Hi folks, I'm looking for a bit of help. My wife used to play D&D years ago and I thought I'd buy her some to get back into it so we can host nights with our friends. I went out and bought a D&D starter set (lost mine of phandelver) but it's not quite what I expected - no figures, no boards etc, just booklets and dice. I'd like to be able to have a table with boards, figures, cards etc set up, can anyone point me in the right direction as to what to buy? Many thanks in advance
It's probably not as easy as grabbing something off the shelf at your local game store. The Starter set has what it has and nothing more in order to keep it affordable. If it was a premium product the people it's meant for, those who haven't played D&D before and want to try it out, would pass on it. There are premium versions of adventures (I'm thinking of the Beadle & Grimm's versions of some of the official adventures from WotC) but those are limited editions and come with a seriously hefty price tag, and I don't think even they have everything you're looking for (figures, specifically - the catch there is that players are normally expected to create their own, only the starter set comes with pregenerated ones).
The way I see it, you have two doable options: look for one of the D&D boardgames instead of regular D&D (those are fully contained games that are a bit like D&D, but not they're not really the same thing), or look at ancillary products to collect what you need. Maps can be copied, printed out or drawn by hand. Figures can be taken from other games, bought from a number of manufacturers (they will most likely need assembling, unless you go the 3D-printed route which is pretty common nowadays) or replaced with tokens or paper cutouts. Cards aren't part of the game per se. Keep in mind, D&D is essentially a game of imagination. A lot of the trappings are nice to have but completely unnecessary.
As default, there are no figures etc. It's all done in the "theatre of the mind", the DM describes what's happening, and you imagine it.
If you want to go down physical representations, that's great and helps a lot in my experience, but it is expensive. Some options:
- The cheapest way is to use markers. A wipable matt that you can draw maps on is great, although you can just use items that you have at hand, and then use tokens to represent characters. A die represents the goblin, a coin represents the mage, etc. Free to a few dollars.
- Next step up is to use dedicated markers. I use stands that hold up what is essentially a bit of plastic that you can use white board marker on and I write the names on. They get moved around the map like the tokens. This costs tens of dollars.
- Finally, you can use custom minis using 3D printing. You can create figures that match what the character looks like, you can create terrain, and really get into. You're talking hundreds to thousands of dollars for that.
Alternatively, you can usually virtual tabletops, which generally cost a subscription.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I want to know where you got your 3D printer from...
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If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
I want to know where you got your 3D printer from...
There's options like HeroForge, or looking for existing minis/designs and having the creator print them for you. Owning a 3D printer yourself is not necessary to get 3D printed minis. Price point is likely affordable but not quite cheap. Cheap would be buying bulk 2nd hand stuff, likely not great in quality but serviceable. Can't pick exactly what you want though. Most of my minis come from Kickstarters for minis games: excellent quality, cheap for what you get, but you have to go with what's on offer and you're probably going to wait between one and two years for delivery.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
When I ran Phandelver for my parents & sister for my first time being DM, I used wrapping paper for the map (the kind with inch-grid on the back), chess pieces for the player characters, and different types of coins for the NPCs/enemies :)
Of course, I was trying to do it cheap since I wanted to see how well I liked DMing before spending a bunch of money.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
I want to know where you got your 3D printer from...
There's options like HeroForge, or looking for existing minis/designs and having the creator print them for you. Owning a 3D printer yourself is not necessary to get 3D printed minis. Price point is likely affordable but not quite cheap. Cheap would be buying bulk 2nd hand stuff, likely not great in quality but serviceable. Can't pick exactly what you want though. Most of my minis come from Kickstarters for minis games: excellent quality, cheap for what you get, but you have to go with what's on offer and you're probably going to wait between one and two years for delivery.
That's using premade figures that may or may not match what your actual character is like. While I forgot to add that into my post, that really belongs in point number 2 of making do with representative items that start approximating what you're dealing with and not just a random die or coin with the tens of dollars range (although, if you're going for like for like figures, that will still get into hundreds soon enough). What Shepherd was quoting was for custom minis and terrain, which even without a printer at home will easily get you into hundreds (a plastic figure from heroforge is $20, so just outfitting the party will get you close enough, let alone enemies, terrain, and so forth).
So, yeah, comparing generic figures to customised ones and thrn using my uppermost band is not representing my point straight. If you go all out, it is thousands. If you go for midrange it's hundreds. If you're willing to make make do with somewhat similar, it's tens to hundreds. Of you don't care at all, you can do it for free.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Ah. I was meaning to say point two was sufficient then for a beginner. You can get mini's from amazon, that aren't custom, but are close enough of match for the reasonableness of the price.
I use a Dr. Doom figure as my mini which used to be solid grey metal color but that my sister hand painted for me as a Christmas or Birthday present one year.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
I was in a similiar situation, and my 'cheap as possible' option for in person play was;
Board - I got a cheap(ish) one off amazon but that was £18, if you play a lot the Chessex mats are more money but more durable
Figures - printed cut outs - I use PrintableHeroes, you can get the bulk of these for free but I support on Patreon
and of course 1 players handbook £28.
If you google around there plenty of free papercraft scenery props as long as you have a printer and some crafty stuff (hidden cost for this route I guess) and some patience. Saying that I've also got PHB on DNDBeyond as well - for character generation it's just so much easier and quicker - just print out the pdf and job comprehensively done in a few minutes.
On the cheap I would do pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and then other objects for mobs. Show (book and or post pick in webpage/blog/text doc) and or print picture for reference but be sure to describe any differences from picture and use different tokens for different types of the same creature. So if you have 4 fighter goblins, 1 wizard goblins and 1 cleric goblin use different tokens for each group.
Graph paper can be a cheep way to have a grid system if you do not draw on the grid and just show them about where things are on the grid by placing markers and showing them another representation of the boundaries of the area or use objects to reflect the boundaries (string, spaghetti, pencils, pens, etc).
Try and focus on reusable items or items people bring with them such as chips, pretzels candy or cheapish items such as glass tokens (at times getting them at the pet store as they use them for fish bowls) was significantly cheaper then buying them at a game store), rocks etc worked well and made for a memorable game. Often years later being remarked on, such as "remember that time we used M&M's, mini marshmallows and glass tokens to play?" It can be nice to have good representative figures, quality maps, sound effects and other special effects for game play but it is not always necessary.
I want to know where you got your 3D printer from...
There's options like HeroForge, or looking for existing minis/designs and having the creator print them for you. Owning a 3D printer yourself is not necessary to get 3D printed minis. Price point is likely affordable but not quite cheap. Cheap would be buying bulk 2nd hand stuff, likely not great in quality but serviceable. Can't pick exactly what you want though. Most of my minis come from Kickstarters for minis games: excellent quality, cheap for what you get, but you have to go with what's on offer and you're probably going to wait between one and two years for delivery.
That's using premade figures that may or may not match what your actual character is like. While I forgot to add that into my post, that really belongs in point number 2 of making do with representative items that start approximating what you're dealing with and not just a random die or coin with the tens of dollars range (although, if you're going for like for like figures, that will still get into hundreds soon enough). What Shepherd was quoting was for custom minis and terrain, which even without a printer at home will easily get you into hundreds (a plastic figure from heroforge is $20, so just outfitting the party will get you close enough, let alone enemies, terrain, and so forth).
So, yeah, comparing generic figures to customised ones and thrn using my uppermost band is not representing my point straight. If you go all out, it is thousands. If you go for midrange it's hundreds. If you're willing to make make do with somewhat similar, it's tens to hundreds. Of you don't care at all, you can do it for free.
I'd expect people to start with actual figures for the party at most, not for the mobs. Giving everyone a mini of their own is a nice touch that adds value, but for a group that's just starting out using exact minis for every monster and enemy is completely unnecessary. Maybe $100 or so for now for minis, anything else can wait.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
One of my first few sessions of D&D took place in my car with D&D Beyond for my player's character sheets, I have Google for dice, and we got no miniatures nor mats. It was not my preferred set up, and I do not think I can ever go back to theater-of-the-mind again, but it was still a blast when common village folk swooped in to save my party's ass from raiding goblins when it should have been the other way around (I had very little understanding of CR back then and I sent in way too many goblins against my party). Anyways, if you want to spend no money, you can definitely play D&D without minis and mats and still have a ton of fun, and I do recommend avoid spending money when you first start. However, I do agree that having miniatures and a mat would be much nicer, and to me, it greatly enhances the experience. I recommend trying both out, since some people do prefer theater-of-the-mind over minis and mats.
For cheap minis and mats option, as others have mentioned, graph paper is great, and you can always repurpose extra paper you do not need for something else. As for the minis, you can get them pretty cheaply for several bucks at your local game store, or even cheaper online. Alternatively, I would also recommend looking into using LEGO Minifigures if you want some customization and posability; that way, you do not have to buy a brand new mini for each new character you build.
Hi folks, I'm looking for a bit of help. My wife used to play D&D years ago and I thought I'd buy her some to get back into it so we can host nights with our friends. I went out and bought a D&D starter set (lost mine of phandelver) but it's not quite what I expected - no figures, no boards etc, just booklets and dice. I'd like to be able to have a table with boards, figures, cards etc set up, can anyone point me in the right direction as to what to buy? Many thanks in advance
It's probably not as easy as grabbing something off the shelf at your local game store. The Starter set has what it has and nothing more in order to keep it affordable. If it was a premium product the people it's meant for, those who haven't played D&D before and want to try it out, would pass on it. There are premium versions of adventures (I'm thinking of the Beadle & Grimm's versions of some of the official adventures from WotC) but those are limited editions and come with a seriously hefty price tag, and I don't think even they have everything you're looking for (figures, specifically - the catch there is that players are normally expected to create their own, only the starter set comes with pregenerated ones).
The way I see it, you have two doable options: look for one of the D&D boardgames instead of regular D&D (those are fully contained games that are a bit like D&D, but not they're not really the same thing), or look at ancillary products to collect what you need. Maps can be copied, printed out or drawn by hand. Figures can be taken from other games, bought from a number of manufacturers (they will most likely need assembling, unless you go the 3D-printed route which is pretty common nowadays) or replaced with tokens or paper cutouts. Cards aren't part of the game per se. Keep in mind, D&D is essentially a game of imagination. A lot of the trappings are nice to have but completely unnecessary.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
As default, there are no figures etc. It's all done in the "theatre of the mind", the DM describes what's happening, and you imagine it.
If you want to go down physical representations, that's great and helps a lot in my experience, but it is expensive. Some options:
- The cheapest way is to use markers. A wipable matt that you can draw maps on is great, although you can just use items that you have at hand, and then use tokens to represent characters. A die represents the goblin, a coin represents the mage, etc. Free to a few dollars.
- Next step up is to use dedicated markers. I use stands that hold up what is essentially a bit of plastic that you can use white board marker on and I write the names on. They get moved around the map like the tokens. This costs tens of dollars.
- Finally, you can use custom minis using 3D printing. You can create figures that match what the character looks like, you can create terrain, and really get into. You're talking hundreds to thousands of dollars for that.
Alternatively, you can usually virtual tabletops, which generally cost a subscription.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
it's not thousands of dollars. Not unless you want hundreds of miniatures anyway,
d&d miniatures - Bing - Shopping
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
I
I want to know where you got your 3D printer from...
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
There's options like HeroForge, or looking for existing minis/designs and having the creator print them for you. Owning a 3D printer yourself is not necessary to get 3D printed minis. Price point is likely affordable but not quite cheap. Cheap would be buying bulk 2nd hand stuff, likely not great in quality but serviceable. Can't pick exactly what you want though. Most of my minis come from Kickstarters for minis games: excellent quality, cheap for what you get, but you have to go with what's on offer and you're probably going to wait between one and two years for delivery.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
When I ran Phandelver for my parents & sister for my first time being DM, I used wrapping paper for the map (the kind with inch-grid on the back), chess pieces for the player characters, and different types of coins for the NPCs/enemies :)
Of course, I was trying to do it cheap since I wanted to see how well I liked DMing before spending a bunch of money.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
That's using premade figures that may or may not match what your actual character is like. While I forgot to add that into my post, that really belongs in point number 2 of making do with representative items that start approximating what you're dealing with and not just a random die or coin with the tens of dollars range (although, if you're going for like for like figures, that will still get into hundreds soon enough). What Shepherd was quoting was for custom minis and terrain, which even without a printer at home will easily get you into hundreds (a plastic figure from heroforge is $20, so just outfitting the party will get you close enough, let alone enemies, terrain, and so forth).
So, yeah, comparing generic figures to customised ones and thrn using my uppermost band is not representing my point straight. If you go all out, it is thousands. If you go for midrange it's hundreds. If you're willing to make make do with somewhat similar, it's tens to hundreds. Of you don't care at all, you can do it for free.
If you're not willing or able to to discuss in good faith, then don't be surprised if I don't respond, there are better things in life for me to do than humour you. This signature is that response.
Ah. I was meaning to say point two was sufficient then for a beginner. You can get mini's from amazon, that aren't custom, but are close enough of match for the reasonableness of the price.
I use a Dr. Doom figure as my mini which used to be solid grey metal color but that my sister hand painted for me as a Christmas or Birthday present one year.
Thank you for your time and please have a very pleasant day.
I was in a similiar situation, and my 'cheap as possible' option for in person play was;
Board - I got a cheap(ish) one off amazon but that was £18, if you play a lot the Chessex mats are more money but more durable
Figures - printed cut outs - I use PrintableHeroes, you can get the bulk of these for free but I support on Patreon
and of course 1 players handbook £28.
If you google around there plenty of free papercraft scenery props as long as you have a printer and some crafty stuff (hidden cost for this route I guess) and some patience. Saying that I've also got PHB on DNDBeyond as well - for character generation it's just so much easier and quicker - just print out the pdf and job comprehensively done in a few minutes.
On the cheap I would do pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters and then other objects for mobs. Show (book and or post pick in webpage/blog/text doc) and or print picture for reference but be sure to describe any differences from picture and use different tokens for different types of the same creature. So if you have 4 fighter goblins, 1 wizard goblins and 1 cleric goblin use different tokens for each group.
Graph paper can be a cheep way to have a grid system if you do not draw on the grid and just show them about where things are on the grid by placing markers and showing them another representation of the boundaries of the area or use objects to reflect the boundaries (string, spaghetti, pencils, pens, etc).
Try and focus on reusable items or items people bring with them such as chips, pretzels candy or cheapish items such as glass tokens (at times getting them at the pet store as they use them for fish bowls) was significantly cheaper then buying them at a game store), rocks etc worked well and made for a memorable game. Often years later being remarked on, such as "remember that time we used M&M's, mini marshmallows and glass tokens to play?" It can be nice to have good representative figures, quality maps, sound effects and other special effects for game play but it is not always necessary.
Good Luck
I'd expect people to start with actual figures for the party at most, not for the mobs. Giving everyone a mini of their own is a nice touch that adds value, but for a group that's just starting out using exact minis for every monster and enemy is completely unnecessary. Maybe $100 or so for now for minis, anything else can wait.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
One of my first few sessions of D&D took place in my car with D&D Beyond for my player's character sheets, I have Google for dice, and we got no miniatures nor mats. It was not my preferred set up, and I do not think I can ever go back to theater-of-the-mind again, but it was still a blast when common village folk swooped in to save my party's ass from raiding goblins when it should have been the other way around (I had very little understanding of CR back then and I sent in way too many goblins against my party). Anyways, if you want to spend no money, you can definitely play D&D without minis and mats and still have a ton of fun, and I do recommend avoid spending money when you first start. However, I do agree that having miniatures and a mat would be much nicer, and to me, it greatly enhances the experience. I recommend trying both out, since some people do prefer theater-of-the-mind over minis and mats.
For cheap minis and mats option, as others have mentioned, graph paper is great, and you can always repurpose extra paper you do not need for something else. As for the minis, you can get them pretty cheaply for several bucks at your local game store, or even cheaper online. Alternatively, I would also recommend looking into using LEGO Minifigures if you want some customization and posability; that way, you do not have to buy a brand new mini for each new character you build.
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