Miniatures – Why You Should Be Using Them in Your TTRPGs

Miniatures! Regardless of your preferred roleplaying system – DnD, Pathfinder or Warhammer – miniatures can be useful from time to time. But the questions is – do we actually NEED to be using them in our roleplaying games or not? Should we be spending the money and including these little guys into our TTRPGS? In today’s video, I talk about miniatures – the good and the bad. What are the pros and what are the cons of including minis in your games, and do the benefits outweigh the negatives? It’s an interesting topic and one we would certainly love to hear your opinion on!

The question we are asking today is – to mini or not to mini? Should we be using minis in
our roleplaying games.
In my opinion, there are 3 reasons why miniatures make your game better and 2 reasons
why they make your game worse.

The 2 reasons why they make your game worse are:
• They are a time delay
o Minis slow you down
o As the GM, you take time to get them, find them and place them.
o Your game tends to stop – and immersion is broken as real world issues take
over.
• Cost versus reward
o They cost money and they have a singular purpose.

The benefits of using minis however outweigh the negatives – particularly if you have
planned a little in advance – in terms of storage. You can avoid delays with good planning
and layout of your mini storage. These are what I believe to be the benefits of using minis in
your game:
• They are real
o The mini is real and helps make the game real.
o Reality versus imagination – a mini is a real object and it can ground our
imaginations in a real space.

• Tactics
o We can see the space and work out plans.
o Tokens can work – they are cheaper but not 3D and less real.
o Tactics and wargames – make sure to include the roleplaying, otherwise it is
just roleplaying.

• Ownership
o The player has something that IS their PC, not just stats on a page.
o There is fear for the mini – on the map, the mini is now real, so the situation
becomes real.

What are your thoughts?
Do you use minis or not? And why?