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So I've just learned my niece has gotten into D&D, and is leaning into being a DM. For her birthday, I'd like to get her a pile of minis to paint up. The Reaper figure finder is pretty good, but less good for more broad categories...

I was thinking something like the Henchmen and Hirelings boxed since there's a lot of fun things there set https://www.reapermini.com/search/hirelings/latest/44149

But there aren't too many "main characters" there it seems to me...

The Reaper figure-finder is good, but I'm curious to turn to the wisdom of Dakka - are there any cool, fun (plastic) Reaper minis you might add as a main character? She played a human wizard when she was a PC (that campaign is done, though), so sending her a female wiz would be fun. What fantasy player character minis have you bought from Reaper and really liked?

Main characters are whatever mini you want to use. I have that box set and it is a good start. You can also check out the pathfinder minis Reaper sells. Some of those are nice too. Just stay away from the bones and bones gray minis -- the material is frustrating. Metal, Bones black and Bones USA are all good materials.

Are you set on reaper minis? I would suggest a frostgrave box of soldiers 2 and a box of wizards 2... or instead of soldiers 2, Barbarians 2. This would allow her to come up with her own "main character" or Villain or even mooks to throw at her group.

Reapers made so many minis over the years & I never remember thier actual names (because I only look at the sculpt when RPG mini shopping, it doesn't matter what Reaper names it)....

What your niece really needs is a selection of iconic monsters - orcs, goblins, various undead, owlbears, beholders, Wolves, ogres, a few different giants, demons/debils, etc....
Oh, and definitely a decently large dragon.

For main character types?
A male & a female of each archetype (Warrior, cleric, wizard, rogue). Youre buying blind without knowing speciics of the exact csmpaign so it Doesn't really matter too much if they're humans/elves/drwarves/halfling or whatever.
Just look for cool sculpts.

Also Reaper Bonrs is not the only source for great looking plastics for D&D usage.
Look to the Wizkids D&D and Pathfinder lines for many many cool models & iconic creatures.

What's your budget?
Is she really into painting?
What is her painting skill?
Is she really going to become a DM?
Would other D&D accessories help (eg. game tiles)?

Big difference between a DM who wants to put a bunch of D&D monsters on the table, vs. a painter who will spend weeks painting a character.

Another option would be one of the D&D Adventure Games or HeroQuest, since they contain an assortment of characters, monsters, and game tiles. But its boardgame soft plastic, so definitely not for serious painting.

If she wants to learn painting and can buy her own miniatures, there's always the Reaper Learn to Paint Kits.

All great suggestions! She has staretd a D&D campaign as the DM (and is realizing how much work it is!) after having finished Lost Mine of Phandelver as a player character.

I've always found the Frostgrave minis to be a bit small... But maybe not small enough to annoy her, that is a good idea about the "build your own characters/enemies" idea. But that can be a fun element of the hobby, creating your own figures?

And the "Learn to paint" kit is a great idea. Maybe that along with a Frostgrave box or two?

I checked the Reaper Learn to Paint Kit prices, and am not seeing any good discounts. Miniature Market's prices are what I'd expect. Maybe the goblins set if you're on a budget, especially since they're easier to paint than adventurers, and are stable bad guys.
https://www.miniaturemarket.com/searchresults/?q=learn+to+paint

The Nolzur Paint Kits are also for beginners. They come with only one miniature, but have videos. For some inane reason, they don't have you paint a miniature you'd actually use for a game, but check out the Harengar bunny guy if she likes bunnies!
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nolzur+paint+kit&crid=6USDD3J21NTZ&sprefix=nolzur+paint+kit%2Caps%2C266&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
https://www.amazon.com/Dungeons-Dragons-Nolzurs-Marvelous-Miniatures/dp/B0BB15HYHX/ref=sr_1_7?crid=6USDD3J21NTZ

I usually don't recommend humans and other PC's for beginning painters, but Frostgrave and Reaper (and the D&D Adventure Games and HeroQuest) do have female figures (metal and plastic sets) if that's important.

Maybe find out what she is intending on running. I made a gift set of the player characters from the Lost Mine of Phandelver for example. Knowing the characters can hugely narrow down the parameters.

D&D minis also has a ton of pre-paints.

Just a thought, no one shoot me!

 Easy E wrote:
D&D minis also has a ton of pre-paints.

Just a thought, no one shoot me!

I like the prepaints. But they are on the expensive side for what you get. I do still buy some of the prepainted dragons which you can occasionally find on sale. Back when the prepaints were originally sold you could get the human or goblin sized commons for around $.25 each at miniature market, depending on the figure. Those days are long gone though.

This set does look cool. A huge dragon, 5 kobolds, dungeon terrain and a map… but $100 is kind of steep

So, actually If she is going to be DMing... I change my suggestion. Get her an "Epic Encounters" set from Steam forged.

The Village of the Goblin Chief one comes with 20 minis, a double sided mat (with 25mm grid) and an adventure book for 5E.

Its around $30, and gives her pretty much everything she needs to start her first game. The minis look pretty cool too.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
And a link for a review...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=PkL_g-qfGa0

I just ordered myself one on Amazon...

 Smokestack wrote:
Are you set on reaper minis? I would suggest a frostgrave box of soldiers 2 and a box of wizards 2... or instead of soldiers 2, Barbarians 2. This would allow her to come up with her own "main character" or Villain or even mooks to throw at her group.

I love Reaper but I would vote for this. The Frostgrave Wizard kits are ace and the various female kits (wizards, soldiers and barbarians, with Cultists on the way) have been quality stuff. And she gets pride of ownership since she put the figure together. Oh and there are folks who sell by the sprue.

The only complaint is the usual one that modular minis are kind of limited in posing options.

If you do Reaper, I'd let her pick.

Here's what 'female wizard' gave me, 7 pages of figures.

https://www.reapermini.com/search/female%20wizard

Those steamforged Epic Encounters look fantastic. So many options. I wonder if her parents would get mad at me if I just mailed her $500 worth of paint and unpainted minis...

(if ever there's a way to start someone off with a "pile of shame".... No pressure there!)

I got my village of the Goblin Chief. It really is a great product. The minis are pretty great, and the map is nice (though it is paper and if its kids playing around may not hold up to rough use). I havent looked through the adventure yet, as my group plays Pathfinder 1 still, but the review I posted made it sound not to difficult to convert. I now want all of the encounter sets... ALL OF THEM!!!!

 pancakeonions wrote:
So I've just learned my niece has gotten into D&D, and is leaning into being a DM. For her birthday, I'd like to get her a pile of minis to paint up. The Reaper figure finder is pretty good, but less good for more broad categories...

I was thinking something like the Henchmen and Hirelings boxed since there's a lot of fun things there set https://www.reapermini.com/search/hirelings/latest/44149

But there aren't too many "main characters" there it seems to me...

The Reaper figure-finder is good, but I'm curious to turn to the wisdom of Dakka - are there any cool, fun (plastic) Reaper minis you might add as a main character? She played a human wizard when she was a PC (that campaign is done, though), so sending her a female wiz would be fun. What fantasy player character minis have you bought from Reaper and really liked?

You should check these out. Otherworlds is like buying a High end sports car of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, so you need to make your own picks.

https://otherworldminiatures.co.uk/

Second is Crooked Dice. They have a good selection of Fantasy Figures. They are my go to figure company to get off the wall figures that no one else has.

https://crooked-dice.co.uk/


She will not be disappointed with whatever she picks from either of them. TOP TIER figures.

Besides the D&D Adventure System Games, some 2D options:
* D&D Campaign Case : https://www.amazon.com/Campaign-Case-Terrain-Dungeons-Accessories/dp/078696734X
* D&D Creature Tokens: https://www.amazon.com/Campaign-Case-Terrain-Dungeons-Accessories/dp/078696734X?th=1

And, for next year or Christmas, buy here this! (:
https://www.beastsofwar.com/role-playing-games/loke-battlemats-new-terrain-set-book-kickstarter/

 Grot 6 wrote:


...

You should check these out. Otherworlds is like buying a High end sports car of Dungeons and Dragons miniatures, so you need to make your own picks.

https://otherworldminiatures.co.uk/

Second is Crooked Dice. They have a good selection of Fantasy Figures. They are my go to figure company to get off the wall figures that no one else has.

https://crooked-dice.co.uk/


She will not be disappointed with whatever she picks from either of them. TOP TIER figures.

Oh man, I have the Demon Idol from Otherworlds! Such an awesome terrain piece. My little kiddo loves it almost as much as his daddy, but thankfully I've been able to let him play with it supervised so it's still in one piece...!

Such great suggestions. Thanks everyone.

Hope I'm not too late, but there are some pretty great minis in Reaper's lineup.

As a human wizard for her, there are: