Good stand ins for miniatures?

[Killersquid]

Yea, for 3.5 games Im starting soon, I was just wondering what are good things you can use to stand in for authentic miniatures (I really don't feel like ordering separate minis and buying boosters and going by luck). I want the stand ins to convey sort of that feeling of a monster (like Rich when he drew Stick figures for his campaigns), but I don't want my game turning out like this. (http://www.feartheboot.com/comic/default.aspx?c=63)

[nagora]

Lego, of course!

[Sucrose]

To rip off an idea from the Gametable internet interface, you could print out small pictures of whatever you want, and post it onto pieces of cardboard.

Use larger images for larger opponents, and so on.

[kc0bbq]

In a pinch I just use coins. Different denominations for different types of enemy and you can stack another coin on top to keep track of who has what marked.

[RTGoodman]

There have been several threads about this, but I can only find a couple.

-How do I make my own battlemaps and miniatures? (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=4424533)
-Affordable Miniatures (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=58688)

Basically, Legos, dollar-store bags of plastic critters, folded-paper standups (especially on high-quality cardstock), and stuff like that are pretty easy and fit with the 1"=5' grids. Poker chips with names taped to them work too, but you need a bigger grid usually.

EDIT: Triple-ninja'd! Guess that's what I get for walking away before posting...

[kirbsys]

Other than the few miniatures that I've collected as either gifts or out of the discount bin at the local Comic Store (which has now closed :smallfrown:), I use the set of pieces that came with HeroQuest. I found a copy at Amvets (a thrift store) for $3. Even on E-Bay you can get lucky and get a set for twenty bucks and considering how many minis you get for the price, its rather nice (assuming you like goblins, orcs, and various undead). Plus the furniture and stuff comes in handy as flavor for your maps, and you can use the game board as a battle grid.

Other things you could use include Chess pieces (pawns for minions, the rest for individual bad-guys), dice (once again, D6s for minions, the others for people who stand out), coins (pennies for minions, others for everyone else), risk pieces (rather small unfortunately) and this is just looking aorund my room trying to think of what I have that could be converted into make-shift minis. This does fall into the category of junk-drawer minis, but so long as you make sure your PCs understand whats what, it works fairly well.

One final note, for battles I use a home-made battle grid (a twenty by twenty grid, made with sharpies on white butcher paper) that I laminated at Kinkos, it works really well because if you get dry-erase markers or over-head markers, you can draw in terrain, fixed light radius', walls, all of that.

Edit: Wow, this thread must be full of ninjas. I got ninja'd by someone who was ninja'd.

[Agrippa]

Lego, of course!

Mega Bloks are also pretty good too. Basically any figurine, even from off of a key chain, small enough for the board you're using is a good option.

[Killersquid]

Thanks for the advice guys, I'm probably going to use cardboard cutouts with the best picture of the monster, and if I can't find one, a little stick figure. I have a few miniatures somewhere around here as well.

[darkzucchini]

I tend to different colored glass counters (see pic). They work great for representing the PCs and other medium sized or small creatures and can be reused for an infinite amount of different creatures and NPCs, one of the failing points of miniatures and printed pictures on cardboard. Their one failing point is that they don't do a good job representing large creatures, but you can easily rectify that by cutting out cardboard squares of the right size and placing the counters on top, or just using a bunch of counters (such as 4 set up in a square) to represent larger creatures. I believe that you can by them at most crafts stores and maybe even some pet stores (I see them in fish tanks a lot).

Pic
http://i204.photobucket.com/albums/bb154/darkzucchini/glasscounters.jpg
Sorry for the advertisement on the picture, couldn't get a good photo of any without an advertisement.

[Hawriel]

you dont need "authentic" minies. Go to any hobby store or gaming store neer you and see if they have other minies. I personaly like Reaper minies, Ral partha are also nice. Check them out so you and your buddies can find somthing to represent your characters or any important NPCs. If mony is an issue (of corse it is) then do what every one els has sugjested. Here are two things my group has done.

get grid paiper in a note book from whare ever, K mart, mijer, what ever. just skech out a simple map with pensil and right down an "icon" for who ever.
Os are orks, D are drow, B is bob the fighter.

Or as above but get a dry erase board that is magnetic. then go out and by small flat magnets from an office/school supply store. The kind your grade school teacher used.

or use extra dice as minies. All D6s are gobins, D8s are city guard, and so on.
then use the numbers for individual NPCs. D6, 1 is goblin number 1. Most gamers have a crap load of dice so this will work if you have multie color or sized dice. red D6 are goblin archers, black D6 are goblin spearmen, the green one is a shaman.

[John Campbell]

I've played in a game where we used small candies - jellybeans, Starbursts, and whatnot - for miniatures in the large battles vs. generic mooks. We got to eat our kills. I did once almost automatically pop a lead mini into my mouth because of that, though...

[Blackdrop]

Chess pieces are good to use, as well.

[holywhippet]

Do some web searching for minis and you can find a lot of stores that sell them. For example, if you are dealing with a lot of undead you could try some of these: http://www.blacktreedesign.com/restofworld/home.php?cat=2340

Ebay is also handy for finding a particular mini from the official D&D ones.

[Lupy]

I think that Legos work really well. But everyone here has had good ideas (maybe not good spelling, but good ideas), so whatever works for you.

[Raum]

There are a variety of paper miniatures available for Savage Worlds, here's a sample (http://www.peginc.com/Downloads/LostColony/LCCardstockCowboys.pdf) off the publisher's site. There are probably others more suitable to D&D with some searching.

[Behold_the_Void]

I tend to just use dice, it works well enough for me and there are always plenty to go around.

[Charity]

Playmobil (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwviewfromtheouterworks.jpg) is (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwlowercastle.jpg) even (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwmarketplace.jpg) greater (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwstreetview.jpg) than (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwblackguards.jpg) Lego. (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwblackguardinstreet.jpg)

but I use the unemployed

http://cache.viewimages.com/xc/3276863.jpg?v=1&c=ViewImages&k=2&d=2C48553CC6AAB74CEBBF29F2C643A101A55A1E4F32AD3138
much cheaper.

[Renrik]

legal tender

[spamoo]

My group simply tears off a piece of notebook paper and writes what a given monster/NPC/character id on it. Economical and cheap. Tearing the dead monster in half is actually great for revenge against anything that gives you particular trouble *grumble*ragingbarbarians*grumble*.

[kjones]

An excellent way to make those shiftless d12s earn their keep in your dicebag.

Seriously, d12s for the PCs, other dice for monsters, group them or stack them for big'uns. Doesn't work for groups short on suspension of disbelief, but it has the added bonus of being able to number your mans so you can tell which is which.

[Crow T. Robot]

Look up paper Heroes on e23 at SJgames. A few bucks can get you thirty guys. You do need to print them out and probly gluing to card stock. I had a book of a few hundred of the minies that coast all of about 15 bucks on good thick paper. Lost the damn thing a few years ago though.

EDIT: The book was "Cardboard Heroes". Almost all of them are out of print. I would kill to find that book now...

[tsuuga]

I've played in a game where we used small candies - jellybeans, Starbursts, and whatnot - for miniatures in the large battles vs. generic mooks. We got to eat our kills. I did once almost automatically pop a lead mini into my mouth because of that, though...
Ah, my group did that with every battle. People kept trying to eat my dice, though...

As for glass counters, I've used those too. They work quite well, as long as you don't have a ridiculous number of enemies. For the PCS, you can just write the character's first initial on the marble with dry erase marker or sharpie. You can also find ones big enough to use for Large creatures. If you're lucky, you can find an artsy-fartsy shop that sells em pick-and-mix; I get mine from a joint called Candlesticks that sells, um, candles. And glass marbles. And that's it.

[mikeejimbo]

I've played in a game where we used small candies - jellybeans, Starbursts, and whatnot - for miniatures in the large battles vs. generic mooks. We got to eat our kills. I did once almost automatically pop a lead mini into my mouth because of that, though...

This is the win. Anyone can see that.

[Worira]

I prefer Gummi Bears, myself. Not only can you eat your kills, you can graphically dismember them!

[Waspinator]

Borrowed from the Pokethulhu rules (it's a free rules set, check Google if you don't believe me):
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7343/minis2vc6.png
Just copy and paste in images of whatever you want minis of over the ones currently there and you can make some decent paper minis. Tape them to pennies or something to get them to be more stable if you want.

However, given the source, using that image probably makes you agree to sell your soul or something. Just FYI.

[TheOOB]

I primarly use dice, different types of dice (d4, d6, d8, ect) denote what type of enemy it is, and the number that is face up I use for record keeping purposes (so I can record that goblin 2 has taken 10 damage while goblin 3 has taken 5. and so on)

[Griffin131]

Playmobil (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwviewfromtheouterworks.jpg) is (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwlowercastle.jpg) even (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwmarketplace.jpg) greater (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwstreetview.jpg) than (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwblackguards.jpg) Lego. (http://www.gardenwargaming.com/gallery/tamas2/images/1gwblackguardinstreet.jpg)


But can your Playmobil do THIS? (http://i31.tinypic.com/ogmp2f.jpg)

[SamTheCleric]

Nothing is greater for enemies than edible candies.... "The pink starburst are all kobolds, the orange ones are goblins and that red one is a hobgoblin."

Keep what you kill!

[KoDT69]

Or you could use those little plastic army guys! They come in more than just green now :smallsmile:

[McClintock]

We always used Sam's Club cheese balls. Can be SQUISHED or EATEN. Everybody is happy.

[Person_Man]

In college, we used shot glasses filled with whatever alcohol was handy. Fill them up. As they are damaged, the player who deals the damage has to drink from them. For larger enemies, use larger glasses. (If you're playing 4th ed, I guess minions could be bar nuts?) Each player was responsible for bringing something for their PC - chess pieces, small Transformers, weebles, broken computer parts, etc.

[Charity]

@^ hardcore beer and pretzels gaming PM.


But can your Playmobil do THIS? (http://i31.tinypic.com/ogmp2f.jpg)

Admittedly (http://www.ageowns.com/blog/facehuggedplaymo.jpg) no (http://lh5.ggpht.com/The.End.SA/SAonOA-qoKI/AAAAAAAAANA/_bCX9wv7qRs/playmobil_nun_with_gun%5B11%5D.jpg) but it has its charms (http://www.colestoyblog.com/2008/03/playmobil-oddities.html)

have you (http://barney.gonzaga.edu/~aburton/house/knex.jpg) checked out Knex? (http://gizmodo.com/gadgets/k.nex/room-sized-knex-calculator-274562.php)

[Alchemistmerlin]

I'm currently at work so i don't have the good version of this which is measured to fit a standard play-mat and whatnot.

Instead I'm going to give you the crappy version I put together in MS-Paint in about 5 minutes between customers.

Fold along the dotted lines, glue the two end flaps together, put a penny in there to hold it down (or a rock or something small that you could glue there).

It makes a triangle shape.

For larger creatures you can change the shape and size.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v176/Alchemistmerlin/MStandee.jpg

Awful, I know, but it is just to give you the general idea.

[EndlessWrath]

Ok.. I've used everything from Hero scape pieces and D&D mini's to Legos to coins and even glass gems...very inexpensive.. a dollar will get you a bag. I had a larger one that I used for a monstrous Huge frog once. I think that was the animal companion of our big bad guy...anyways..derailing myself.

You can use almost anything... RISK pieces will work, board game pieces in general. although I would move toward the "printing them" idea sooner than raiding CLUE and YATZEE in the attic...

[Bender]

I love the edible minis!

Last session, I had some spare time and I created some minis with clay. They where awful, but then again, they where Otyughs, so they ought to be ugly.
Otherwise we use the heroquest figures, but they lack anything large or larger.

for a huge creature, I just used 4 medium minis for the corners. That wasn't very convenient and quite confusing...

cheers
*leaves to get edible minis*

EDIT: dice would be terrible for us, the table is generally drowning in dice (I bought a bag once), and we would start confusing them with 'creature-dice' before the second round.

[Kurald Galain]

For games of Paranoia, I recommend Skittles, as they come color-coded for your convenience.

For D&D, there's always grapefruits...

[Alchemistmerlin]

For games of Paranoia, I recommend Skittles, as they come color-coded for your convenience.

For D&D, there's always grapefruits...

"Consuming your fellow Skittles is treason."

[Deth Muncher]

As a WH40k as well as WHFB player, I've usually got mini's of some sort lying around. My current character is using a Witch Hunters Inquisitor Lord model, which I need to modify slightly (they aint gots no fiery boomsticks!) . If you're not a player of either of these games, though, I do not recommend purchasing them for your campaigns. They're way too overpriced. At least Reaper minis are metal.

[drawingfreak]

Bristol board.

Make a rectangle. It'll be 1x3 squares (use your map as reference).

On the top 2/3s of the rectangle, draw your character. It doesn't have to be super detailed, just enough of a squiggle to represent you.

Fold the lower 1/3 over to create the stand.

Tada!

(for gelatinous cubes, use the bristol board to create a large d6)

[Bender]

(for gelatinous cubes, use the bristol board to create a large d6)

Better for a gelatinous cube is ... a gelatinous cube.
It's easy to make, very cheap and edible :smallcool:
You can put some lego items inside, and a lego skeleton for extra flavour. (for literal flavour, some sugar will make sure it doesn't just taste like slimy solid water, or some colourless flavourers)

ok, I didn't actually do that yet, but I like the idea so much I can't wait to use a gelatinous cube again... and since the party is too high level, it will have to be an advanced, huge cube :smallbiggrin:

[drawingfreak]

Better for a gelatinous cube is ... a gelatinous cube.
It's easy to make, very cheap and edible :smallcool:
You can put some lego items inside, and a lego skeleton for extra flavour. (for literal flavour, some sugar will make sure it doesn't just taste like slimy solid water, or some colourless flavourers)

ok, I didn't actually do that yet, but I like the idea so much I can't wait to use a gelatinous cube again... and since the party is too high level, it will have to be an advanced, huge cube :smallbiggrin:
........that...IS AWESOME.