The last few entries, I've been complaining time after time again about what gets to me about gaming with the three kids who share a household with me. Out of my standard practice of ranting, I'm going discuss something a little different here.
Today's point of positive discussion has been in lieu of miniatures, and the fact that my kids LOVE them. Yes, I said that in caps, and I used such a strong word to describe how the Growly Goats™ feel about my minis. I've collected them in a huge dosage whenever WotC released the sets of miniatures in 2003... probably about five hundred dollars worth of them. Even though I spent a sizable sum on these plastic figures, I've chucked my entire collection into a zippered bag and just let them roll around however they felt like. Some are missing arms and weapons, but the majority of them are intact- WotC did a decent job on their D&D line... but I've also purchased a few sets of MageKnight figures, and I'd say, oh, 90% of all of those have split in half. They're garbage to me. Actually, I still can use them, they're just detached from the bases they came with. I'm getting off topic here.
Anyway, when I finally had decided "get serious" about running a campaign with my kids (Yes, I said get serious about a game with kids), I let them first make a character, and then pick a mini as their avatar. Most players are like, "eh, give me that dude with the shield," or I've heard "He looks like a spellcaster, I'll use him." As long as it wasn't too far off from their character concept, everyone was content with what I had if they didn't bring their own. But the Growly Goats™? They went berserk!
I had forgotten how much young girls enjoy playing with their tiny pieces of plastic, and now that they had full access to over two hundred different characters instead of just a few dozen ponies or Barbies, they went into overdrive. They took hours to finally settle on what they want, and if I don't set what they have aside I end up shooting myself in the foot. Each session would have to begin with another half hour dive into the minis bag, and almost every time they've had a different choice to use for their character!
I've also had to deal with requests to use their own toys as minis. Thinking intelligently, this actually is a useful idea for a DM... but I don't have a lot of happy townsfolk in my games, nor do I have four foot tall ponies. All of my D&D miniatures are to-scale as well, sacrificing detail for conformity across the standard. I wish my minis had the facial expressions of some of those toys, but when your facial room is about the size of half an eraser, something's gotta give. Now legos have been seen as a promising endeavor, but they've lost half the building blocks in the sofa and only have humanoid lego minifigs... and papa doesn't have deep enough pockets to buy more legos.
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| This would be the ideal scenario. |
After six sessions, the kiddos still have problems leaving my miniatures alone. I run grid based combat in the typical 3.5 edition style - flanking rules, two squares minimum for a charge, attacks of opportunity- its hard to beat that mentality out of me after using it with good results. With Scooby the Red at the table, there's a five year old who wants to ruin every single tactical advantage by grabbing each figurine on the battlemat and doing the Charleston across the dungeon floor with them. If I ever run a game where I have possessed monsters, I'll be sure to give Scooby full access to show how that little goblin flies sixty feet across the room in only one turn. Now, in her defense, my other players were a bit enthusiastic with the minis too, but now they've learned how to count squares, and that nine times out of ten its better just to let the DM move things. You don't want to hear me when I'm pissed off that my BBG has been pulled off the throne and has joined the party behind a closed door. It doesn't end well for anyone's eardrums.
I will have to get a shout out to Wyloch's Dungeon, because its turned what my kids have access to into from around two hundred, to whatever the hell I can print. I've invested in a cheap printer from Walmart and an ink refill kit to deal with the demand. Thus far my workhorse still stands on four legs, fingers crossed. The foamcore bases also help differentiate the players from my monsters; however, I'm wanting to make custom miniatures myself, and that advantage would end up disappearing. (If you are interested in printing miniatures for your role playing game, I suggest watching his tutorial. That's the tutorial I use, and I follow it pretty much to the tee.)
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| They use binder clips here, not foamcore, but you get the idea. |
As a DM for over a decade, it really is refreshing seeing players get excited for my games. Even though its just a plastic doll session with dice rolling, I'm really happy to see eager players. I can truly say that my kids have shown more appreciation for my campaign than anyone else has. If you do have kids, I suggest you run a session with them, even if its a simple diceless one, you'll at least have a better appreciation for your own game if your night is a total disaster.
Although I'm pretty sure you're going to have a blast.
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