DDM Wacky Ideas Thread

[Alaxk Knight of Galt]

Yet apparently even when they offered you this you still didn't purchase them.

Yeah, this is probably my fault

 

[Olaf the Stout]

Here's another possibility. Take the popular "themed sets" idea and combine it with the visible minis system, but in reverse. So you'd have something like this:

Orc Horde Pack
4 Orc Grunts
2 Orc Warriors
2 Orc Skirmishers
1 SECRET BONUS MINI!

(Where the SECRET BONUS MINI is a randomized, high-quality, orc-themed mini. An Orc Warchief, an Eye of Gruumsh, a Captive Wyvern, an Ogre Shock Trooper, et cetera.)

This combines the predictable value of the themed set with the "chase rare" effect.

I actually really like that idea. Heck, you could even randomise the actual breakdown of the minis, just as long as all of the minis were Orcs (or Kobolds or Goblins, etc.,)

Olaf the Stout

 

[jdrakeh]

Yet apparently even when they offered you this you still didn't purchase them.

Their foray into non-randomized blisters was really underwhelming. Every other maker of miniatures out there still had/has a better selection of figures and some of them were/are even pre-painted.

 

[Stormonu]

Their foray into non-randomized blisters was really underwhelming. Every other maker of miniatures out there still had/has a better selection of figures and some of them were/are even pre-painted.

I gotta agree. I had a collection that began with harbinger, and putting out repaints of existing minis just didn't cut it. At the very least, they should have used new sculpts.

I'd have rather seen for players a pack with 1 male/1 female mini, a suite of power cards (taking the character from level 1 to 30), a pad of "mini" character sheets (+1 premade at 1st level, with a sheet showing the character's projected progression to 30th), a set of condition cards (both to be used on the player and to mark power effects on monsters, such as the Fighter's Mark, Warlock Curse, etc.), a set of dice and a 1-month DDI subscription.

 

[Olaf the Stout]

I agree, the PHB line just wasn't appealing. Miniature Market had a sale on the PHB line of minis, offering them at quite a reduced price. Even at that reduced price I still couldn't find enough value in them to purchase even one of them. The minis were either repaints, funky combinations (I don't play 4E so Eladrin, Tiefling and Dragonborn didn't hold much appeal) or just not that great. I really hoped they would succeed but they line just wasn't any good in my opinion.

Olaf the Stout

 

[doppelganger]

I like the idea of encounter packs. Something better than a 4 beholder pack would be nice. I see that thing as doomed to failure and fear that it will take the idea down with it. The idea is sound, its just that no one* needs 4 beholders.

I would love to see packs of common(ish) humanoid foes -
Gnolls
Goblins (especially the new greenskinned look)
Orcs
Kobolds
Ogres
Trolls
Archons
Drow
Skeletons
Zombies
Wraiths
etc



* 'No one' does not mean literally not one single person here. It means not enough people to be commercially viable.

 

[Nebulous]

I like the idea of encounter packs. Something better than a 4 beholder pack would be nice. I see that thing as doomed to failure and fear that it will take the idea down with it. The idea is sound, its just that no one* needs 4 beholders.
.

As cool as they will probably look, i have to agree, no one really NEEDS 4 beholders! How often is a group going to meet a beholder and 3 other minions? Or what if they're illusions? The DM would have to bend backwards to make a scenario needing four beholders. Plus, i already have several from older sets, which would bring my grand beholder total up to around 7. Plus some old metal ones too, so i would have around 10 beholders. And i haven't even used a beholder miniature yet.

I have to second other suggestions that encounter sets would be by far the best way to go. Imagine a drow-themed set that came with some spidery set pieces, like a few columns, and a battlemap to play it on. I would much rather dump $35-$40 on something like that instead of 4 beholders.

 

[Herschel]

Their foray into non-randomized blisters was really underwhelming. Every other maker of miniatures out there still had/has a better selection of figures and some of them were/are even pre-painted.

Except what they gave us was a general mix. They used two very good former rare sculpts, but repainted them to make them different for people who already have them and didn't offer multiple repaints in teh same package. While I'm not a big fan of Dragonborn or Tieflings either, they're both holdovers from earlier efitions and can be used as bad guys even if you don't use them as PCs. As for Eladrin, are you saying you don't allow elves in your game. Eladrin are just the High Elf subrace with its own name.

They had to balance players of all ages of collection. And keep it at an attractive price point. Where are these other mfg's sets of PCs that are "better" in the pre-painted line at a decent price point?

 

[Dausuul]

As cool as they will probably look, i have to agree, no one really NEEDS 4 beholders! How often is a group going to meet a beholder and 3 other minions? Or what if they're illusions? The DM would have to bend backwards to make a scenario needing four beholders. Plus, i already have several from older sets, which would bring my grand beholder total up to around 7. Plus some old metal ones too, so i would have around 10 beholders. And i haven't even used a beholder miniature yet.

I have to second other suggestions that encounter sets would be by far the best way to go. Imagine a drow-themed set that came with some spidery set pieces, like a few columns, and a battlemap to play it on. I would much rather dump $35-$40 on something like that instead of 4 beholders.

Agreed. I like beholders, but in 22 years of gaming I have never found the right occasion to use one as a DM, nor have I ever fought one as a player. I own two beholder minis, one Large and one Huge, so that if the moment ever comes I will be prepared. But that's as much as I can justify having (and in fact I have some trouble justifying the Huge one). Beholders are:

• The quintessential solo monster. I'd be less surprised to face four dragons than four beholders.
• Not a monster that lends itself to a "campaign theme" unless you're running Spelljammer. They tend to be one-off encounters.
• High-level foes, well beyond the reach of Heroic tier parties. Since the vast majority of D&D gaming takes place at Heroic tier, this drastically limits their utility.

The beholder pack seems to be targeting the collector, or the very small niche market of beholder fanatics, rather than the regular gamer. I really hope they don't look at its feeble sales and assume they'd get similar results from a drow pack, or an orc pack, or a skeleton pack.

 

[Herschel]

The problem with "theme packs" is there's almost no market for established customers. I have scads of drow, orcs, goblins, etc. already. While a new one or two in a set won't put buyers like me off the product, whole sets would. They did a pretty nice job of making sure there were plenty of "core" baddies in the sets up to this point.

The main issue appears to be people forgetting Merric's laws of miniatures.