D&D Miniature Markers and Converters by FiascoInProgress

Last crawled date: 3 years, 1 month ago

As a 5e D&D DM, I typically use collectable miniatures first and then supplement them with 3D printed versions when they are either too expensive, or have not been produced yet. Also, since I've started collecting fairly recently (mostly Icons of the Realms sets), I've ended up with a lot of duplicates that can be hard to track individually when they all get put on the map at the same time.
I'm constantly looking for ways to speed up the game mechanics when handling large groups of creatures, and I really liked the idea of https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2319576, but I had trouble seeing the numbers from a distance in dimly lit environments, and I didn't like the creatures spilling over into other squares any more than they have to.
So after several iterations I happened on the approach of printing markers that convert a circle into a square, using friction to hold the miniature in place. I also opened up the sides up enough to be able to pry it back out by using the base rather than the model itself. This keeps the miniatures out of surrounding squares while quickly individualizing them, allows me to produce as many variations as I have filament I can distinguish by color, and has the side benefit of stablizing some of my miniatures that are inherently unbalanced.
The models are pretty straightforward to print, but you may want to use a brim on the larger ones to prevent warping, and you will want to dial in the tolerances of your printer before mass producing. To big will not hold the miniature at all, and too small will either not go in, or flex the marker causing it to become a little unstable as it rests on 3 of the four sides. Also, you will become far more aware of size variations in your miniature bases, particularly the old 40mm ones.
I've included 20mm, 25mm, 50mm and 75mm markers. You could really use any of the markers and just rescale them on the x and y axis if you want to fit other dimensions. You could also scale Z, but I personally like the aesthetic of having it match the top of the miniature base, and any taller would just be wasted filament.
I've also included converters from 25mm to 50mm (for enlarged creatures), 40mm to 50mm (for the older style 40mm bases that are supposed to be large) and 50mm to 75mm (for the dragons and giants that were produced at the wrong size in the Tyranny of Dragons season).
EDIT: opened up the license. The idea behind this design was that it served miniature collectors just the same as folks who use a 3d printer to create their collections, so I'm removing any barriers that would keep those two groups from helping each other out.