use of miniatures

[hengest]

I haven't done much with miniatures ever, although I admit they can be kind of pretty. What's your story with miniatures? Do you find that they help with immersion and projecting yourself into the world, or are they more often just a tool or ornament?

In Philip Dick's The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, unhappy colonists on Mars take a substance that helps them to project their consciousnesses into Ken and Barbie (with different names) in a doll-town 'layout' in which they experience trivial Earth events -- putting a dime in a parking meter, going to the doctor, etc. That book predates D&D by several years, but the practice described seems very RPG-like in a way.

[hedgehobbit]

I used miniatures through most of my gaming live, from the late 80s through third edition. If the miniatures are well painted and actually represent the monster in question, they can be a good tool. But this effectively limits the monsters the party can encounter to your miniature collection. Personally, I think they hurt immersion as I want the players focused on me and each other and not staring at the table. RPGs are a social activity.

FFG made a game called Imperial Assault. A great looking miniatures game with a GM, character that advance, and a campaign storyline. But it doesn't feel like an RPG at all because each turn is so tightly structured that it becomes more of a puzzle game. How do we manage our activations to most efficiently achieve our mission goals? The use of miniatures encourages gamers to create more detailed and structured movement and action rules, creating a sort of combat mini-game within the game itself. I prefer that the game flow smoothly from exploration to combat and back without a clear delineation. [the main reason I hate Initiative]

[bestialwarlust]

I like miniatures if they are well painted for the eye candy. Sometimes I use them but most of the time I don't.

[hengest]

Your response makes sense, hedgehobbit. That's kind of what I think I would think in a situation with a lot of miniatures. I find them too detailed to really get the images flowing, but at the same time, not real enough. Almost like a poorly or over-animated movie.

[ffilz]

I'm pretty solidly in the miniatures camp, though they are frustrating now because I don't have the time or inclination to paint.

My first D&D experiences were without miniatures, and I have had periods where I preferred counters.

With my current gaming being play-by-post, miniatures are not very useful (I guess if I REALLY needed to illustrate a scene, I might set something up using some miniatures).

It also depends on the game system. I would never bother with miniatures for Burning Wheel or Torchbearer (not even counters) since positioning in those games is completely abstract.

I would never bother using miniatures purely as a "here's what my character looks like" because they don't have enough flexibility for that.

On a flip side, I still have in the back of my head that I would love to come up with a truly suitable game for use with LEGO. I have a huge collection of LEGO. I used to run Evil Stevie's Pirate Game (by Steve Jackson of GURPS) which made wonderful use of the constructions (though it did not really depend on the re-usability of LEGO nor the "fast build"). If I had the space, it would be super cool to have a 5'x20' table area setup with a "castle" world for game play.


Frank

[makofan]

The only game I used miniatures in was a campaign I had with four couples that got together three or four times per year (it lasted about 7 years). I had purchased a miniature and painted it for each character, and we used that for turn order. I had plastic pawns for monsters so that it was easy to plan battles

[Von]

I am (in theory) experimenting with miniatures for a domain-level game. In actual play I use them for complex encounters (with multiple sides or in environments where there's a lot of detail and positioning is important) and as a sort of signifier. "That's your druid, she looks like this".

[tetramorph]

I use counters for mass-combat on a hx grid interpreted as 10 yards wide.

I will sometimes use dice or counters if players/ref are confused about exact positions.

Otherwise, I tend to keep it pretty abstract.

Most I usually ever need is marching order, especially in the underworld.

[Admin Pete]

Bitd we used miniatures some, but only for the PCs and now I never use them.

[Deleted]

Fascinating! We used miniatures all the time out at Phil's, and I still do in my games. I think that's because both he and I were modelers, and making things for games was a big part of our enjoyment of the hobby. Photos on my blog, go to the Photobucket page; there's even photos of me in my armour!

[dizzysaxophone]

Back when I ran 3.5 (when I started playing) I used minis. When I found the OSR and started playing 1e and stuff, I gave the minis up. I still have them in a box somewhere, but I rarely use them. On a Virtual Table Top I might use an icon to show exactly where the players are, but I don't go into full minis.