D&D General Stranger Things Image of a D&D Game

The new Stranger Things season 4 promo video dropped with a cool quick scene of their D&D game! Not much to see but the old classic pitted dice. Anyone have a clue about the minis depicted?

 

[AtomicPope]

My best guess, without researching, is those minis are Ral Partha, and that's a wizard or sorcerer.

 

[Lakesidefantasy]

I also had a handful of pewter miniatures which I painted (poorly. One of my old halflings still looks like he's wearing aviator shades. ).

I had a badly painted halfling, but back then halflings were tiny.

 

[bedir than]

Maybe they're not actually being rolled for the game, and are just moving for some other reason? They could be being telekinesed* or subject to a weird gravity effect or something.

Or they're just kids rolling dice. I'm in my 40s and roll dice for little to no reason regularly.

 

[Mistwell]

I used more minis in 1985 than I do these days. And we definitely used a grid. I cannot recall if it was a chessex mat or just paper. Wargamers had a lot of hex and square options floating around.

 

[Greg Benage]

Chessex wasn’t founded until 1987. I definitely don’t remember seeing vinyl battle mats before then. Would read a history if someone wants to do the legwork.

We used minis but really just for marching order and positioning. I don’t think we ever bothered to measure anything.

 

[Henry]

I started in '84 and that's how we've always played. Maps and minis from day one.

I'm just curious why they're rolling a d6, d8, and a d10 together.

Back in the 80s I used to play with unpainted lead miniatures and I’m ferfectly pine.

 

[Yenrak]

All the people in here who were lucky enough to live near hobby shops that actually carried miniatures. I remember when the Dungeon! board game first had the plastic pieces and thinking they were cool enough to use for Dungeons & Dragons... and then seeing Ral Partha metal miniatures for the first time on a family trip to Boston... and then finding out that those Dungeon! playing pieces were actually based on Ral Partha miniatures. My mind was completely blown, and I spent too much money buying up a bunch of metal.

I never actually saw battle maps, though. The first time I saw battle maps or even 1-inch grid paper was well after college, circa early aughts. Again, never living near a gaming and hobby store while growing up sucked. LOL

When I found out Ral Parthia were available for purchase, it destroyed me.

 

[wicked cool]

i feel like the chessex erasable mats came out mid 80'S? i remember getting them plus the dry erase marker set. Terrain was a thing back then . Does anyone remember the ads back of dragon magazine with the trees/treants. I have an inn made out of wood modeled after one in a hobby store (hobby town) was big then but long gone


I can remember Grenadier miniatures such as the orc warbands/wizard boxes being sold at my local grocery store (big chain) and ral partha /citadel miniatures prior to that and then painting them in testors paints with white testors paint as a primer (yikes)

the nolzurs line for me is coming full circle

don't remember rolling more than 2 d 10 at the same time but i do remember my thaco tables

 

[darjr]

I’ve tried googling when vinyl mats appeared with no luck

 

[R_Chance]

I’ve tried googling when vinyl mats appeared with no luck

I think adds in Dragon might be a good barometer of "when". I'll poke around and see what I can find for a "first" (add anyway).