I've been playing D and D without minis

for over 20 years, but I just got into

them and I realized that they just fixed

my biggest DMing problem. And no, this

is not about tactical combat or anything

like this. So, in today's video, I'm

explaining to you what it is and showing

you how using minis can actually help

you become a better DM. And to do this,

I need to start with a story. When I was

around 9 years old, my best friend's dad

introduced us to Dn D. This guy had been

playing for a long time since the game

first came out. And the thing I remember

most about hanging out at his house and

looking at his DND stuff was his minis.

He had a pretty cool collection all

painted by hand in one of those glass

display cases. And I remember there was

this one Bard mini. The paint job wasn't

like a YouTube level paint job, you

know, but it was clearly done by someone

who cared a lot and had spent time with

this little figure. My friend told me

that it was Theyak, his dad's most

played character, and he looked just so

cool to me. I didn't really understand

the game at that point. All the books in

my friend's dad collection were in

English, which I couldn't speak a word

of. But as a kid, I remember being

completely fascinated by this world on

the table and how these little guys were

apparently helping very serious adult

people go on imaginary adventures

together. The thought of someone caring

enough about an imaginary world to make

little pieces of it real made a strong

impression on 9-year-old Adariad. And I

didn't really know what to call it, but

I've been thinking about this feeling a

lot recently because I've been doing

this I mean playing this game and many

other TTRPG systems for a long time.

Sometimes I still refer to 5 as the new

edition. And I really do love it. I love

building worlds. I love watching my

players react to cool encounters or

puzzles. And I do love making these

videos for you guys. But when you do

something for a long time, and

especially now that this is actually my

job, it can end up feeling like that, a

job, a cool, fun job. Yes, this isn't

lost on me, believe me, but still a job.

And jobs have this weird way of sucking

the essence out of things. And that's a

big problem. For example, when I was a

teen, I used to read D and D books for

fun. We'd sit with my brother in the

living room, take our pretty much

exhaustive collection of D&D 3.5

supplements, and just flip through them.

We'd look at the art, imagine encounters

and cool combos, and I just loved it.

But at some point, I started only

reading the master manual when I needed

something for the next session, and only

looking at the magical objects when my

players were really understed for their

level. And part of it is just you grew

up, man, and you don't even live with

your brother anymore. What are you even

talking about? Sure, but it's not just

that. I think that over the years I

started doing this thing kind of on

autopilot and I realized that I had not

done anything D and D related just for

fun in a little while. So I asked

myself, could it be that at some point I

stopped playing? By that I mean I know I

didn't stop sitting at the table with my

players and they certainly didn't stop

playing, showing up, rolling dice,

making jokes, and forgetting the effect

of their spells, but maybe I was just

running the game instead of playing it.

you know, just sitting behind the screen

and just trying to please my players

more than I was trying to entertain

myself. I still love to DM. Like, it's

not a chore or anything. But along the

way, my excitement started to only point

at the table, the players, and the next

session more and more, and I was slowly

starting to realize it, and it made me

kind of sad until a 3D printer showed up

at my door. So, full disclaimer, the

reason I got a 3D printer is because

Elgum, the company that makes those, and

the sponsor of today's video, sent me

one. I didn't have some great plan to

revolutionize my D&D experience, but

they reached out. The box showed up, and

I thought, "Sure, let's see what this is

all about." I wasn't expecting anything

really, except maybe a new wave of my

Warhammer friends trying to recruit me

into their cult nerds. But I figured I

would print maybe a few goblins, put

them on the table, see if my players

liked them, maybe make a video about

tactical play and just move on. You

know, I've been a theater of the mind DM

my entire life simply because since I

started so young, I didn't have any

money. And then I liked it and just

never changed. So I set up the printer,

figured out the resin thing, made sure I

was safe, cured my first test print, and

I made this guy. And I looked at him and

I thought, "Okay, that's kind of cool. I

guess I could have stopped there. Then I

started browsing. I got sucked into the

incredibly deep and fun rabbit hole of

all these websites where people put out

these 3D printable files so others can

buy them and print them at home. I found

people made minis, terrain, creatures,

props. I felt like a kid in a candy

shop. So I spent some time doing this,

just looking around and losing myself in

this new world, not really knowing where

I would end up and enjoying exactly

that. And I noticed that something

started happening that I wasn't

expecting. I found this dude. Just look

at him. Isn't he just so badass? It made

me stop scrolling immediately. By the

way, this is a model from Loot Studios

if you want to get it for yourself. I

bought it with my own money and they

don't even know I exist. So, I'm just

telling you this because I find it

extremely cool and I thought you might

want to know where I got it. Anyway, you

ever got that feeling when you're just

flipping through a D and D book and a

random piece of art makes you stop? like

something about it just grabs you, you

know? And the funny thing is my brain

didn't go to, wow, this would be a cool

mini for my game straight away, which is

what I thought would happen when I first

decided to scroll since I was in this

whole next session mode I mentioned. But

instead, I started to think about who

this was, like what kind of creature

looks like this. What's his deal? Is he

guarding something? Or maybe he is just

some pure force of destruction. Who made

it? why, etc. I hadn't even printed it

yet. I was just looking at the render on

my screen and I was already making it a

part of my world. And I thought, man,

it's kind of been a long time since I

got excited about a monster. And that's

when I remembered the story I told you

at the start about my dad's friend and

his collection. So, yeah, I bought it

and I kept scrolling and I kept feeling

inspired. It was very different from

browsing images on the internet, too. I

mean, I do that as well, but then they

kind of stay images and it can help get

an idea for description, etc. But

knowing I could make these things real,

hold them and spend time looking at

them, maybe at some point even paint

them if I decide I really do hate money

and want to stay broke my entire life.

You know, just knowing all this made me

care more and got me more excited. And

sure, I was coming up with ideas that I

could eventually use in my game doing

so. That wasn't even really the point. I

was just having fun. And printing minis

takes time. You have to set up the

print, which I did. Wait a few hours,

which I did. Wash it, which I did. Cure

it. You get the point. And meanwhile,

you get to actually think about it. How

will the players react? Could this be

some kind of new big bad? Should I go

and buy an airbrush and 80 different

kinds of paint straight away? you know,

all these very important questions that

actually make you more invested in your

world. It almost felt as if I was

skipping prep in a sense. I realized it

kind of felt like playing. And I

remembered that playing was very fun.

There was just zero pressure involved

and I had no real deadline. If I messed

up, no one would see it. I was just

making something because I wanted to and

because it excited me. I was back in kid

mode, alchemist mode, I don't know. call

it however you want. The point is I was

thinking about my game because I wanted

to and not because I had to. And I think

that specific state of mind produces

very different results at the table.

When you start planning an encounter or

a description and you're in that kind of

mental state, you don't necessarily nail

the mechanical side of things better,

but it ends up having more texture, more

emotional weight because you as the DM

put more of yourself in there. Sitting

down with a blank obsidian note or

Google Doc and typing encounter 4 weird

Kendall Guy fight and then filling in a

stat block feels way different than just

standing in your little workshop holding

a physical thing that you made and

playing with it in your hands. The time

spent with the thing just fuels your

excitement for the game. Okay, so by the

way, I mentioned earlier that a sponsor

sent me this printer, so I'm going to

actually talk about that for a second.

Quick clarification, they didn't give me

any cash for me to tell you about this,

but they did send me the printer for

free. The brand is Eligu, and this

specific model is the Saturn 4 Ultra

16K. It's a resin printer, and it

arrived with a wash and cure station

that allows me to clean the minis and

get them hard enough to use at the

table. I went into this knowing nothing.

I had never touched resin. I didn't even

know what an SDL file was, and I had

absolutely no idea that I would have to

cosplay as Walter White to stay safe

using this stuff, but it was a lot more

approachable than I expected. I watched

a few YouTube tutorials, which helped a

ton, and got very cool minis quite

quickly. This specific model has a

heated vat, which allows me to print in

a non-heated safe space away from where

my family actually lives. It's easy to

operate and even has a built-in camera

so you can check your prints coming

together. The printer in itself is

sufficiently big for you to print pretty

much anything you'd want to use in a D&D

context. And if you want to make actual

big things like an entire castle or

maybe even cosplay props, you can find

or make models in several parts and then

just glue them together. If you're

curious, I will leave an affiliate link

in the description. So, if you want to

support the channel, you can get your

own by clicking on it and I will make a

small commission. But let's go back to

that excitement shift I was feeling. I

had spent quite some time with this

little guy by the time I was done. I'd

thought about who he was, what he

wanted, how he moved, what his voice

sounded like. I got to know him. I

decided he was Bal, warden of the

library. He was a powerful guardian made

by a lich to protect their most precious

manuscripts. And when I eventually place

him on the table, I just know I'm going

to be unreasonably invested in his

description. The way the light reflects

on his armor. The way the library is

kind of covered in this weird almost

organic and glowing kind of magical wax

from the warden just walking in it for

centuries. The way his voice is a mix of

a deep mechanical growl and smoky

whistle. Well, this I came up while

making it. And I'm pretty sure this will

have an impact on the players too. They

will see straight away that I'm having

more fun than usual. By the way, don't

worry. They don't watch this stuff. They

see enough of me already. My point is

that I think we underestimate how much

of what players feel at the table is

actually just a reflection of how much

the DM cares about what they're showing

them. If you really care, people just

notice. It shows in your pacing,

descriptions, the way you interact with

the players or even in how you manage

the music if you're into that. Bow won't

make me a better narrator, but he

already made me care more, which makes

me better at everything. I keep coming

back to the word play. I think my

biggest problem as a DM was that I kind

of forgot to play at some point. I'm not

saying DMs should stop prepping or that

they should stop taking the game

seriously, but I think we do need

something that's only ours. Otherwise,

we risk losing our initial passion for

it. You need this hobby to stay your

hobby and to never get tricked into

thinking that you're just there for the

players. And for me, it turns out that

something might be this. browsing

models, getting excited printing them,

and having my brain automatically attach

weight to them. I know not everyone is

going to want to get into minis, and

that's 100% okay. I'm not saying they're

a magical solution for everyone, but the

principle is the same, even if the

activity is different. You need to find

a way to develop a relationship with

your world that isn't about checking a

box. Maybe for you, it's going to be

about drawing maps by hand, even though

you have a digital tool that's faster.

Or maybe you get there by actually

writing this lore novel that no player

will ever read. You know what matters is

that you get to that place where you

feel the absence of obligation and just

hang out in your world because it's a

cool place you will unlike. If you

already have one of those ways to engage

with the game or with your world, please

drop them in the comments. I love

reading those and I try to answer as

many as I can. And if you want to

support this channel and help me make

cool stuff for you guys, you can support

me on Patreon. I will leave a link in

the description. And maybe you already

have that thing that's just for you. But

sometimes you still feel like the DM

shop is too big. In that case, I think

you should watch this video next to

remember that actually, no, it's