What if I told you for $10 you'd never have to worry about having the right miniature ever again. That after spending that $10's you'd could display a Goblin, a Redcoat, a Corrupted Cultist, and a Stormtrooper, all without having to purchase, print, or make another mini? And to top it all off, they will immerse your players more than any normal painted mini. Sounds too good to be true? maybe, but here the solution I suggest.
For those of you also in the Board Game hobby, you are already familiar with meeples. They are small painted and shaped wooden game pieces. These ones are humanoid shaped, but they come in all shapes and sizes. If you've played Catan or Root, you've used Meeples.
Meeples are so popular in board games because they are much cheaper to produce then plastic miniatures, and they also have more character than standees or simple wooden blocks.
For these same reasons, Meeples also make perfect RPG materials. A Meeples color can act as a reminder for what they represent, unlike something like dice, which is what I used to use when I didn't use miniatures. For example, a goblin or zombie might use green. Elite NPCs may use silver and gold. A noble person may have a purple Meeple.
Don't get me wrong, I love miniatures, I'm a wargamer just as much as a ttrpg enthusiast. But miniatures can often limit the imagination of players, not enhance their immersion. Once a physical, detailed representation of an NPC or Monster is sitting on the table, the players imagination cease. Not to mention when you must use a stand-in model for something you don't have, and suddenly the kobolds the PCs have been talking to turnout out to look identical to the dwarves they talked to last week. Not so with Meeples, which offer just enough context for the mind to fill in the blanks with evocative language. I'm not saying don't use minis, but Meeples may have a place for fodder who you don't want to put the time, effort, or money into finding and painting accurate models for.
Even for gridless games Meeples can have a use at your table as tokens, condition counters, hp trackers, or whatever else you could need. In my savage worlds game my players chose a meeple color and use the extras as their Bennies. They also weigh next to nothing and store up small.
I got my Meeples online for around $10 for 100. If you want a set for yourself they shouldn't be hard to find. Bye for now and happy gaming!
