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

No of the above... exactly. I play online and we do use maps and tokens and sometimes 3D elements (we use Tabletop Simulator).

For a long time, we played with a dry erase grid and minis. We've moved to modular tiles, accessories and minis, but only because I started crafting my own dungeon tiles and scatter terrain.

atanakar said:

That is clever. I have flet sheets for my wargames but never thought to draw squares on them for rpgs.

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They stack well also so if you cut out a river or something and place it on the map they don't slide around.

Been playing around with cardstock with notches cut in to make structures and such that can be stored easily and are modular. Right now I'm using cardboard from the free USPS boxes but they do make a mess after you use them about a dozen times.

Stoutstien said:

They stack well also so if you cut out a river or something and place it on the map they don't slide around.

Been playing around with cardstock with notches cut in to make structures and such that can be stored easily and are modular. Right now I'm using cardboard from the free USPS boxes but they do make a mess after you use them about a dozen times.

Click to expand...

I used to make 3d structures with foamcore but it takes too much storage space. Collapsible is best.

We use a lot of theater of mind, but sometimes our DM uses powerpoint displayed on our wall-mounted TV. He builds a fog of war (in white) for areas we have not been, and places tokens for the monsters and uses simple letter-tokens for the party. I've shown zoomed in levels since you can go from wide-view to 400% view.

This is from our current foray into the Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl.

We started by using tokens and pennies and such in 2e, but in 3e I eventually started buying minis, both metal and plastic. Most of the time I use Paizo flip mats and add some 3D terrain to them, such as trees or pillars and rocks, etc. I would love to go full 3D with houses and Dwarven Forge dungeons, etc, but it's rather expensive. And I do really like the artwork on the flip mats and how easy it is to draw and erase on them. So what we have is like 2.5D.

I didn't answer your poll since it specifies 5E and we still play 3.5, but we generally use a combination of Paizo Flip-Maps and Map Packs, D&D Dungeon Tiles, and homemade maps/tiles - the maps are usually on the backs of desk calendar sheets gridded off with a yardstick and the tiles made of either paper or cardboard. For broad, open areas it's usually a calendar sheet map; for building interiors and the like, each room often gets its own tile and is plunked into place only as the PCs reach it.

If the adventure warrants it, I'll sometimes make 3D models out of poster board, cardboard, or cardstock.

PCs are always painted miniatures. Monsters are frequently appropriate miniatures, occasionally miniatures of something at least similar, and as a last resort homemade stand-up tokens using artwork found on the internet.

Johnathan

My group plays using google hangouts so we use TotM

Sometimes. It depends on the circumstances. Sometimes it's theater of the mind, sometimes it's minis and battlemap, and on very rare occasions I have built an area outside to use as a physical battlefield.

Theater of the Mind and Tableau Vivant are both valuable tools, and DMs who use one to the exclusion of the other do so at their own peril. Personally, I lean on Theater of the Mind for simple encounters. You don’t really need a visual aid to run a combat with five goblins in a square dungeon room, or six gnolls in an open field or whatever. For more complex battles where things like cover and difficult terrain are significant factors, I’ll sketch out a simple battle map on the old chessex and drop down some minis. For climactic setpiece encounters, I’ll bust out some 3d terrain for extra flair.