Wofano Wotanto
Hero
One cheap-and-dirty DIY method is to take some index cards (or any comparable weight paper/cardstock, preferably white), draw stick figures of whatever you need "minis" for at whatever size you like (too big is a storage nuisance, too small is hard to handle), clip them out with so they're twice as tall as desired and have a bit of room below the feet of the art, fold them together just above the art and fold the bottom parts outward to form a base. Use some clear tape or white glue to hold the standee together.
You can either leave it at that or go get some washers or pennies or POGs and stick the standees on them with either tape (double-sided works best) or superglue so they're weighted and don't fall over so easily or get blown away when you sneeze/laugh. Probably wise to number your standees as you do the art. Up to you whether you color them, either with pens or crayons. If you want to get fancy, draw a front and back image for each subject in a head-to-head position so they'll both be upright when you fold the strip into a standee. Can't recall if the 5 Units Of Distance From Location games care about facing or not, but if they do you're covered that way.
You can do dozens of the silly things at once, and they're easy to replace if the get lost/damaged. You can even re-use the bases, and if you used pennies they have guaranteed real-world value. I've played entire seasons of Bloodbowl with standee teams, using double-sided art with little smiling faces on one side and X for eyes on the flip side so we could tell who was just down and who was stunned.
If that's too much work, just use flat counters. If you want them heavier than index card stock, finish a box of cereal or similar product and white-glue your art to the waste cardboard instead of recycling it.
If all that's too minimalist, go haunt ebay or minis sites like Lead Adventure Forum or the kajillion facebook groups and pick up bargain lots when you see them. Minis are frequently cheaper than pro RPG pawn sets are, especially if they're badly painted or just unloved. As long as you avoid older/rarer stuff the collectors are after even GW figs show up dirt cheap pretty often, often with atrociously inept paint jobs.
You can either leave it at that or go get some washers or pennies or POGs and stick the standees on them with either tape (double-sided works best) or superglue so they're weighted and don't fall over so easily or get blown away when you sneeze/laugh. Probably wise to number your standees as you do the art. Up to you whether you color them, either with pens or crayons. If you want to get fancy, draw a front and back image for each subject in a head-to-head position so they'll both be upright when you fold the strip into a standee. Can't recall if the 5 Units Of Distance From Location games care about facing or not, but if they do you're covered that way.
You can do dozens of the silly things at once, and they're easy to replace if the get lost/damaged. You can even re-use the bases, and if you used pennies they have guaranteed real-world value. I've played entire seasons of Bloodbowl with standee teams, using double-sided art with little smiling faces on one side and X for eyes on the flip side so we could tell who was just down and who was stunned.
If that's too much work, just use flat counters. If you want them heavier than index card stock, finish a box of cereal or similar product and white-glue your art to the waste cardboard instead of recycling it.
If all that's too minimalist, go haunt ebay or minis sites like Lead Adventure Forum or the kajillion facebook groups and pick up bargain lots when you see them. Minis are frequently cheaper than pro RPG pawn sets are, especially if they're badly painted or just unloved. As long as you avoid older/rarer stuff the collectors are after even GW figs show up dirt cheap pretty often, often with atrociously inept paint jobs.
