Dungeons & Dragons Is Giving Away Free Minis for Sigil VTT

In late February, Dungeons & Dragons surprised everyone by suddenly dropping its 3D virtual tabletop, Sigil. The project itself was no secret, with playtests and previews giving fans some idea of what was to come, but the launch itself came as a bit of a surprise. With a free D&D Beyond account, gamers can check out the 3D VTT for themselves, but the more robust features require a paid subscription. Little over a month after revealing Sigil to the world, rumors called the project a failure, and subsequent layoffs didn’t help. Now, in an interesting move, D&D Beyond is giving out free minis for the VTT.

Initially, Dungeons & Dragons fans were curious about Sigil. However, with D&D Beyond already offering the 2D alternative Maps and several alternative 3D VTTs already out there, the use case for this new entry was a bit unclear. Although beautiful, Sigil has pretty demanding specs, making it difficult to run on many players’ computers. With browser-based alternatives, including D&D Beyond’s own Maps, many fans of the TTRPG were left unsure where something like Sigil would fit into their sessions.

Wizards of the Coast hasn’t formally commented on whether Sigil lived up to their high expectations at launch. However, several key members of the team behind the 3D VTT were recently laid off. This led many fans to speculate that the Sigil experiment didn’t quite attract the user base that Hasbro might have hoped it would. A small team remains to oversee the future of Sigil, but the future of the project looks uncertain, and a recent email from the D&D Beyond team further suggests that Sigil might be less of a priority going forward.

Will Free Minis Bring More Players to Sigil?

Starting on April 4th, Dungeons & Dragons has begun giving away free 3D mini packs for the Sigil VTT. According to a recent email about the giveaway, gamers can “return every week to claim a new pack of minis for your Sigil adventures.” These virtual assets give players more tools to set up encounters and run sessions in the Sigil platform. While the free trial version does include a handful of pre-generated painted minis, much of the mini library for Sigil is paywalled with the Master Tier subscription. Now, some of those minis will be available for free each week.

The first set of free Sigil minis is available now and includes an animals pack, Dwarven Digital Couture Pack, and a Mimic. The animal pack includes unpainted minis of a griffon, two different panthers, an axe beak, and a crocodile. The Dwarven pack, meanwhile, offers a suit of armor for Dwarf minis to wear, and the Mimic mini speaks for itself.

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Offering free asset packs for the Sigil platform might well have always been in the plan. However, given rumors about the VTT falling short of expectations, it could also be an attempt to renew player interest in the tool by making it more appealing. With the free version offering so few minis, this could be a way to slowly increase the appeal of the free VTT without fully giving up on the paywall just yet. At any rate, it looks like players who do enjoy the sandbox vibes of Sigil will be able to download more official 5e tools for the platform in the coming weeks just by heading to the D&D Beyond marketplace.

What these free minis mean for the future of Sigil is an open question. For now, the VTT is still available for download, with the free trial option letting D&D fans get a sampling without a paid commitment. That sampling will now be a bit more robust thanks to the addition of more free minis, but what comes next for Sigil remains to be seen.

Have you tried the Sigil VTT yet? What was your experience like? Let us know in the comments below!