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Enchanted Trinkets Complete--a hardcover book containing over 500 magic items for your D&D games!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Bomberg" data-source="post: 2010856" data-attributes="member: 14993">About at the same time as the 3rd edition of D&D, WotC published the Chainmail miniatures game. It used metal miniatures, creatures unknown to the roleplaying rules, and sort of an own background. Its success seems to have been limited, as Chainmail isn't supported anymore. Instead, we are treated to collectable plastic miniatures, pre-painted and (mostly) taken from the roleplaying sources.My point of viewAs a long time roleplayer and DM I looked at miniatures ever so often, but my humble efforts at painting those small lumps of metal neither did the miniatures justice, nor did they satisfy me or my players. So after a few sessions the miniatures disappeared from the table. The advent of the 3rd edition changed that. The more tactical approach to combat begged to be supported by counters at least. Fiery Dragon's Counter Collection helped us in this regard. I anticipated the prepainted minis to bring the third dimension to the gaming table, without having to rely on my meager artistic skills.Breaking the sealThis review is based on a single Entry Pack, containing 16 miniatures, the appropriate stats cards, several cardboard tiles, a copy of the Miniatures Rules, and a d20. As I'm not interested in drifting over to the tabletop field, I'll ignore the rules booklet.Each of the minis is sealed in its own small plastic bag, which does little to protect it. Nevertheless my minis saw the light of my gaming table in good condition. For each mini a stat card with somewhat abbreviated D&D stats on one side and the stats for the miniatures ruls on the other is provided. The tiles can be used as small floorplans for a roleplaying adventure, but are a bit small for this purpose, as was to be expected.What meets the eyeThe miniatures are in 25mm scale as opposed to the 28mm scale used by most companies in the field. Due to this, they appear quite fragile, but the material used is very forgiving. You may bend the mini in any direction without any negative effects.The detail of the minis is very convincing. Face expression, clothing, and weapons all look very fitting. Many miniatures from other vendors use comic-like proportions with pronounced details. This is not the case with WotC's minis. The proportions are more life-like than those of, say, GW minis.The poses shown are a mixed bag. While I like minis in other poses than the screaming, weapon over the head one seen so often - and WotC delivers in this regard - the Wood Elf Skirmisher practicing yoga while shooting an arrow is awful.Probably, the most criticism will be directed at the paint job. I have no doubt that the average tabletop buff achieves a much higher quality and the minis I have seen so far will not stand up well to scrutiny under a magnifying glass. In some places, the painting is sloppy, and the face of the Axe Sister is just a lifless mask. The tiny details which cause the observers to drool over a mini are absent. But seen from the typical distance the roleplayer maintains to minis on the gaming table, all those little problems vanish. Under these conditions, the painting is totally adequate.Is it collectable?Sadly, it is. You have no way to buy the minis you want or need. This leaves you with either a very small collection unable to satisfy your everyday gaming needs or a large number of minis you will probably never use. Of course there are ways to get the ones you want, but those ways do place another burdon on me, where my reason to go for the prepainted minis is to remove the burdon from my shoulders.Will you buy more?Yes, I will. Just the possibility to get painted minis is a great advantage for me. That those minis represent creatures from my favorite roleplaying game is another plus. In my part of the world, the price for a mini is about the same as for an unpainted metal one. As DM in three campaigns I appreciate the fact that I acquire a lot of different minis in this way. Wether I'll try my hand at the miniatures rules included remains to be seen. Wether WotC can convince me to by packs of the no doubt upcoming future sets depends on the minis offered and wether I don't feel shortchanged at some point in the future.My score is somewhere between 3 and 4. 3 might be the more objective score, but as you might have learned from this review, this offer is very tempting for me. So my final verdict is a 4: Well done!</blockquote>

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