Some questions about using miniatures in game...

[Mercule]

Do you think miniatures add something to play that counters don't?

I'll let you know after I unlease the bulette on my players. It'll be the first huge figure that I get to use. My players don't even know I've got any huge minis. I think the look on their faces will be priceless when they see the size comparison -- in all three dimensions.

 

[Lasher Dragon]

Oooh secretly record it!!!

 

[sniffles]

You know, I'd never thought about it, but it seems to me that painting miniatures and selling them on eBay is a perfectly viable (and potentially) lucrative profession. I'm sure there are people that do that for a living out there.

But back on topic, yes, I love miniatures, and I feel like they add a lot more depth to the game, and help with combat (especially in d20), with flank attacks, attacks of opportunity, and all the other stuff. It's really crucial. I don't know how people manage it otherwise.

You're absolutely right, some people do make a living at it, and some painted minis go for quite a lot of money.

I agree about minis adding depth to the game. It's a lot easier for many of us to imagine the tension of the combat when you can see something representing your character, your friends' characters, and the bad guys, and how they are all arranged in relation to each other and the location.

As far as minis needing to precisely represent what is there, this is pretty difficult since no one has made a mini for every type of monster, and many of the ones that are available are hard to obtain. But as a player it's nice for me when the DM at least tries to find something similar. Some players tend to be rather literal in their thought processes, and need to be reminded every five seconds what they're fighting if the otyugh is being represented by a goblin mini.

 

[snarfoogle]

If that piece of cardboard had been a mini I might have realised it was an Orc Sleepless (Commander) Ftr-6 and not just an orc mook Ftr-2 before it Full Attacked my wounded female Fighter Zana into salami slices, *sigh*. Best PC I ever had.
Minis definitely are better.

You see, it all depends on what kind of counters you use. In my game the Ftr6 would be a d12 as opposed to the mooks (d6s). Or, alternatively, we'd be using Legos. Those are probably the best budget minis.

I would use miniatures, and I really think my game would be improved at least a little, but I don't really have the income. On the substitute mini thing, I think that if the Dire Bear is a Beholder, the Beholder might as well be a d20.

 

[Steel_Wind]

If everyone here who thinks that using miniatures or counters at all adds to their game, and they could afford specific miniatures for every encounter and monster type, they 'd have em and they'd use em.

We have complete sets of all the WotC minis and have gone out of our way to purchase excessive numbers of different commons for use as armies. We've created battle trays for them as well when we are using them in large numbers.

Does it add to the fun and atmosphere? : Damn right it does.

Does it add more than counters? : Of course it does.

Does it really matter that one figure is not exact? Not really.

Is it nice to have the right ones? Yes, it is.

Is it worth the money? Well, that's a subjective question isn't it? We spend a lot on our games relative to many people here. But our gaming group is a bunch of men in their 40's, not a bunch of students in university. This is our hobby and we spend on it.