Workbench Guides · Game ready
Miniatures for D&D: What to Buy for a New Campaign
Starting a new campaign and staring at an empty table? You don't need a whole bestiary on day one. Start with the heroes, add the monsters your players will meet most, then a boss and a few townsfolk. Here's what to buy, in what order and at what size.
A new campaign is exciting, and it's easy to get carried away with miniatures before the first session. The good news is that you need far fewer than you think. Players care most about their own character, and the first few sessions only ever meet a handful of monster types.
This guide gives you a sensible order to buy in. Heroes first, then the common monsters, a boss, and a few faces for the tavern. Along the way we'll cover which size suits a one inch grid and when to size a monster up.
What you need
- Your players' character ideas: class, ancestry, a rough look.
- An idea of the first adventure and who's in it.
- A one inch grid mat, or a plan to draw one.
- One of your existing miniatures, if you have any, to match the size.
Don't have miniatures yet? Pick 28 or 32mm and stick with it. Our size guide shows the difference.
Start with the party
Nobody gets attached to a coin with a name on it.
Start with the heroes. Every player gets one miniature that looks like their character, and that's the purchase that makes the biggest difference at the table. A player who can point at their own dwarf cleric is a player who's invested.
Buy all the party at the same size. We'd suggest 32mm for heroes: it's a little bigger than 28mm, which makes the faces and kit easier to paint, and it still sits nicely on a one inch grid.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
One per player. A fighter, wizard, rogue, cleric and ranger, all at the same size. Each player gets a hero that looks like theirs.
Let them pick
Send them a few options and let them pick. They'll care more about one they chose.
Paint fixes most things
Paint can change a lot. A ranger with a bow can become a hunter, a scout or a monster slayer.
Dwarves should look short
A dwarf at 32mm is shorter than a human at 32mm, as it should be. Our product page guide explains why.
28mm or 32mm?
Both fit the grid. Just don't mix them.
Most D&D tables play on a grid of one inch squares, with each square standing for five feet. A human-sized hero takes up one square, and so does a goblin. Big creatures take up more: a large one covers two by two squares, and a huge one three by three.
Our 28mm and 32mm miniatures both fit that grid well, usually on a 25mm round base. The 32mm heroes are a little taller and chunkier, the 28mm ones a little slimmer. What matters most is that the whole table uses one of them, so nobody's hero looks like a younger sibling.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
Squares and bases. Heroes and goblins take one square, large creatures two by two and huge ones three by three. Both 28 and 32mm heroes fit a one inch square.
Already own a few miniatures? Measure one from the soles of the feet to the eyes and buy the nearest size. The compare tool lines sizes up side by side if you want to check.
Goblins, skeletons and wolves
Ten goblins will see more table time than any dragon.
Early adventures lean on a few familiar foes. Goblins, skeletons and wolves turn up again and again, and the same miniatures can play bandits, cultists or zombies with a quick change of description. A handful of each goes a long way.
Then add one boss for the end of the first adventure. This is the miniature your players will remember, so it's worth picking something with presence.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
The first-adventure crowd. A handful of goblins and skeletons, two or three wolves and one big boss. That covers a surprising number of sessions.
Make the boss loom
Buy your monsters at the same size as your heroes and they'll come out in proportion: goblins small, ogres big. For a boss you want to really loom, try ordering it one size up. A 35mm monster in a 32mm game adds real weight to an encounter, without looking out of place. Save 55 and 75mm for showpieces on the shelf, or for that one dramatic finale.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
A size up for the big bad. The ogre at 32mm is in proportion with the 32mm hero. The same ogre at 35mm looms a little larger, which is just what a boss wants.
Roll call · the crowd from this chapter
Your first fight, ready to print
Tap a miniature to take it out of the line-up. Heroes and monsters at the same size.
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Then buy as you go
The innkeeper now. The kraken when they've earned it.
Not everyone in your world wants a fight. An innkeeper, a town guard and a travelling trader cover most of the people your players will talk to in the first few sessions. They can be renamed and reused endlessly.
After that, let the story lead. When the players head into a swamp, buy a few swamp things. When they make an enemy, give that enemy a miniature. Buying as you go means every new miniature arrives with a reason to be on the table.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
Buy in this order. The party, the first monsters, a boss, a few townsfolk, then whatever the story needs next.
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The party
One hero per player, all at the same size.
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The first monsters
A handful of goblins or skeletons, and a couple of wolves.
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A boss
One showpiece for the end of the first adventure, a size up if you like.
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Townsfolk
An innkeeper, a guard and a trader to start with.
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As you go
Add what the story needs, a few at a time.
Painting a horde? Goblins and skeletons are perfect for batch painting. Our guide to batch painting shows how to get a whole crowd table-ready quickly.
Six ideas for session one
Steal any of these. We won't tell.
The best first adventures are short and clear: something is wrong, the heroes go and fix it, and there's a boss at the end. Each idea below fits that shape, and each comes with the miniatures it needs, so you can buy for the story you're actually going to run.
Goblins on the road
A trader's cart is ambushed on the way to town. The tracks lead back to a cave where the goblins are hiding the stolen goods.
You'll need: a handful of goblins, two wolves and a goblin chief or bugbear.
Rats in the cellar
The innkeeper wants the rats cleared out. Behind the barrels is a crumbling wall, and old tunnels that go much further down.
You'll need: giant rats, a few giant centipedes or spiders and one big creature waiting below.
The restless crypt
Fresh graves are found empty and something walks the churchyard at night. Someone in the crypt is raising the dead.
You'll need: skeletons, a few zombies and a necromancer.
Wolves in the woods
Woodcutters have gone missing and the wolves are bolder than they should be. Something deeper in the forest is driving them.
You'll need: three or four wolves, a dire wolf and a hag or werewolf for the finale.
Bandits at the bridge
A gang has taken the only bridge into town and charges a toll. The heroes can fight, sneak past or talk their way through.
You'll need: a handful of bandits, a bandit captain and a town guard to ask for help.
The missing apprentice
A wizard's apprentice has vanished from the tower, and the wizard's cat is the only witness. Cue animated armour and a rival mage.
You'll need: a suit of animated armour, a few imps or familiars and a rival wizard.
Or run one already written
Would you rather run something already written? These are well-loved starting points for new groups and new Dungeon Masters. Each link opens in a new tab.
The Delian Tomb
Matt Colville's famous first adventure, from the opening episode of his Running the Game series. A short tomb crawl you can run in an evening.
Minis: goblins, a bugbear boss and a few undead if you want an extra fight.
A Most Potent Brew
A community favourite from Winghorn Press. The party clears giant rats from a brewery cellar and finds the ruins of an old wizard's tower beneath it.
Minis: giant rats, giant centipedes and a giant spider boss.
Intro to Stormwreck Isle
Two short encounters taken from the official starter set: a ship caught in a storm, then a landing on an island where something is wrong.
Minis: your party, a few sailors and some unwelcome guests.
Dragons of Stormwreck Isle
The full starter set the intro comes from, with an ancient dragon war, premade characters and an adventure written to teach the game slowly.
Minis: five heroes to match the premade characters, plus dragons for the big moments.
Heroes of the Borderlands
The newest official starter set, built as a guided first game with prebuilt characters. No experience needed for anyone at the table.
Minis: one hero per player, then the monsters as you meet them.
The Wild Sheep Chase
For once your party has a few levels. A panicked sheep turns up holding a scroll, and the heroes are pulled into a wizard's feud. Silly and memorable.
Minis: a sheep, wolves, a brown bear and a dragon wyrmling.
These adventures are made and sold by their own publishers, not by We Print Miniatures. Prices and free offers are set by them and can change.
Bring your own hero
Designed your character in 3D? We'll print it.
Some players arrive with a character they've designed themselves, as a 3D file. If you have an STL file you're allowed to print, our custom print service can print it in resin, to order, just like the rest of our range.
It's a lovely way to get a hero that is exactly theirs. Keep it at the same size as the rest of the party so it fits right in on the grid.
Tap the diagram to open it full size.
File to table. Your STL file is printed to order in resin, and arrives ready to prime and paint.
Workbench guide
Why is my dwarf so short?
Our guide to reading a product page explains the 6ft rule, so you know how dwarves, halflings and ogres will look next to your human heroes.
Read the product page guide
Ready for session one?
- Does every player have a hero?
- Is the whole party at the same size?
- Will they all fit a one inch square?
- Have you got a handful of the monsters you'll meet first?
- Is there a boss for the finale, maybe a size up?
- Who's running the tavern?
Build your party
One hero for every player, all at the same size. Pick how many are playing and give everyone a class.
Players at the table
First adventure
Every hero is the same size, so nobody looks like the younger sibling. Swap a class to match what your players have rolled.
Your party
Never do this
Buy the whole bestiary on day one
Your players will spend three sessions in a tavern arguing about a cart. The kraken can wait.
Choose their hero for them
You picked a noble paladin. They wanted a goblin bard with a lute. Ask first.
Mix sizes in the party
Nothing says "main character" like being a head taller than everyone else. Same size for the whole party.
Reveal the boss too early
Putting the dragon on the shelf behind your screen is not as subtle as you think.
Use a 75mm goblin on a one inch grid
That's not a goblin, that's a weather event. Keep the big sizes for the shelf.
Use a crisp packet for the boss
We've all done it. The players never take the crisp packet seriously.
Quick answers
The short version
One party, one boss
Buy one hero per player, all at the same size, with 32mm a good choice for heroes on a one inch grid. Add a handful of goblins, skeletons and wolves, then one boss, sized up if you want it to loom.
Add an innkeeper, a guard and a trader, and after that let the story decide what comes next. Got your own STL? We can print that too.
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