If you don't use mini's for NPC's, what do you use?

[Oryan77]

It would be great to blow money on thousands of D&D mini's and have a dozen of each for any encounter. But I'll stop fantasizing. I'm interested in using some kind of 1" chips that I can write numbers on and use them as NPC mini's.

What do guys use that resembles something like this? What material do you use to label them in order to keep track of which "chip" is which NPC?

I'm thinking of having different colored chips (must be no bigger than 1") that I can clearly write numbers on and each color would represent a different group of monsters. Something like that. I'd like to get some ideas here. I'm not even sure how to label them in the most professional manner. I don't like things that look cheap and trashy, so I want to make something that looks nicer than "pieces of paper taped to a poker chip".

If you have good ideas, suggesting where to buy the materials would help. Thanks

 

[Turjan]

I use counters. I've got quite a lot of the old Fiery Dragon ones. Pegs or coins do the work, too .

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

I use counters from the Counter Collection.

There are several of these, including a digital one that allows you to print them yourself. Here is the first set:

http://enworld.rpgshop.com/product_info.php?products_id=23738&

 

[Crothian]

I mostly use verbal descriptions. But if I were looking to buy an alternative to minis I'd go with Fiery Dragon's Counters. They are much cheaper and are great to use. If I were going to use something I already have I've found just using dice works well or poker chips.

 

[kenobi65]

Our group used to do *exactly* what you're proposing (colored, numbered chips). Worked pretty well, I have to admit.

These days, I've got a couple of boxes of plastic D&D minis (in other words, an investment of $40 or so). While I don't have the perfect mini for any particular NPC / monster, I've got enough, and enough variety, that I can tell the difference between them on the battlemat (on the sheet of paper where I keep track of the monsters' hit points, I'll notate "axe," "green elf," etc, so I know which mini corresponds to which monster). And, I think it just looks cooler.

 

[Oryan77]

I currently use the dice method. But players knock them around on accident a lot. Or they'll "help" me and move one when it dies or something, then realize it was the wrong one and forget which number the die was on.

I checked out the Creature Collection Counters. I read the website but I can't figure out exactly what these contain.

1. Are they cardboard cutouts with pictures on them, or images on paper that I would cut out (of course the pdf would be, but I don't want pieces of paper as mini's)?

2. Do they have numbers or a place to write numbers on them if I'm using more than 1 of the same creature?

3. Does the set come with more than 1 counter of the same creature?

4.Do these fit in 1" squares on a battlemat?

Or is this described in detail already on a site that I'm overlooking?

 

[lord_banus]

In the past I have found chess pieces work a treat. I am not much of a fan of flat counters or chips. Chess pieces give it that 3rd dimension plus there is the added benefit that you can show context by which piece you use.

Most folk have a set laying around the house so they are redily available.

 

[Christopher Lambert]

It would be great to blow money on thousands of D&D mini's and have a dozen of each for any encounter. But I'll stop fantasizing. I'm interested in using some kind of 1" chips that I can write numbers on and use them as NPC mini's.

What do guys use that resembles something like this? What material do you use to label them in order to keep track of which "chip" is which NPC?

Cut-out cardboard circles for the battlemat, but usually pencil-drawn letters (eg B for "Brute") on a piece of graph paper that contains the map. Or you could buy counters (the flat kind with pictures of creatures on them).

I'm thinking of having different colored chips (must be no bigger than 1") that I can clearly write numbers on and each color would represent a different group of monsters. Something like that. I'd like to get some ideas here. I'm not even sure how to label them in the most professional manner. I don't like things that look cheap and trashy, so I want to make something that looks nicer than "pieces of paper taped to a poker chip".

Well, it's up to you, but a group I'm a player in found using letters works quite well.

 

[Christian Walker]

I like to find cool fantasy art, then I cut and paste a one inch head and shoulders shot. I print it out, then glue the one inch by one inch picture onto say, a piece of cardstock or foam core. It works very well and is cheap cheap cheap.

 

[thalmin]

I currently use the dice method. But players knock them around on accident a lot. Or they'll "help" me and move one when it dies or something, then realize it was the wrong one and forget which number the die was on.

I checked out the Creature Collection Counters. I read the website but I can't figure out exactly what these contain.

1. Are they cardboard cutouts with pictures on them, or images on paper that I would cut out (of course the pdf would be, but I don't want pieces of paper as mini's)?

2. Do they have numbers or a place to write numbers on them if I'm using more than 1 of the same creature?

3. Does the set come with more than 1 counter of the same creature?

4.Do these fit in 1" squares on a battlemat?

Or is this described in detail already on a site that I'm overlooking?

The Fiery Dragon counters are sized for the 1" Battlemat (of course "large" creatures are bigger than 1"sq). They are very nice. Or you could try the Steve Jackson Cardboard Heroes which you cut apart and fold so they stand upright. These are printed with a front and a back, and there are multiples of many or the npcs and creatures.