How have minis impacted your game?

[Quasqueton]

I'm using some of the same minis in my D&D3 game, in 2005, that I used in my BD&D and AD&D1 games back in 1980. My mini collection has tripled in the last two years, but that is more a consequence of being an adult with disposable income.

I have always DMed with minis, even games other than D&D. I have occassionally played as a Player without minis, but those combats proved to be chaotic from the stand point of everyone in the game understanding what was going on in the battle. No one ever has the same layout in their mind's eye, but with minis on the table, it is all clear. Every game I've played *without* minis supported my reasons for playing *with* minis.

I even played some AD&D2 with minis. <gasp>

The acceptance of minis in the D&D3 game system is merely D&D coming back to its roots, and officializing the way I have always played.

And as for does my mini collection drive the encounters. In some regards, yes. I like to make monsters based on minis I have. And I will buy a mini based on an upcoming encounter. I like sitting a mini on the battlemat and saying to the Players, "This is what steps from around the corner." I just wish I had time to paint my unpainted minis. It is amazing sometimes to see their faces when the mini's size is compared next to their minis. The 45' tall elder treant, and the 35' tall fiendish treant was impressive.

Quasqueton

 

[PaulGreystoke]

To answer the original question, using minis has occasionally changed the game. I find myself using monsters I wouldn't normally use because I have the mini. So the new booster packs keep my game fresh as I don't always go to the same well of monsters every week. But that doesn't mean that I won't use an appropriate monster just because I don't have the right mini for it. Instead, my minis then get the chance to stretch their acting muscles & portray other monsters on occasion.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I started using minis and a battlemat with 3E, and now wouldn't go back. I love the visual and tactical capabilities this sort of representation (whether minis, counters, or M&Ms, for that matter) add to the game. I also learned to assemble and paint pewter minis with 3E, which I've enjoyed -- but lacking a lot of free time lately, I find the plastic minis are more accessible to more people.

Now if only the WOTC minis weren't random, I might buy more ...

 

[dagger]

No difference for us, we have been using them along with battle mats since 1E. Only thing different now is that we use squares instead of hexes (which I miss at times) and in 3rd there is no facing (which I miss also).

 

[Nathal]

Every game I've played *without* minis supported my reasons for playing *with* minis.

I can understand that. I played with minis only once in a while until my wife started to play. But she is a visual person and insisted upon using the minis. I've never been able to go back to my old lazy ways.

The acceptance of minis in the D&D3 game system is merely D&D coming back to its roots, and officializing the way I have always played.

Oddly, I remember Gary Gygax writing that his early games with original D&D never focused on the use of minis. Marching order perhaps, but nothing like what we see now. Still, I agree that wargaming must be considered the roots of RPGs.

And as for does my mini collection drive the encounters. In some regards, yes. I like to make monsters based on minis I have. And I will buy a mini based on an upcoming encounter.

I would do the same, and I was planning to do so, but then I ran smack into the secondary market for the D&D minis. It's too damn expensive to get the ones I want! Yeah, I know I could get the pewter and paint them myself, but I was never into that. So I'll stick with my counters for now.

I like sitting a mini on the battlemat and saying to the Players, "This is what steps from around the corner." I just wish I had time to paint my unpainted minis. It is amazing sometimes to see their faces when the mini's size is compared next to their minis. The 45' tall elder treant, and the 35' tall fiendish treant was impressive.
Quasqueton

I can understand that, and it must be fun to witness the size difference first hand when a bunch of halfling rangers attack a green dragon, or whatever.

 

[Darth K'Trava]

We've always used minis, at least since I started playing back in 2000. Then it was only the DM having his collection of minis that we used.

I started the group on buying the D&D minis when they came out..... Since I started buying them, they borrowed them. Then started buying their own.

 

[Nathal]

We've always used minis, at least since I started playing back in 2000. Then it was only the DM having his collection of minis that we used.

I started the group on buying the D&D minis when they came out..... Since I started buying them, they borrowed them. Then started buying their own.

Interesting. So your adventures were determined in part by your minis collection? That would affect the terrian and locales too, wouldn't you say?

 

[Darth K'Trava]

It depends on how hard they're thrown, I s'pose.

I remember one mini impacted the game with enough force to leave a nasty dent in my grandmother's dinner table. We had to fill it with wood putty and varnish it real good so she wouldn't notice. The offending player was given an "time out" until he calmed down.

heh. There's one demon-type mini (I can't recall which one) that can't be tossed to one particular player as he gets stabbed by it's pointy weapon every time. Ouch! We're not allowed to damage the furniture as we've been told just HOW much it cost the hosts to buy it!

 

[DaveMage]

We use counters when we don't have the appropriate mini, or, if we don't have either, we just use something that corresponds to the correct size.

Incidentally, Fiery Dragon's Dungeon Tiles are the same size as a colossal creature, so they multi-task for us that way.

I must say, I get more use from Fiery Dragon's accessories than I do from any other product outside the core rules...great stuff!

 

[Glyfair]

It's been suggested to me that because the miniatures have been such a success with Wizards, that 4th Edition will have even more focus on battlegrid tactics.

Oddly enough, I'm thinking with the success of the miniatures, WotC might feel less pressure to release a new set for the bump of revenues.