D&D 5E D&D Next: How Miniatures Should Fit?

[ExploderWizard]

The minis deal is simple:

1) They must be optional to the core game. I don't mind if tactical supplements require them.

2) Good sculpts in metal or plastic

3) Unpainted. We are hobbyists not heroclix players.

 

[the Jester]

3) Unpainted. We are hobbyists not heroclix players.

If I am buying minis and I have the choice between painted and unpainted, I'll take painted every time as long as the price is not excessively greater than the unpainted.

I get that a lot of gamers love their mini-painting; that's cool and all, but I suck at it, it costs a lot and takes tons of time. D&D Minis, prepainted and plastic, win for me. They don't tend to break as easily as pewter and they look a lot better. IMHO.

 

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

3) Unpainted. We are hobbyists not heroclix players.

I'll buy unpainted minis if they come with an extra day of the week.

 

[ExploderWizard]

If I am buying minis and I have the choice between painted and unpainted, I'll take painted every time as long as the price is not excessively greater than the unpainted.

I get that a lot of gamers love their mini-painting; that's cool and all, but I suck at it, it costs a lot and takes tons of time. D&D Minis, prepainted and plastic, win for me. They don't tend to break as easily as pewter and they look a lot better. IMHO.

As fas as price goes you can get some good deals.

Wargames factory makes their plastic sprues out of recycled plastic. This means that I can get a box of 32 warriors (which can be assembled with a variety of weapons) for 19.95 retail. They do mostly historicals but do have skeleton & orc boxes.

I have seen boxes of these at miniaturemarket for as little as 13.97

Granted there is the cost of paint & glue but a little of that goes a long way.

If someone would do fantasy minis like this I would buy tons of them.

 

[Scribble]

While I love 4e and 3e before it, I do tend to at times miss the days when I could play through several combats without minis being a part of it.

I would agree that it would be cool to have the base rules playable without minis but rules for minis for when you want them.


I wish there would be a number of different options. Painted and unpainted. I don't really have the time to paint minis anymore, but I did always think they looked better then the plastic ones.

 

[IanB]

I very very badly want DDM tournaments back. I don't care if it has anything to do with the RPG at this point, I have a billion minis I can use for that. The DDM community was just awesome.

So in that vein, I really like random, because it enabled Limited play.

EDIT: And for the love of Iuz, they should be pre-painted. I'm color blind and my hands shake too much to do anything other than an utterly crappy job painting them, and I don't want to have to assemble them either.

 

[Sunseeker]

I think WotC would be better served by outsourcing miniatures similar to what Paizo has done. Frankly, they need to focus whatever resources they have on the actual game.

Moreover, while some find miniatures a fun add-on, they're not inherently part of the game, and some saw the 4e explicit focus on battlegrid/miniature play as a cash grab.

I also suspect that companies that only build miniatures make good miniatures, and that all they need is the license to do WotC's monsters in order to roll.

Focus is a good thing.

Well, they are owned by toy giant Hasbro, so I don't think that would be particularly difficult to pass production along to a different department. But it's unlikely that another company entirely would be given the rights to produce them with, as above, Wizards being owned by Hasbro.

 

[Aeolius]

The minis deal is simple:
1) They must be optional to the core game. I don't mind if tactical supplements require them. , 2) Good sculpts in metal or plastic , 3) Unpainted. We are hobbyists not heroclix players.

Agreed, though I would add:

4) 3D models for each race, class, and gender should be available for purchase for DAZ Studio, a free 3D modeling application. 3D models could them be exported in a format compatible with 3D printers.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

One thing about minis that is a huge benefit is they are eye candy for grabbing the attention of bystanders while games are being run at FLGS's. Every C&C demo I have run in previous years had people coming up to look at the terrain and minis. This being said, i do not want minis to be a necessity of the core game, but rather a combat expansion that can be plugged in.

 

[variant]

My main group rarely uses minis. I personally don't like them at all. I grew up playing 1e and 2e completely without them and I saw absolutely no need in 3e. 4e kinda shoved them down my throat and it is one of the reasons I don't play it.