Grab Your Minis
A lot of Dungeons & Dragons utilizes a grid, or battle map, to represent how combat, terrain, and such places where major events take place. On this grid are the miniatures that identify the monsters, items, and, probably most importantly, the Player Characters. These minis can be purchased at a your local game store but also can be customized to more closely match how you view your character. There is a thought to potentially create minis for the fantasy characters in the world of our musical "Here There Be Dragons" therefore I felt a post about how minis can be presented would be necessary. So grab your dice, roll your stats, because here there be minis:
Character Creation
The character we're going to look at is one created by Austin Harleson (who directed the workshop at Tabor College of the musical Here There Be Dragons) but more on him down the line. His character, Gunnar, was a sort of pirate bard who played the acoustic bass! An inspiring and clever character to which Austin was a delight to play with but first the custom mini process begins with the initial character design, created in collaboration with the player and character artist:
Notice the detail in the Gunnar with his bass, boot knife, and confident swagger anyone who knows our dear friend and collaborator Austin will recognize!
The Next Steps
The next steps are to go to a 3D Modeling Software or commission the modeling from another artist (admittedly this can be an expensive process should you go through commissioning artists). Below though are images of the final .stl file for Gunnar's custom mini!
Now, some of the finer details were lost in this model but the representation is very effective! I'd show you the final print as well but that is a surprise for later as my 3D Printer is actually printing the final model as I type this!
Final Thoughts
I believe minis are a capsule of character that goes beyond representation of just where you are in any specific combat. Minis capture personality, they capture passion, and they are a bond between the player and the character. Other services exist, such as Hero Forge which are very effective in my opinion is creating minis for your characters. I personally love to paint my own but not everyone does so Hero Forge is a great service for those players who want a mini and don't want to paint it.
Minis for the characters in the musical "Here There Be Dragons" would be a fun way for the actors, creative team, and even the audience to engage with our musical premiering at the Players Theatre June 16th, 2022. Hopefully the actors will be able to bring a mini home with them... and hopefully you will too!
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