their description; the tokens are only used for positioning on the grid during battle), and actual miniatures for the PCs and major NPCs (all other characters are theater of the mind with a description or as a small wooden cube, if they need to be represented on the grid). And that's it! so far, my players seem satisfied and I don't have to dedicate too much space or money toward terrain and miniatures. Thanks for the video!
Love this video. I have a couple hundred bucks worth of Dwarven forge that I use for big battles, but I didn't even paint it so my players have to use the description to picture anything beyond the general layout. I also get a lot of milage from the foam cubes that come in mini cases for cover and debris.
For sure! I've actually been spending more time making maps from scratch from packing materials and crafting supplies, was more customizable than Dwarven forge, as long as you don't mind occasionally spending hours on those maps. Haven't tried actual water for the swamp yet, though...
@@andrewmeigel2088 Plastic wrap (for food storage) is available in a few colors, one of them being blue. Just an idea to represent water, and it being translucent means you can still see a grid under it.
If you’re getting into or are into miniatures and terrain and plan on getting more I would greatly recommend getting a 3D printer. I spent about $200-250 on minis before I bought a 200$ printer and I love it. Saves me money and I can print minis and terrain faster and it would take for them to ship. The only downside is a subtle drop in quality but when paying $2.50 for a reaper bones mini compared to a 20 cent mini i think it’s well worth it.
I took your description of an over the top swamp terrain build as inspiration and a challenge,even posted it on Reddit,thank you for inspiring my current magnum opus
I only play D&D online, and as such my battle terrains are digital. I'll make a map in Google Drawings and share it with my players. That said, I would like the chance to play in person with miniatures. For that I would probably use my old Army Men, and other figurines. I have probably hundreds of individual plastic soldiers that would serve as great TTRPG minis. Some of them include things like mounts, cannons, and walls. One of the sets is strait up pirates vs skeletons. There is nothing wrong with using existing resources for new purposes.
Purchased 3D Printer. Printed terrain and minis. We use a variety of methods of portraying encounters though. Smaller ones we'll just use the VTT. Bigger and Boss encounters we tend to use the terrain on the table. And sometimes it's just fun to set up terrain layouts to show off new objects. :-) One thing I did learn was that I don't need to make the terrain exactly match the VTT map. Close enough is good enough, then just make sure that we base the encounter on the terrain and not worry about the VTT map until the encounter is done and we're back to exploring again.
Couldn't agree more!! I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage and have been printing each level of Monsters as I go and painting them. Staying one or 2 levels ahead. Lot's of work but really fun to plop that boss on the table. 23 levels and on level 16 now.
Dang that's dedication. A lot of work now but by the end of that module you're going to have pretty much every miniature for every monster that exists in the game. LOL and painted to boot.
#3: "you see some ghouls, roll initiative" - yawn. Crafting my own terrain is much better than buying it. #5: When using minis, use the appropriate size. Don't grab a teddy bear for the dragon that is 10 times too big. #10: TOTM has it's place (easy combats), but epic battles where every decision could mean life or death should be played on the battle board so the player feels in control of their fate. Pro tip: don't clutter the battle with so much terrain that the players can't see what's going on. Realistic trees and cliffs are great, but they need to see what's happening.
This vid speaks to me, great job! Thinking back before I used virtual tabletop, my games were still great on 2D vinyl maps. I bought a set of 2D dungeon tiles, 2D minis and wet erase markers. I used to print/tape cutouts on my 2D minis for custom monsters. The players still told me that I was an amazing DM and we had a blast! Good narrative/writing is the foundation of D&D.
Great tips as usual. I have a wooden box that a gift from my players got for me was packaged in. That is where I place minis and tiles for the session. An awesome gift has given me a box they get uneasy about when it is brought out.
Here's my tip with "not having a mini for the monsters": Use Printable Heroes! I use actual mini's for important characters or "captain" units, while minions that I'll need more than two or four of, I'll print up from the website, cut, and attach to a basic wood base. I can put together a band of goblins led by Hobs and an Ogre or two in about 20 minutes if I'm quick about it.
For minis I usually use color coded fish bowl rocks. Red for enemies, blue or green for friendlies, yellow for neutrals. I use actual minis for my pc characters so in actual minis I have like maybe a pound or two. In fish bowl beads it's probably more.
#4 will be reinforced for me by how I write my rooms anyway; I describe the room, followed by any inanimate objects or obstacles, then finish the narrative with the monsters. Thanks for the advice, Luke... you don't suck 😁
While I entirely agree, I have set myself the challenge of having entirely painted and correct figures for my monthly Odessey game. So far I'm on target, and 6 month ahead on painted figures for the plot. To be clear, THE WHOLE POINT was to drive me to paint figures, to say I have many thousands of unpainted figures is probably an understatement, so this was entirely to drive me to do better and paint more. I got good at fast batch painting, 50 odd figures at a time, 2-3 hours total really chews through the backlog, accepting good enough rather then display level pieces every time.
hi Luke , i have only 250ish minies ... have descent with all expansions+ 3x dnd board game(ravenloft , asharaladon and mad mage) .. i painted them all , maps i draw on grid.. i love how you always find usefull topics for dms !! love from Serbia
I ❤️ your videos! Ugh, I have too many pounds worth of minis and Dwarven Forge to weigh! My players love when I use them though. And if it's a generic room/feature, I let them build it; they LOVE it!🎉
I have made almost all my terrain/minis. I started with foam stuff (Thanks to Dr Dungeon Master (UDT Rocks), Black Magic Craft and Bard's Craft), I printed a ton of printableHeroes 2d printed minis and used that for a year or so. Then I got an FDM printer and started printing terrain (Dragonlock, etc), I started printing minis (Meh, quality but still cooler than flat ones). I basically stopped using my printed dungeon tiles after discovering Mystic Realms Quick Dungeon Systems (basically just full room tiles from 4.5" to 7.5" square). They are so fast and easy. During prep, I just throw them down with some passages drop some minis in place and then set them aside. When the party reaches the door, visibility, whatever, I just pull out the pieces and throw them on the table.
I have 3324 pre painted minis and most of the premium minis including Arveiaturace and the gargantuan Tiamat. I have personally painted around 300 minis (between Warhammer and D&D) and refuse to use unpainted (unless I have a good lore reason “such as stone constructs”). I have no idea how much they weigh. I have relied on theatre of the mind for terrain options. However, I am now in the process of acquiring terrain pieces that I am satisfied with. Currently building a cardboard model of highdark hall from ghastly affair.
This is great. Kinda like a prep priority list. #7 I tried to have all my goblins painted but instead went just the shading portion of a slapchop because I was running out of time. Even a little paint makes them pop.
I use starbursts for my enemy minis, which the players get when the enemy dies`. I do this largely to condition my players. The individual wrappers are nice because I can write on them (helps keep track of monsters during combat), and if I place candy down, the players immediately know this is an enemy they can fight. This helps reduce murder-hoboing in my experience, as the players quickly realize they won't get treats for killing NPCs.
I was just commenting this morning on one of Sly Flourish's videos … wooden blocks, jenga, cubes, spools, as abstract as possible, makes for the most effective terrain IMO. No Dwarven Forge plastic is going to look as rich as good flavor text. Set out the blocks to define the spaces as you narrate, paint the picture, and then plop down the monsters.
I gotta say, atleast 50 pounds. I got it bad man. Bonus tip: The Dungeons and Dragons Boardgames, Wrath of Ashardlon, The Legend of Drizz't, The Tomb of Annihilation etc... Good value for someone trying to collect alot of miniatures very quickly for a decent price.
👍🏻 I easily have a few hundred pounds of miniatures …. At last count I had over 10000 miniatures and a good 3/4 of them I have painted myself…. Took me years.
Ever since I started playing D&D on Fantasy Grounds, I have lost 100% of my interest in ever playing old school D&D with miniatures and pen and paper. If I want to play D&D in person, I would get $2,000 and put together a dedicated D&D tabletop computer system that lets players roll the dice on the table and I'd STILL use the Fantasy Grounds TTGS to play. Things are SO much better using the systems. Get all the coolness you want from the interwebz or make your own maps with any of the computer map making programs that are out there.
As a DM myself, I do not like wasting my players’ time rifling through boxes of minis (I have at least 20-30 pounds of minis) and shelves of terrain (I have at least 20 pounds of terrain). Not all of my minis and terrain are painted, but I don’t always have time to paint them before a game. Even if they’re not painted, I still use them anyway. Painting minis is very detailed work and it can take hours, and sometimes days, to paint them depending on size and amount of detail (the dragons take the longest). My players love to admire my painted minis (which can be a bit annoying when I’m trying to run a game).
I have basically gone fully digital at this point. Haven't played in-person since middle school. Laziness combined with lack of acquaintances to play with makes for a powerful demotivator. Social anxieties don't help either. Although, I also find I didn't enjoy in-person much anyway. Even voice chat ruins my immersion somehow.
I'm going to do some youtube comment necromancy, but I want to add one important thing, what I think you missed: Don't build your whole frikkin dungeon: It kills the claustrophobic vibe, if the players can alway see the whole map... But if you only bring out the rooms where the players actually do something with the need of visual representation, they always thinking how deep are they in, how far will they go etc. If you see a whole dungeon on the table, no matter how beautiful it is, it will feel more like a board game board, and not like a life threatening cavern system
I ALWAYS have the minis I need, because I play with 2D printed minis (like the ones from Printable Heroes); New enemy? I just print and done. Takes minutes and players are happy enough. If they want, they can use 3d minis for their characters, but that is on them.
My low-cost aproach to Terrain and Minis: I bought some generic wooden figures and painted them in simple colors: yellow and green for PCs, blue for allies of the PCs and red for enemies. The PC-figures are all destinct from each other. The allies and enemies are grouped in a way, that you can easily distinguish, who the main villain is and which the minions are and so on. For the terrain I use a battlemap and the wooden pieces of a JENGA-Tower. They are about 1 inch by 3 inch in size. Perfect for buildings, walls, hills and (if you put them upright) pillars and trees, too. As the DM you can still describe the scene and the monsters. I just use them to visualize the positioning in combat. And sometimes I let the players create the room, while I describe the scene. That way they are much more invested in the game. :)
Not to sound like Grandpa Simpson however, we would always use Legos, Jenga blocks, building blocks, etc. Nothing very fancy or elaborate. I build a little bit right now but, I still use my battle map.
For PCs (and some NPCs and creatures) I use normal minis. I make my own paper minis for all other creatures because I am a broke adult. I created a photoshop template which is a blank round token with border for each size category. I then paste a picture of whatever I want in them. They're NOT all creatures. I have trees, and tables and other objects. Now so as not to waste paper I then copy the token to another photoshop template which just has guides for me to put the tokens on and I fill it up with tokens. You don't have to buy minis. Don't get me wrong I love my Official D&D and Reaper Minis but that is expensive.
I 3d Print my Mini's so I've used about 50 (low estimate) 1000g bottles and estimate about 250g in waste (through supports and loss) per bottle making it about 37,500 ounces or 82.67 pounds of mini's.
My game setup is different from my nephew's. He's purchased those fancy tiles that snap together and even those double sided cardboard tiles. He's got a whole shelf full of minis including Tiamat and four other dragons including a bone dragon and a dracolich. MY dragon is a friggen $3 plastic toy from Walmart. I dunno how much money he's spent but I'm almost certain it was well over $3,000 on just terrain and minis alone, not including the books. Though I think he's getting tired of setting everything up. He just got a projector. I myself have bought most of the books but that's where I spent most of my money. I bought a cheap $100 3D printer to make my own minis. I actually made little paper standies that work just fine too. I bought those battle mats that you can draw on but I also made my own printed maps on my canon printer and taped the pieces together. I even can host an adventure out of a binder which holds a printed version of my campaign along with whole maps that fit on standard printer paper along with those plastic page protectors. Sure we don't get to use the minis but I then just use markers and put dots where everything is. Set up is super fast, even if I have to draw the scene. I just get super crafty to try to save a little money. But damn that Tiamat my nephew got is the tits. I don't wanna drop $400 for it though. I may attempt to design and 3d print my own.
So, I think I have 15-20 lbs of Warhammer 40k and fantasy minis, all in various states of "painted" and "assembled" and some still on the sprue. I will say the necrons make great undead armies and tyranids are awesome for larger (and weirder) creatures. I think the painted part really only matters in tournaments, as there's typically a contest for best painted mini/army (not sure, don't care enough to do those), but I've played games using paint pots for trees, books for elevation and cotton swabs for walls
Actually, I'm feeling quite flattered about my rather mediocre mini swamp now... it's officially 'above and beyond'! :D (I hope it counts. Hasn't got any fog though. :-/)
I believe to have about 3/4 of a pound (not British or American, my bad) of terrain and minis, containers included. About 30% of them are WOTC minis, while the rest are 3D prints because I could not find the right mini, let alone at a feasible price. All of my terrain are home made, though I do not have the space to make the ground and trees. I just have logs that can stand in as trees (easy to store and topple over), a few flat rocks with stairs for height, a line/pile of pebbles to suggest a cobble stone wall (the height is theatre of the mind, and they double as cave walls), some furniture and even a creepy looking tree made from a succulent stem that had delicate, dried out flowers. They hardly got used, but they live rent free on the one shelf I allotted for D&D items. That is the only way I have to prevent overspending and hoarding things. It is not easy, though I like to think it is a good way to teach self-control and consideration for the hobby. Because if I can afford to expand the hobby, I will then allow for it to grow. I like to call it the 'flower pot' lesson. If I cannot fit anything else in it, I either prune it back, or get a bigger pot. But know the bigger the pot, the more work I will need to maintain it.
I play an ogre in a campaign. The problem is, most of my ogre minis, apart from being kind of generic, are also on the tall orc size (largish Medium creatures, taking up just one square) rather than ogre sized (Large creatures, taking up 4 squares.) Size is important for the character as it limits movement and access, and affects tactics. The solution? I have a small rubber duck that is exactly a Large size. Oddly enough, it helps for roleplay, as he is aware of how scary he can appear, and tries to be as cute and loveable as possible to compensate. When combat gets bad, he still smashes enemies against walls, hammers them into the ground, throws them across the field and into other enemies, and physically picks up fallen allies while healing them. Not sure if the duck helps or hurts the theater of the mind there....
pounds? 🤔🤨🤔 Does this include the components for making said terrain and minis? Full sized 25mm and quarter sized mini- miniatures? Do they make scales that big? 😁🤣🤣😂
I'm a traveling pro dm. I run 11 games a week. Yes that means 2 and 3 games a day. I use some odd ball stuff. I had a friend of mine 3d print some of the true tiles brand stuff for me aa his payment. A few pieces each week with a block of 50 to start. Great, I love it. 2 two slot card boxes fit 8n a gym duffel vary well. Another single card box just as long holds scatter like borders, tree stamps, boxes, and rubble. Now my things are dressed. For minis, I don't use them. I have 2 boxes of books that need to travel with me so I am ready for those 3 games in a row. What do I use then ? Blank dice for the players and 1" - 4" tiles for the bas guys. That's right, normal bathroom tiles. They are glazed so a dry or wet erase marker will rub right off. I have no fear of the wrong marker leaving a permanent mark on my very costly vinyl map. Just rub and flip when they kill them. Now some of you are going " but what if you want to pre do the encounters?" And I do just that. I found that the hardware store had drain pipe that fit inside of another with a little bit of space for me to add. So I took this larger drain pipe and used pipe hangers to attach it to my luggage cart, then I just dropped the smaller inside. Plot the lid for the larger on top and away I go without fear of damage to my pre-made maps. Yes I use a luggage cart for all 9d this. I don't drive. So me going to the games means walking or taking the bus. When it comes to the monsters and fights i have a dm screen made of wood that holds 2 tablets and a dry erase board for the center. I even found a dice tower that can fit on top that I use for those high stress or overly dramatic dice drops that roll for a long time. The only downside is that I can't always take the dice tower with.
Me, just looking at my salvaged cardboard, decopodge, drywall plaster, and cheap walmart acrylics, knowing i spent like 40 bucks on materials, and while it aint pretty, Karlbog The Dark Flame's dungeon is ready for player use. Seriously though...i have a problem...im running out of places to store my terrain...
1000 dollars on mini's? I use differently coloured pawns and an erasable board (with non-erasable grid) where I draw the map on in 10 minutes with chalk. It works wonders if it simply supports the narrative to make the combat more clear.
6:10 "Warhammer Four Hundred Kay". You will be purged for your ignorance, heretic. The Emperor's Justice will find you, and your innocence proves nothing.
If you're super into building models and that's your love, by all means spend as much time on it as you want. But if you're building something because you want something cool to play on... cut every corner you can. The playtime payoff is WAY lower than the build effort.
For minis, I simply had a bunch of 3d printed letters and numbers that I glued on empty bases. Greek letter for large, symbols for very large. Finding out wich creature you're attacking and keeping track of large number of npc is a breeze. The only actual minis that are used are my PCs
I've to say that, weight wise, I've sooo little terrain... just because I use papercraft terrain!! But the VOLUME of it? Yeah, I'm right at the point were I need to plan ahead where I'm going to store new pieces before starting a new setpiece :-P
the reason conventions/tournaments etc only allow painted minis, is for photo reasons. Anything that gets publish just plain looks better if everything is painted. But for home games? Use a nickle as your character if you want, I literally couldnt care less, whatever works works
Honestly the best tip I can recommend is going to Chartaty shop or Flee shops I think Yanks call it there are great things to buy items for campaigns I've bought some brass ducks and used them as Tokens wirch I my campaign are important Relics think like indiana Jones
I use a high level room description first, followed by the monsters, and I save the detailed description for after the encounter in most cases - "You open the door to what appears to be a kitchen. A trio of pint-sized creatures with large ears and mottled green skin are standing around a table, all looking at you with a mixture of surprise and annoyance at the their meal being disturbed by your sudden intrusion. They snarl and draw rusty shortswords as they charge. Roll for initiative!" Then when the battle is over - "As the last of the three goblins falls to the ground, you quickly glance about the room looking for any others that might be lying in wait. Seeing none, you start to take in your surroundings...[insert details here]". This allows the players to keep their focus on the details that are important in the moment and gives the players a chance to transition from the strategy mindset back to the exploration mindset - its a kitchen and there's baddies; fight/flight/talk; baddies are dealt with, what do we find in the kitchen? The only exceptions to this are when (A) there are enemies waiting to ambush the party, or (B) there is an important thing in the room that I absolutely want the players to know is there. In the case of the ambush, I just describe the ambush and save the entire room description for after the battle or I describe the entire room first and then the ambush when it happens if the trigger is the party doing something within the room. In the case of the important thing in the room, I mention that as the very first thing they notice, and will mention it again in the post-encounter description so they know its there and they don't forget about it because some players are more interested in their characters surviving and progressing than they are in exploring and roleplaying. These overly cautious players are likely to abandon a quest because they don't want to fight a hellhound just to find out if the McGuffin they are seeking is on the other side of it, but they are plenty willing to find some way to deal with the hellhound (including fighting it) if they KNOW that the McGuffin is there.
The only game I play that requires the exact miniature that you are playing and it must be painted is... HeroClix. And that's only because the miniatures are already painted and the dials are on the miniatures. I have yet to see that game played with just a token for the miniatures and stats on a card. But then again, I've used my HeroClix figures to represent my D&D characters. I mean Iron Man a s a Warforged next to Wolverine as a Druid.
The most over the top I'd be willing to go would be to turn an old sliding glass door into a table and mount a flat screen TV under it facing up. Then connect a laptop to it and instant fancy map. This would be useful for other things than gaming but is also the limit to over the top I'd go, and only after being financially stable. At the other end of the spectrum, you can alway use Chess or checkers pieces as low budget mini's for basic enemies in a pinch. And nobody who actually enjoys D&D will complain that the kobalds are red chekers and the Dragon in charge is the Queen set on a coaster to get the right map size
if the location is a recurring site (Phandelin), having a side table with the buildings is a cool idea. however, trying to set up towns or buildings that are only used a couple times, is a major distraction from the story. as GM, you may want to know the key npc's in town, but the characters don't need that info... unless they go and speak to those npc's. final point, when using mini's, the players may see you placing 5 skeletons with swords. as the players groan... more skeletons... DON'T confirm this guess. these could represent any creature you want. it's up to you to describe the creatures. maybe you don't own bugbear mini's, or they are improved skeletons that a necromancer has been experimenting with. let the players hear what they are instead of assuming that the mini is a true representation.
I was at a Con game and the GM had a big battle with something like 7-8 players at the table (including me and my then 13 year old son) and he was using just a sheet of paper to track where everyone was, and it got to be a mess. Any token is fine, but in this case, I collect miniatures and terrain and when we took a break, sent the kiddo to our hotel room to grab a box or two of miniatures just to know where everyone was. There are times when the GM should at least consider (for large and complicated combats) where everything is on the board. Miniatures are 100% optional, but in this case, it really helped out to figure out where all the characters and the monsters were.
When I started playing D&D, as a kid, we used pencils and wrote on 1/4 inch graph paper for our visual representation. Not ideal, but it worked. (Until we got MINI's)!
The problem with amazingly detailed terrain that took weeks to make. Players: "Oh...we are in a swamp.....again. Just like the last 4 sessions....is that tree going to be obscuring the lizardman ambush or the rock this time?"
My group uses the back side of Christmas wrapping paper and different colored sharpies. Some even have 1" grids on the back. This is easy and very economical.
I was way worried about not getting all my miniatures painted before the session. One time, I simply couldn't have them all done. And my players didn't care. They still freaked out over the swarm of zombies. They hissed over the owlbear that stumbled into their camp. Now, I paint them as I can, and drop them in grey and in mounted as needed.
of course i love the soothing drone of your voice. now, regarding minis...i accidentally got a resin printer 10 months ago. game over. it prints minis and scatter around the clock. a never ending supply of whatever you could ever want or need. also, how much xps foam terrain adds up to a single pound? i guess if you actually have one pound of xps foam terrain that could be considered impressive!
I try to keep away from terrain... I do collect minis... but my Chessex mats and my markers are were I "terrain". My Castles & Crusades games are tactical-lite... if I'm GM'ing Numenera/Cypher, I never use a mat or minis, its all ToTM.
Aside from having a 3D printer (or three) to help with getting proper miniatures, I don't worry too much about painting. Or at least the level of detailed paint I put on them. I used to do commission miniature painting, so the last thing I want to do nowadays is spend 5 hours painting a mini I'm most likely going to use once or twice. For everyday minis I keep the paints to a minimum or even just a drybrush to make it look like the mini is made of stone. It shows off the detail and gets the point across. Done and done. However, I do take the time to paint the BBEG or highly significant minis like dragons or the like. So all in all, the more important a mini is, the more paint it gets lol.
3:37 Paraphrize. Verb. A portmanteau combining the words paraphrase and summarize. "It's a long story with lots of detail so I'm going to just paraphrize most of it."
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I've seen the swamp reddit post... They vaped the fog onto the board.
Most of my minis are metal, so an estimated guess between 2... and 300lb being conservative, I must have painted about a 1/3 of that so far.
1 & 2) Nope, I always prep what I need in advance. If I don't have what I need I try to get/craft it and make it ready, if not I improvise.
3) I try to describe first, then put the terrain/battlemap/tiles on the table or do both at the same time if I have to puzzle them together.
4) The monsters I need are always in a box under the table or behind the DM's Screen so I can grab and place them quickly when I need to.
5) Whenever is possible, back when I started I used paper minis, over the years I've built a nice collection of metal and plastic so that I have most of the basics (goblins, orcs, bandits, etc) and some of the rarer (dragons, demons, aberrations, etc).
6) I try to prep and paint them weeks/months in advance, if I don't manage to do it on time, well tough titties, back when I started I had no painted minis so.
7) I plan for it, but sometimes I forget about it during the game.
8) Some day I hope I can go overboard XD, I love to craft stuff specially terrain and dioramas (I still have a lot to learn and put into practice).
9) Guilty, being "compulsive obsessive" doesn't mix well with this hobby in my experience XD.
10) Guilty, both IRL and Online.
#1 Is very important. Nothing kills tension like 14 minutes of rifling around in a mini box.
I wouldn't tolerate for long a group of players that constantly ignores plot Hooks and goes wandering off on random things. I would obviously try having a discussion with them first about the social contract and how when a game master prepared something and delivers a plot hook it's understood that the group is probably going to go do that thing. But at some point if it becomes obvious that the game they want to play it's not the game that I want to run something has to give.
@Homebrew Stew Times like that, I declare a bathroom and drink refill break, giving me time to rifle through boxes.
Though usually, I will prepare more of and more varied minis and terrain than I think I am going to use. First, just in case, and second as a misdirection of expectation.
The most important thing when using minis is to have an organized, well sorted, labeled and organized, did I say organized mini collection.
If you can't find what you need in under 5 minutes, reorganize.
Another great thing the DM-screen is for is having minis at the ready, hiding behind the screen.
I put all my minis on display in Billy bookshelves, and then put big labels on each shelf and organized the monsters by type, and humanoids by weapon type.
For all those unpainted Reaper Bones - prime them black with a rattlecan, then get 2-3 brighter colored craft paints like white, grey , light brown, and drybrush them . You can get a huge batch done like this in a couple of hours and they look nice on the table.
I do love painted minis, and have never though of putting unpainted minis down...but I think that might help me save some time trying to paint everything I need before my games.
I am fortunate in that our group has about 4 decades of minis numbering in the thousands, most of which have been painted over that time period.
The bad part is that over the last few years, all of adhesive for the box labels has dried out, and need to be replaced.
Those BECMI boxes in the back *chef's kiss*
I just use roll 20, a map making software and art from dnd beyond. Also add in environmental hazards that the players/enemies can use can be really fun and add some tension to the fight.
I have only weighted those in boxes and carrying equipment. Nothing that was still in original packing or not assembled:
423 kg
Collecting since the 80s and quite some metal stuff in there...
Painting is the scourge of my 3D printing.....
I have probably 2-3 kilos of dungeon tiles :D probalby never going to use them.
Pounds? Making terrain out of XPS foam. Cubic feet would be more appropriate.
Leave to a cliffhanger before rolling initiative, call a break, then the players return to the table to a full set of miniature and terrain. And also 3d printing and mz450 make having every minis what you see what you get easier.
Love that Miguel (mz450) has free stls of every D&D monster! Except one I needed!! "Werebat" from DOTMM. But been printing his stuff for the last 19 months since I got a 3D printer.
Exactly what I was thinking
Leaving to a cliffhanger is a cool idea, but it sounds like it would lead to a lot of very short sessions...
Guarantee he does not. I play 3.5e and there are 5 monster manuals of monsters I use, aswell as fiend folio, all the monsters from various supplements (expanded psionics and the 'complete' books, as well as several others such as tome of magic and book of nine swords), and several other sources, mostly third party. Also I'd you ever make your own creatures you won't find minis of them.
So the Matt Mercer approach then?
@@nightfall89z62 I have done a take on cliff hanger before - a 15 minute smoke break - disrupts the flow a bit and I only use that in a sandbox when the party goes off the grid
I use paper cutouts, I call them Splats, for outdoor terrain. I use circles of paper for rocks, trees, hills and water. It helps a lot to visualize what's going on.
I do a similar thing for rocks trees and stuff. Just a simple Circles of paper. Nothing fancy but it gets the job done and helps the players know where cover can be found during a battle.
@@theDMLair I think it's important to show these simple shortcuts. It takes the stress off the newbie DM...they need all the encouragement we can give them. :-)
I was mid-crafting craze one day and showed my brother some foam rocks I was working on, and he said, "You know what else works as rocks? rocks. There's a whole much outside."
It is amazing how deep you can crawl into the rabbit hole and miss the obvious.
@@MonkeyJedi99 lol, yeah. Do you do any traveling for any games, say to conventions or something? If so you could counterpoint with that the foam is lighter and easier to take with you to make sure you have your rocks available when you go to cons instead of having to route around in the dirt or rockbed outside for them at the last moment. Otherwise, yeah, your brother got ya there. XD
Much of this applies to VTT, too. Not having digital tokens ready, assuming that you don't need to describe the beautiful battlemap, not thinking through terrain effects mechanics
I definitely think that a map of an encounter shouldn't be revealed until after you've described it, it's been explored, and until the call for initiative. You can use the time that they're rolling initiative to bring in some terrain, roll out a map, or hastily scribble something on a mat. Minis should be right there and not hiding somewhere. I figure this is more likely for people who are playing at home and don't bother to get stuff ready, whereas if you're playing somewhere, you're going to need to take everything with you. Granted in real life, you're busy and you can't always get stuff together, but if you schedule something for a certain time, you should schedule it with time to get set up.
Now *that* was a smooth transition to the sponsorship
Craziest slick smooth the salesman am I not?
You make a lot of valid and interesting points Luke. In the end I guess it all depends on whatever someone likes and is willing to do without it becoming a burden. As someone who took the plunge recently into 3d printing, mini painting and foam building I’m trying to build terrain for my players. That being said, I see it as a part of my hobby and not as a must do. We still use theater of the mind and I try to put care into descriptions of the rooms, because as fun as terrain building might be, it will never fully capture the wonder of imagination. Terrain is meant to enhance and not replace the magic that is bringing a story into life.
I've recently started playing in person again with some friends and use unpainted minis and predrawn battle maps on gridded flip chart paper. I like using the mini PCs and monsters since I believe it helps get players more connected to the game. But the maps are very, very basic. And they still have fun.
This video came up while I was literally making terrain for a boss battle: ancient blue dragon in a room whose walls, floor and ceiling are covered in metal plates with runes carved into them. I etched the grid and runes into a piece of foamcore, glued a piece of aluminum foil over it (rubbing the foil into the grooves), the went over the grooves with blue marker and covered the whole thing in clear tape so the marker wouldn't rub off, and so the foil would not be too reflective (we' play by Zoom). Only cost me a few bucks, but I will admit it's been time consuming. Just hope the players appreciate it.
That's cool dude. Things like that are time-consuming but lots of dungeon Master's enjoy doing it. And they also enjoy the look on their players faces when they reveal that awesome set-piece.
That sounds dope.
If a dm did this for our group I think we would all agree that all drinks and snacks for the night be considered paid by us.
Did they?
@@mighty_polar_bear3786 Not yet; session cut short just before they got there.
My sessions tend to be so beautifully complex, with dungeons and locations and scenes that are so intricate and complex, that it would be impossible to pull off with 3D terrain, and in fact 3D terrain would restrict me from being able to make adventures like the ones I do. If I have to have a map and minis at all, it would have to be a hand-drawn 2D map.
Have you considered just using tiles for the major plot points? Most sessions have 3-4 areas that are the major scenes of that session.
@@jesternario thing is, no. Because it wouldn't work like that for me. I have upwards of 3 or 4 different locations that combats might take place, per session, and wouldn't be able to have that many tileset battle maps pre-setup. Heck, it would be a miracle if I even had enough table space for one! Frankly, theatre of the mind works better for me, and if my players can't play without a grid map and minis, I will hand draw all the maps I need.
Often, I find that at least representing altitudes and some scatter pieces is enough to elevate (pun intended) the encounter above a simple flat map.
We have used all sorts of things to represent that verticality, from foam stuff I have crafted, to stacks of books or Lego bricks.
Our DM uses a grid and abstract token to represent scenes. As he says, he doesn't like using "wrong" minis and will newer have minis for each creature in his game world, so he prefers abstractions. We also often use dice and coins to represent some objects or conditions. I like this practice, and if I will ever be DM I think I will stick to it.
Save your bottle caps! My favourite are those weird metal caps on the top of champagne corks
If you're going the paper token route, you could go "extra" and print art 'borrowed' from online sources to indicate creatures, characters, and items/structures/runes.
You don't even need to print in color. You could print black and white, and then decide if you feel like applying color with crayons, markers or colored pencils.
I use graphing paper and my smash bros amiibos, it works lol
You can get by with a good-sized plain battle mat, basic wet erase markers, and good sized collection of cardboard pogs or stand-up cardboard markers. It's a whole lot easier to transport too
When I use grid and minis for players, I use candy (flavored tootsie rolls right now) for regular monsters and minions. Now I only need "good" minis for PCs and bosses. They are different colored, so I keep track of hp by color of candy, players can say easily point out which orc they attack (I attack the red tootsie roll orc). And as an added bonus, when they kill a monster, they get to literally eat it!
I found some 8.5x11 sheets of one-inch grid paper, and I've been drawing my maps and terrain on that. For larger areas, I can put multiple sheets next to each other, and for dungeons, I can cut out individual pieces and set down one room at a time. It's flat, which is great for storage and transportation, and it probably only weighs a few pounds.
Oh, and Luke Hart doesn't suck.
I made pullout shelves for under my table, I make the set ups in the drawers, open sesame, next area. As far as terrain, buy a proxon, paint and $20 sheet of foam and go for it, much cheaper. I only deploy terrain or draw maps (when playin live) for battles so players can use tactics. Theater of the Mind is under-rated, don't use terrain for shopping, tavern scenes without battle, encounterless travel and camping.
I love crafting terrain and I always try to think of the playability of that terrain.
My method is the KISS method.
Yep, simple and multi-purpose is the way to go for most crafted terrain.
I've played and run all the different ways: Theater of the Mind, basic graph paper, 1" graph paper with pennies, dry erase board in college where we'd erase and redraw to move, basic roll out mat with minis, amazing terrain without grids and we used measuring sticks for ranges, movement, etc., and I'm sure I missed some. Guess what!? THEY ALL WORK!!! Nice/amazing terrain and miniatures are nice to look at and can help facilitate imagination BUT they're FAR from required.
Absolutely 100% correct here. It's nice to have minis sometimes, but realistically, they're just not necessary. Generally speaking I use miniature representations for the monsters and players, and dry erase graph paper for the terrain.
When I first started playing in 1983, we were kids that couldn't afford the books, let alone the minis. Back then if you could find them they were metal. We just used whatever you could. My friends from back then and I still lovingly refer to those days as the Notebook Edition. In the early 90s, we would use green army men, modified with a soldering iron and Tester's model paint. Due to family life and a career in the military, I took an extended hiatus. I missed it, but my youngest daughter has been playing for almost 10 years (3.5 is her favorite) and I've been back for a little over a year now, and game twice a week with a great group, mostly the kids of my buddies, their friends, and a buddy. The greatest thing is 3 of the players asked me if they could DM a One-Shot or two. We played every other week back then and my answer was Yes, please do. As I said 4 games a week and I don't have to be Forever DM.
I've actually made a conscious effort to find a balance between having items set up on the table for my players to look at and manipulate without breaking the bank . What that is meant for me is some battle-grids with dry-erase markers of various colors (to draw terrain), some monster tokens with generic icons to represent the monsters on the grid (we use some theater of the Mind for the monsters with their description; the tokens are only used for positioning on the grid during battle), and actual miniatures for the PCs and major NPCs (all other characters are theater of the mind with a description or as a small wooden cube, if they need to be represented on the grid). And that's it! so far, my players seem satisfied and I don't have to dedicate too much space or money toward terrain and miniatures. Thanks for the video!
Love this video. I have a couple hundred bucks worth of Dwarven forge that I use for big battles, but I didn't even paint it so my players have to use the description to picture anything beyond the general layout. I also get a lot of milage from the foam cubes that come in mini cases for cover and debris.
Awesome. That Dwarven Forge looks so nice. :-)
For sure! I've actually been spending more time making maps from scratch from packing materials and crafting supplies, was more customizable than Dwarven forge, as long as you don't mind occasionally spending hours on those maps. Haven't tried actual water for the swamp yet, though...
@@andrewmeigel2088 Plastic wrap (for food storage) is available in a few colors, one of them being blue. Just an idea to represent water, and it being translucent means you can still see a grid under it.
Nice, I will definitely give that a try!
If you’re getting into or are into miniatures and terrain and plan on getting more I would greatly recommend getting a 3D printer. I spent about $200-250 on minis before I bought a 200$ printer and I love it. Saves me money and I can print minis and terrain faster and it would take for them to ship. The only downside is a subtle drop in quality but when paying $2.50 for a reaper bones mini compared to a 20 cent mini i think it’s well worth it.
I took your description of an over the top swamp terrain build as inspiration and a challenge,even posted it on Reddit,thank you for inspiring my current magnum opus
#4 is soooo key! I learned the hard way. Best advice. Describe everything "before" plopping the minis down.
I only play D&D online, and as such my battle terrains are digital. I'll make a map in Google Drawings and share it with my players. That said, I would like the chance to play in person with miniatures. For that I would probably use my old Army Men, and other figurines. I have probably hundreds of individual plastic soldiers that would serve as great TTRPG minis. Some of them include things like mounts, cannons, and walls. One of the sets is strait up pirates vs skeletons. There is nothing wrong with using existing resources for new purposes.
This is such a comforting video. We don’t have to be perfect. Phew.
Purchased 3D Printer. Printed terrain and minis. We use a variety of methods of portraying encounters though. Smaller ones we'll just use the VTT. Bigger and Boss encounters we tend to use the terrain on the table. And sometimes it's just fun to set up terrain layouts to show off new objects. :-)
One thing I did learn was that I don't need to make the terrain exactly match the VTT map. Close enough is good enough, then just make sure that we base the encounter on the terrain and not worry about the VTT map until the encounter is done and we're back to exploring again.
I have several hundred pounds of miniatures and terrain... I would have several levels of exhaustion trying to carry them....
I'm planning on having almost every enemy miniature when I start running again.
3d printers are a wonderful thing :P
Couldn't agree more!! I am running Dungeon of the Mad Mage and have been printing each level of Monsters as I go and painting them. Staying one or 2 levels ahead. Lot's of work but really fun to plop that boss on the table. 23 levels and on level 16 now.
Dang that's dedication. A lot of work now but by the end of that module you're going to have pretty much every miniature for every monster that exists in the game. LOL and painted to boot.
Pathfinder Pawns are also an alternative. I can usually find something similar to represent what they are fighting.
#3: "you see some ghouls, roll initiative" - yawn. Crafting my own terrain is much better than buying it. #5: When using minis, use the appropriate size. Don't grab a teddy bear for the dragon that is 10 times too big. #10: TOTM has it's place (easy combats), but epic battles where every decision could mean life or death should be played on the battle board so the player feels in control of their fate. Pro tip: don't clutter the battle with so much terrain that the players can't see what's going on. Realistic trees and cliffs are great, but they need to see what's happening.
Three Cheers for the Algorithm!!! :thumbsup:
This vid speaks to me, great job! Thinking back before I used virtual tabletop, my games were still great on 2D vinyl maps. I bought a set of 2D dungeon tiles, 2D minis and wet erase markers. I used to print/tape cutouts on my 2D minis for custom monsters. The players still told me that I was an amazing DM and we had a blast! Good narrative/writing is the foundation of D&D.
First
Great tips as usual. I have a wooden box that a gift from my players got for me was packaged in. That is where I place minis and tiles for the session. An awesome gift has given me a box they get uneasy about when it is brought out.
Here's my tip with "not having a mini for the monsters": Use Printable Heroes! I use actual mini's for important characters or "captain" units, while minions that I'll need more than two or four of, I'll print up from the website, cut, and attach to a basic wood base. I can put together a band of goblins led by Hobs and an Ogre or two in about 20 minutes if I'm quick about it.
Great video. Here’s the comment to let UA-cam know you don’t suck.
Listen up UA-cam!:-)
For minis I usually use color coded fish bowl rocks. Red for enemies, blue or green for friendlies, yellow for neutrals. I use actual minis for my pc characters so in actual minis I have like maybe a pound or two. In fish bowl beads it's probably more.
FOR THE ALGORITHM!
The algorithm has heard your call. Thank you for reporting that this UA-camr doesn't completely suck. Your input is greatly valued.
#4 will be reinforced for me by how I write my rooms anyway; I describe the room, followed by any inanimate objects or obstacles, then finish the narrative with the monsters. Thanks for the advice, Luke... you don't suck 😁
I have Minis from multiple kickstarters I haven't opened yet. I have boxes upon boxes, but I love them.
While I entirely agree, I have set myself the challenge of having entirely painted and correct figures for my monthly Odessey game. So far I'm on target, and 6 month ahead on painted figures for the plot.
To be clear, THE WHOLE POINT was to drive me to paint figures, to say I have many thousands of unpainted figures is probably an understatement, so this was entirely to drive me to do better and paint more. I got good at fast batch painting, 50 odd figures at a time, 2-3 hours total really chews through the backlog, accepting good enough rather then display level pieces every time.
hi Luke , i have only 250ish minies ... have descent with all expansions+ 3x dnd board game(ravenloft , asharaladon and mad mage) .. i painted them all , maps i draw on grid.. i love how you always find usefull topics for dms !! love from Serbia
Weighrled my minis. Scale said one at a time, please.
Lol
I ❤️ your videos! Ugh, I have too many pounds worth of minis and Dwarven Forge to weigh! My players love when I use them though. And if it's a generic room/feature, I let them build it; they LOVE it!🎉
I have made almost all my terrain/minis. I started with foam stuff (Thanks to Dr Dungeon Master (UDT Rocks), Black Magic Craft and Bard's Craft), I printed a ton of printableHeroes 2d printed minis and used that for a year or so. Then I got an FDM printer and started printing terrain (Dragonlock, etc), I started printing minis (Meh, quality but still cooler than flat ones). I basically stopped using my printed dungeon tiles after discovering Mystic Realms Quick Dungeon Systems (basically just full room tiles from 4.5" to 7.5" square). They are so fast and easy. During prep, I just throw them down with some passages drop some minis in place and then set them aside. When the party reaches the door, visibility, whatever, I just pull out the pieces and throw them on the table.
I have 3324 pre painted minis and most of the premium minis including Arveiaturace and the gargantuan Tiamat. I have personally painted around 300 minis (between Warhammer and D&D) and refuse to use unpainted (unless I have a good lore reason “such as stone constructs”). I have no idea how much they weigh. I have relied on theatre of the mind for terrain options. However, I am now in the process of acquiring terrain pieces that I am satisfied with. Currently building a cardboard model of highdark hall from ghastly affair.
This is great. Kinda like a prep priority list. #7 I tried to have all my goblins painted but instead went just the shading portion of a slapchop because I was running out of time. Even a little paint makes them pop.
Jokes on you. It wasn't that expensive, since I got a printer instead 😎... well... two 😅... ok, fine
I use starbursts for my enemy minis, which the players get when the enemy dies`. I do this largely to condition my players. The individual wrappers are nice because I can write on them (helps keep track of monsters during combat), and if I place candy down, the players immediately know this is an enemy they can fight. This helps reduce murder-hoboing in my experience, as the players quickly realize they won't get treats for killing NPCs.
I was just commenting this morning on one of Sly Flourish's videos … wooden blocks, jenga, cubes, spools, as abstract as possible, makes for the most effective terrain IMO. No Dwarven Forge plastic is going to look as rich as good flavor text. Set out the blocks to define the spaces as you narrate, paint the picture, and then plop down the monsters.
I gotta say, atleast 50 pounds. I got it bad man.
Bonus tip: The Dungeons and Dragons Boardgames, Wrath of Ashardlon, The Legend of Drizz't, The Tomb of Annihilation etc... Good value for someone trying to collect alot of miniatures very quickly for a decent price.
👍🏻 I easily have a few hundred pounds of miniatures …. At last count I had over 10000 miniatures and a good 3/4 of them I have painted myself…. Took me years.
Ever since I started playing D&D on Fantasy Grounds, I have lost 100% of my interest in ever playing old school D&D with miniatures and pen and paper.
If I want to play D&D in person, I would get $2,000 and put together a dedicated D&D tabletop computer system that lets players roll the dice on the table and I'd STILL use the Fantasy Grounds TTGS to play. Things are SO much better using the systems.
Get all the coolness you want from the interwebz or make your own maps with any of the computer map making programs that are out there.
As a DM myself, I do not like wasting my players’ time rifling through boxes of minis (I have at least 20-30 pounds of minis) and shelves of terrain (I have at least 20 pounds of terrain). Not all of my minis and terrain are painted, but I don’t always have time to paint them before a game. Even if they’re not painted, I still use them anyway. Painting minis is very detailed work and it can take hours, and sometimes days, to paint them depending on size and amount of detail (the dragons take the longest). My players love to admire my painted minis (which can be a bit annoying when I’m trying to run a game).
I have basically gone fully digital at this point. Haven't played in-person since middle school. Laziness combined with lack of acquaintances to play with makes for a powerful demotivator. Social anxieties don't help either.
Although, I also find I didn't enjoy in-person much anyway. Even voice chat ruins my immersion somehow.
I'm going to do some youtube comment necromancy, but I want to add one important thing, what I think you missed:
Don't build your whole frikkin dungeon:
It kills the claustrophobic vibe, if the players can alway see the whole map... But if you only bring out the rooms where the players actually do something with the need of visual representation, they always thinking how deep are they in, how far will they go etc.
If you see a whole dungeon on the table, no matter how beautiful it is, it will feel more like a board game board, and not like a life threatening cavern system
I ALWAYS have the minis I need, because I play with 2D printed minis (like the ones from Printable Heroes); New enemy? I just print and done.
Takes minutes and players are happy enough. If they want, they can use 3d minis for their characters, but that is on them.
My low-cost aproach to Terrain and Minis:
I bought some generic wooden figures and painted them in simple colors: yellow and green for PCs, blue for allies of the PCs and red for enemies. The PC-figures are all destinct from each other. The allies and enemies are grouped in a way, that you can easily distinguish, who the main villain is and which the minions are and so on.
For the terrain I use a battlemap and the wooden pieces of a JENGA-Tower. They are about 1 inch by 3 inch in size. Perfect for buildings, walls, hills and (if you put them upright) pillars and trees, too.
As the DM you can still describe the scene and the monsters. I just use them to visualize the positioning in combat. And sometimes I let the players create the room, while I describe the scene. That way they are much more invested in the game. :)
Not to sound like Grandpa Simpson however, we would always use Legos, Jenga blocks, building blocks, etc. Nothing very fancy or elaborate. I build a little bit right now but, I still use my battle map.
For PCs (and some NPCs and creatures) I use normal minis. I make my own paper minis for all other creatures because I am a broke adult. I created a photoshop template which is a blank round token with border for each size category. I then paste a picture of whatever I want in them. They're NOT all creatures. I have trees, and tables and other objects. Now so as not to waste paper I then copy the token to another photoshop template which just has guides for me to put the tokens on and I fill it up with tokens. You don't have to buy minis. Don't get me wrong I love my Official D&D and Reaper Minis but that is expensive.
I 3d Print my Mini's so I've used about 50 (low estimate) 1000g bottles and estimate about 250g in waste (through supports and loss) per bottle making it about 37,500 ounces or 82.67 pounds of mini's.
My game setup is different from my nephew's. He's purchased those fancy tiles that snap together and even those double sided cardboard tiles. He's got a whole shelf full of minis including Tiamat and four other dragons including a bone dragon and a dracolich. MY dragon is a friggen $3 plastic toy from Walmart. I dunno how much money he's spent but I'm almost certain it was well over $3,000 on just terrain and minis alone, not including the books. Though I think he's getting tired of setting everything up. He just got a projector.
I myself have bought most of the books but that's where I spent most of my money. I bought a cheap $100 3D printer to make my own minis. I actually made little paper standies that work just fine too. I bought those battle mats that you can draw on but I also made my own printed maps on my canon printer and taped the pieces together.
I even can host an adventure out of a binder which holds a printed version of my campaign along with whole maps that fit on standard printer paper along with those plastic page protectors. Sure we don't get to use the minis but I then just use markers and put dots where everything is. Set up is super fast, even if I have to draw the scene. I just get super crafty to try to save a little money. But damn that Tiamat my nephew got is the tits. I don't wanna drop $400 for it though. I may attempt to design and 3d print my own.
I’m spending hundreds on a map and my players can’t wait 10-15 minutes for me to set up?
So, I think I have 15-20 lbs of Warhammer 40k and fantasy minis, all in various states of "painted" and "assembled" and some still on the sprue. I will say the necrons make great undead armies and tyranids are awesome for larger (and weirder) creatures. I think the painted part really only matters in tournaments, as there's typically a contest for best painted mini/army (not sure, don't care enough to do those), but I've played games using paint pots for trees, books for elevation and cotton swabs for walls
Actually, I'm feeling quite flattered about my rather mediocre mini swamp now... it's officially 'above and beyond'! :D (I hope it counts. Hasn't got any fog though. :-/)
I believe to have about 3/4 of a pound (not British or American, my bad) of terrain and minis, containers included.
About 30% of them are WOTC minis, while the rest are 3D prints because I could not find the right mini, let alone at a feasible price.
All of my terrain are home made, though I do not have the space to make the ground and trees. I just have logs that can stand in as trees (easy to store and topple over), a few flat rocks with stairs for height, a line/pile of pebbles to suggest a cobble stone wall (the height is theatre of the mind, and they double as cave walls), some furniture and even a creepy looking tree made from a succulent stem that had delicate, dried out flowers.
They hardly got used, but they live rent free on the one shelf I allotted for D&D items.
That is the only way I have to prevent overspending and hoarding things.
It is not easy, though I like to think it is a good way to teach self-control and consideration for the hobby. Because if I can afford to expand the hobby, I will then allow for it to grow.
I like to call it the 'flower pot' lesson. If I cannot fit anything else in it, I either prune it back, or get a bigger pot. But know the bigger the pot, the more work I will need to maintain it.
I play an ogre in a campaign. The problem is, most of my ogre minis, apart from being kind of generic, are also on the tall orc size (largish Medium creatures, taking up just one square) rather than ogre sized (Large creatures, taking up 4 squares.) Size is important for the character as it limits movement and access, and affects tactics.
The solution? I have a small rubber duck that is exactly a Large size.
Oddly enough, it helps for roleplay, as he is aware of how scary he can appear, and tries to be as cute and loveable as possible to compensate.
When combat gets bad, he still smashes enemies against walls, hammers them into the ground, throws them across the field and into other enemies, and physically picks up fallen allies while healing them. Not sure if the duck helps or hurts the theater of the mind there....
pounds? 🤔🤨🤔 Does this include the components for making said terrain and minis? Full sized 25mm and quarter sized mini- miniatures? Do they make scales that big? 😁🤣🤣😂
I'm a traveling pro dm. I run 11 games a week. Yes that means 2 and 3 games a day. I use some odd ball stuff.
I had a friend of mine 3d print some of the true tiles brand stuff for me aa his payment. A few pieces each week with a block of 50 to start. Great, I love it. 2 two slot card boxes fit 8n a gym duffel vary well. Another single card box just as long holds scatter like borders, tree stamps, boxes, and rubble. Now my things are dressed.
For minis, I don't use them. I have 2 boxes of books that need to travel with me so I am ready for those 3 games in a row. What do I use then ? Blank dice for the players and 1" - 4" tiles for the bas guys. That's right, normal bathroom tiles. They are glazed so a dry or wet erase marker will rub right off. I have no fear of the wrong marker leaving a permanent mark on my very costly vinyl map. Just rub and flip when they kill them.
Now some of you are going " but what if you want to pre do the encounters?" And I do just that. I found that the hardware store had drain pipe that fit inside of another with a little bit of space for me to add. So I took this larger drain pipe and used pipe hangers to attach it to my luggage cart, then I just dropped the smaller inside. Plot the lid for the larger on top and away I go without fear of damage to my pre-made maps.
Yes I use a luggage cart for all 9d this. I don't drive. So me going to the games means walking or taking the bus.
When it comes to the monsters and fights i have a dm screen made of wood that holds 2 tablets and a dry erase board for the center. I even found a dice tower that can fit on top that I use for those high stress or overly dramatic dice drops that roll for a long time. The only downside is that I can't always take the dice tower with.
Does anyone have advicenon setting up when you're not hosting the game? (Im running the game at a school for students)
Me, just looking at my salvaged cardboard, decopodge, drywall plaster, and cheap walmart acrylics, knowing i spent like 40 bucks on materials, and while it aint pretty, Karlbog The Dark Flame's dungeon is ready for player use.
Seriously though...i have a problem...im running out of places to store my terrain...
1000 dollars on mini's? I use differently coloured pawns and an erasable board (with non-erasable grid) where I draw the map on in 10 minutes with chalk. It works wonders if it simply supports the narrative to make the combat more clear.
6:10 "Warhammer Four Hundred Kay". You will be purged for your ignorance, heretic. The Emperor's Justice will find you, and your innocence proves nothing.
If you're super into building models and that's your love, by all means spend as much time on it as you want. But if you're building something because you want something cool to play on... cut every corner you can. The playtime payoff is WAY lower than the build effort.
For minis, I simply had a bunch of 3d printed letters and numbers that I glued on empty bases. Greek letter for large, symbols for very large. Finding out wich creature you're attacking and keeping track of large number of npc is a breeze.
The only actual minis that are used are my PCs
..."Warhammer 4 Hundred K..." Hes Trolling, guys, stop...Stop! HES TROLLING...>!
I've to say that, weight wise, I've sooo little terrain... just because I use papercraft terrain!!
But the VOLUME of it? Yeah, I'm right at the point were I need to plan ahead where I'm going to store new pieces before starting a new setpiece :-P
the reason conventions/tournaments etc only allow painted minis, is for photo reasons. Anything that gets publish just plain looks better if everything is painted. But for home games? Use a nickle as your character if you want, I literally couldnt care less, whatever works works
Honestly the best tip I can recommend is going to Chartaty shop or Flee shops I think Yanks call it there are great things to buy items for campaigns I've bought some brass ducks and used them as Tokens wirch I my campaign are important Relics think like indiana Jones
I use a high level room description first, followed by the monsters, and I save the detailed description for after the encounter in most cases - "You open the door to what appears to be a kitchen. A trio of pint-sized creatures with large ears and mottled green skin are standing around a table, all looking at you with a mixture of surprise and annoyance at the their meal being disturbed by your sudden intrusion. They snarl and draw rusty shortswords as they charge. Roll for initiative!"
Then when the battle is over - "As the last of the three goblins falls to the ground, you quickly glance about the room looking for any others that might be lying in wait. Seeing none, you start to take in your surroundings...[insert details here]". This allows the players to keep their focus on the details that are important in the moment and gives the players a chance to transition from the strategy mindset back to the exploration mindset - its a kitchen and there's baddies; fight/flight/talk; baddies are dealt with, what do we find in the kitchen?
The only exceptions to this are when (A) there are enemies waiting to ambush the party, or (B) there is an important thing in the room that I absolutely want the players to know is there. In the case of the ambush, I just describe the ambush and save the entire room description for after the battle or I describe the entire room first and then the ambush when it happens if the trigger is the party doing something within the room. In the case of the important thing in the room, I mention that as the very first thing they notice, and will mention it again in the post-encounter description so they know its there and they don't forget about it because some players are more interested in their characters surviving and progressing than they are in exploring and roleplaying. These overly cautious players are likely to abandon a quest because they don't want to fight a hellhound just to find out if the McGuffin they are seeking is on the other side of it, but they are plenty willing to find some way to deal with the hellhound (including fighting it) if they KNOW that the McGuffin is there.
The only game I play that requires the exact miniature that you are playing and it must be painted is... HeroClix. And that's only because the miniatures are already painted and the dials are on the miniatures. I have yet to see that game played with just a token for the miniatures and stats on a card.
But then again, I've used my HeroClix figures to represent my D&D characters. I mean Iron Man a s a Warforged next to Wolverine as a Druid.
The most over the top I'd be willing to go would be to turn an old sliding glass door into a table and mount a flat screen TV under it facing up. Then connect a laptop to it and instant fancy map.
This would be useful for other things than gaming but is also the limit to over the top I'd go, and only after being financially stable.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can alway use Chess or checkers pieces as low budget mini's for basic enemies in a pinch. And nobody who actually enjoys D&D will complain that the kobalds are red chekers and the Dragon in charge is the Queen set on a coaster to get the right map size
if the location is a recurring site (Phandelin), having a side table with the buildings is a cool idea. however, trying to set up towns or buildings that are only used a couple times, is a major distraction from the story. as GM, you may want to know the key npc's in town, but the characters don't need that info... unless they go and speak to those npc's.
final point, when using mini's, the players may see you placing 5 skeletons with swords. as the players groan... more skeletons... DON'T confirm this guess. these could represent any creature you want. it's up to you to describe the creatures. maybe you don't own bugbear mini's, or they are improved skeletons that a necromancer has been experimenting with. let the players hear what they are instead of assuming that the mini is a true representation.
I was at a Con game and the GM had a big battle with something like 7-8 players at the table (including me and my then 13 year old son) and he was using just a sheet of paper to track where everyone was, and it got to be a mess. Any token is fine, but in this case, I collect miniatures and terrain and when we took a break, sent the kiddo to our hotel room to grab a box or two of miniatures just to know where everyone was. There are times when the GM should at least consider (for large and complicated combats) where everything is on the board. Miniatures are 100% optional, but in this case, it really helped out to figure out where all the characters and the monsters were.
When I started playing D&D, as a kid, we used pencils and wrote on 1/4 inch graph paper for our visual representation. Not ideal, but it worked. (Until we got MINI's)!
The problem with amazingly detailed terrain that took weeks to make.
Players: "Oh...we are in a swamp.....again. Just like the last 4 sessions....is that tree going to be obscuring the lizardman ambush or the rock this time?"
My group uses the back side of Christmas wrapping paper and different colored sharpies. Some even have 1" grids on the back. This is easy and very economical.
You ask for how many pounds of minis like I do when I ask others. They’re always like “Uhh pounds?”
YES HOW MANY POUNDS
24.15 lb
I was way worried about not getting all my miniatures painted before the session. One time, I simply couldn't have them all done. And my players didn't care. They still freaked out over the swarm of zombies. They hissed over the owlbear that stumbled into their camp.
Now, I paint them as I can, and drop them in grey and in mounted as needed.
of course i love the soothing drone of your voice. now, regarding minis...i accidentally got a resin printer 10 months ago. game over. it prints minis and scatter around the clock. a never ending supply of whatever you could ever want or need. also, how much xps foam terrain adds up to a single pound? i guess if you actually have one pound of xps foam terrain that could be considered impressive!
I try to keep away from terrain... I do collect minis... but my Chessex mats and my markers are were I "terrain".
My Castles & Crusades games are tactical-lite... if I'm GM'ing Numenera/Cypher, I never use a mat or minis, its all ToTM.
Aside from having a 3D printer (or three) to help with getting proper miniatures, I don't worry too much about painting. Or at least the level of detailed paint I put on them. I used to do commission miniature painting, so the last thing I want to do nowadays is spend 5 hours painting a mini I'm most likely going to use once or twice. For everyday minis I keep the paints to a minimum or even just a drybrush to make it look like the mini is made of stone. It shows off the detail and gets the point across. Done and done. However, I do take the time to paint the BBEG or highly significant minis like dragons or the like. So all in all, the more important a mini is, the more paint it gets lol.
3:37
Paraphrize. Verb. A portmanteau combining the words paraphrase and summarize.
"It's a long story with lots of detail so I'm going to just paraphrize most of it."