So, you're a player, and your character is on the map, charging in for an attack on the boss of the night: what are you pushing/ carrying along the squares? Is it the fine craft of a classic miniature? If so, did you paint it yourself? How much did you pay for it? Have you used it to shape your character, or is it the other way around? Do you even care?
One of my players brought this topic to my attention for the blog, and I've been M.I.A. ever since. I've thought about it, from a player perspective, but more importantly, for the sake of this blog, from a DM perspective.
Let me set the mood: You are a new player being brought into a group. You enter the room, where game is already underway. The table is set: map, characters, monsters, and in full-swing. The table is mounted with all types of miniatures, some medium, few huge, and one colossal.
Now, Replace the image with card board cut-outs, those similar to what you see in classic boardgames, such as Clue. Does this change anything inside of you? Are you less enthused, less impressed, more intrigued, or merely indifferent?
Here are the contenders: miniatures vs. pawns (and every other substitute).
Miniatures, the reigning champion:
Career: Miniatures, what I am calling the fan-favorite, are timeless; that is, they are routed in history and tradition. There is an undeniable nostalgia experienced players have with miniatures, and an aesthetic magnetism attractive to new players who lay eyes on them. Representation wise, miniatures are almost synonymous, both in language and in body with the game of tabletop, itself.
Stance and Style: 3-D models set a tone. I don't care how good your image on paper is, your tower of cardboard is less foreboding than a mountain of plastic. In my experience, there is an "oh s***" moment when your players realize you are carrying over something to the table that requires you to lift with your knees. Exaggeration? A little bit, but you get the idea. Ask those who favor dragons. They're more likely to connect with the "fun" of plopping a breath-weapon miniature onto a map.
Miniatures don't have to be the same. Model-wise, you may own the same mini four times, but a good paint-job not only personalizes your miniature, but it can also show your talent and dedication for the game to other players.
The Right Hook: Merchandise and collection are a huge, immortal component of tabletop as a recreation. Companies thrive from selling them; and players, like with any hobby, have proven that rarities, brand loyalty, and product appreciation is still important to them -- and so, they keep shelling out the clams. And let's face it, when a player-collector shows off their booty, you can help but stare and hope to fondle with care. Sharing moment: While I am proud of my dice collection, I only own six miniatures; and well, that makes me sad inside.
Achilles' heel: Price. Miniatures, to those with cobwebs in the pocket, or simply life-expenses that take precedence, are an unattainable luxury. You can get one here and there, maybe even assemble a small faction through gifts over some time; but, especially as a DM, when that sorcerer mini has been your last 2 NPCs, your enemy from three weeks ago, and the character your new player chooses to play their arcane caster, it can get kind of annoying.
Pawns, the formidable contender:
Career: The new kid on the block is simply this -- a pawn star. Still, I am cautious to call these contenders new. Perhaps in the lifetime of tabletop, new is appropriate; but pawns have some years of presence under their belt. The "Quiet Revolution" of tabletop, as quoted by a blogger over at The Rot Grub called pawns' introduction back in 2011, started probably most notably in D&D's 2010 Monster Vault release with circular, lay-flat punch-outs, and soon after with Paizo's 2011 Beginner Box (including 80 stand-up, cardboard pawns). When the major game companies offer pawns as the entry experience to their game, they are making a statement about the place of pawns in the industry.
Stance and Style: Pawns are simply a "get what you pay for" product. Like the difference between your crappy printer at home and your best print-joint (FedEx Kinkos, and what not) down the road, at the table, a picture is a picture. You may enjoy the classic monster designs of the companies that publish them, and thus either pirate their design from the internet, or buy direct. You may enjoy, instead, to find appropriate fan-art to the characters of your game and apply them to your own crafted pawns. You may, as I once saw a DM do for 10 of his players in the same pirate world, create pencil drawings on tri-fold cardboard to fit the caricatures of his party; that is, custom design to your own artistic fabrication. Either way, pawns lend themselves well to an open canvas -- the image you want on the table is the one you're going to get.The Right Hook: Affordability. Whether you're buying a set of 30 punch-out pieces for the cost of one standard miniature off Amazon (free shipping), or printing them out yourself, the bottom-line is you are certainly having more to bring to the table for less financial output.
Achilles' heel: Impact, and perhaps this is subjective. Beyond the thrill of punching out fresh pieces, these tokens lose their marvel quickly. When you're catching the thin-side of your pawn, you're losing the presence of it adding to or impacting the environment. Imagination and being fully-engulfed in story/ mechanics/ the camaraderie of the game/ etc. may remedy this; but in comparison to its opponent, there's just less pizazz.
So...Who wins this fight in your opinion? Who are you placing your bets on for the future favorite in the game?
I am madly in love with miniatures. When I began DMing, the DND mini collections were just coming out, and were affordably priced. I also, as a teen, had a lot less expenses, and so could afford to buy the several dozen I still own. The majority I bought when I was 13 or fourteen. A decade later, despite some bending from admittedly poor care they are holding up. And these are plastic. I had a friend who had pewter minis from his teens thirty years hence at the time who still looked new.
ReplyDeleteI prefer seeing a board filled with minis. It creates far more drama, and allows for a greater imaginative space for me. When you see something in three dimensions, I think it allows for an easier transition in the mind to full motion.
For now, though, the undisputed champs are the pawns. Paper is cheap, easy, and if paper crafters can make any small 3D models happen, we will see a real revolution on our hands. Their flimsiness will always be an obstacle to hoarders like myself, who on some level rely on minis structural integrity to maintain them from game to game. But more and more lately, I'm beginning to see why I would use them. Your villain example is the exact reason.
Over a long campaign, or just multiple years with the same crew, certain minis take on a life of their own. They become characters removed from whatever it says on the base. That one mini is the big bad. That one mini is the twin of the heiress. That one mini is a throwaway goon. As a DM, it is immensely difficult to place out a mini that has history and not have that history interrupt gameflow, or worse, have the players second guessing the identity of the NPC.
What I will be curious to see, in coming years, is whether or not 3D printers, as they move into homes, change the discussion again. They are still, for the most part, well outside the price range of the normal consumer, especially the late teens/early twenties that makes up the grassroot base of this community. But as they become more common place, as they transition from curiosity to luxury to nice-to-have to necessity to given, the mini argument will change again. I am very excited for that time.
So, I guess. for me the minis win, and the paper pawns are going to slowly take over the majority of the market for a few years. But once 3D printers really enter the home consumer market, it will return to minis.
A side note: I wish that the numerous min games of the early aught's would return. Plastic minis from dozens of games and styles at pennies each? Yes please. I was too young to take advantage of this then, but I wish this kind of flood would return. And that someone competed against Games Workshop so Warhammer mini prices would go down. Thats the real problem in the mini marketplace: not enough competition to keep prices affordable for the masses.
I love my small mini collection. I have been able to collect decent amount of them over the past few years. But, pawns offer the solution to two problems that i have; affordability and storage. The NPC pawn box has tons of characters in it for around $30 bucks. And, maybe more important, they all fit right back in the same box that they came in.
ReplyDeleteMini's are always going to be my fav, but investing in pawns will allow me to keep telling different stories for a long time.
I agree with the above comment; 3d printers are going to be the future of this debate. I will be a happy gamer when I can make my own minis.
An interesting topic that occurs to me is what place do non-game toys take in the d20 sphere. Constructables like lego obviously have one place that exists, and are being used as bases in their own right that I would love to learn more about. Additionally, I know I personally have used my own collection of toys, especially my dragons and occasionally dinosaurs, to enter the field as a monster of unusual size. Do other DMs do this? What toys seem to attract the most attention? Are their any toys, either due to size or value that actually make great replacement minis?
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