The Last of the Deadly Foes

Friday, October 14, 2016

Deadly Foes, the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, releases next month! Over the last few months, I've been using this space to preview new digital sculpts for the figures, and this week I've got the final two miniatures for the set! The Paizo Warehouse Runelords tell me that our shipment of packaged product from WizKids hits our office soon, so I also hope to provide a few first-looks at actual production figures in the weeks between now and the set's official release date in the middle of November.

Then we've got ANOTHER whole set that WizKids just announced this week to cover in future previews—more on that at the bottom of this week's blog.

But first, let's take a look at the last two figures from Deadly Foes!

Up first is the Shadow Giant, the final creature figure to be revealed for Deadly Foes! This guy has a fascinating Pathfinder origin. The Shadow Giant first appeared in the illustration accompanying the religion chapter waaaaay back in the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, the first-ever look at the world of Golarion as a whole (co-written by yours truly). It took until The Inner Sea Bestiary to give the Shadow Giant statistics. Keep an eye out for their upcoming appearance in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 6 next spring! The Shadow Giant is a Large, rare figure.

The last figure of the entire set to preview is the Rope Trick, a fun piece of dungeon dressing suggested by my friend Ross Williams, a player in my weekly Pathfinder game (under GM Jason Bulmahn). During a particularly rough patch in the campaign, we found ourselves frequently hiding out in the extra-dimensional rope trick created by Ross's wizard, and it often became necessary to know where exactly on the battlefield the rope trick was meant to be. Ross suggested a rope trick miniature, and I thought it a sufficiently fun idea to add it to the set. Opinions here at Paizo are somewhat divided as to the utility of this piece, but I know I'll use it in my game, so it's in. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Absolutely! The Rope Trick is a super-rare piece inserted once per case in place of an uncommon figure. I hope you like it.

And that's it for Deadly Foes, which I think is one of our best and most useful sets yet!

The end of Deadly Foes previews comes just in time, as WizKids this week announced the NEXT Pathfinder Battles set, Crown of Fangs! Crown of Fangs contains 47 creature figures and a bunch of dungeon dressing. My favorite element of the set is the case incentive, the Court of the Crimson Throne, a full throneroom playset that contains thrones, a banquet table, courtiers, and more. We took the idea from the bar incentive in The Rusty Dragon Inn set and said "how can we make this waaaay cooler?" I think you'll be pleased with the results.

But that's getting way ahead of myself. There will be a lot more time to talk about Crown of Fangs in future weeks!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Deadly Foes Miniatures Pathfinder Battles
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Dark Archive

Here is an even better link:

http://wizkids.com/pathfinder-battles-deadly-foes/

All minis are seen in groups and the box art too.

The huges are gorgeous, especially the dragon (whichs wings have to be detachable).
Spawn of C suffers a little from emerging from water and being half height, but is still cool.

The only mini that is DEFINETLY TOO SMALL is the Cloaker - it's smaller than the medium Peri!

Also the Salamanders spear looks super-bendy as do the weapons of some rares.

But the paint steps look incredible!

The Pit Fiend is huge (quite literally)!

Also the giant Eagle looks really impressive.

What a great set!


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Linkified.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

shame about the cloaker, same problem as the leucrotta.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

The cloaker isn't too far out for me, they are meant to cloak a medium and I'm ok with the size. Then again I was happy with the leucrotta. I am conncerned about the size of the cave giant, they are low CR Giants but this one appears to be quite small, he stand about the same height as barzillai thrune!

I also suspect many of the larges we see are actually over sized, and we get used to this over stated size. I man look at the unicorn it's about 6' at the shoulder! That's a very big horse.


both look a bit flimsy on their large base
and the cloaker looked bigger in the digital render


In my youth, I would have found Rope Trick a waste of space, but in my aged senility, I rather appreciate it (I'm even sorry it's so rare, since that'll drive up the single price).

Translucent weapons & walls can be had from WizKids' "War of Light" HeroClix minis.

Reaper's Bones does do a decent Wall of Fire set.

The black tentacles (& other tentacles) available through Auggie's are from Dungeon Crawler, available (painted or not) through their own site, as well.

As for a Dancing Lights mini, I would like 3 or 4 translucent white balls, set in a sturdy transparent plane (which might make a better Will-o-Wisp, too).

Dark Archive

Brontoceratops wrote:

In my youth, I would have found Rope Trick a waste of space, but in my aged senility, I rather appreciate it (I'm even sorry it's so rare, since that'll drive up the single price).

Translucent weapons & walls can be had from WizKids' "War of Light" HeroClix minis.

Reaper's Bones does do a decent Wall of Fire set.

The black tentacles (& other tentacles) available through Auggie's are from Dungeon Crawler, available (painted or not) through their own site, as well.

As for a Dancing Lights mini, I would like 3 or 4 translucent white balls, set in a sturdy transparent plane (which might make a better Will-o-Wisp, too).

Thank you for making me/us aware about the "war of lights" constructs.

There are 10 different ones in 7 colors, but only the "axe", "mallet", "net" and maybe "stop sign" as shield are usable.


New dressing idea that just occurred to me: How about a pile of corpses that would fit in the back of the cart from Rusty Dragon Inn? It could just be a pile of corpses on the ground, or else with the cart you can practically hear Eric Idle calling, "Bring out your dead!"

Dark Archive

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I like the "Inhabited corpse fallen villager" mini from D&D Savage Encounters.

Something like this mini lying flat on a medium base for PFB would be nice.
It also doubles as a sleeping human.

In other news: D&D:SKT finally arrived in Germany and i am glad to have new huge minis again after all these years.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

Cat-thulhu wrote:
The cloaker isn't too far out for me, they are meant to cloak a medium and I'm ok with the size. Then again I was happy with the leucrotta. I am conncerned about the size of the cave giant, they are low CR Giants but this one appears to be quite small, he stand about the same height as barzillai thrune!

The Cave Giant is heavily bent over, almost crouching.

Shadow Lodge

Has the official release date for this set been confirmed?

Silver Crusade Contributor

It's not showing up in My Subscriptions, which is weird.

Dark Archive

Kalindlara wrote:
It's not showing up in My Subscriptions, which is weird.

Not really, the november 2016 new release shipping thread isn't even up.

As the old release date was october, i expect it to be added to your subscriptions next week.

Wizkids intended release date is wednesday 16th of november - 4 weeks from now.


Hi Marco. Two things:

1. Do you have private messages turned off deliberately?

2. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Latest D&D set.

Silver Crusade Contributor

Marco Massoudi wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
It's not showing up in My Subscriptions, which is weird.

Not really, the november 2016 new release shipping thread isn't even up.

As the old release date was october, i expect it to be added to your subscriptions next week.

Wizkids intended release date is wednesday 16th of november - 4 weeks from now.

But everything else is in there. Every book for the next three months is in there, sorted by projected shipment... but Deadly Foes isn't in there.

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Kalindlara wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Kalindlara wrote:
It's not showing up in My Subscriptions, which is weird.

Not really, the november 2016 new release shipping thread isn't even up.

As the old release date was october, i expect it to be added to your subscriptions next week.

Wizkids intended release date is wednesday 16th of november - 4 weeks from now.

But everything else is in there. Every book for the next three months is in there, sorted by projected shipment... but Deadly Foes isn't in there.

I guess that is because it is not a Paizo but a Wizkids product and Paizo can´t guarantee the shipping date, as Wizkids has not given an official one.

Erik wrote: "The Paizo Warehouse Runelords tell me that our shipment of packaged product from WizKids hits our office soon", so i guess that when it has arrived (probably next week), it will be added to your subscriptions - i hope. ;-)

Dark Archive

Steve Geddes wrote:

Hi Marco. Two things:

1. Do you have private messages turned off deliberately?

2. I'd be interested to hear what you think of the Latest D&D set.

1. No, i don´t know how to activate that.

2. Answered in the link blog.

greetings :-)

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Erik Mona wrote:
Cat-thulhu wrote:
The cloaker isn't too far out for me, they are meant to cloak a medium and I'm ok with the size. Then again I was happy with the leucrotta. I am conncerned about the size of the cave giant, they are low CR Giants but this one appears to be quite small, he stand about the same height as barzillai thrune!
The Cave Giant is heavily bent over, almost crouching.

Ah thanks for that. Its not as evident in the small photos from wizkids. Nice to know since the cave giant is one of the three Giants I've been anxiously awaiting (Shadow being the second, ash the third). In all honesty I think thus is an extremely nice set and It's really straining my patience waiting for it to ship.

Dark Archive

It looks like this set has been moved 1 or 2 weeks back to either november 23rd or 30th...

Shadow Lodge

Marco Massoudi wrote:
It looks like this set has been moved 1 or 2 weeks back to either november 23rd or 30th...

A local/regional distributor also recently said Nov 23...looks like we won't be able to do our sealed case draft until after thanksgiving break.

Shadow Lodge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Dang. Now it's definitely going to miss my birthday :(

Come to expect it from wizkids now, pretty standard affair. Just feel sorry for Paizo who have to wear the flack.

Dark Archive

http://www.previewsworld.com/Catalog/JUN168223

Previews lists the release date as november 23rd but has the price wrong.

So: 30 days till release...


I'm lucky, 1 week before my birthday and the day after my birthday is my AR-15 build class. Just before Hillary bans guns. LOL. This set is going to be an awesome birthday present.

I look forward to the next set almost as much. The throne set, not so much, how often do I need a throne? I still think that the dungeon dressings are cool, just that some are a little too unlikely for my needs. At least this time it's going to be the bonus items and I won't have to order it.


Erik Mona wrote:
Yolande d'Bar wrote:

I really like the rope trick. I'd be interested to see a mini that could be used for the various (cough Bigby's cough) hand spells.

I'd say these are pretty high on my list. I have NO insight into what "that other line" does (obviously, or there would probably be less crossover), but I'd say they might want to do them, too. They could even have their full, proper name, which an old Greyhawk nerd who used to live in my body would really appreciate.

Anyway, good suggestion!

Erik,

What is the official release date for Deadly Foes? I noticed in my subscriptions it temporarily disappeared altogether then reappeared with late November/ Early December timeframe( guess-estimate)

The sets keep getting better and better, sculpts, detail, painting and useful variety. Great job!!

Dark Archive

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Here is what Wizkids wrote me:

"Hello Marco,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out tour. Yes, Pathfinder Battles: Deadly Foes is scheduled to release on November 23rd. You can find all of our announced release dates here: http://wizkids.com/releasedate/

Best,
- The WK Team"

If you open the link, you can not only see that the "Pathfinder Deep Cuts Unpainted Miniatures" are scheduled for january 2017 as well as "D&D Icons of the Realms: Monster Menagerie 2", but also that "Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs" is scheduled for april 2017.

Also "D&D Icons of the Realms Miniatures Epic Level Starter" in april 2017.


Marco Massoudi wrote:

Here is what Wizkids wrote me:

"Hello Marco,

Thank you for taking the time to reach out tour. Yes, Pathfinder Battles: Deadly Foes is scheduled to release on November 23rd. You can find all of our announced release dates here: http://wizkids.com/releasedate/

Best,
- The WK Team"

If you open the link, you can not only see that the "Pathfinder Deep Cuts Unpainted Miniatures" are scheduled for january 2017 as well as "D&D Icons of the Realms: Monster Menagerie 2", but also that "Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs" is scheduled for april 2017.

Also "D&D Icons of the Realms Miniatures Epic Level Starter" in april 2017.

Thanks Eric, er, Marco! ;)

No but seriously, nice work! You not only found out the answer to a very frequently asked question (the scheduled release date of Pathfinder Battls: Deadly Foes) but you also uncovered a lair of other release dates as well. Bravo!

Looking through some of these dates a couple of products caught my eye:
- WizKids Locations: RPG Premium Map – Tavern
- WizKids Locations: RPG Premium Map – Throne Room

A quick google search turned up the following text:

The Premium RPG Maps are a great way to enhance your Tabletop RPG gaming experience!

Made from flexible and durable neoprene, these Premium Maps measure 3’ x 2’ and offer a flat, no-fold surface with a non-slip backing to improve your gaming experience.

The maps feature either a Tavern or Throne Room area (each map sold separately), perfect for setting the mood of your next play session!

It would appear we're getting battle maps to coincide with recent and future Pathfinder Battles case incentive pieces, The Rusty Dragon Inn tavern and the Crown of Fangs throne room, respectively. Call it healthy speculation but me thinks they'll be sized to fit said pieces 0:)

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

So how is it we can get another starter set, huge minis and an adventurers camp for that other company, but the same producer tells Paizo it's not possible?


Cat-thulhu wrote:
So how is it we can get another starter set, huge minis and an adventurers camp for that other company, but the same producer tells Paizo it's not possible?

Could be sales based (the online place I get some minis generally stocks twice as many D&D cases as Pathfinder).

Alternatively, it could be that Wizkids want to delineate the two lines (ie "It's not possible because we're doing a campsite in our upcoming D&D set").


By the way. Why do people say "the other company" instead of referencing WotC?

It's not going to have any impact on Paizo is it? And Erik has said (I think?) that he doesn't have any objection talking about D&D minis in these threads.

Seems to me terminology like that runs the risk of being a bit "clique-y".

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

I said it because I'd noticed it occurring a fair bit, I think Erik even did it once. I have no issue with saying wotc just find it amusing how it's danced around. I assumed it was a little tongue I cheek. I've seen it the other way around too when sites are reviewing and discussing the wotc minis and comparing them to "the other company".

Minis are minis, I know I'm not concerned about whether I have the official wotc or pathfinder one. I'd spend about the same on both lines, perhaps a little more on pathfinder because the quality is better. Are people that concerned that the Wotc ones would outsell the Paizo by such a margin to warrant the differences?

The only minis I llost all interest in are the unpainted minis after I noted they all have little strips of moulded earth under their feet. Before that I would have even bought some of those, and again about the same in each company. Oh well, hopefully the unpainted terrain will be better.

I'm just firing off the cuff here, there's bound to be a lot more going on in the background, but that's just how it looks to me. Don't get me wrong I ecstatic to have two lines punching out minis.


Yeah, I didn't mean just you. I've also noticed it around the boards and wondered if maybe I was breaching some protocol...

I just imagined some newcomer not knowing what was being referred to. Mentioning other RPGs and other companies doesn't seem obviously offensive (or counter to paizo's interests) to me.

Cheers

Dark Archive

25 days till release! ;-p

I hope we´ll get a blog again next friday with either production pictures of Deadly Foes or a computer render of the "Court of the Crimson Throne" playset or one mini of the next set. :-)

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

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Cat-thulhu wrote:
So how is it we can get another starter set, huge minis and an adventurers camp for that other company, but the same producer tells Paizo it's not possible?

I can't speculate on this, but I assume wholesome reasons. I think the campfire thing was just a mix-up. I'm glad it's coming at all, don't really care what brand it comes out under.

I suspect if WizKids thinks that more Huge figures work in the way that they did them for the other brand, we'd get a chance to do something similar.

One thing I really respect about WizKids is that they are always experimenting and always trying to innovate. With four sets a year (two from us and two from them), I think the experiments come with whatever set happens to be "on deck" at the time they want to try them.

It's no big deal, and it's not a contest.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Oh I agree it's certainly not a contest, 4 sets a year is a great addition to either game. Plus the success of both companies really boosts the future of the tabletop game. The "on deck" theory make sense also. Don't get me wrong that wasn't an angry rant just genuine curiosity. I would love to see you guys do huge minis the same way, come on Frogemoth and mobogo. I don't mind who brings out the minis, I think we're all very grateful to wizkids for bringing us quality minis, bar the few missteps (and they've really been in the minority truth be told) and I don't actually mind overlap since it gives me options to choose from.

Sczarni

I wouldn't be surprised if they do test items with the the less demanding of quality (they've gotten better, but the first few wizkids d&d sets were continuing the wizards bad paint jobs) and/or by volume of sales. IfD&D regularly sells 1.5x battles, they ar more likly to get their $ back quickly on D&D, so they can do larger price point experiments there first, and then perfect it for battles.

Since PFRPG came from D&D, I see many more PF collectors picking up D&D minis than I do 5th ed players picking up Pathfinder ones. To the point that the store I work for started popping boxes of battles to sell as singles, because the 5th edition players look at them and pick the. Up right along side the D&D singles when they see them out of the package


D&D is fractured into various version cliques. I still play 3.5, which makes the Pathfinder minis quite suitable for my purposes. For instance, Storm King's Thunder actually contains giants that are too large for me to really use, while the ones being offered in the Pathfinder Battles line are appropriately sized. Certainly, I've benefitted from there being two miniatures lines "competing". D&D is my only source for certain intellectual property, but PFB has otherwise pushed the limits of traditional set composition in fantastic new directions. I credit PFB with really establishing the concept of offering multiple sculpts of a single creature type within a set to make decent encounter groups. And with incorporating dungeon dressing that isn't constrained by mini bases. And for providing non-combatant miniatures that inevitably end up getting caught up in encounters. So, even though I don't play Pathfinder, I'm a huge fan of the PFB line.

Dark Archive

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Erik Mona wrote over on www.plasticrypt on the 29th of october:

"Guys,

I just got a case of Deadly Foes fresh off the truck and the Paizo warehouse, and after tearing it open last night I'm really, really happy with how this set came out. There are a lot of really high-utility figures like bugs and hobgoblins, plus some amazing stuff that will make for excellent "setpiece" encounters. The Clockwork Dragon is a stand-out for me, and I really do love the way the Rope Trick turned out (though it's going to be pretty fragile, I imagine). The Pit Devil is likewise fantastic, as are the Fire Diabolist and the Torrent Hellknight (who finally brings some color to the ranks of the cool-in-concept-but-sometimes-unfortunately-drab-in-prepapainted-plasic Hellknights). I also love how the Book of the Damned turned out (removable from its base!), and I think the Hellgate is going to surprise a lot of people as a standout piece. I underestimated the complexity of the writhing bodies that make up the frame even on the digital sculpt. In hand it really comes into its own.

As usual with every set, there are a few things I am not absolutely in love with, but I'd say this set hits the mark really well. I can't wait to hear what you think of it.

I also can't wait to see the paint masters for the NEXT set, Crown of Fangs, which hit the Paizo offices in about six weeks. That set is even better than this one!

Thanks again for your continued support of the Pathfinder Battles line. It's a joy to work on this stuff, and to create cool gaming pieces for dedicated collectors like you (and me!).

--Erik"


Berk the Black wrote "I still play 3.5, which makes the Pathfinder minis quite suitable for my purposes. For instance, Storm King's Thunder actually contains giants that are too large for me to really use, while the ones being offered in the Pathfinder Battles line are appropriately sized."

I never did understand why D&D 3 and 3.5 shrunk the giants and dragons sizes down. Maybe just for miniature playability? I like old 2nd edition sizes as it makes these enemies more epic in potential.

There's nothing like fighting an ancient red dragon the same size as Smaug from the hobbit, which is similar to 2nd edition size for an ancient red.

Dark Archive

Almost every second giant uses "enlarge person" or something similiar, so no biggie there.

I also like giants in huge better. It makes them a lot more intimidating.


I think, AD&D, 3rd and 4th edition all used large giants (except for Cloud and Storm). I'm not really sure why they juggled the size to huge for 2nd and 5th edition.

Pathfinder has been filling in some gaps for me in the different giant types. My favorite are the Stone Giants, what with Mokmurian and Conna on top of a couple of regular sculpts. They're certainly much smaller than the last couple of D&D Stone Giant offerings (especially with Mokmurian being a short giant), but the size is more to scale with the system I use abd the greater variety of matching giants have made them my go to minis.

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