Miniatures Handbook (3.5e)
b>Cries of Battle Fill the Air
Bold adventurers' tales are filled with harrowing combat punctuated by clashing swords and flashing spells. From minor scuffles to climactic battles¸ the conflicts between heroes¸ villains¸ monsters¸ and minions range across sweeping battle fields and verdant forests to dank caverns and treacherous dungeons. Victory awaits those well versed in the arts of war.
This supplement for the D&D game provides expanded rules and guidelines for running dynamic combats and creating daunting combatants. Inside are new base classes and prestige classes¸ over 30 new feats¸ more than 65 new spells¸ new magic items¸ and weapon special abilities. Included are three dozen new monsters¸ including the formidable "aspects" of deities and archfiends. Along with complete rules for everything from fast-paced skirmishes and squad-based encounters to mass battles¸ random dungeons¸ and miniatures battle compaigns¸ the Miniatures Handbook assembles a legion of information¸ options¸ rules and guildelines to keep you fully engaged in every combat.
Product History
Miniatures Handbook (2003)¸ by Michael Donais¸ Skaff Elias¸ Rob Heinsoo¸ and Jonathan Tweet¸ is a character splatbook for D&D 3.5e. It was published in October 2003.
Continuing the 3.5e Line. Following the July publication of D&D 3.5e (2003)¸ Wizards took a few months off¸ then returned with two new core books in October: Book of Exalted Deeds (2003) and Miniatures Handbook (2003). The books were a clear continuation of Wizards' lines for D&D 3e (2000-2003)¸ showing how minor they thought the transition was. To be specific¸ the first half of Miniatures Handbook looks a lot like the softcover character splatbooks that Wizards was publishing for 3e from Sword and Fist (2001) to Masters of the Wild (2002) - full of new classes and more.
However¸ that's just half the book. There were some miniatures to discuss too …
A Return to Miniatures. Given D&D's origins in historical miniatures¸ it's no surprise that the game has long supported miniatures play. Still¸ it took a while for TSR to dive into the medium whole-heartedly. That finally occurred with the release of the Battlesystem (1985) - a boxed set that detailed rules for mass fantasy battles¸ which could also be integrated into D&D.
Battlesystem was probably a reaction to GW's success with Warhammer Fantasy Battle (1983)¸ but TSR was never able to match it. They constantly tried to popularize Battlesystem in the '80s and '90s through well-known supplements such as Bloodstone Pass (1985-1988)¸ Dragonlance Chronicles (1984-1986)¸ and Dark Sun (1991)¸ but it never worked. In the late '90s¸ TSR let their Battlesystem fade away.
After the release of D&D 3e (2000)¸ Wizards decided to try a miniatures game of their own. Their first attempt¸ Chainmail (2001-2002) was short-lived¸ but then Wizards revamped the system and rereleased it as the Dungeons & Dragons Miniatures Game (2003-2008). This new miniatures system was a d20-based game¸ simplifying the D&D 3e system to allow for quick skirmish-level play. D&D Miniatures kicked off with the Harbinger (2003) set of miniatures¸ available in starter and booster packs on September 26¸ 2003.
Three weeks later¸ Wizards released the D&D Miniatures Handbook¸ whose back half brought the new miniatures to the D&D game.
Sort of.
Expanding D&D. The first three chapters of Miniatures Handbook are all about warfare in D&D … but without any links to the