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Everything you want to know about the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures game produced by Wizards of the Coast!If you have any news about the game, please e-mail me at merricb@yahoo.co.uk. A good place to gain further information - especially from Rob Heinsoo and Mike Donais, two of the designers of the game - is the D&D Miniatures Forum on the WotC boards. Merric's Law of Miniatures: Non-Random Packaging, Cheap Prices, and a Large Range of Figures: Choose two. What are D&D Miniatures? | Recent News: |
News The Siege of Fort Coyote The latest update is up at the Wizards site: , by Steve Winter
The Siege of Fort Coyote" is a set-piece skirmish scenario for D&D Miniatures. It features a fight to the death for possession of a small, fortified tower somewhere on the frontier of a savage, war-torn world.
Number of Players: Two. One player is the defender, the other is the attacker.
Warbands: The defender builds a warband with 100 points and no more than 12 figures; the attacker gets 150 points and up to 24 figures. No creatures can be chosen with the special abilities of burrow, flight, or incorporeal. Otherwise, standard warband rules apply.
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Miniatures at work Djeta Thernadier has posted some pictures of her group's miniatures on the . The pictures include some great terrain.
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Death Knell release month - March 2005! According to the Wizards , Death Knell (the sixth D&D Miniatures set) is scheduled for release in March 2005. That will be five months after the release of Aberrations.
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Strategy page update I've updated the strategy page with a couple of new articles/links.
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Tournament Report - 200 pt Triad Guy Fullerton has posted this on the Wizards boards.
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Best looking Huge miniatures? ENworld are currently running a poll for the .
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Warmonger updated The Warmonger miniatures tracking program has been updated with Giants of Legend support - you can download it here:
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Musings - Four Warbands Added a new Musings - Four Warbands
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Musings - In the day... I've just added a new musings. Although it discusses the early history of D&D, you might find notes that are applicable to D&D Miniatures.
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Designer post update I've just added one post by Mike Donais to the Designer Posts page.
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Miniatures Handbook discussion There is currently a on the balance of the new D&D feats, spells and classes in the Miniatures Handbook occuring on ENworld. Generally it is quite favorable.
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Updated strategy page I've just updated the strategy page with a few posts and links from the Maxminis forums.
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Campaign Game variant tjw1978 has described this variant of the Campaign game he has been using in on the maxminis forums:
I have added to the campaign rules the following:
All figures gain levels, not just commanders. Experience points are awarded to a player based on the points of destroyed enemies. Points are spent to level up figures. The cost is equal to the figure's cost at 1st level, +10 for second, +20 for third, etc. As per the Miniatures Handbook, a figure gets +1 attack and level, and either +10 HP or +5 HP and a spell. Even levels get an increase in Command Rating.
We have also been playing that at even levels, a figure gets a special ability (feat) or new spell. Non-commanders may opt to get a command rating (starting at 0).
Difficult creatures lose 1 point of difficulty.
Advanced figures lose a level if they are destroyed. So far, this works well. No figure seems to dominate, and if one gets too powerful, it becomes a target.
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Miniaturizer updated The latest version of the software has been released. Miniaturizer is an inventory manager and warband-building program for Windows and Mac OS X.
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Dungeon Magazine #113 There is a first in Dungeon Magazine #113: the Eberron adventure "The Queen with Burning Eyes" has a map made entirely from D&D Miniature skirmish tiles! (This issue of Dungeon Magazine has just arrived in Ballarat).
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2004 Championship Wizards have posted the details of the 2004 D&D Miniatures Championship to be held at GenCon Indy 2004, and the list of invitees.
Of note is the prize for first place:
- Opportunity to work with the Wizards of the Coast R&D department to develop a D&D miniature of their choosing, for inclusion within a future set of D&D Miniatures.
- Exclusive hand-painted miniature available only at the Championship
- Trophy
The first prize gives a reward similar to the Magic Invitational - the ability to suggest a miniature for inclusion in the line! Also of note is this: Each participant in the tournament will receive a deluxe vinyl D&D Miniatures battlemat. Good luck to all who are participating in the tournament!
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More repainted Miniatures Glenn M. has sent me the link to his site of repainted D&D Miniatures - you may wish to visit it!
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Tournament Styles Poll The Wizards site is running a poll on people's . ()
The Art of Warbands - No Brainer The latest in the series of The Art of Warbands articles on the Wizards site is up: discussing a 100 point Mind Flayer warband.
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Skirmish Campaigns There's a very good review and discussion of the Skirmish Campaign rules from the Miniatures Handbook going on in this thread on the Wizards boards. ()
The Uniques - Who is Mordenkainen the Mage?  Of all the unique characters in the Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game, Mordenkainen the Mage has the longest history. For he was, and still is, the most famous Player Character of the co-creator of the D&D game, Gary Gygax.
Gary says of his arch-mage: "Mordenkainen was my second PC, and I started playing him early in 1974 wanting a magic-user to balance my fighter, Yrag. I still play Mordie now and again in very high-level scenarios where a mage of over 20th level doesn't over-power the opposition."
Mordenkainen was Gary's character in many adventures run by Robert J. Kuntz, Gary's co-DM in the original Greyhawk game. When he was created, the game was just "Dungeons and Dragons". There was no thought of editions, the very first D&D set had only just been released - with the only choices of character class being Fighting Man, Magic-User and Cleric. Mordenkainen dates from the very dawn of the D&D game.
Rob Kuntz remembers an early adventure with Dave Arneson (the other creator of the original D&D game) DMing, Rob playing his character Robiliar, and Gary playing Mordenkainen in this article in the Oerth Journal: Journey to the City of the Gods.
Another famous adventure which made it to print in module form was WG5: Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure. It has recently been reprinted as Maure Castle in Dungeon #112. During the course of the adventure, Mordenkainen almost met his end when he was petrified by the cockatrice-feather whip of the Terrible Iron Golem. Thankfully, he was rescued by his friends and allies.
Mordenkainen is known in the World of Greyhawk as the enigmatic leader of the Circle of Eight, a group of wizards dedicated to maintaining balance in the world. The reader can note the many spells named after him in the Player's Handbook!
Despite having his stats printed in the Rogues Gallery (1980), Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure (1984), and the Epic Level Handbook (2002), to name just three sources, all of those stats are not those of the actual character. Gary says, "The information in the Rogue's Gallery was quite fallacious, made up im many cases when we refused to give Brian (Blume) our PCs' stats. Rob respected my wishes and didn't use Mordie's actual stats and information (in Mordenkainen's Fantastic Adventure), and whatever was written thereafter based on those works continues the error." Will we ever see the actual stats of Mordenkainen?
In many ways, there is actually more than one version of Mordenkainen. One is the version of Gary's PC, another is the literary creation that was brought into being in novels, sourcebooks and adventures. After Gygax and TSR parted ways in 1985, the Mordenkainen of the official supplements is more inspired by Gygax's PC, rather than being an accurate description - although Gygax indeed did contribute to the split in his Gord the Rogue novels, where Mordenkainen is attributed with actions he did not take in actual play.
With regard to the current Wizards version of Mordenkainen (as depicted in the Living Greyhawk campaign), one can find more information in this article written by Erik Mona for the Living Greyhawk Journal: The Circle of Eight.
As for the original Mordenkainen, the PC of Gary Gygax, he is rarely played these days, for Gary is more interested in his writing and game-mastering of his Lejendary Adventures RPG. He does have this to say on Mordenkainen most recent adventures: "Mordie's last two adventures were one where he was accompanying some mid-level characters who got transferred to the Metamorphosis Alpha game's Starship Warden and another in which two ancient white dragons were awaiting the party. Each of those was about a year apart."
(Quotations given by Gary Gygax are taken from ENworld's Q&A with Gary Gygax threads.) ()
Gelatinous Cube Mike Donais has confirmed that the Gelatinous cube (a 10'x10'x10' cube of acidic ooze) will be appearing in an upcoming set, quite possibly Aberrations. ()
The Uniques - Who is Lord Soth? I've seen this question come up a few times on various messageboards I visit, so I'm reposting one of my replies:
Lord Soth is one of the truly iconic Dragonlance characters.
His main story can be found in the Dragonlance Chronicles and the Dragonlance Legends, but here is a summary for those who want a quick answer.
Lord Soth was a Solamnic Knight, one of the truly great knighthoods of any world. He fell in love with an elf maiden - an acolyte of the good gods. They had an affair, a bit of a problem as Soth was married at the time.
He disposed of his wife, and brought the elf maiden to live with him. Horrified by his crimes, he pleaded with Paladine to let him redeem himself. He was told a way to stop the Cataclysm - a disaster that would almost destroy the world.
On his way to stop the Cataclysm, a group of elf women met up with him and told him that his new wife had betrayed him. Abandoning his mission, he returned to confront his bride. She denied that she had been unfaithful.
At that point the Cataclysm occured (a fiery mountain hit Krynn, killing a huge number of people and sending the world into a dark age). With the castle falling about them, the elf-maid cursed Soth just before she died. Soth died, but rose as a Death Knight.
Fast forward three hundred and fifty years.
The Evil Dragons had returned to Krynn. Led by the servants of Takhisis, queen of dragons and the evil gods, the Dragonarmies began conquering the world. A young upcoming warrior in the Dragonarmies, Kitiara uth Matar (half-sister to Raistlin Majere), was brave enough to stay the night in Soth's castle and win his loyalty.
The Dragonarmies were stopped by the efforts of a group of heroes led by Tanis Half-Elven. Tanis was a rather conflicted young half-elf, in love with both Kitiara and Laurana, an elf-maid. Of course, Kitiara sent Lord Soth to kidnap Laurana, which he was successful in doing. (This was mainly because Laurana was the leader of the armies of good, not because of Tanis, but it was an added bonus). Eventually, Tanis managed to rescue (and wed) Laurana, but Kitiara and Soth escaped with the remnants of the Dragonarmies.
Kitiara now had command of Soth (who had conceived of an unholy love for her), and the remaining Dragonarmies, but was frustrated in her plans for world domination by the Whitestone Armies (those good armies that Laurana controlled for a while).
Then an opportunity arose: Raistlin, her half-brother and one of the companions of Tanis that had helped defeat the Dragonarmies, had turned to evil and was planning to become a god.
A bunch of plots began, mainly involving the defeat of Raistlin (due to the betrayal of his apprentice, Dalamar, who also became Kitiara's new lover). However, Lord Soth wanted Kitiara dead so she could become his new bride... and plotted against her, making her think that Dalamar wanted Raistlin to succeed.
In the end, Dalamar killed Kitiara, who almost killed Dalamar (stopped due to the intervention of Tanis Half-Elven), Raistlin was stopped, and Lord Soth gained his prize.
Lord Soth is one of the most dangerous beings on Krynn. In his original incarnation, he could turn gates to ice and shatter them, kill people with a word, and commanded a troop of skeletal soldiers.
Lord Soth appeared in the Ravenloft demi-plane for a few novels, before returning to Krynn, the Dragonlance world. His eventual fate is described in the War of Souls trilogy. ()
Surprise Alliance - Warband Building scenario Kilsek of Sheverash has posted this Warband Building scenario/challenge on the Wizards boards for your enjoyment. ()
Designer posts updated I've updated the Designer Posts page with a few very interesting posts by Rob Heinsoo. ()
Aberrations previews! The latest In the Works is up on the Wizards site, including a preview of two Aberrations miniatures: the common Kobold Champion, and the Kobold Sorcerer (of unknown rarity). ()
New Errata and FAQ! The updated FAQ and Errata have been posted. ()
Wizards site update The Art of Warbands - Faerie Fire
Struggling to build a competitive Chaotic Good warband? Faerie Fire may be the solution to your problem. Bill W. Baldwin describes this CG warband.
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Updated Miniatures spreadsheet I've just posted the latest spreadsheet by Slade7170 on the Resources page - it now contains the Giants of Legend figures. ()
Dragon Magazine #322 Included in this issue is a huge map for the D&D Miniatures Game. This map comes with the Dragon Hoard scenario and has 13 treasure areas on the map. The map is in colour and is gum-glued into the magazine, so no polybagging for the store copies. ()
Over 7 million figures sold! According to this article on ICv2 News, since the September 2003 launch of D&D Miniatures, Wizards of the Coast has sold over 7 million figures. That works out to nearly $9 million retail! ()
Repainted D&D Miniatures! Here's a nice website run by Runelord151: Runelord's Minis. It has a lot of miniatures from different lines that he's painted, included a collection of repainted D&D Miniatures! It's worth looking at to see what you can do with the miniatures with a little paint, time and skill. ()
Designer posts updated I've added a couple of posts by Mike Donais to the Designer Posts page. ()
Vampire Aristocrat article posted on the Wizards site Vampire Aristocrat - Noble Blood is the latest in the Recurring Villany series of articles. Steve Winter looks at how the Aristocrat or its minions could provide encounters in the D&D RPG for levels 1 through 10. ()
60 Miniatures in Aberrations Mike Donais has confirmed that Aberrations, the next starter set, will have 60 miniatures in it. (Not 80, 72 or any other number - in other words, a standard size set.) ()
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