We're getting to deep into the previews for the Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles set that I've almost run out of pictures to show you! A handful of minis remain yet to be revealed, but I'm pleased to report that some of them are among the coolest in the set!
Today I'd like to show off two Small miniatures from the set that leave a very big impression.
Up first is the dreaded Kobold Champion! This lizard-like warrior woman might look a bit like a rank-and-file kobold, but she's in fact encountered late in the campaign, and boy does she ever pack a surprising punch! Although the Rise of the Runelords campaign contains only one Kobold Champion, we decided to slot this figure in the common rarity, reasoning that game masters can always use more well-sculpted kobolds to swarm over their players at any level!
It's probably a bit difficult to tell from the small photos here, but this figure has a remarkable number of paint steps for both a common miniature and a Small miniature, making her really stand out despite her diminutive size. From the paint gradient on her legs and tail to the bright blue tongue, this is one of several minis in the set where I think to myself "I can't believe this awesome mini is a common!"
Up next is the Redcap, a fey menace from real-world mythology with a long history in fantasy gaming. To my knowledge, no Redcap has previously appeared as a prepainted plastic miniature, which makes it a great addition to the Rise of the Runelords set. This little guy comes with the appropriate metal boots, oversized scythe, and the eponymous red cap. As fitting the Redcaps' role in the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition campaign, we've slotted the Redcap in as a common, so you can easily collect a bunch of them.
That's it for this week's preview. The set contains at least two more size-Small figures, as well as a few more exciting surprises.
There's lots of great stuff yet to come! Enjoy the weekend, and don't forget to get in some gaming!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: The Gross, the Bad, and the Ugly
Friday, May 4, 2012
We're getting close to having revealed all of the miniatures in the upcoming Pathfinder Battles set, Rise of the Runelords! It seems like only a few weeks ago that I started showing of sculpts and paint masters, but in fact it's been months, and as I type this the production run of miniatures is trundling through the factory. All of the paint schemes have been approved, all the decisions have been made, and now all that's left is the waiting for the early August release.
Well, the waiting and a few more previews, that is!
Two weeks ago I promised something ugly, and today I'm fulfilling that dark pledge with three figures from the murkier side of the set. These are nasty dudes you definitely don't want to run into in a dark alley, and all three of them make creepy additions to your game table.
Up first is the Ogrekin, a nasty in-bred half-ogre whose clan is the centerpiece of “The Hook Mountain Massacre,” the third chapter in the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path. With rippling muscles and a deformed (really gross) head, this bruiser wanders the wilderness looking... well, let's just say he's “looking for love,” and leave it at that. This common miniature is technically Medium-sized, but he's pushing the top-end of that scale, and makes for a really intimidating figure.
Faceless Stalkers were created in ancient times by the mysterious aboleths as interlocutors with the various air-breathing races of the surface world. Via a painful biological process, the creatures can warp and contort their form to take on the appearance of an enemy. When not pretending to be your wife or best friend, these guys run around in the gross, misshapen form revealed here. The photograph above doesn't quite show off the nasty detail of reddish ink in all of the nooks and fleshy crannies along this guy's skin (especially on his back). The Faceless Stalker is statted up in Bestiary 2, but even if you don't have that resource, this common figure doubles as any kind of hideous humanoid. Ick!
Last up today we have a friendly neighborhood initiate in the local cult of homicidal slasher maniacs, known to the denizens of Varisia as the Skinsaw Cultist! This common figure makes a nice rank-and-file cultist. His skinsaw mask and war razor root him firmly in the Pathfinder Campaign Setting, while his robes and general creepiness make him a good troop-builder for a wicked cult in any campaign.
That's it for this week. I've only got a few more sculpts to show off, but I promise that some absolutely amazing stuff is still waiting to be shown! Come back next week for another early look at Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles miniatures!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Behold the Black Arrows!
Friday, April 20, 2012
I'm on the road this week, so today's preview will be short and sweet.
In recent weeks, we've showed off a lot of monsters and villains from the Rise of the Runelords set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures. This week, I'd like to show off a trio of key NPCs that might prove to be enemies OR allies in the course of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, the notorious Black Arrows rangers!
I'm really pleased with how awesome these minis turned out. Best of all, they make for great player character minis, and perfect stand-ins for whatever kind of warrior-types you might need in your campaigning beyond the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
First up we have Jakardros Sovark, an uncommon human ranger who happens to be the stepfather of Shalelu Andosana, Varisia's famed elf ranger protector. Jakardros lost an eye somewhere along the way, but I assure you that hasn't hurt his skill with the bow and arrow!
Next up is Vale Temros, an uncommon human ranger/fighter with two axes and a whole lot of hurt to unleash on his enemies! I'm thrilled with how well Vale turned out, and in-hand I think he's one of the best miniatures in the set. I'd certainly love to put him on my table as either a PC or NPC!
Last up we have Kaven Windstrike, an uncommon ranger/rogue who might not turn out to be quite as helpful as his Black Arrow fellows. Unfortunately, Kaven's sword snapped off before we could grab a good photo of him (the paint masters are made of a much more brittle plastic than the final figures), so you'll have to use your imagination to see his supremely awesome sword. (Ok, it's pretty much just a normal sword, but as long as we're imagining...).
Be sure to get your own Black Arrows by preordering a Standard Case of Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles minis, or set up an ongoing case subscription to ensure your best chance of getting all 65 figures in the set!
That's it for this week. Next week, I promise something gross and monstrous!
Up first is the Lamia, a creature with ties to ancient Greek mythology and a strong pedigree in fantasy roleplaying games. Appropriately placed on a Large base, this nasty creature has a hateful streak you've really got to look out for. The common miniature also a great likeness of the art from the Pathfinder Bestiary.
Here we have the Lamia Kuchrima, the weakest of the lamia-kin. These flying creatures flock to the mountain skies of Varisia, as they have since the distant days of the ancient Runelords. Many dwell there still, and player characters in the Rise of the Runelords campaign will be facing several as they hack their way to the hidden city of Xin-Shalast at the campaign's conclusion. We've placed this figure at the common rarity, making it easy to gather a whole flight of them.
This figure isn't a lamia, but we think she's plenty cool. This Huge Storm Giant towers over player characters. The creatures feature heavily in the final encounters of the Rise of the Runelords campaign, and this powerful warrior is ready to usher things to a thunderous climax.
For my money, that three-verse song from the opening encounter of "Burnt Offerings," the very first Pathfinder Adventure Path adventure, is as responsible as anything for the huge success of the Pathfinder Adventure Path line. Over the years (and really more or less immediately), gamers began to equate Pathfinder with goblins, and the creepy little critters (as envisioned by artist Wayne Reynolds and Paizo creative director James Jacobs, the song's author) soon became a sort of unofficial mascot for the Pathfinder brand.
The Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles fantasy miniature set gave us a great opportunity to revisit the first Pathfinder adventures, and we knew we needed to include as many goblins in the set that we could.
This week, I thought I'd show off most of the goblin miniatures from the Rise of the Runelords set to celebrate the fact that at long last, we're ready to reveal the set's product descriptions, prices, and case configurations!
I'll get to that a bit later. First, let's talk about goblins!
First up we have the common Goblin Commando, an elite goblin troop to supplement the Goblin Warrior or Goblin Hero from Heroes & Monsters. As you'll note in the Goblin Song above, goblins are no fans of horses, which is why this trooper's makeshift pole-arm is called a horsechopper.
Mounts beware!
Speaking of Goblin Commandos and mounts, here we have the vicious Goblin Commando on Goblin Dog, an uncommon figure that plays prominently in several encounters of "Burnt Offerings," especially in the raid on the town of Sandpoint that kicks off the entire campaign. August's Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition expands this encounter, working Flip-Mat: Town Square to set the scene. All you need to make it perfect is to add miniatures, and this guy is designed specifically for that purpose.
Here we have the leader of the goblins harrying Sandpoint, Warchief Ripnugget on Stickfoot. This teensie tyrant barks orders at his tribe from the back of a giant gecko, making the PCs' encounter with him (and with this rare miniature) one they won't soon forget.
There are at least two more goblin-related miniatures coming in later previews, so if you can hear one of the twisted verses of James Jacobs's Goblin Song echoing over the horizon, it's because we're not quite done with goblins yet!
The Nitty Gritty
We've been teasing product details for months, and I'm pleased to report that everything has finally fallen into place so that we can reveal all of the little details about the size of the set, when it will come out, and how the cases will be packaged. Click through to the various product pages for price and additional details.
Pathfinder Battles: Rise of the Runelords Set Details
Release Date: August 2012 Set Size: 65 prepainted plastic miniatures
The Standard Booster
Rise of the Runelords Standard Boosters contain four collectible miniatures. Each blind box contains a random selection of miniatures from the set, including one Large figure and three Medium or Small figures. Many figures feature colored clear plastic spell effects, crystals, and the like, and these figures range from monsters to important NPCs to Pathfinder iconic characters like Seoni and Harsk.
Standard Boosters come in the following configurations:
Single Standard Booster
8-ct. Standard Booster Brick
32-ct. Standard Booster Case (4 bricks)
The Huge Booster
The Rise of the Runelords set contains four Huge figures, from the Treachery Demon to the Lamia Harridan (shown below) to two figures we haven't revealed yet. The large size and relatively small number of these figures makes it impractical to include them in the Standard Booster, so WizKids created a new product configuration: The Rise of the Runelords Huge Booster. Each blind-boxed Huge Booster contains a single Huge figure from the Rise of the Runelords set.
Huge Boosters come in the following configurations:
Single Huge Booster
6-ct. Huge Booster Case
The Rune Giant
As we revealed last week, the biggest miniature in the set is the towering Rune Giant, our first Gargantuan miniature! The Rune Giant has been produced in extremely limited quantities, and is available for purchase only to retailers (from their distributor), paizo.com Pathfinder Battles case subscribers, and customers who pre-order a Standard case (while supplies last). For more details, visit the Rune Giant product page.
Subscribers
Customers with an Ongoing Pathfinder Battles Case Subscription receive the right to purchase the Rune Giant at 75% off the listed retail price, and are guaranteed access to this extremely rare figure at a rate of one per case ordered. They'll also receive a coupon code good for 20% off the purchase price of one Encounter Pack (such as Champions of Evil) and the standard 20% case subscriber discount on all Pathfinder Battles singles purchases made on paizo.com.
Completing the Set
We've worked hard with WizKids to pack the cases in such a way that customers who purchase a case of Standard Boosters, a case of Huge Boosters, and the Rune Giant can reasonably expect to complete the entire 65-figure set. While we cannot guarantee that this will happen due to the unlikely potential of packing errors at the factory, the intention is that a full line of cases will get a nearly complete set.
So that's it! The long-awaited full details on the long-awaited Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles set!
Next week we'll be mack with more previews and more exciting miniatures reveals!
Ardent followers of our Friday Pathfinder Battles preview blog surely noticed its absence last week, when necessity pulled me away to the wild frontier of Las Vegas for the GAMA Trade Show, an important game industry event that draws publishers, distributors, and retailers from around the country. While at GTS, I had a chance to sit down and chat with my counterpart over at WizKids, and our discussion covered where the Pathfinder Battles line has been, and where it's headed in the future.
We spoke for the first time about the set after the next set (which we haven't even announced yet, but which is already in sculpting!). Sales have been strong for the line, and retailer comments at the show were very positive.
WizKids leaked a few details about Pathfinder Battles at a GTS presentation, including that the Rise of the Runelords set will have two booster configurations. The Standard Booster contains four figures, one Large and three either Medium or Small. The set also contains four Huge figures, sold in random single-figure Huge Boosters. Unlike with Heroes & Monsters, these two booster configurations will come in two different case sizes, so that retailers (and customers) will be able to re-order the size of booster that they need.
Although we are very, very close to being able to reveal specific details about price and availability, we still lack a couple of pieces of critical information that are preventing us from posting the product page so you can preorder these exciting figures right this very second. I expect that to change very soon, so keep your eyes on this space!
At the GAMA Trade Show, WizKids also revealed the worst-kept secret of the line, finally officially identifying the set's premium miniature: the Rune Giant! This gorgeous Gargantuan figure towers over Medium, Large, and even Huge figures, and with his enormous sword he cuts an imposing figure on your game table.
The final miniature will have elaborate tattoos all over his skin, inspired by the original rune giant art by Wayne Reynolds. That's the Vampire from Heroes & Monsters down there by the Rune Giant's shin. I thought you guys would appreciate a sense of just how big this figure is relative to, say, a player character miniature.
Like the Huge Black Dragon of Heroes & Monsters, this figure is produced in extremely limited quantities, and will be available to purchase by customers who subscribe or preorder cases of Rise of the Runelords Standard Boosters (as well as through select retailers). Details on pricing and exactly how you can be sure not to miss this amazing figure will come shortly.
WizKids also revealed another much-anticipated figure, the rare Runelord Karzoug the Claimer, arch-villain of the entire Rise of the Runelords campaign!
This pose was drawn from a chapter-opener image from Ultimate Magic, depicting Karzoug in battle against a hated foe. Both the magical spell effect launching from Karzoug's left hand and the flames of his pole-arm are rendered in tinted clear plastic, adding to the energy effect. With gorgeous fine detailed painting along the hem and embroidery of his robes and lavishly detailed equipment and clothing features, this is a miniature your players will long remember and really relish defeating.
Lastly this week, I wanted to show off a figure that WizKids didn't reveal at the GAMA Trade Show. I wanted to pick a monster, and I wanted to pick something distinctly Pathfinder, something emblematic of the Pathfinder brand that maybe wouldn't have ever appeared if not for the original Rise of the Runelords campaign.
I decided on this guy, the brutal Sinspawn Axeman.
This miniature is an armored, souped-up version of the Sinspawn miniature we previewed weeks ago. As the campaign gets tougher, the player characters actually fight more of these axe-wielders than they do the regular type from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, which is one reason we've put both of them in the common rarity.
That's it for this week! We've still got plenty more awesome figures to preview in the weeks and months to come, as well as a lot more specifics on price, exact configuration, and other important details.
The Paizo office is abuzz with activity as the schedule shifts into overdrive in advance of the big summer releases. We're shipping the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Race Guide today, and final pages of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition are spooling off the new color printer and into the hands of eager editors. Most of you will enjoy the fruits of our recent activity later this summer, perhaps at Paizo Con or Gen Con, but in order to get all this great stuff to the printer in time for its release, Paizo central is buzzing NOW.
As I write this sitting on my couch at 2:32 AM, I've just finished looking over the color proofs of the first chapter of the Rise of the Runelords, “Burnt Offerings,” by our own James Jacobs. James really set the tone for the Adventure Path (and Pathfinder Adventure Paths in general) with his devious adventure. When we decided to feature the Rise of the Runelords in the upcoming Pathfinder Battles set with our partners at WizKids, one of the things that excited me most was the opportunity to bring some of James's brilliant NPCs to full-color life in plastic.
This week in the Paizo Blog, we'll take a look at four NPCs from “Burnt Offerings.” I'd call them all villains, but that would mean spoilers, and I wouldn't want to do that to you. Besides, at least one of these folks could be convinced to join your party as you venture through the town of Sandpoint and the nearby goblin enclave of Thistletop.
First up we have Tsuto Kaijitsu, a half-elf about town whose obsessions help to embroil the player characters in the events of the Adventure Path. Tsuto's sister is the already-previewed Ameiko Kaijitsu, and players will have occasion to encounter both of their miniatures on the field of battle. Tsuto also makes for a good player character miniature. Like all of the miniatures in this week's preview, Tsuto is rare.
Tsuto's obsession is Nualia, an aasimar who is not one of Sandpoint's most upstanding citizens, to put it lightly. She's got a demon hand, a belly full of scars, and a nice big sword to carve up player characters. It took us a few tries to get Nualia's pose correct, but I'm very happy with how it came out. I love the way she's beckoning her enemies to approach.
Lyrie Akenja is another interesting adventurer and Varisian wanderer pulled into the schemes of Tsuto and Nualia. This figure gave us a chance to incorporate a familiar into a spellcaster miniature. Lyrie's little cat is super cute. This figure works great as a player character, too.
Lastly today we have Orik Vancaskerkin, a fighter who like Lyrie found himself drawn into the affairs of Nualia and her minions. Whether or not he counts as one of those minions is really up to the player characters, meaning this figure could easily double as a friend or a foe. Like Lyrie, he makes an excellent player character miniature. Orik is only one of many Vancaskerkins in the Varisia area. Others appear in other Adventure Paths (and at least one more will soon appear as a Pathfinder Battles miniature!).
That's it for this extremely busy week! I'll be meeting in person with the folks from WizKids at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas next week, and I hope to reveal specific release details (including cost, case information, and more) shortly thereafter.
Incidentally, that means we'll be taking a break from previews next Friday, as I'll be on the road and scheming wonderful schemes.
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Ogre the River and Through the Woods...
Friday, March 2, 2012
One of the best parts of working at Paizo is getting to see the brand new art fresh as it arrives in the office. When a new Wayne Reynolds cover painting makes its way to the art department, editors and developers flock to the big monitors to check out the latest masterpiece. It's become a sort of ritual around here.
Five years ago, when we first launched the Pathfinder Adventure Path, we marveled as each new volume brought a fresh take on a classic fantasy monster. Wayne's goblins on the very first Pathfinder cover (flavored by James Jacobs's insane portrayal in the text) immediately conveyed our plans for the new Pathfinder product line—delivering a fresh new take on the classic themes and monsters of fantasy gaming.
In Pathfinder Adventure Path #3, “The Hook Mountain Massacre,” author Nicolas Logue cranked the “fresh new take” into overdrive in his portrayal of ogres as monstrous inbred hillbilly brutes. Wayne Reynolds gave Nick's ogres a puppet-like look that pushed the creepiness even further.
Just as we'd done with the goblins in volume #1, we wanted to give Pathfinder's ogres a distinctive take, and a distinctive visual look. Nick and Wayne delivered, creating an adventure that remains one of the most memorable and unsettling of Pathfinder's entire run to date.
You'll get a chance to play this great adventure (or play it again) in July with the release of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition hardcover. The Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures set will support the campaign, with tons of miniatures inspired by images from the adventures.
Including three amazing ogres!
Up first is the uncommon Ogre, your general rank-and-file maniac. Like all three ogres in the set, this handsome gentleman comes directly from Wayne Reynolds's cover of “The Hook Mountain Massacre,” and he's never looked better. Don't tell the Ogre from Heroes & Monsters, but he's the runt of the litter when placed next to his, um, kin from Hook Mountain!
YEE HAW! Look out for this here big fella with the huge club! We call him the Ogre Brute on account of him swinging around that big stick, but he works just fine as a rank-and-file warrior. He's an uncommon like his brother.
On Hook Mountain, it takes a strong ogre indeed to keep all the family in line. In this set, that duty falls to the brutal Jaagrath Kreeg, a rare miniature with a leering smile and lust in his beady little eyes. I can say with authority that your players will love killing these guys, and you'll love putting them out on your game table.
Details on the release date, format, and price of the Pathfinder Battles Rise of the Runelords set are still being solidified by our partners at WizKids.
And in late-breaking far-future news, I now have a pretty good idea what will be in the NEXT Pathfinder Battles set. I can promise exciting Pathfinder Battles previews at this time in this space for many, many more months to come!
There's just no two ways about it. If you read through this Pathfinder Battles Rise of the Runelords preview, you're putting yourself at risk of some plot spoilers. If you plan to play through the campaign, I highly recommend that you do not look super-closely at the miniatures I'm revealing today, as they could spoil a couple of fun surprises in the Adventure Path.
Our new Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition hardcover is set to release this summer around the same time as the Rise of the Runelords miniatures set (still no specifics on release date or price for the miniatures, alas). The hardcover collects the entire classic first Pathfinder Adventure Path in a newly revised edition, with plenty of fun bells and whistles we'll be revealing over the next few months.
So a lot of people who have not yet had a chance to play the campaign will soon get that chance. If you think you'll be one of them, and you want to maintain your sense of surprise as long as possible, I suggest that you stop reading immediately.
Don't say I didn't warn you.
Spoilers Ahead!:
First up this week we have Aldern Foxglove, a local lord encountered by the player characters in the opening encounters of the campaign. Foxglove serves as an ally and patron to the heroes, and stars in some additional expanded encounters in the hardcover, written by James Jacobs, who introduced Aldern the first time way back in Pathfinder Adventure Path #1.
Aldern is one of many NPCs to receive a new illustration in the Anniversary Edition. In many cases, we ordered these new pieces of art specifically because we knew the character needed a miniature. In the original, we only ever saw an image of Aldern's face, so this time we wanted to make sure that we captured his entire body. I think this figure, a rare, also doubles nicely for any male noble, city dandy, or even a well-dressed bard player character.
And here we have the rare The Skinsaw Man, who for whatever reason seems to have gotten a hold of a familiar jacket. I won't say much more here, other than to mention that this figure has a long purple tongue you can't quite make out in the photo, and that the splattered blood effects bring me much personal joy and satisfaction.
A noble figure like Aldern Foxglove could really use a well-dressed woman at his side, and for these purposes we've included the cunning Lucrecia, also a rare figure. Lucrecia makes a great figure for any female noble, and she plays an important role in the middle part of the Rise of the Runelords campaign. Generally speaking, we try to limit specific characters to the rare rarity. While everyone can use a nice figure of a noblewoman holding a glass of wine, you don't really need a ton of them. Placing these specific figures at the higher rarity also gives our partners at WizKids the opportunity to layer on some really great detail, like the brocade work on Lucrecia's dress and the detail on her corset. Given how many folks liked the unarmed Human Druid from Heroes & Monsters as a townsfolk figure, I think a lot of people are going to get a kick out of Aldern Foxglove and Lucrecia!
And because every preview blog needs a good monster, here's the uncommon Lamia Matriarch. This Large snake-woman has multiple uses throughout the campaign, covering two major enemies in the first half of the Adventure Path. I don't include her in this blog for any other reason. None at all. Humm dee dummm dee dooo.
So! I hope you guys dig this latest batch of releases. They look great in hand, and I'm thrilled to have them in the set. By the time you read this, an agent of WizKids is already at the Paizo office, having delivered the very final miniatures for us to approve and photograph for future preview blogs.
That means the final details on the Rise of the Runelords set, such as price and official release date, must be just over the horizon!
So far we’ve revealed plenty of monstrous menaces soon to appear on your game table as part of this summer’s new Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures set. This week, we’ll bring things back to earth with a look at some familiar friends you just might recognize from the Pathfinder world.
Before I get into the new miniature reveals, I need to point out that we still don’t have all of the specifics about when exactly this set will come out, how much it will cost, or how many figures will be in each booster box, but things have been moving steadily forward on these fronts, and I expect to be able to reveal details shortly.
Until then, we wait. I hope to soothe the ennui by showing off more awesome miniatures from the set.
These miniatures support the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path Anniversary Edition, which is scheduled for a July release. The images shown below are “paint masters,” meaning they are the painted miniatures our partners at WizKids send to their factories as guides for how the production run should be painted. Expect a little variance between these images and the final miniatures, but this is what they’ll be shooting for.
Because these are pre-production images, they’re also missing some of the fine detail work on things like tattoos, fine costume design details, and similar flourishes. These are added at the factory as a final step, so if it looks like Seoni is missing a few tattoos below, don’t despair! They’re coming soon!
Anyway, on to this week’s previews!
This uncommon figure represents Ameiko Kaijitsu, one of Pathfinder’s very first NPCs, and one who has grown to become an important figure in the Pathfinder world thanks to the events of the Jade Regent Adventure Path. Way back in the Rise of the Runelords AP, Ameiko was a simple owner of Sandpoint’s Rusty Dragon Inn, but she went on to become a very important figure whose destiny spans the globe of Golarion. She appears here kitted out in her adventuring gear, ready to help your player characters in either campaign.
The elf fighter/ranger Shalelu Andosana is older than the town of Sandpoint itself, but over the centuries she’s come to view the place as home. She makes an excellent ally and information source for the players in Rise of the Runelords, and her appearance in the Jade Regent Adventure Path means that this uncommon miniature, like Ameiko above, comes in doubly useful for Pathfinder GMs running both campaigns. Plus, female elf ranger with a bow = great miniature for lots and lots and lots of player characters.
So far we’ve managed to fit an iconic character or two into each of our Pathfinder Battles releases, and Rise of the Runelords is no exception. The first iconic in this set (an uncommon) is Harsk, the iconic ranger. I love the detail WizKids was able to achieve with Harsk’s face, and some of the detail on his outfit is absolutely amazing. Artists and sculptors always complain about Wayne Reynolds’s highly complex original art for Harsk, but we think WizKids did a great job capturing the detail and nuance of this popular character.
Speaking of popular iconic characters, they don’t come more popular than this lovely lass, the inimitable Seoni! Seoni made her debut on one of the covers of the original Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path issues, so we knew we had to include her in the set (at the uncommon rarity). And I’m thrilled that we did. WizKids definitely met the challenge with this figure. The picture above is pretty good, but in-hand this miniature is absolutely gorgeous, with a great color to it and lots of excellent sculpt details. Fans of Seoni might notice that her tattoos and some of the pattern on her outfit is missing. As I mentioned above, that stuff will be coming at the factory, and what we’ve seen so far looks terrific.
That’s it for this week! The Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path is a dangerous campaign, but these familiar faces will help you make it through alive, if not exactly unscathed!
A short and sweet preview blog this week, focusing on some of the Large miniatures in the upcoming Rise of the Runelords set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures. We’re still sorting out the fine details of product format and exact release date, so again, there’s no product page for this set, although I have reason to believe that we’ll have good news to report on that front shortly.
In the meantime, I have more images of paint masters to show you! This time, I’m taking a tight focus on stone giants, the major threat of the fourth chapter of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, “Fortress of the Stone Giants,” by Wolfgang Baur!
If you’ve got a copy of that adventure, take a look at the cover. You’re about to see a lot of it in glorious three dimensions. Starting here:
This Stone Giant is a spitting image of a creature from the Wayne Reynolds cover of “Fortress of the Stone Giants,” and I think he may be one of the best prepainted stone giants ever created in plastic. Because you will need a lot of them, these guys are at the uncommon rarity.
You fight a lot of stone giants in “Fortress of the Stone Giants,” and some of them have different statistics. For that reason and to mix things up visually, we’ve included the uncommon Stone Giant Champion, complete with a boulder raised high to crush your player characters.
Also from the cover, the Dire Bear makes a great companion to a band of stone giants, or as a “special friend” for your druid character. He’s also a Large uncommon.
The spellcasting stone giant Mokmurian is one of the primary villains of “Fortress of the Stone Giants,” and WizKids did an excellent job bringing him to life in three dimensions. Note the clear blue magical energy flaming from Mokmurian’s right hand, as well as the complex gold pectoral, belts, armbands, and skirt hem on this miniature. This rare miniature makes a wonderful leader for your Pathfinder Battles stone giant warband, and we’re thrilled to have him in the set.
There are, of course, more giants in the Rise of the Runelords set, but those will have to wait for future Fridays!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Second Look at Rise of the Runelords
Friday, February 03, 2012
Last week I previewed several miniatures from our upcoming Rise of the Runelords Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniature set, scheduled for an early summer release. WizKids is still finalizing the details on the product mix and exact release date, so while we do not yet have a product page for the set, I DO have some more really cool images to show you of paint masters!
To recap, a “paint master” is an early output of the miniature painted as a guide to the factory artists who will paint the final production run. So far, we’ve been really impressed with the factory’s ability to match the quality of our paint masters, so we’re pushing things a bit with this latest release to ensure that you receive the highest possible quality miniatures we can deliver.
So these images don’t look exactly like the final minis will look, but this is what they’re shooting for, and I suspect the final product will be very close to what you see here.
These miniatures support the Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition, a massive hardcover collection of our very first Adventure Path that we’re releasing this summer as a special 10th Anniversary present to ourselves (and to you!).
Up first this week is the Ghoul, a common miniature that represents a key enemy in the Adventure Path’s second installment. I’ve always been fond of ghouls as deadly undead menaces for low-level parties, and this guy looks great, nasty long tongue and all! (And no, his left arm isn’t quite so straight in real life.)
If you thought ghouls were terrifying, wait until you get a load of the Denizen of Leng, another common who will come in handy as your players reach the second half of the Adventure Path. Drawn to the world from an otherworldly plateau and possessed of weird eldritch powers, this alien mystic subs in nicely for any kid of oddball spellcaster eager to keep his ugly mug hidden behind soiled linen strips.
This miniature, the uncommon Wraith, is a good example of something new we’re trying with this set—clear plastic! When appropriate (as in the case of incorporeal undead), we plan to produce certain miniatures in this set with a translucent plastic, adding to the otherworldly effect. This figure is an almost direct translation of the wraith illustration from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, but it took us several tries to get a workable sculpt from the waist down, as the original art is not particularly helpful in this regard. I’m really happy with how he turned out.
Last up today is another clear plastic miniature, the relentless Scanderig (or Forgefiend). This original creature made his first appearance in the original Rise of the Runelords campaign, and countless player characters have since been stuffed inside its fiery belly. He is both Large and rare, and in person he looks absolutely amazing. Note the painted “bars” on the back of the mini. The original illustration didn’t show the creature’s back, so our master painter added the lines with paint to create a sort of grill effect. We didn’t so much care for that, so the final miniature will have an “open” front and back, which ought to help light shine through the red plastic, enhancing the fire effect.
One of the cool things about this second set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures, for us here at Paizo, is to see original Pathfinder creatures in plastic. The Scanderig is just one of many in the Rise of the Runelords set, but the others will have to wait for future Fridays, and future Pathfinder Battles previews.
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A First Look at Rise of the Runelords
Friday, January 27, 2012
These last few weeks it’s seemed like even the weather has been conspiring to delay a big preview of Rise of the Runelords, the next set for our Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures line. I snuck an image of the shaggy Yeti in last week’s preview blog, but until today, the stars have not quite been right to begin our previews in earnest.
No longer! The Runelords have been slumbering for too long, and they demand to be unleashed upon the world! Our long wait is finally at an end, and I’m ready to blow the lid off the first batch of preview images from this upcoming set!
WizKids is still finalizing the specific details about when specifically the set will release, how it will be packaged, and how much it will cost (which is why we haven’t posted a product page yet). Yesterday, we finally revealed the first Pathfinder Battles Encounter Pack, Champions of Evil, which features repainted figures from Heroes & Monsters in a convenient non-random format. You know exactly what you’re getting in this new set of 6 miniatures, which includes three Zombies, an Evil Cleric, a Succubus, and the evil Scarlet Gargoyle. The whole pack ties into our Free RPG Day adventure, Dawn of the Scarlet Sun, which releases in June. If you haven’t seen the Champions of Evil sculpts and paints yet, hop over to the product page and check them out! They’re really cool!
You know what else is cool? The Human Ranger from Heroes & Monsters! This guy is probably my favorite player character-appropriate figure from the first set, but thanks to a series of mix-ups we never managed to reveal a good picture of him here on the blog. Because I’ve been promising it for a couple of weeks now, I thought I’d sneak him in here, even though he’s not a Rise of the Runelords miniature.
Heck, if you like the way this figure looks, you can order him directly as a single. While you’re doing that, feel free to browse the other Heroes & Monsters singles to fill out your collection or simply pick up your favorites from the set without worrying about the randomness of individual boosters.
But you didn’t come here for Heroes & Monsters images. You want the new, fresh meat. You want RISE OF THE RUNELORDS!
And I am here to deliver. This first batch focuses on paint masters of several creatures from the first half of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, which releases in June as a deluxe hardcover Anniversary Edition that compiles all six adventures and key associated material from Paizo’s very first Adventure Path. We’re thrilled to get a chance to go back to where it all started, and update everything to the new Pathfinder RPG rules.
We’re also thrilled to be working with WizKids to present prepainted plastic miniatures to support the campaign. The full set includes a nice mixture of “generic” creatures drawn from the campaign’s encounters as well as specific NPCs from the adventures themselves.
One of the greatest encounter areas of the campaign’s first installment, Burnt Offerings, is the goblin enclave of Thistletop. While the goblins themselves will appear in a future preview blog (and there are some really awesome ones in this set), today’s preview starts with a look at some of the locale’s other denizens.
Up first is the Bugbear Hero, a common figure that represents the bruiser Bruthazmus, the bodyguard of the adventure’s arch-villain, Nualia (more on her in a future preview). Of course, when you’re talking about a bugbear that wears a necklace of elf ears, “Hero” is a relative term!
Up next is the fiendish spirit of Thistletop, the evil Malfeshnekor! This uncommon figure comes on a Large base, and towers over the goblins who honor and fear him.
On your journey back to the town of Sandpoint from Thistletop, be sure to watch the skies for this screeching Harpy, a common figure. This Medium creature has beautiful wings, nasty claws, and sharp teeth. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
One of the coolest things about the Rise of the Runelords set for those of us here in the Paizo offices is that it offers us the first chance to create prepainted miniatures of creatures that are uniquely “Pathfinder”. Here we have a common Sinspawn, the servitor slaves of the ancient Runelords, stirred once more to life with the reawakening of Runewells all over Varisia.
Speaking of sin, check out this amazing fiend we like to call the Treachery Demon! If you thought the Ettin from Heroes & Monsters was big, you’re going to choke when you see this titan hit the table. I have a new-ish GI Joe action figure on my desk, and the Huge Treachery Demon towers over him. It probably goes without saying, but this guy is a rare.
Speaking of rares, check out this Young Red Dragon! As a Large figure, this guy looks down on your player characters with childlike innocence, ready to engulf them in its fiery breath! The sculptors perfectly captured the likeness of this dragon’s illustration. The only thing that makes me happier than this dragon is the OTHER dragon in the Rise of the Runelords set, who is even BIGGER and even AWESOMER.
“Awesomer.” That non-word is probably the best summary of the entire Rise of the Runelords set. We’re enormously proud of the final figures in Heroes & Monsters, but WizKids really upped their game with this second set. Every single mini in this one is a winner, and we haven’t even shown you some of the absolute coolest miniatures in the set yet!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: When Hell Freezes Over
Friday, January 20, 2012
Say, how long does it take to thaw out a goblin? Illustration by Liz Courts
With the arctic devils locking Paizo HQ in sheets of ice and the staff responsible flung to the far corners of snow-locked Seattle, I'm afraid to report that there can be no Pathfinder Battles preview blog today (or blog of any kind, sadly).
Pray for the weary souls of Paizo, cut to the bone with cold, trapped within their mountain fastnesses.
We will reward your patience with a double-sized Pathfinder Battles preview blog next week, with the first amazing images from the next set: RISE OF THE RUNELORDS!
Watch out for yetis (which, by the way, are in the set!).
...Although it looks like this Yeti seems to have escaped!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Last Look at Heroes & Monsters
Friday, January 13, 2012
The first set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures, Heroes & Monsters, formally released this Wednesday. Many of you probably already have your miniatures, or are eagerly anticipating their arrival. Looking over the previews we’ve posted over the last few months, there are still a few minis we haven’t yet shown off in their final form, so if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to take one more pass through this first set before revealing the goods on the next set, which will support the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.
Last week, I went through final images of several of the monsters from the set, but I managed to miss the nasty Orc Brute, which is actually one of my personal favorite figures from the set. I’m astounded by the detail WizKids got into the commons in this set, and this guy is no exception. As an aside, some folks have asked me about the names of some of these figures. I decided to call this guy an “Orc Brute” because he looked bulkier than the Orc Warrior. If you’re looking to emulate this figure with Pathfinder stats, I suggest adding the advanced simple template to the orc warrior and swapping his weapon to a club. Voila!
Speaking of commons, I’m quite pleased with how the Watch Guard turned out. His lantern lights the way through dark city streets, and he’s sure to come running 3d6 rounds after your player characters scream out for his help.
This common Watch Officer started out life as a Watch Captain, but I didn’t quite feel that his pose sold the “awesomeness” of a captain, so I busted him down a rank or two. I do hope to get a genuine Watch Captain into the line at some point. When that happens, you can expect him (or her!) to share the same color scheme and costume details of these two watch figures. Making “like” creatures look alike is a big goal for Pathfinder Battles, and one I hope we can continue to build on in future sets.
This “hero” doubles quite nicely for a villain, since he looks like he’s about to emerge from his hiding place in the shadows to stab you in the back. We call him the Human Rogue, and whether you use him as a player character or a common thug, he definitely comes with the right tool for the job.
Is the item in the hands of this uncommon Human Druid a bedroll? A really big scroll? I’m honestly not sure, even today, but I do think she looks pretty nifty. This figure doubles nicely as a noncombatant townsfolk or tribal character, though those blue crystals hanging from her belt have got to be worth something!
The uncommon Elf Wizard is captured in the act of casting a spell. The figure features a neat color gradient on the skirt of the robes that gives it a nice texture effect.
The uncommon Dwarf Fighter is pulled from the back cover of the Inner Sea World Guide, making him a sneaky actual Pathfinder NPC masquerading as a simple player character figure. Don’t tell the high court of the Five Kings Mountains, but High King Borogrim the Hale has been slumming it!
This uncommon Half-Elf Cleric worships the crusader goddess Iomedae, and comes complete with a holy symbol and a cool graphic on her tabard. She also works great as a paladin or fighter, depending on your mood. Just don’t make fun of her bowl haircut. I hear she’s pretty touchy about that subject!
And that’s it! Looks like my art team forgot to take a picture of the Human Ranger (one of my favorites in the set), so I guess next week we’ll just show a picture of him and put off the Runelords previews again.
JUST KIDDING!
We’ll add him as a special bonus image to next week’s blog, which I promise is going to melt your brains with awesomeness. I can’t believe how great these Runelords minis look! Best of all, we’ve photographed paint masters of almost the entire set, so we should be able to jump right into the good stuff immediately.
That’s not too difficult, because as far as Rise of the Runelords is concerned, it’s all good stuff!
I hope you’ve enjoyed these Heroes & Monsters previews. We’ve now posted singles for sale to help you complete your sets (don’t forget that case subscribers get a discount on singles orders!). If you haven’t yet placed your Heroes & Monsters case or brick orders, I suggest doing so soon. These minis are moving much faster than we anticipated, and they will not be around forever!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: One More Look at the Bad Guys
Friday, January 6, 2012
January 11th is the official release date for Pathfinder Battles: Heroes & Monsters, our first big set of prepainted miniatures produced in cooperation with WizKids! That means we have only two more chances to show off the final sculpts of minis we've previously revealed only as digital renders or pre-production samples. A few commenters on last week's preview blog also suggested some size comparison shots, which we've thrown together below.
Two weeks from today, we'll begin to reveal some of the amazing miniatures in store for our next set, Rise of the Runelords. We now have photos of paint masters for about half of that set, so you can expect to see some amazing, full-color images pretty much immediately.
But that's the future, and the first set isn't even out yet. It deserves just a little bit more time in the sun.
Once again, these are photos of actual miniatures from the Heroes & Monsters set. Enjoy!
Up first we have the Zombie, a common menace that can't wait to sink its teeth into your player characters. As I chronicled several preview blogs ago, this guy started out with a kind of goofy "dancing" pose, but his revised look is more of an undead lunge, and I'm really pleased with how he turned out.
This rare Werewolf retains very little of his original clothing, and almost none of his humanity. The black paint scheme perfectly matches the common Wolf in this same set, giving you both bestial forms of a lycanthropic menace.
This haunting fellow, the rare Spectre, is enormously spooky. The detailed sculpt of his wispy bottom half looks really great in-hand, as many of you will no doubt discover only a few days from now.
Here we have the uncommon Venomous Snake, looking like it's slithered directly off the page of the Pathfinder Bestiary. Ssssssweet!
Speaking of snakes, who better to accompany the Venomous Snake than the rare Medusa, one of the best sculpts in the set? WizKids did a great job capturing the likeness of this iconic creature, and I'm willing to bet she becomes one of the break-out favorites of the set.
And here's my absolute favorite of the bunch, the rare Ettin. I don't think there's ever been a better prepainted mini of this two-headed giant, who absolutely towers over the other figures in this set.
Don't believe me? Check this out:
See what I mean? This guy is huuuuuge. Ok, he's actually Large, in game terms, but he really pushes the envelope, and is sure to elicit gasps from your players when you plunk him on the table!
Of course, the special promotional Huge Black Dragon (who actually is Huge) is the real masterpiece of the set. Here he is standing next to the Medusa, who really ought to start fast-talking soon. Acid breath cuts right through stone, so I imagine it does a good number of filmy white cloth and slightly scaly skin...
That's it! The final look at the monsters of Heroes & Monsters. Next week, we'll take one more look at the heroes, and after that, we're off to Varisia to take a very early peek at the Rise of the Runelords!
Only five days until the official release of Heroes & Monsters! Order your copies today before they are gone forever (something I suspect will be happening sooner rather than later)!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: From Digital Renders to Final Product
Friday, December 30, 2011
When we first started revealing images from the Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters set, all we had to show off were the very earliest computer-rendered images from the first few weeks of production. These gave a good idea of the quality we were shooting for with this first set of prepainted miniatures, but the digital renders lacked some of the depth and paint steps of the final miniatures.
Now that we’ve revealed the complete set in one way or the other and we stand on the precipice of the actual release, I wanted to go back through the set and update a few minis that you’ve only seen in digital form thus far. Below are actual photos of actual miniatures from the Heroes & Monsters set.
This little guy was one of the very first digital renders we revealed way back in August. Here’s the wily Gnome Fighter in all his final glory, complete with a tankard on his belt and bright orange hair to terrify his enemies. This uncommon miniature comes packed with the Dire Rat we showed off two weeks ago.
Next up is the rare Half-Orc Barbarian, one of the set’s most complex figures in terms of pose and detail. This figure looks wonderful in-hand, and makes a fantastic mini for the archetypal, well, half-orc barbarian. Good? Bad? He’s the one with the axe.
This rare Vampire, on the other hand, is all bad guy. WizKids did a great job bringing out the complex detail on the Vampire’s stylish armor. Whether he gets you with his upraised sword, his nasty fangs, or his essence-draining touch, the Vampire will get you one way or the other.
This sexy lady with red demon wings is looking for a good time, and promises a kiss you will never forget (note: do not actually make out with your Pathfinder Battles figures). She’s the rare Succubus, and she’s not pleased with your remark that Bettie Page hairdos are so 2002.
This bad boy, the rare Troll, leaps off the cover of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary to menace your gaming table. Sure, he looks a little like he’s got his hands in the air like he just don’t care, but those jazz hands will tear your player character to shreds, which will then be devoured by his jazz tusks. He will kick your azz.
Also awesome: The more than 25 paint masters for the next set, Rise of the Runelords, that WizKids brought over for approval this afternoon. I won’t be revealing any of those until after Heroes & Monsters is out, but when I crassly mentioned how I thought you guys would react upon seeing them, James Jacobs was friendly enough to offer two G-rated corrections. In his words, you will “poop your pantaloons,” or “brown your britches.”
I couldn’t have said it better (or cleaner) myself!
The official release date for Heroes & Monsters is now only a few weeks away, and by this point I’ve revealed every miniature in the set in one form or another. Later today our friends at WizKids will be bringing over first-run outputs of the approved sculpts for the next set, Rise of the Runelords, so my mind is already on the next amazing set. But those previews will have to wait until next month, as I want to take one more pass through Heroes & Monsters to show off some of the final versions of minis you’ve only previously seen as computer models or unpainted practical sculpts.
First up we have the uncommon Dire Rat, one of the earliest miniatures we revealed for the set. Your comments (and our own impressions) said that the computer-generated 3D sculpt of the rat looked too “clean,” so I asked WizKids to add a layer of filth over the whole guy to really sell the idea that he just stepped out of a sewer. I’d say they nailed it. Gross!
Speaking of early reveals, next up we have the rare Lich, previously seen only as a computer sculpt. The final production-run miniature shown below reveals nice metallic effects on the shoulder pads and chestplate, while WizKids’ talented paint operations have added a cool speckled highlight effect on what originally appeared to be a flat black cloak. This guy really looks like a badass, and I love the way the detail at the hem of his cloak gives the whole thing a sense of texture. I can’t wait to put this guy on the table and see my players run for cover.
Next up we have the common Lizardfolk Champion. This is your first look at this guy in color, and honestly, I’m not sure our camera is up to the challenge of showing off how good the Champion looks, especially for a “common” figure. I count eight different colors, from his black toenails to the touch of blue at the top of his crest. The Lizardfolk’s curved tail and weapon pose give it a great sense of three-dimensionality. We call him a Champion, but at the common rarity, he makes a great troop-builder figure for a Lizardfolk squad. More Lizardfolk will certainly follow (with plenty of variety within the types), but this guy gets us off to a good start.
Speaking of amazing commons, the Orc Warrior is one of my absolute favorite figures in the set. Not only is he an amazing likeness to the illustration in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, but he’s got more detail and a better paint job than most prepainted orcs that preceded him (although I also really like the Orc Brute from this set). There will DEFINITELY be more orcs in the future, and we’ll be careful to match the skin tones, size, and general “look” to make sure all of them work well together.
Lastly we have the only iconic character in Heroes & Monsters, the rare paladin Seelah. Although the way this photo frames her face makes her seem like a bit of a Popeye look, the mini looks really nice in hand. The metallic silver and gold of her armor really pops, and I love the design WizKids pulled off at the hem of her skirt. There will, of course, be more iconic characters to come, with Rise of the Runelords getting two, bringing the total (including the four in Beginner Box Heroes) to 7. Only 14 to go before we’ve covered them all!
That’s it for this week! WizKids is bringing a pile of new minis over later today, and I can’t wait to start planning preview blogs for the next set! Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to know about Heroes & Monsters, and I’ll do my best to help out!
These things are almost in your hands! I can’t wait to hear what you think of them once you get to see them for yourselves!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Gaggle of Goblins and Gargoyles
Friday, December 8, 2011
Today’s preview blog marks an important milestone for the Heroes & Monsters set of prepainted Pathfinder Battles miniatures. With this preview, we’ve revealed all 40 miniatures in the set! In the few more weeks leading up to the formal release of Heroes & Monsters (looking like very early January, at this point), I’ll go back through the set and show off painted versions of early unpainted preview sculpts and digital renders, but with the images below, you will have seen (in one form or another) every single miniature in our first Pathfinder Battles set.
The most elusive preview image for Heroes & Monsters has been this Gargoyle, based on art from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary. Like his counterparts perched upon gothic buildings, the Gargoyle blended in well with his surroundings, and I never managed to add him to the preview pile until now. There’s no reason we’ve been holding him back—he’s a really cool miniature, with sweeping wings and big curved horns. If you’re feeling adventurous, a coat of paint on this guy could make him into a demon or devil too.
Next up we have all four goblins in the Heroes & Monsters set. A few weeks ago, I mentioned that we had to remove the Goblin Mystic sculpt for quality control reasons (his noggin was way, way, way too big), leaving us in a significant pickle. Unfortunately, there was no time to add a full-on new goblin sculpt, so we made the best of a bad situation, and decided to add a re-decoed Goblin Hero in place of the badly sized Mystic. The four goblins in the set, from left to right in the image above, are Goblin Warrior, Goblin Hero, Goblin Hero, and Goblin Warrior.
We’ve painted these similar miniatures in two distinctive paint schemes, making it possible to imagine them as members of different goblin tribes. The two Goblin Warrior sculpts are very minor variations with very slight pose differences. The Goblin Heroes are the same sculpt painted differently.
The goblin minis come two to a pack, so you should be able to start your goblin horde fairly quickly. The next set, Rise of the Runelords, has several more goblins on the way, including a Goblin Warchanter, Goblin Commando, Goblin Commando on Goblin Dog, and a goblin chief astride a giant gecko.
The official release of Heroes & Monsters, our first Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures set, is approaching! Over the last few months, I’ve used this weekly space to reveal sculpts and final images from the set, and with this post, I will have revealed all but one of the miniatures here on the blog! (You’ll have to wait for the Gargoyle, alas, as I forgot to ask the art department to photograph him this week. Sorry!)
After that, I’ll show off a few painted versions of figures we have only seen in sculpt form, and after THAT I’ll begin showing off sculpts from the NEXT set, Rise of the Runelords. I’m very pleased with what we’ve seen so far from Heroes & Monsters, but holy moley, Rise of the Runelords takes things to the next level. I can’t wait!
But that’s the future. Onward to today’s previews!
First up we have the Wolf, a common miniature sculpted in a nice leaping pose. Note the haunting red eyes and the nasty teeth! Aside from this being a solid miniature of a wolf, I’m pleased to report that the paint scheme used on its fur is identical to that used on the Werewolf I previewed a few weeks ago, making this a perfect choice for the “wolf” version of that creature. Throw a pack of these bad boys at your party and they’re sure to be barking at the moon!
Next up we’ve got the Mummy, an uncommon undead menace lurching its way toward your campaign. When we originally added the Mummy to this set, he was pegged to the “rare” rarity, but when the final sculpt came in he struck me more as a “rank and file” Mummy than a super awesome end-of-the-campaign undead overlord, so I busted him down to uncommon, making it easier to rack up a few of these guys for a nice higher-level encounter. Some day soon I hope to get that Mummy Overlord to make the perfect “captain” for a squad of these guys, but in the time being I think this one packs a suitable punch.
Next we have the Chimera, which I must confess has been one of the most difficult and frustrating models in the entire set. Some of you may recall a digital Chimera sculpt we released as part of our initial publicity push for the line. We were never really satisfied with that sculpt. It wasn’t based on Pathfinder art, and it just looked too cartoony and “not right,” no matter how many times we modified it. Worse, it lacked a critical part of a Pathfinder Chimera’s anatomy—wings. That was the death knell for that sculpt, but just when we thought all was lost, WizKids came to the rescue! It turns out they weren’t satisfied with the original look, either, so they green-lit a resculpt behind the scenes to see if a different artist might be able to come closer to what we needed. The final Chimera pictured here is the result of their effort, wings and all.
So there you have it for today’s previews. I’m off to approve more amazing sculpts from our next set, Rise of the Runelords!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Frosty Black Friday!
Friday, November 17, 2011
The Paizo offices may be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, but nothing can stop the relentless march of preview images for the upcoming Heroes & Monsters set!
This week’s preview blog is a special treat in that it features only one miniature. But for my money, I think it’s the coolest miniature in the entire set! I’m talking about the Frost Giant!
The Frost Giant towers over the other miniatures in the set, raising his nasty axe high for a deadly blow to the head of any player character within his considerable reach. The larger size of the miniature really helps to accentuate the fine details of the sculpt, and this figure looks great standing next to his kin from other companies miniature sets.
But his “look” isn’t the only thing that makes the Frost Giant stand out. He’s got a trick up his sleeve. Literally.
Look closely and you’ll notice that this version of the Frost Giant holds a different weapon in his left hand, a mighty sword! Given the difference, you might think that Heroes & Monsters contains two different Frost Giant miniatures, but you’d be wrong!
The Frost Giant comes complete with two different left hands, each holding a different weapon!
WizKids sculpted the Frost Giant with an empty socket at its left wrist. The miniature comes with a choice of two different weapons, which you can snap in and out with ease. I’ve seen prepainted plastic miniatures with different parts before (a necklace here, a chain there), but I’ve never seen anything like the versatility of this mini before, and I think it bodes very well for future sets, which could hold similar surprises of their own.
Making big miniatures like this more modular is a nice way to diversify your doubles, and I’ll confess that it’s simply cool to play with this thing, changing one weapon for the other or adjusting the wrist to pull off the coolest pose.
So if you’re lucky enough to find the Frost Giant in your Heroes & Monsters booster and a friend asks “Did you get the one with the sword or the one with the axe?” you can answer:
“I got them both!”
That’s it for this week. We’re back to at least three previews next week, and we’re getting close to a complete set reveal! Happy Black Friday, everyone!
With the very first Pathfinder prepainted miniatures, Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes, in stores now, interest in the Pathfinder Battles miniatures line has really heated up. Now that many of you have our first four miniatures in hand, it should be clear that WizKids is shooting for very high quality sculpts and paint jobs on all of the Pathfinder Battles miniatures. I think Heroes & Monsters keeps up (and in some cases exceeds) the high quality standards set by Beginner Box Heroes, and in a few short weeks, you’ll be able to see what I’m talking about with your own eyes.
Until then, we’ve got more previews to reveal! The early January release date for Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters is fast approaching, and I find that we’ve pretty much announced all of the 40 miniatures in the set. I wanted to include at least one complete surprise this week, and this penultimate look brings us a single miniature away from a complete set reveal. We’ll get to that last one next week or beyond, but for now, let’s look at some creepy critters from Heroes & Monsters!
First up we have the Giant Spider, a nasty, poisonous fellow who clocks in at the common rarity. Bright red coloration is nature’s way of saying “I’m going to kill you,” and in this regard the Giant Spider is just as deadly as the bright red Venomous Snake we showed off a couple of weeks ago. Don’t forget your antivenom!
This Skeleton makes a good buddy for the Giant Spider, in that they’d both probably feel at home in the same sort of desolate dungeon environments. They also both make excellent adversaries for low-level adventurers. Both of them are commons. Many of the folks here in the office who see the Skeleton say, “wow, he looks just like he stepped out of a Ray Harryhausen movie!” Which is nice to hear, as it’s exactly what we were going for. If you look closely you can see a nice inking effect that WizKids added to the Skeleton’s shield to better sell the wood grain. It looks wonderful in person.
Sure, a Medium Giant Spider is cool, but take it from me. A Large Giant Caveweaver Spider is much, much cooler. This guy absolutely towers over lesser spiders, and he’s even been useful in scaring a few of our “adult” employees who have a very childish reaction to spiders (I’m looking at you, Bulmahn). Heh, heh, heh. Though you can’t quite see it in these photographs, the Giant Caveweaver Spider has a really cool red design on its back that is sure to have your player characters (and Jason Bulmahn) scampering for the exit. Everyone will be glad to hear that this is a rare miniature, so it’ll thankfully be a long time before these guys overrun the Earth.
Lastly, I wanted to provide a group photo of this week’s previews, so you can get a sense of just how huge that Giant Caveweaver Spider really is. Imagine that the Skeleton is the same height as a normal man, and you’ll get a strong idea that messing around with the Giant Caveweaver is a really, really bad idea!
Ok, ok, ok. I hear the skeptics already. There’s nothing terribly revolutionary about spiders and skeletons, no matter how cool they might look.
To which I say, fair enough. So next week, I’m going to show you a Heroes & Monsters figure with a feature unlike anything you’ve seen before in a prepainted miniature! I still can’t believe how awesome and innovative it is, and it’s been sitting on my desk for a month!
As usual, I’ll try to monitor the discussion thread here on the blog. Let me know if there’s anything in particular you’d like to see from the set, and I will make sure we cover it shortly!
Just yesterday, the fine folks from WizKids stopped by the Paizo offices to drop off the final batch of Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters miniatures. I now have, sitting on my desk, actual production-run copies of all 41 miniatures in the set, from the lowly Goblin Warrior to the mighty Huge Black Dragon. Looking at them all lined up on my desk, I’m very impressed with the quality WizKids brought to bear on this set, and I think players are going to be absolutely thrilled with them. As much as I like sharing these images with you every Friday, there’s just something special about holding these miniatures in your hand that can never come through on a photograph.
I’ll begin revealing images of these final miniatures starting next week. This week’s batch is the last of the pre-production samples. Generally speaking, these look identical to the final versions except they haven’t yet been attached to the bases. I’ll see about showing off the bottoms of the bases next week, too, as they look a little different from prepainted plastic miniatures you’ve probably seen from other companies, in that you can actually read the name of the monster and other helpful information. More on that soon.
Today I want to focus on some of the common miniatures in the Heroes & Monsters set. When I first came into the prepainted miniature business, my understanding was that common miniatures often had very few paint steps, and were basically created as “cheaply” as possible as a way of subsidizing the more complicated miniatures pegged to the more scarce rarities. While there is some element of that in the Pathfinder Battles line (very complex minis are indeed more likely to be rarer), I was very pleasantly surprised to see the amount of quality and detail WizKids put into even the common miniatures in the set.
When I’ve showed the production samples around the office, it’s often been commons like the Orc Warrior or Lizardfolk Champion that folks identify as their favorites. With Pathfinder Battles, we let game utility dictate rarity more than things like sculpt complexity or paint steps. If you might want a ton of a certain creature in your game, we did everything we could to put that creature at the common rarity. If you only needed one, we made it a rare, and so on.
Here are preview images of three such common creatures, starting with the friendly (or not-so-friendly) fellows who tend to show up every time your player characters get into trouble in a town or city: the watch!
Here we have the lowly Watch Guard, the rank-and-file police or guard who peers through the darkness with his lantern and impales criminals with his simple spear. You can almost hear him say, “Wot’s all this, then?” as he advances toward your criminal player characters, with very little sense that they might have six or seven levels on him and weapons that cost more than he will earn in a year of cleaning up the city.
Every good gaggle of guards needs a leader, so when we were first planning this set, I asked WizKids to add a Watch Captain to the list. The guy they came back with looked pretty cool, but I thought he was a bit too regular-looking to fully pull off the “captain” rank, so I busted him down. He’s now the Watch Officer, nervously looking over his shoulder for a future set that might include his direct superior.
Or perhaps he’s nervous about an attack from this next common, the mighty Orc Brute! WizKids did an awesome job with the set’s two orcs (the Orc Warrior, taken directly from the Pathfinder Bestiary illustration, is even better than this one). This guy is ready to knock your head off with a nasty club capped with a bunch of nails. If it came down to the fight between the Orc Brute and both of the Watch figures put together, my vote goes to the orc. As Wesley Snipes once famously said: “Always bet on green.”
That’s it for this week. With a full set of finished minis to show off, next week’s preview will be the cream of the crop. Let me know what you’d like to see, and I’ll be sure to add it to the list!
All-Hallow’s Eve is almost upon us, so I’ve decided to shake up the regular preview regime and show off a few spooooooooky Pathfinder Battles miniatures from the forthcoming Heroes & Monsters set, regardless of their distribution rarity within the set.
First up is the Zombie, one of the most iconic horror creatures of all time. We figured that most GMs would appreciate a horde of these undead critters, so we’ve placed him in the common rarity—the better to overrun your player characters, of course!
This guy was a real struggle to get right. The first digital sculpts we received had his hands in the air like he was some kind of dancing fool, but after a bit of tweaking I think he’s finally in a correct “grasp/lunge” sort of stance. The photo doesn’t quite do justice to the details on this figure. Parts of his skull and ribcage are peeking through holes in his rotted skin. Yuck!
Next up we have the Werewolf, a fearsome foe from myth and legend. This lupine horror lunges straight at your player characters with one set of claws up in the air for a killing strike! I especially like the way that the Werewolf still has remnants of his human outfit, such as the torn bits of his pants around the waist and the single leather bracer on his left hand. WizKids has also added a nice drybrushing effect to highlight the contours of the rare Werewolf’s fur. And though I don’t have a photo to show this week, gamers will be happy to know that the regular Wolf in this set has exactly the same color fur, meaning that you could use both miniatures to represent different stages of the Werewolf’s lycanthropy.
Lastly we have a creepy rare critter that you definitely don’t want showing up outside your door whispering “trick or treat.” Keeping the door shut won’t keep him out, because he is incorporeal and can walk right though! Beware, the Spectre!
Super-dedicated Pathfinder fans might notice that this Spectre miniature is not based on the Spectre illustration in the Pathfinder Bestiary. That’s probably OK, I reasoned, since the illustration of that creature in the Bestiary wasn’t originally a Spectre either, and its wispy bottom half and dwarf upper half didn’t strike the right pose for a miniature, anyway. Knowing that we needed a Spectre in our set, we looked through our entire art archive and pulled the best-looking “spectral dead” image we could find. Thus was born this nasty critter, who can double for just about any type of incorporeal undead in the game.
Yes, it would be an even cooler miniature if we’d figured out some way to incorporate transparent plastic into the figure, but for this first set we didn’t have the time to do that kind of trickery.
I’m happy to report that that isn’t the case for future sets, however, and plenty of creepy and cool minis with see-through bits are just over the horizon
So there you have it. Three of the creepiest minis from Heroes & Monsters, soon to be appearing on your gaming table. They won’t make it in time to share Halloween with you, but since they’re scheduled for a December release, I suggest making room for them at Christmas dinner.
I hear they’re ravenous.
Next Week: I reveal photos of some of the set’s amazing common creatures!
I’m pleased to report that I have now seen preproduction samples of all 41 miniatures in the Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters set, and I am thrilled with how they look! At long last we have discovered the “perfect” goblin skin tone, and the big meaty Ettin finally has the proper ink wash to make him a truly menacing brute. Things are really coming together, and folks around the Paizo office are blown away by the quality of the sculpts and paint jobs of the entire line. The commons in particular are amazingly impressive, with far better paint jobs than most gamers are used to at that rarity. WizKids has done a tremendous job both in the initial execution, and in keeping up with a bewildering amount of changes and suggestions from Paizo aimed at making these minis as close to perfect as possible.
To that end, we’ve been shaking up the rarity scheme a bit, so while I was planning to reveal the entire uncommon list today, we’re going to have to wait another week since a few minis are moving around and I don’t want to reveal anything that might change later.
But I do want to share some uncommon images with you! As I explained last week, we see the uncommon rarity as the perfect landing point for player character miniatures (the “heroes” in Heroes & Monsters). While everyone needs multiple orcs and goblins, you probably don’t need a whole army of human rangers or dwarf clerics or what have you.
Today’s blog shows off three of the uncommons (that won’t be changing rarities) no one outside the office has seen yet. Two of them are player character types, while the third is a creature you’ll use again and again.
Our first miniature this week is the Dwarf Fighter, a doughty dude in plate armor and a fancy winged helmet. If you’ve got a copy of the Inner Sea World Guide you probably recognize this guy from the back cover. He means business!
Next up is our Half-Elf Cleric, in this case a crusading warrior of Iomedae. I really like the way WizKids emblazoned her holy symbol on her tabard. And since she’s using a sword and wearing plate mail armor, this miniature easily doubles as a fighter or paladin.
Last up this week is a nasty Venomous Snake, whose image comes straight out of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. A bright red coat is nature’s way of saying “I am going to murder you,” and it’ll be fun to watch your players squirm like Indiana Jones when this little guy hits the table.
That’s it for previews this week! But here we are at the end of the post, and I can’t spoil that uncommon list I was planning to, and I feel terrible! So, in order to make up for this egregious slight, here’s a list of a few rares in the set that we haven’t previously announced!
There are a lot more rares than that, but I’ve got to hold onto some of my cards. The set doesn’t come out until December, and we’ve got plenty more blogs to go before the set releases!
So let me know if there are other topics you’d like me to cover on these Friday blogs, and I’ll do my best to do so!
Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters Preview: Getting Into Character
Friday, October 14, 2011
Things are moving rapidly on the Pathfinder Battles front! This week, our partners at WizKids sent us 13 pre-production samples from December’s Heroes & Monsters 40-miniature set. These figures are very similar to the final production-run, so we’re within 95% of the final look of the miniatures. These figures are not yet attached to bases, but beyond that, they’re pretty close to done. We’ve spent the last couple days looking over every millimeter of these miniatures, getting our final feedback to WizKids so they can make minor adjustments before the figures start coming off the production line.
For today’s blog, I thought it would be fun to show off brand new photographs of three of these miniatures. Unlike the monsters we revealed last week, these three figures are designed to represent NPCs and player characters, and each belongs to a race and class found in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
Our first miniature is the sneaky Human Rogue. This little guy wears a long, dark cloak with a cute pointed hood, but his hidden short sword shows he means business. This figure doubles as a good urban thug or even an assassin.
Next we’ve got an Elf Wizard, caught in the act of casting a deadly spell. Though it doesn’t come through particularly well in the photograph, the elf’s robes have a neat color gradient that blends from bluish-gray at the shoulders down to purple at the hem of the robe.
Lastly we have a Human Druid from the deep jungles of the Mwangi Expanse. Who knows what powerful ritual is inscribed on her huge scroll? As much as I like this picture, it’s difficult to appreciate the detail on this figure without holding it in your hand. With metallic blue shards hanging from the strap on her side to the cool texture of her hair, this is a fantastic-looking miniature.
There you have it. Three adventurers ready for your game table, and we haven’t even gotten to the set’s iconic character yet!
All three of these figures are at the Uncommon rarity. Next week I’ll reveal more of the preproduction samples, and I’ll also list several more Uncommons we have planned for the Heroes & Monsters set.
Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters Preview: Common Courtesy
Friday, October 7, 2011
I don’t have any color previews to show you today, so instead I’ve decided to share three “behind the scenes” shots of unpainted preliminary sculpts for miniatures in the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Heroes & Monsters set. The complete set features 40 miniatures plus the premium Huge Black Dragon miniature. Of those 40 minis, 13 are packed in the common rarity.
When deciding which miniatures to assign to which rarity, we thought about how the miniatures would be used on the game table. If you generally encounter a single example of a given creature (say, a manticore), we assigned that miniature to the Rare rarity.
For creatures that come in larger numbers in game play, we were more likely to assign them the Common rarity. Stuff like orcs, goblins, city watch guards, and the like fit easily into this category, because everyone needs more than one. Our partners at WizKids put a lot of work into creating amazing sculpts even for the more common figures, as you can see below.
For starters, here is a nasty-looking Orc Brute, complete with a big club and plenty of need for good dental work. Note that this early sculpt has the wrong number of toes on each foot, something we fixed for the final sculpt.
Next we have a slightly more civilized Orc Warrior, whom you might recognize from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.
Lastly (for today), we have another nasty humanoid, the savage Lizardfolk Champion! Beware his trident!
This week is also the first in which we begin to reveal the final set list. In the spirit of the Common creatures revealed above, I thought I’d reveal the entire list of all 13 Common creatures in the Heroes & Monsters set! They are:
COMMON CREATURES
Goblin Warrior
Goblin Hero
Dire Rat
Gnome Fighter
Orc Brute
Orc Warrior
Skeleton
Watch Guard
Watch Officer
Lizardfolk Champion
Zombie
Giant Spider
Wolf
Next week I hope to show more color images, as well as reveal the 10 Uncommon figures in the Heroes & Monsters set! Come back to see what else we have in store, and look for Pathfinder Battles: Heroes & Monsters in stores this December!
When we put together the set list for our first major Pathfinder Battles set, Heroes & Monsters, we knew it needed to contain several goblins. Ever since James Jacobs and Wayne Reynolds reimagined these classic monsters in the very first Pathfinder Adventure Path volume, “Burnt Offerings,” these little green-skinned bastards have been sort of unofficial mascots for the Pathfinder brand. They just had to be represented in the set.
The behind-the-scenes images below show the unpainted master sculpts of two of the goblins included in the Heroes & Monsters set. As WizKids’ sculptors pretty much translated our critters directly into three dimensions, we did not require any changes to their look.
The image below shows the goblins in their full-color glory. We asked WizKids to darken the greens a bit on these little guys, so the final production models will come off a little less day-glo than they appear here, but you can get a good sense of how nasty the goblins will look when they come chomping into your life in December!
They be plasticrack, you be food!
Next Week: I have no idea which images we’ll preview next week, but I am confident they will look awesome. Let me know what minis or Pathfinder Battles information you’d like to see, and I’ll do my best to reveal it here in seven days!
Pathfinder Battles Preview: Heroes & Monsters Behind the Scenes
Friday, September 23, 2011
So far we’ve revealed the digital sculpts for 11 of the prepainted miniatures in our Pathfinder Battles: Heroes & Monsters base set, including the mighty Huge Black Dragon! Digital sculpts give us the chance to see what a miniature will look like in full color, and allow us a chance to make minor (or even major) adjustments to ensure that the miniatures accurately model the characters and creatures that inhabit the Pathfinder world.
But digital is not the only way to sculpt a miniature, of course. Even though our partners at WizKids use the most modern methods to create their beautiful minis, sometimes the best way to make a miniature is to sculpt it by hand using precision tools and modeling putty. This is the same process by which most metal miniatures come into the world. Because the epoxy putty used by most sculptors is usually green, minis lingo refers to these preliminary miniature sculpts as “greens,” no matter what color they turn out to be.
Below you can see the green of the tallest miniature in the Heroes & Monsters set, the two-headed Ettin. The pose is an amalgamation of a black-and-white ettin image from a Pathfinder’s Journal fiction piece and the ettin entry in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. When WizKids provided this image to Paizo for approval, Senior Art Director Sarah Robinson and I thought it captured the creature perfectly, and gave the sculpt our stamp of approval almost immediately.
Once a sculpt has been approved, WizKids technicians use the green to form the basis of the mold from which the entire production run will come. At about the same time this is being done, painters must determine what the final paint job of the miniature will look like. In the case of digital sculpts, general paint guides come with the sculpt itself. In the case of traditional sculpts, however, the artists must interpret colors from the original art, and take their best shot at how they think the final colors should look.
Just this week, WizKids sent over the proposed paint deco specs for the Ettin, which looked like this:
Like the sculpt before it, the paint deco sample passed inspection with very few changes. We like the way this guy looks. That said, from experience with the Beginner Box Heroes set, WizKids improves the painting with each step, so the final miniature will likely look a little more “weathered” than this one, giving it a slightly more realistic look.
So the Ettin went very smoothly, transitioning from art to green to mold to paint deco with virtually no hitches. I’m happy to say that this has been the case for most of the miniatures in the Heroes & Monsters set, but a few have been somewhat more stubborn, requiring more substantial changes at each step in the process. A good example of this is the Human Ranger.
When we decided to put the Human Ranger in the set, we provided this great illustration by Eric Belisle to WizKids.
Their sculptor’s first crack at this miniature captured a lot of what we thought was important about the character’s costume and general demeanor, but Sarah and I were concerned that the pose was too two-dimensional, and wasn’t as dynamic as Belisle’s original illustration. Our WizKids counterparts agreed, and came back with the following major improvement:
We really liked this approach, and approved the sculpt. Now here was a bowman we could see people really wanting to play, and the pose really tells a lot about the character. We were excited! But things got a lot more exciting earlier this week, when WizKids sent over the following paint deco for approval:
And that, as they say, was a bulls-eye.
From here the paint decos will be turned into “masks” that go over the unpainted miniatures, allowing paint application to go in all the right places. Add some hand-finishing to bring out the tiny details, and the Ettin and Human Ranger are on their way to production!
Ever since we announced our Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures line in partnership with WizKids, members of the Paizo community have wanted a way to subscribe. Due to the special nature of randomly assorted blind-packaged miniatures produced by another company, it’s taken us about a month to pull together the appropriate website code to make it happen. I’m pleased to announce that today we are ready to reveal the Pathfinder Battles subscription plan, as well as some associated details about how you can make sure you don’t miss the exciting (and extremely limited-edition) Huge Black Dragon premium miniature from December’s Heroes & Monsters set! Best of all, the entire system is ready immediately, and you can begin your Pathfinder Battles ongoing subscriptiontoday!
Our new Pathfinder Battles ongoing subscription allows you to specify the number of cases you would like to receive of each major Pathfinder Battles set release. The first set, Heroes & Monsters ships in December, with a follow-up set, Rise of the Runelords, in June. We currently anticipate that future sets will appear about every 4 months.
In addition to major randomly packaged sets, WizKids plans to release several nonrandom Encounter Packs. These packs are not included in your subscription, but your subscription will allow you the opportunity to purchase them at reduced cost.
Each major Pathfinder Battles set will also include at least one limited-edition premium miniature. For Heroes & Monsters, the premium miniature is the fearsome Huge Black Dragon ($14.99), usually available only to retailers on a 1-per-case basis.
Your ongoing Pathfinder Battles subscription provides the following benefits:
The right to purchase one limited-edition case premium miniature at 75% off its normal retail price per case ordered.
Discount code good for 20% off our price on one Encounter Pack per case ordered.
20% off our price on paizo.com purchases of loose, unpackaged Pathfinder Battles miniature singles to help you fill in your collection.
We expect all of our Pathfinder Battles sets to sell out relatively quickly, as the red-hot demand for this product has exceeded our expectations. An ongoing Pathfinder Battles subscription is your best chance to get the latest figures before they run out!
Sign up today to ensure that your Pathfinder Battles ongoing subscription starts with the very first release, Heroes & Monsters. Only those who preorder by October 1st and subscribers will be guaranteed a chance to purchase the Huge Black Dragon premium miniature, so we encourage interested parties to preorder or subscribe as soon as they can. We will continue to offer Heroes & Monsters as the starting point of your subscription as long as we can guarantee that we will have enough premium miniatures to cover subscriber demand. When this is no longer the case, we will shift subscriptions to begin with the following release.
We’ve assembled a handy Frequently Asked Questions to cover the subscription plan in greater detail, and plan to monitor the comment thread of this blog post to handle any questions we haven’t thought of yet.
Thanks for your patience with us as we’ve put this new subscription option into place. We hope you’ll consider it worth the wait. You won’t have to wait much longer, though, for the Heroes & Monsters are on the march!
ENnie Awards: Product of the Year (for the Advanced Players Guide)
Whew... another Gen Con over and done with! We had a great time at the show, in no small part due to the incredible support of our fans and customers. You all are the BEST!
In a Gen Con filled with highlights, though, for me one of the most incredible moments came about 15 minutes after the Ennie Awards wrapped up, when we went up to the Pathfinder Society Organized Play room to announce to a room of several hundred gamers that we’d won. The uproar of cheers that filled the room when Erik climbed up on his chair and made that announcement was overwhelming. Pictured is one of those many awards—the trophy for Product of the Year (Advanced Player’s Guide) held up with an enormous room of hundreds of Pathfinder Society GMs and players in the background.
We also made a large number of announcements at Gen Con for products coming out in the months ahead. Most of these announcements can be found here and there on paizo.com, but I thought I’d group them all up here in this post so everyone can find out about them at once.
Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Coming at the end of the year is Pathfinder Bestiary 3, followed next Spring by the Advanced Race Guide (a big hardcover book that’ll give you new options for ALL of the zero Hit Die races we’ve published to that point, as well as rules for building your own races of any power level), and then next Gen Con with Ultimate Equipment (a hardcover filled to the brim with new toys and magic items for any Pathfinder character).
Pathfinder Adventure Path: At long last, we’ve started the Jade Regent Adventure Path! But once you’re done traveling over the frozen Crown of the World and exploring Tian Xia, be ready next February for some good old-fashioned plundering and mayhem with the pirate-themed Skull & Shackles Adventure Path. And then, next Gen Con, we celebrate five years of Pathfinder and ten years of Paizo by returning to where it all began—the Shattered Star Adventure Path brings it all back to Varisia with a frantic search to be the first to recover and rebuild an ancient Thassilonian artifact—the original Sihedron Symbol—before it’s too late!
Pathfinder Player Companion: After debuting Goblins of Golarion at Gen Con, we’re ready to finish out the three-part exploration of the faiths of the Inner Sea with Faiths of Corruption. Two months later, the Dragon Empires Primer gives players all they need to know to make characters from Tian Xia. And early next year, Pirates of the Inner Sea will finally let you unleash your inner buccaneer!
Pathfinder Modules: We’ll be heading back to Varisia even earlier than Magnimar: City of Monuments and the Shattered Star Adventure Path, though, with Feast of Ravenmoor, a low-level module set in the Varisian hinterlands. Two months later, test your mettle in The Ruby Phoenix Tournament, and then next January find out what our latest RPG Superstar winner, Sam Zeitlin, has in store for you in The Midnight Mirror!
Pathfinder Battles: After WizKids releases the initial set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder miniatures of Merisiel, Kyra, Valeros, and Ezren (Pathfinder Beginner Box Heroes, which ties into the upcoming Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Beginner Box), you can look forward first to the 40-miniature set of Heroes and Monsters, to be followed up later next year by the Rise of the Runelords set.
And finally... the announcement that I was the most excited for: a 420-page hardcover compilation of Rise of the Runelords, fully updated to the Pathfinder rules and expanded with new encounters and tons of new artwork, due for release at PaizoCon 5 next June!
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