Pimp my 4e game

Marco · June 02, 2008, 11:36:54 AM

I'm thinking about running a 4e D&D game for the group and I want to do it in style--I'm pretty new to the D&D stuff (I've played--but not run 3.5, I played a ton of AD&D). So here's what I want to know:

1. Where can I buy online individual figs? What are good links for that?
2. What kinds of map-terrain stuff can I / should I get.

I can get a laminated grid with dry-erase markers--that's fine--but what about other stuff? What's available? How much does it cost, etc.

3. Who are the makers of figs that'll work even if they aren't official?

4. What else should I bring to the table to pimp it out?

-Marco

Abyssal Maw · June 02, 2008, 11:57:52 AM

Quote from: MarcoI'm thinking about running a 4e D&D game for the group and I want to do it in style--I'm pretty new to the D&D stuff (I've played--but not run 3.5, I played a ton of AD&D). So here's what I want to know:

1. Where can I buy online individual figs? What are good links for that?
2. What kinds of map-terrain stuff can I / should I get.

I can get a laminated grid with dry-erase markers--that's fine--but what about other stuff? What's available? How much does it cost, etc.

3. Who are the makers of figs that'll work even if they aren't official?

4. What else should I bring to the table to pimp it out?

-Marco

1. Get individual figures on Ebay, or go to (just about) any gamestore and ask to buy some commons and uncommons. It will cost you like .17 to .25 cents a figure.

2. The absolutel best product is the official WOTC dungeon tiles (various sets). They are colorful, modular, and durable. Also, cheap. (About 10$ for a full set.) You can also do cute things like stack them up into 3-d. That said, I still use a battlemap and the tiles only for accents.

3. All figure work even if they aren't official. Glass beads work. Scraps of paper work. Pokemon guys from the capsule machine at the grocery store work. What the fuck, right? This isn't Warhammer. \

4. Bring your A-Game.

Blackleaf · June 02, 2008, 01:55:24 PM

You can order single D&D miniatures starting at $0.29 each from GameHollow.com. I say starting, because of the collectible element they can go for *a lot* more. :rolleyes:

I'd consider some of these nice pre-painted minis as well: http://www.reapermini.com/LegendaryEncountersPre-paintedPlastics

mhensley · June 02, 2008, 02:27:21 PM

I would suggest getting the preview module and running that first. Then decide whether or not to buy into it further.

Marco · June 02, 2008, 02:34:56 PM

Quote from: mhensleyI would suggest getting the preview module and running that first. Then decide whether or not to buy into it further.

I'm not going to spend a fortune or anything--but from what I've seen so far I'm very excited (some friends have a lot of the plastic miniatures so I don't need that many--but I'd thought if there were some cool props I could buy, I'd go for it).

-Marco

Blackleaf · June 02, 2008, 02:39:42 PM

Quote from: Marcobut I'd thought if there were some cool props I could buy, I'd go for it.

You could pick up some Dwarven Forge stuff... or paper models (more affordable) from Word Works Games

mhensley · June 02, 2008, 03:35:22 PM

Quote from: MarcoI'm not going to spend a fortune or anything--but from what I've seen so far I'm very excited (some friends have a lot of the plastic miniatures so I don't need that many--but I'd thought if there were some cool props I could buy, I'd go for it).

-Marco

The dungeon tiles that wotc makes are pretty cool. It's strange that they don't actually tie them into their adventures though.

Abyssal Maw · June 02, 2008, 03:53:46 PM

Quote from: mhensleyThe dungeon tiles that wotc makes are pretty cool. It's strange that they don't actually tie them into their adventures though.

Actually they do, but not the official ones. All LFR adventures use tiles from the official tilesets by policy. The tilesets are also the same ones replicated in DDI. So if you get DDI, you get "virtual versions" of the tiles.

jibbajibba · June 02, 2008, 05:30:29 PM

Or you could make one of these (its not mine I stress...)

Drew · June 02, 2008, 07:25:56 PM

Quote from: jibbajibbaOr you could make one of these...

Good grief. That's amazing.

Jackalope · June 02, 2008, 09:19:12 PM

Reaper Miniatures has a line of non-random prepainted plastic miniatures. It's small, but has orcs, skeletons, minotaurs, ogres and the like.

Paizo has their GameMastery line which includes Map Packs that contain four to eight themed map locations on high gloss cardstock. They also have fully laminated flip-mats with preprinted locations on them that are very nice. They have a ship, inn, river crossing (with a bridge on one side and ford on the other), mountain pass (with and without small fort), and some other locations. Great line.

John Morrow · June 02, 2008, 11:45:56 PM

Quote from: DrewGood grief. That's amazing.

What's even more amazing is when the party blasts through the encounter in an hour and wants another set-up just like it for the next encounter area.

(A GM I know got a map for one of the encounter areas of his game at Kinkos as a large poster-sized printout without getting a price estimate, first -- always a mistake a Kinkos. I think it cost him something like $200 so I joked that the rest of the game was going to take place in that ruined tower so he could get his money's worth from the purchase.)

Drew · June 03, 2008, 07:11:08 AM

Quote from: John MorrowWhat's even more amazing is when the party blasts through the encounter in an hour and wants another set-up just like it for the next encounter area.

I'd probably make a room like that central to the scenario, eg. an item hunt requiring the PCs to place component pieces of a missing artifact to their proper place in the chamber. Once each part is "plugged in" (so to speak) it releases another wave of monsters. The artifact would comprise of at least a dozen components to justify the expense.

Quote(A GM I know got a map for one of the encounter areas of his game at Kinkos as a large poster-sized printout without getting a price estimate, first -- always a mistake a Kinkos. I think it cost him something like $200 so I joked that the rest of the game was going to take place in that ruined tower so he could get his money's worth from the purchase.)

I could quite easily imagine myself making a mistake like that. My enthusiasm for cool shit often blinds me to the practicalities its usage. I'm not that materially minded usually, but the only times I do wish for a millionaire's fortune is to set up stuff like that without noticing the cost.

Marco · June 03, 2008, 08:06:22 AM

The paper minis is not a bad idea, really. The dwarven forge stuff looks hot--but ... a bit expensive

-Marco

Blackleaf · June 03, 2008, 09:40:31 AM

Quote from: jibbajibbaOr you could make one of these (its not mine I stress...)

If I were to do more minis gaming, I'd build one of these for sure. :haw:

Hirst Arts sells the molds to cast the blocks you need to build a dungeon. Each mold is $34. To build the Egyptian Tomb above you'll need a few different molds.

Quote from: Hirst ArtsThese tomb pieces use a variety of molds. To make all of the pieces shown you on these pages you will need mold #95, #290, #96, #97 and #99. Some pieces also use decorative floor tiles from molds #291 and #292, but these are optional because you can always use regular floor tiles instead.

So it would cost you $170 ($234 with optional pieces) for the molds. Although you could easily get started with just 2 molds (walls and floors).

They say you can use Plaster of Paris... but also that it chips easily. :-/

You can order some "Merlin's Magic" casting material ($40 plus $9-$24 shipping) that's probably well worth the investment if you're going to take the time to do something like this.