The flattening of Dungeons and Dragons

[Dice4Hire]

I found it rather inexpensive to purchase a number of generic figures, to represent the various creature roles. I started with a bunch of different generic undead. Deathlocks, Deathlock Wights, and Hobgoblin Zombies worked well. Then add in some Eternal Blades and Cliffwalk Archers for soldiers and artillery. Lothbound Goblins and Goblin Sharpshooters make for some good generic smalls. .

This is what I did. Just buy minis that are easily distinguishable from each other and go with them. I bought sets of 6 for minions, and it works fine. Most online resellers have tons of minis for less than a dollar each.

 

[catastrophic]

4e's rather lacking 3D rules particularly for area affect attacks,

Compared to what exactly.

 

[Aulirophile]

lacking 3D rules particularly for area affect attacks,

Bursts/Blasts are cubes.... RC makes this clear, I concede up till the RC it was unclear by RAW (though very clear by RAI, since the developer's said so via one of the podcasts).

 

[Keefe the Thief]

Wow, what swingy combat, always roll a 20 or a 1.

The d20 side was viable only on specific days of the week. On all other days, only the 1 counted. And our DM didn't tell us what kind of day it was before the game session began.

Ah, good times.

 

[cireblade]

SJ Games recently reissued their Cardboard Heroes in one massixe spiral-bound book. TTFN

 

[ourchair]

I blame the French, who couldn't leave the pancake alone when they invented the crepe.

 

[DJINNIMAN]

Tokens are good!

Put me down firmly in the "tokens are good" camp. I'm an old school guy who just got back into D&D with the Essentials line. I do love minis, and in fact it was the Ravenloft board game's lovely minis that really got me back into D&D again. If you have a large budget, enjoy painting minis, etc. there's plenty of minis out there right now, even with the official line being cancelled.

However, I do not have that large budget, nor do I have much time or patience for painting minis. Thus, tokens are a great alternative. The fact that I can spend around $50 for the DM Kit and Monster Vault, and have enough tokens to represent dozens of different types of monsters, special NPCs, and the like is a fantastic value. Even better, it's easier to make custom tokens; I bought a 1" hole punch and looked through some old Magic commons (pennies at any FLGS) for cool monsters, heroes, and villains. You can print things off using any color printer, and they will look just fine next to the official tokens. Tokens are cheaper, easier to customize, and do the job just fine.

Granted, I asked all my PCs to get minis, and try to use a mini for important bad guys when I can. I have purchased a minis starter set and a booster pack here and there. The Ravenloft and Ashardalon minis work great, too, as do Heroscape and the like, in a pinch. But I don't see how anyone can argue that tokens are a BAD thing; they are just a cheaper alternative that takes down a barrier for new (or like me, returning) players and DMs.

 

[Shadowslayer]

Count me as one who prefers minis over tokens, however tokens have one advantage that minis do not: they're easier to mark for status effects.

You can get a baggie of little wooden beads for kids crafts. They're dirt cheap and usually come in a shape that has at least one flat side. WHen the PC or monster is under an effect of some type, just set the appropriate bead on top of it. Beats mucking around with hair ties, pipe cleaners or bottle rings IMO.

Actually, make it 2 advantages. Tokens are infinitely home-makable and customizable. With a good cardstock, a photopaint program and a printer, you can have as many minis as your heart desires for any monster you can find a picture of.

(I think I just talked myself into digging tokens a little more )

 

[Osgood]

My group is so deep into 3D with shelves of dwarven forge sets, buildings, and tons of miniatures that I couldn't even imagine going 2D. There is nothing like seeing everyone's eyes light up when I unveil the encounter area.

 

[nnms]

When the Redbox came out and I ran the adventure in there for local people, we noticed a problem. The maps have folds in them that are hard to get out so it lies completely flat. When a token is up next to a fold and a player is sitting on the other side of the fold, the token can either disappear from that player's sight completely or at the very least become difficult to see.

A guy who runs some encounters seasons started bringing a sheet of plexiglass to pop down on the maps. It solves the fold issue and lets you use dry/wet erase markers as needed.