| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| kahonen |
Posted - 19 Mar 2003 : 20:56:40
I assume that most (if not all) of the players and DM's use figures during a session, but how many of you have used models of buildings?
To give you an idea of what I mean have a look at:
http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fpm/archive
I've used some of these in sessions and they really are worth the effort. |
| 30 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 13 Aug 2003 : 08:29:41
Then, Canyia, welcome to Loserville -- population: us. 
Next time we talk to each other over the Ethereal Network, remind me to tell you of the things my friends and I are doing. I bet you'll find them interesting. And you might even go out to the nearest toy store and buy some of your own . . . .  |
| Canyia |
Posted - 13 Aug 2003 : 06:14:59
Me and my boyfriend are cheap-asses so we just print out the paper fold up things. I've thought about getting some of the chainmail things but their availability around here is almost non-existant. The only place I know of that sells decent D&D stuff is all the way across town from me and I'm just too damned lazy to go there. I am now seriously getting mad at my mother for getting rid of my legos after reading this thread though. Heck, if I still had them I could see myself playing with them just for the heck of it because I'm such a loser. *sobs* I used to be cool...  |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 02 Jul 2003 : 01:14:13
Is anyone, besides possibly Sage, interested in more examples of this guy's work? I've finished going through all the pictures, and I have saved the best (which is most) of them to my computer. They are really something, and I think that it shows a wonderful use of LEGOs for D&D modeling. I don't think he actually meant it for D&D, but it might as well have been. There's one, called "The Temple of the Dragon," that looks like a wonderful model for a lair of the Cult of the Dragon. A bit on the small side, but it really looks like something that belongs in a tabletop game.
It also shows some pretty good use of monsters in here. Besides a wonderful asortment of dragons (including a juvenile black), there's an ogre in one, that (unlike the troll figure from the Harry Potter sets) actually moves. There's also a treant, as well as a large griffin.
If anyone is interested in looking at the best examples of this, and doesn't have time to wade through all the pictures, I can post links to what I think are the best examples of the utility of LEGOs in this manner. And not just with this guy, either; I know of some others that have some good models. Artalis, if you're reading this, I'm sure you'd be interested in some models one guy did of some LotR stuff. Bag End, the Prancing Pony, and Helm's Deep. All, I might add, posted before the movies ever came out.
Let me know. If not, I'll only say that you're missing out on what I think to be a wonderful medium for storytelling. I hadn't thought, until I saw that dragon I linked to, that it would be all that good for D&D modeling. Now, though -- now, if I ever join a tabletop, I think I'll suggest that LEGOs be employed. The possiblilities are wonderful. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 30 Jun 2003 : 09:32:02
Or maybe something along the lines of -
"Thank Torm that the Orc siege is finally over"
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 29 Jun 2003 : 16:04:31
How about:
"Hey, did you hear something?" |
| The Sage |
Posted - 29 Jun 2003 : 13:43:48
Bookwyrm said -
quote:
The pic that I really wanted to share is this one. I don't know about you, but that makes me wish I were DMing this encounter.
I agree.
That is a great find Bookwyrm. I guess all that is missing from this picture is a clever caption...
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 29 Jun 2003 : 12:21:54
Okay, I'm going through that same guy's collection on Brickshelf, having not actually done so when I posted the links above. I just had to link to another of his pictures. It's in a series he called "Arrival" which has some very nice looking custom jobs (the Evil Guy looks particularly nice). The pic that I really wanted to share is this one. I don't know about you, but that makes me wish I were DMing this encounter. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Jun 2003 : 07:48:34
Actually for a lot of the monster-type figures in my games, I make regular use of my own creations from the Warhammer Armies miniatures. You can create nearly any type of monster for your D&D games from the materials. Of course, using some established creations works too.
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 28 Jun 2003 : 07:20:20
As well, LEGOs would make for easy model-making. Perhaps not so much for monster-types, of course; the only LEGO version of anything you could call a D&D-type monster is, first, a rock-monster I bought so I could use it as an earth elemental, and second, the troll figure from the Harry Potter sets. (This second figure is one that I also own, and makes a cameo in the stop-motion movie I mentioned that I was writing, except as an ogre. And it's really more of a background piece. Very dead background. Mostly that was to make up for the fact that only the right arm and the head can move at all.)
However, it is easily used for making nice, highly customizeable party figures. Soon after I posted the above link, and -- scarily -- right when I was thinking about this very idea, I found some pictures someone else had done that did just that.
Another thing is that it would make area models really easy, and (like the party figures) easily customizable. That way you can avoid repetition as well as ensure regularity of layout. It would be very easy to move the cliff you built aside and put in the Hut of the Slightly Odd Wise Guy Man Who Tells the Party Things. And then, when the Slightly Odd Wise Man summons his pet monster, it's obvious where the five-foot squares fall. |
| The Sage |
Posted - 28 Jun 2003 : 05:32:47
I am glad I kept all my Lego's. Building to scale (like those illustrated in the pictures) would be both a rewarding and very interesting exercise.
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| Yasraena |
Posted - 28 Jun 2003 : 04:44:27
Yeah, that would be pretty close to scale actually.
player: "What do you mean the dragon ate my Character in one bite?!?!?"
GM: "Well, see how easily he fits in the mouth here?" |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 28 Jun 2003 : 01:08:42
I just found this picture a moment ago. I took a look at it and thought -- this would be perfect for a scale-model! It would be life-sized compared to D&D figurines. (At least I think so, not having used them myself.)
Either way, look at the detail on that thing! I have to say, I'm pretty jealous. And you can peruse the rest of his collection here. |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 28 Mar 2003 : 07:16:54
I wasn't saying anying about a scale. Just a sketch. |
| zemd |
Posted - 26 Mar 2003 : 08:12:21
When i use plans, i always draw them quickly. I assume that it slows the game to draw something with a scale. A fight should be something that is quickly resolved, asking every players what he does as quickly as possible. |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 26 Mar 2003 : 05:50:26
I've been reading the Player's Handbook, and I've seen lots of illustrations to show the mechanics of things like spellcasting and battle. I think a sketch like that is very useful, to show who is where in a complicated situation. It doesn't need to be models, it doesn't need to be detailed. It just has to show what the DM's invisioning. (EX: Orc #1 behind door #8, goblin #3 behind a pile of rubble; or the layout of a puzzle-room that the DM isn't getting across verbally.) |
| Elrond Half Elven |
Posted - 25 Mar 2003 : 22:31:20
Smoking is a nasty habbit that i am happy that i dont have! In ways i find the use of models exceptionally useful and in others not at all useful. I still encourage roleplaying by dealing out 0-400 Xp per game session depending on how well you roleplay.
Models are very sueful for battles and some times for moving around a town. Other than that they arent that useful. They do however give even a 'not so imaginative' player a chance to picture their character. |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 24 Mar 2003 : 07:33:04
I know, I can read. It was just teasing! |
| zemd |
Posted - 23 Mar 2003 : 21:46:32
Because did i ever mentionned that i smoked? Read carrefully... |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 23 Mar 2003 : 19:59:16
Just more teasing, Zemd, this time about the smoking. |
| zemd |
Posted - 22 Mar 2003 : 14:26:14
Surprised? Of what? |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 22 Mar 2003 : 04:35:21
quote:
Originally posted by Echon
quote:
Originally posted by zemd
... and food, beers, "cendriers" (cups to put your cigarettes in), plates from previous meal, CDs, DM screen, pen papers, lighters, cigarettes, glasses, ... and much more!!!
Save for those articles related to smoking (which disgusts me), I very much have to agree. Heh, you should have seen our table yesterday...
-Echon
Same here, Echon. Zemd . . . I'm surprised at you.  Shocking, just shocking . . . .  |
| zemd |
Posted - 21 Mar 2003 : 08:13:35
And ours during the 48 hours straight session!
Exhausting!  |
| Echon |
Posted - 21 Mar 2003 : 06:35:30
quote:
Originally posted by zemd
... and food, beers, "cendriers" (cups to put your cigarettes in), plates from previous meal, CDs, DM screen, pen papers, lighters, cigarettes, glasses, ... and much more!!!
Save for those articles related to smoking (which disgusts me), I very much have to agree. Heh, you should have seen our table yesterday...
-Echon |
| zemd |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 16:59:18
quote:
Originally posted by Echon
I have never used models and neither I nor my players would want to. The tables we use are filled with books, sheets of papers and lots of dice already,
-Echon
... and food, beers, "cendriers" (cups to put your cigarettes in), plates from previous meal, CDs, DM screen, pen papers, lighters, cigarettes, glasses, ... and much more!!! |
| Echon |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 12:45:56
I have never used models and neither I nor my players would want to. The tables we use are filled with books, sheets of papers and lots of dice already, it puzzles me how people have room for these things.
-Echon |
| zemd |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 11:07:04
Furthermore, i think it's the evolution between the birth of d&d (with Chainmail) and d&d as we know it today. It's no more just fights |
| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 08:45:27
Exactly.
Of course, being so in-character is one of the things opponents of D&D (and other role-playing games) attack. Something about not distinguishing fact from fantasy. Absurd, no?
[soft chime] Oh, I'd almost forgotten about that! Excuse me, fellow scribes, but I have to pop over to Shadowdale. Elminster invited me over for high tea . . . .
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| zemd |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 07:00:03
quote:
Originally posted by Bookwyrm
And I think that if you're looking for a good, imagination-filling play, you should put yourself there, not the model. If you get yourself there, then you feel like it's not just a character, it's you, and so you play more seriously
It's the same for every action taken in an rpg. After all, if you're not involved in the game, every action you'll take will be cold-blooded decisions while as a character he would care for his life |
| Yasraena |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 04:55:26
I seem to be in the minority on this thread.
My group has used figures and battlemats from when we first started playing years ago. I find that if the imagination is there in the players to start with, then the physical representation just adds to the game, not detracts from it. We started to use the Dwarven Forge stuff recently as well as actually constructing full scale dioramas for the battles. Actually, my friend Duane has gotten to constructing them, not me. I'm no where near artistic enough to do what he does.  If interested, check out this link to my website dedicated to our group to see the lengths that he goes to for HIS game.
http://www.angelfire.com/wizard2/thepromenade/MyPage/Knights%20of%20Silver/KnOS_Home.htm
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| Bookwyrm |
Posted - 20 Mar 2003 : 00:06:14
You mean "sketch" Zemd.
And I think that if you're looking for a good, imagination-filling play, you should put yourself there, not the model. If you get yourself there, then you feel like it's not just a character, it's you, and so you play more seriously. That's how I write my main characters. (Though, contrary to what it sounds like, I've actually only done one first-person story.) |
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