Miniatures for TTRPG
Growing up, for me anyway, miniatures in tabletop gaming were simply not an option. It's not that my gaming group couldn't have improvised, for surely we did just that. Our sessions were full of graph paper, junk food wrappers, an impossible amount of pizza, soda and anything we could find to represent not only our heroes but also the terrible foes that they would face. It was many years later, after I had attended college that I learned of things like Warhammer and Flames of War, in which miniatures were very much a requirement to play the game.
I'm not sure about you but I don't believe my local game-store would allow my participation in such games with bottle caps and old Lego men. Now, in the apparent height of tabletop popularity, things like Dwarvenforge exist and everytime I saw someone like Matt Mercer pull out an amazing piece of scenery during their session or an expertly painted monster, well, 15 year old Cody raged inside. Where were these things when I was young? I had been had. It was a cruel joke. But. Then again, I was so very happy to see that these things existed at all!
It was a massive blow for freedom and perhaps a sign of the times that being a nerd was now suddenly cool. In fact, it encouraged me to go down to my local shop and spend $20 on paint supplies and minis. I took them home and started painting. I didn't watch videos on how to or even ask my artist friends for tips, I simply reveled in the trial and error of it all and that was what made it so cool. The miniatures I painted were designed by someone(s) else but the colors and how they were styled was up to me. The finished products were uniquely mine and that too was another plus.
The party who is playing through my current homebrew has been the recipients to all of my artistic whims when it involves miniatures and seeing their reactions when I reach into my bag and plop my latest creation on the board and announce it's time to roll for initiative is very rewarding. Sure, sometimes your forge cleric NPC gets refereed to as having Guy Fieri vestments but that's part of the fun! So, please, don't be afraid to get in there and get your hands dirty. If you don't have access to a game-shop, a simple google search can provide plenty of vendors to get you started with minimal investment. It is my opinion that the Nolzur's DND miniatures are of better quality than both the Pathfinder and Reaper models, though the latter two provide a certain aesthetic that sometimes looks more like what I envisioned in my mind.
So, please, don't be afraid to get in there and get your hands dirty. If you don't have access to a game-shop, a simple google search can provide plenty of vendors to get you started with minimal investment. It is my opinion that the Nolzur's DND miniatures are of better quality than both the Pathfinder and Reaper models, though the latter two provide a certain aesthetic that sometimes looks more like what I envisioned in my mind. Reaper Bones was the choice for the Chimera my adventurers needed to face in their first dungeon and it was exactly what I wanted from my very first monster miniature.
If I could add a little more advice?
Be sure to shake the absolute crap out of your paint before use. If you don't, the paint will be far too runny and won't coat the model properly.
Don't be afraid to make mistakes or paint outside the lines. You can hide an incredible amount of sin in a second coat.
Mix colors! I've made things look so much better by just trying to blend a couple colors and ending up creating something different and that looks amazing.
Don't take it too seriously, it is supposed to be fun. Enjoy the process. It's quite relaxing, actually.