DM Gifts

[Xeko]

This may be the wrong place for this kind of question, but I didn't see any forum that fit better.

Anyway, my group and I play almost exclusively online, roll20. As a result, we don't have the physical items normal for the games, no props or set pieces or minis or dice sets or anything like that. Well, I'm getting married next year, and naturally, my adventuring party is also my wedding party. I am thinking a great groomsman gift to get everyone would be custom miniatures of each of their characters. Everyone has their own character, so I can easily make a custom mini using a service like Hero Forge or whatever, for everyone... except for our DM.

So here is my question; does anyone have any ideas on what sort of gift I should get for the DM that fits the theme of custom minis? Should I create a mini for a beloved NPC instead of a party member? Or ask them directly if they have a favorite character they've played in the past they'd want immortalized in plastic, thus ruining the surprise of the gift? Or do I just throw money at the problem, and instead of getting everyone their own characters, I get everyone the full party set, to avoid leaving anyone out? That's probably the worst solution, since that'll cost five times as much, but I'm open minded.

Also, if anyone is reading this that shouldn't be... shhhhh... it's a secret.

[Ninja_Prawn]

As a DM myself, I would want minis (and art, and roll20 tokens) of the main antagonists of my campaigns. Im fact my forum avatar is one of them...

But obviously that ruins both the surprise of the gift and also potentially the surprise of who the villain in your game is.

There are things that DMs use more than players, like screens, notebooks, maps, tokens, braincells... So you could maybe get something like that. Or I think you can buy packs of random monster minis, which could be fun. Not really ideal tough.

[Kurt Kurageous]

Sounds like a Hero Forge kinda thing.

[Sigreid]

How about a figure of the little Dungeon Master character from the old D&D cartoon?

[MaxWilson]

As a DM myself, I would want minis (and art, and roll20 tokens) of the main antagonists of my campaigns. Im fact my forum avatar is one of them...

But obviously that ruins both the surprise of the gift and also potentially the surprise of who the villain in your game is.


Heh. You could get them a bunch of scary-looking miniatures of Beholders, Pit Fiends, Mind Flayers, and Star Spawn and then cross your fingers and hope the DM feels inspired to use them. :)

[BigRedJedi]

Places like Hero Forge offer gift certificates, so you could give your DM the gift of choice.

[Hellpyre]

Depending on what price-range you expect to keep the gifts in, a custom wooden or other heavy-duty screen would probably not go amiss. On the more fiscally comfortable end, perhaps a nice leather notebook for writing campaign info in.

[Aett_Thorn]

Our DM has two stamps that he loves to use on character sheets when we can meet in person. One is the “quest complete” stamp, for when one of our characters finishes a personal arc. The other is a “character killed” stamp used usually when we’re idiots. Something like that could work.

[Grey Watcher]

If you can get something customizable, do that. The players' gifts are all custom, so giving the DM something off-the-shelf (like a bunch of monster minis) probably would feel like a let down, even if it has a greater dollar value.

If your campaign has an arch-villain (or at the very least arc-villain), that's not a bad idea, since these are intended as commemorative rather than something especially useful (unless your fellow players are prone to reusing characters).

But, failing that, the various DM tools, with some appropriate customization like an inscription or something, sound like good ideas as well.

[Magicspook]

A beloved NPC would work, but it has to be beloved BY THEM, not by you. Almost every DM slides in a few NPCs who are almost DMPCs and are often retired characters or character concepts they never got to play. If you can identify them, you could make them very happy.

Alternatively you can simply invite all of them to make their own mini on your costs. It's less of a surprise, but they can make the character how they envisioned them rather than how you do (there is probably a big difference!). Besides, I never liked surprises anyway.