D20 Modern Minatures!?!

[Knightfall]

Okay, I had an thought while commenting on the Axis & Allies Miniatures thread, I started, in the General RPG Discussion forum.

Would there be a market for plastic, pre-painted miniatures for D20 Modern and the various D20 Modern/Future sourcebooks?

I think it would help drive the sale of both the D&D miniatures and the D20 Modern sourcebooks, as more and more D&D fans crossover to D20 Modern. D20 Modern and D&D are so similar that a D20 Modern Miniatures skirmish game would be 95% compatible with the D&D Minature skirmish rules.

Opinions? Comments? Threats?

Knightfall1972

 

[Roudi]

This would be pretty tough, as d20 Modern is a toolkit, and not a setting per se. D&D miniatures pull from a few different settings (like Greyhawk & Eberron), and Axis & Allies pulls from a historical era (which is a form of setting). From where would a d20 Modern line pull figurine concepts from? It's possible to draw from the various mini-campaign settings from almost every d20 Modern line book, or even from the one full setting book (Urban Arcana), but none of these feature any true iconic elements that'll help consumers link specific minis with other products they might want to purchase. Considering that Wizards hasn't really been supporting the d20 Modern line heavily to begin with, I doubt they'd see minis as a worthwhile venture.

Besides, look what happened to Star Wars when they introduced the minis. You want that to happen to d20 Modern too? At least they still put out a new d20 Modern system book once in a while (and I am particularly fond of d20 Apocalypse).

 

[wedgeski]

I would like to think yes, but the answer is probably no, unless the figures were generic enough to use in any modern setting (such as Cthulhu for example). Even then the answer might still be no. I must admit that it's frustrating not being able to reach into my WotC mini's collection during my d20M games, although there are pretty reasonable cardboard counter alternatives.

 

[Knightfall]

I would like to think yes, but the answer is probably no, unless the figures were generic enough to use in any modern setting (such as Cthulhu for example). Even then the answer might still be no. I must admit that it's frustrating not being able to reach into my WotC mini's collection during my d20M games, although there are pretty reasonable cardboard counter alternatives.

I find this opinion, that d20 Modern Minis wouldn't sell well, strangely odd. I would think everyone would want a gnoll pimp, as well as tons of kobold gang bangers and bugbear cops.

Case in point, the critters from the Meance Manual would just scream to be minis -- Kinoris, Bodaks, Devilkin, Cat Folk, Greys, Sasquatches, Mothmen, Mannequins, Grimlocks, Sesheyans, Gardhyis, and the Master Fiend!

Beyond critters, we could look forward to getting minis of the iconic characters, vehicles, and anything else that WotC could come up with. Many of the commons would be "no name" soilders and mercs for the many factions listed in the Meance Manual, as well as for Department 7.

The options are limitless, IMO, but I'm not one of the "high-ups" at WotC, so its all conjecture.

Later,

KF72

 

[Roudi]

Maybe that's a matter of playstyle. Personally, I'd find so many monster-ish minis useless for my games. Could just be me. But d20 Modern is like that; everyone's games are vastly different.

 

[arscott]

Were Wizards to release modern minis, They might do better by releasing modern-themed expansions to their regular minis game, rather than attempting an entirely new minis line.

 

[Roudi]

Well, that's just the thing... the D&D minis (and the Axis & Allies minis) have their own game. Technically, the minis can be used and played without the customer ever having to own or play D&D. Thus, any Modern minis would have to be an expansion of the existing game, or a new game.

And again, I repeat... look what happened to Star Wars when they moved to minis.

 

[Captain Tagon]

And again, I repeat... look what happened to Star Wars when they moved to minis.

But most of that is based on liscencing agreements.

 

[Roudi]

What can I say? I'm paranoid.

 

[Knightfall]

What can I say? I'm paranoid.

I wouldn't worry. As Captain Tagon said, the death of the Star Wars RPG was mainly a licensing issue.

As for Modern Minis, consider the "in-house" games, past & present, that WotC has access to to created themed mini sets -- Dark Matter, Gamma World, G.I Joe (Hasbro), Star*Drive, Star Frontiers, Top Secret, Transformers (Hasbro), and Urban Arcana, not to mention all the campaign models from the various books and the d20 mini games: Agents of PSI, Iron Lords of Jupiter, Mecha Crusade, and Shadow Chasers.

Can you imagine -- Mecha minis.

KF72