Hendo

An old thread I came across, and my first post to Eurobricks... Just wanted to add that I've used Lego minifigs for years for D&D type games, most recently for my long-running Pathfinder campaign (Pathfinder being a derivative of 3rd Ed D&D). I agree that RPGs don't require such props, in fact they can get distracting, but to help players visualize the tactics of combat, minis can come in handy. Having a basement full of Lego available means I can use Lego minifigs instead of traditional pewter or plastic figs - the first advantage being that I can tailor a Lego mini to have characteristics specific to a given character, including changes and upgrades (such as to armor or weapons) as the adventure progresses. The number one rule I follow when I use Lego during a game session is this: Don't give players access to the brick except for minis on the table. The first time I used Lego during D&D years ago, I made the mistake of letting a player build a horse cart. Other players jumped at the chance to build, and within an hour, the session turned into an excuse for my friends to play with my Lego all afternoon. These days, I keep the Lego out of view except those elements immediately needed at the table. The number two rule I follow is prep, prep, prep! As GM, it's my responsibility to prepare the adventure before the players gather at the table. Reading manuals, drawing maps, designing treasure hordes, these are things the GM does between game sessions. And if I want to use Lego for minis, any Lego building I do is also done between sessions, out of view of the players*. The morning of a game session, I move monster models and NPC figs up from the hobby room to the dining room, keeping them hidden in blue tubs and behind the GM screen until a combat requires them. But the point is, they are pre-built surprises that I don't delay the game by building during the session. *(Side note, it's a game all its own trying to hide my secret building from my wife who is a player in the campaign. :) And finally, someone said earlier in the thread to not worry about terrain features. This is absolutely true. While I might spend a night before a game session building models of monsters, I don't build entire dungeons or castles. Such would make the game just a board game or a miniature wargame. Rather, I just keep a few plates and bricks available that I can toss on the battle mat and say, "the cave has some water about here and a pile of rocks over here." Moreover, my battle mat has evolved to be simply 2-4 large baseplates (48x48 studs each), each with a grid of tiles, in 4 stud x 4 stud squares, each square separated by 1 stud - so that the gray baseplate shows through as grid lines. Since the grid lines are exposed studs, I can quickly place down 1x8 and 1x4 bricks (one brick high) to show roughly where walls are in a new room if the players are having trouble visualizing When the party leaves the room, the bricks come quickly up and back to the blue tubs behind me. ...Meanwhile, each minifig gets a 4x4 plate to stand on, which moves freely on the tile work of the battle mat while clearly indicating the space the character is in. (Larger monsters get a base of 8x8 and so on, to match the game mechanics.) Oh, and my monster designs are often pretty crude. Anything that represents size and color works. If I have time to articulate the arms of a yeti or the head of a dire hyena, I might, but most of my models end up pretty blocky. Still, my players seem to love it. And for the boss monster for an adventure I might put more time into the MOC design, which serves well to impress on the players that the encounter is something special. Anyhoo, not sure if anyone will catch this reply, so long after the original thread. But I wanted to share my experience for what it's worth. ...Came across this while searching for possible monster MOC examples actually. An upcoming adventure of mine will include some encounters with dragons and drakes, so I was looking for Lego MOCs of such - but in particular some that are around 12 studs x 12 studs for a base. The party isn't yet ready for an old dragon, and so per game mechanics, I aim to build something smaller than the Viking dragon sets, but larger than the old 1-piece Dragon Knight dragons. Any ideas for such?