D&D 5E Do you use miniatures during your games?

[iserith]

I use Roll20 for both online and in-person games, so I guess you could say we use miniatures (tokens) and a map, but also evocative images and backdrops and handouts, macros for dice-rolling, and music.

I hate clutter in my house, so having a bunch miniatures and 3D terrain would not be in line with my preferred aesthetic. Back when I used to use these things, I had all the hassle of storing them, setting them up, breaking them down, and whatnot. I greatly prefer everyone just busting out laptops instead now. It also leaves more space on the table for food and booze.

 

[LordEntrails]

We use a VTT, almost always have maps and always use some type of token.

No corresponding option in your poll, so I didn't vote.

 

[Sacrosanct]

TotM for small encounters. Minis for larger or more complex. I used to not use minis hardly at all, but recently I'm using them more often. Perhaps it's due to greater selection. And I love to collect and paint them lol. Back in the 80s and 90s, most minis were used only for party marching order and not actual combat lol

 

[Charlaquin]

I use Roll20 for both online and in-person games, so I guess you could say we use miniatures (tokens) and a map, but also evocative images and backdrops and handouts, macros for dice-rolling, and music.

I hate clutter in my house, so having a bunch miniatures and 3D terrain would not be in line with my preferred aesthetic. Back when I used to use these things, I had all the hassle of storing them, setting them up, breaking them down, and whatnot. I greatly prefer everyone just busting out laptops instead now. It also leaves more space on the table for food and booze.

I’ve tried using Roll20 for in-person games and found it to be quite a hassle. Plus I miss the tactile experience of physical dice and minis. But I will say that not having to worry about storage or cleanup sounds nice.

 

[prabe]

I find that if a situation is at all tactical, it's helpful to have a map out, though I don't bother trying to make every miniature correspond exactly to what's on the map, and I use lots of dice as tokens.

 

[Charlaquin]

I find that if a situation is at all tactical, it's helpful to have a map out, though I don't bother trying to make every miniature correspond exactly to what's on the map, and I use lots of dice as tokens.

I don’t have a large enough mini collection to make all the minis correspond to exactly what’s on the map. In my last session, we had a big setpiece where the PCs were fighting about a dozen duergar and a troll. I had to use goblin minis for about half the duergar cause I just don’t have that many dwarves. There were a couple lighthearted jokes about how this dwarf looks awful goblin-y, but everyone was cool about it.

 

[prabe]

I don’t have a large enough mini collection to make all the minis correspond to exactly what’s on the map. In my last session, we had a big setpiece where the PCs were fighting about a dozen duergar and a troll. I had to use goblin minis for about half the duergar cause I just don’t have that many dwarves. There were a couple lighthearted jokes about how this dwarf looks awful goblin-y, but everyone was cool about it.

That's a large part of why I don't bother making the minis correspond. We have a few 3x3 and 4x4 squares we've cut out of foam core, that we use if a miniature isn't the right size for what it's standing in for.

 

[Richards]

We do the same but we use different colored poster board for the 3x3 and 4x4 tokens. We've even numbered them 1-4 for each color and size - this all started when one of my players ran a summoner PC; it was easier using the same-colored 3x3s to represent celestial bison (or whatever) than try to have the correct number of appropriate minis.

Johnathan

 

[Oofta]

I've been using some variation of minis/tokens since back in the AD&D days. I rarely bother playing simple encounters - if it's easy enough to play with TOTM for me, we'll narrate the entire combat. My campaign is very RP heavy, so when we do have combat I want it to stand out.

 

[Nebulous]

I don’t have a large enough mini collection to make all the minis correspond to exactly what’s on the map. In my last session, we had a big setpiece where the PCs were fighting about a dozen duergar and a troll. I had to use goblin minis for about half the duergar cause I just don’t have that many dwarves. There were a couple lighthearted jokes about how this dwarf looks awful goblin-y, but everyone was cool about it.

I have found that making your own tokens for mobs of enemies, and glue a penny to the back, is one of the best ways to get a mini on the table for cheap. And in color. I used that a lot for grungs, firenewts, stirges and derro recently.
The penny gives it weight to keep groans of exasperated players from blowing it away when your 2D tokens are kicking their asses.

Edit: in some ways the 2D token is even better because you can see the faces in far more detail than you ever could on a miniature.