![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
theronA bit more about Tuesday night's game and why it felt so damned special.
First, a bit of background. I'm not much of a minis guy. Back in the day, I lacked the patience, steady hand, and income to get into painting my own. Then, I spent most of the 80s, 90s, and noughties playing superhero games, probably the least minis-friendly genre you can find. As a result, when Steve Jackson came out with Cardboard Heroes, that was pretty much all I needed to do the job, so I stopped worrying about it. I have quite a collection of HeroClix, but the minis were an integral part of the game and I've never really used them for anything else, so they barely count.
Once I started playing D&D regularly, minis mattered. You need them to play the game. OK, maybe YOU don't need them, but my group certainly does. So, minis on the battlemat became the standard practice.
All of which brings us to Greg, our DM for the Forgotten Realms campaign we've been playing on for over a year. Greg loves minis and toys and the things that make the game pop just that extra bit. And last Tuesday, when we faced the gargantuan ancient blue, he really pulled out the stops. Instead of the usual battlemat, he had a desert scenery map from Paizo. For the gargantuan blue, he had the proper figure from Wizards. It's damned impressive. For the "solar moths," two gargantuan flaming moths that spawned off its wings, he had some really cool educational toys.
And when it was all over and we hit the treasure trove, he had more. Cards for each of the artifact-level magic items in the horde. Miniature scenery depicting the rest. And a small chest full of these, accurate down to the last copper.
Our Tuesday night game tends towards the very tactical, with in character stuff reduced to throwaway lines and occasionally acting out of personal motivation rather than overcoming obstacles. As a result, it's rarely a deep or immersive experience. But those props went a long way into taking us out of the mundane and into the magical.
First, a bit of background. I'm not much of a minis guy. Back in the day, I lacked the patience, steady hand, and income to get into painting my own. Then, I spent most of the 80s, 90s, and noughties playing superhero games, probably the least minis-friendly genre you can find. As a result, when Steve Jackson came out with Cardboard Heroes, that was pretty much all I needed to do the job, so I stopped worrying about it. I have quite a collection of HeroClix, but the minis were an integral part of the game and I've never really used them for anything else, so they barely count.
Once I started playing D&D regularly, minis mattered. You need them to play the game. OK, maybe YOU don't need them, but my group certainly does. So, minis on the battlemat became the standard practice.
All of which brings us to Greg, our DM for the Forgotten Realms campaign we've been playing on for over a year. Greg loves minis and toys and the things that make the game pop just that extra bit. And last Tuesday, when we faced the gargantuan ancient blue, he really pulled out the stops. Instead of the usual battlemat, he had a desert scenery map from Paizo. For the gargantuan blue, he had the proper figure from Wizards. It's damned impressive. For the "solar moths," two gargantuan flaming moths that spawned off its wings, he had some really cool educational toys.
And when it was all over and we hit the treasure trove, he had more. Cards for each of the artifact-level magic items in the horde. Miniature scenery depicting the rest. And a small chest full of these, accurate down to the last copper.
Our Tuesday night game tends towards the very tactical, with in character stuff reduced to throwaway lines and occasionally acting out of personal motivation rather than overcoming obstacles. As a result, it's rarely a deep or immersive experience. But those props went a long way into taking us out of the mundane and into the magical.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-28 07:35 pm (UTC)Peace,
Christian
http://unknownzine.blogspot.com
(no subject)
Date: 2009-08-30 02:36 am (UTC)But when they work and look good, it's a beautiful thing.