Friday Publisher Preview: Denizens of the Lost Coast

Friday, June 13, 2014

I'm writing today's blog from the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Origins is one of the longest-running gaming conventions in the country, and this year a small contingent from Paizo is at the show running demos of the Skull & Shackles Base Set for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, playing some Pathfinder Society Organized Play games, and hob-nobbing with other game industry folks. Last night, I had a chance to introduce some friends from Wizards of the Coast's D&D team to the glorious wonders of White Castle hamburgers, and just a few minutes ago I finished up a fun PFS table at which our own Jason Bulmahn played an obnoxious priest of Razmir, the fak—er, "Living" god. Good times.

But the second biggest tabletop gaming convention in the country is no excuse to skip a Friday Preview Blog, so here I am in my hotel room bringing you the latest glimpse at November's upcoming The Lost Coast set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures!

The Lost Coast set contains a wealth of cool creatures drawn from Pathfinder monster books, adventures, campaign settings, and comic books, presenting a straight-up serving of fantasy goodness that should appeal to all Pathfinder players and GMs. I think the set contains some of our finest sculpts yet, and I can't wait to get them on my own gaming table!

Here's a sneak peek at three of the set's 45 figures.

Here we have wily old Brodert Quink, the resident sage of the town of Sandpoint—the opening locale in the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path and numerous other Pathfinder adventures, comics, and audio dramas. Quink comes complete with reading glasses and a large book, making him a perfect option for elderly wizards or a sage in just about any locale. He's got a great expression and adds nicely to the growing range of "townsfolk" available in the Pathfinder Battles line. Brodert Quink is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Now here's a creature I've been dying to get in prepainted plastic for years and years. One of my favorite aspects of deciding the figures in each set is that I get to supplement my own collection with creatures I've long wanted, and this scruffy critter is a perfect example of my own wish fulfillment working for you. I give you the Leucrotta. This wolf-hyena-deer hybrid dates back to AD 77, when it appeared in Pliny the Elder's Natural History, one of the world's earliest RPG bestiaries. Even the "historical" Leucrotta had cool powers like the ability to mimic human speech, and I've been fascinated by these evil creatures since they first appeared in RPGs back in the 70s and 80s. There have been a few metal versions available, but so far as I know The Lost Coast marks the creature's first appearance in prepainted plastic. The Leucrotta is a Large, uncommon figure.

Last up this week is a man full of pomp and circumstance, or at least pomp and lots of fatty foods. I'm speaking of course of Lord Mayor Grobaras, the arrogant ruler of Varisia's city of Magnimar. I have a real soft spot for noble figures tricked out in finery AND for grossly fat figures, so this guy is like a dream come true for me. He's ideal for any kind of overbearing politician, though if you ask me I think he's perfect for an obnoxious singing bard. The figure is based on one of my favorite illustrations from the Magnimar, City of Monuments sourcebook, and I hope you love him as much as I do. There's certainly a lot of him to go around. Lord Mayor Grobaras is a Medium, rare figure.

And that's it for this week's preview. I'm off to play some more Pathfinder Society adventures!

Until next week,

Erik Mona
Publisher

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles

Awesome more commoner minis and a leucrotta. Good preview.


Looking good. The Leucrotta is weird, yet intriguing. I am curious to see more pictures of it from different angles.


Excellent choice for townsfolk.

Also, I have an unrelated question. When might we see a ninja? Sure there's ninja's out there, but I want a PF ninja.


I so hope Brodert Quink's face comes out OK. I love this figure and would be real happy to own him.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Noe, more than ever we need wizkids to meter faces. These two NPCs are awesome!
I also can not tell you how happy I am to see a leucrotta, one of my favourite, and hence my players least favourite, monsters. This is shaping up to be a great set.

Are the paint masters made with the same plastic as the production models? The level I'd detail looks like they use the more brittle stuff, similar to runelords. I know I'm in the minority, but with new packaging I think I may well prefer the older harder plastic, it kept mould detail much better. Looking over my pfb I can't help but think less details in the moulds has added to some of the face woes in the humanoids.

But at her than detract from these previews let me just say again - looking yo be a great set, maybe even a 2 case set for me! Of course that has the added bonus of 2 shemhaziAns. Now do we get the large black dragon here or in an evolution set? How about a cool harrower complete with translucent card shuffling effect? Gnolls, man of I want to see some gnolls. Or even...hmm this could go on for a while.


Love all 3 of these! I'm always thrilled to see NPC's, and both old characters and fat characters are under-represented. (I'd love to see a couple of big fat club-bearing idiots, too, like the one pictured in the first volume of Kingmaker. And speaking of Kingmaker, I could have used Grobaras to represent Grigori, whom my players just dealt with in our last session. Plus, those players might potentially explore an area with a leucrotta before too long. Now, to see if I can steer them away from there until November....)


Quink!!

The Lord Mayor is looking grotesquely fat and foppish, so he is perfect and the Leucrotta is definitely a strange critter, looks cool though!

I want this set now, November is so far!


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

All three of these look amazing, and both NPC/PC types are great choices.

The elderly sage looks a lot like one of the librarians in one of my biggest campaigns. Unbeknownst to my players, he's also one of the most powerful characters in the entire campaign. It will likely be December before their at a stage where it makes sense for them to find that out. I hope I'll have him in hand by then.

I'm also a sucker for fat PC's, as they are grossly underrated. He will work perfectly for my NPC Court Bard that I drag out to annoy my group whenever they manage to secure a trip to the castle. He also works well for my desire for more haughty noble PC's my characters can face off with.

Holy cow. I actually used a pack of Leucrottas in my campaign not that long ago. Too bad I'll be getting him a few months too late. I'll have to find a way to work him back in, so my players can see him on the table.

I feel like this set is shaping up to be my favorite.

I agree with danielc, though, that it's going to be extremely important to get the faces up to par on these NPC figures. I'm encouraged from your encouragement regarding the Wizkids meeting.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

Had a follow up meeting today that was even more encouraging.


1 person marked this as a favorite.

Love this preview! Both of the humans can serve multiple npc roles in a campaign, and the leucrotta is a classic monster that has never been done before. I'm glad that WizKids is getting the message from Paizo that they need to address the painting on human minis. Hopefully, The Lost Coast will not suffer from the problems that plagued the last few sets.

Liberty's Edge

Oh man, I needed the first and third a year ago...


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

I do have one question regarding the PC/NPC medium human figures.

Would it make sense to try an open-view limited pack of PC/NPCs Humanoids that better reflected the cost to produce them?

I understand why each big battles line has to be blind-packaging, what for the entire line to work. But it seems that enough people would like very good looking PC/NPC humanoid miniatures that perhaps a limited run at a higher cost would make sense.

For example, if you did a special PC Party line that included the following:
--five miniatures in each pack
--each miniature (per set) would be of a different race
--the five miniatures would have a general makeup of:
1. Melee Combatant
2. Ranged Combatant
3. Champion of Faith
4. Arcane Enthusiast
5. Wildcard (typically a Bard, Druid, Monk, or Rogue)

If you just stuck with one source book it would allow you to directly promote that particular source book and also satisfy some more of the demand for high-quality PC/NPC miniatures.

I would think the NPC Codex would be a wonderful book from which to choose. You've got plenty of amazing illustrations from the eleven core races that could serve as an excellent trial run. And aside from a line like this, pulling from the art on the pages in the NPC Codex book might be tricky.

If the line ended up successful, you've also other options in the NPC Codex, including some great illustrations of characters from each Prestige Class.

I guess it would be similar to the idea of the four-miniature Basic pack you did near the beginning of the Paizo miniature line, with the four iconic characters. These would be top-notch quality, but also more expensive to better reflect the cost of producing each "rare" figure.

I don't know if this type of release would be feasible. Wizards of the Coast did something similar towards the end of their miniature run. I recently purchased a package of them and they are surprisingly well done. I don't know if they were profitable or not for the company, but at least one the secondary market they are somewhat hard to track down and a bit pricey when one does find them. I don't mind paying the price for the quality, but many of them are strange races that must have come about in fourth edition.


Love these previews. Always love npc types and I've been looking for a leucrotta proxy for a while. Home run with this set so far!!!

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

I can't announce things than haven't been announced yet, of course, but let's just say we've been working for a long time to figure out how to do something more or less exactly like what you're proposing, Pigraven.


The Mayor (or Baron as he would be used in my game) is wonderful.

Grand Lodge

Nearly every set seems to add to what is needed to run Rise of the Runelord having exactly the minis you need. Bravo! Hope to run it again some day.

Quink and the Lord Mayor are both miniatures that can be used well beyond RotR.

The last set had the Catoblepas and now the Leucrotta. Checking off creatures from the first edition Monster Manual that have never been made in PPM is a nice plus.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

There are more "generic" RotR-appropriate miniatures to come in this set. We never had a chance to do a few of them, and it's always bugged me. So expect to see some familiar faces in weeks to come.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

Plenty of monsters I hope! These seem to come out best in the line. Perhaps a dire hyena? Female stone giant?


Would like to see a dire hyena indeed. Also it's been a while since i have seen a new Gnoll in a prepainted miniature line and i bet a pathfinder Gnoll would look awesome!


Brodert Quink and Lord Mayor Grobaras would both be very welcome additions for me! Lots of uses for both!

Starting to like this set more and more!

Liberty's Edge

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Pigraven wrote:

I do have one question regarding the PC/NPC medium human figures.

Would it make sense to try an open-view limited pack of PC/NPCs Humanoids that better reflected the cost to produce them?

I understand why each big battles line has to be blind-packaging, what for the entire line to work. But it seems that enough people would like very good looking PC/NPC humanoid miniatures that perhaps a limited run at a higher cost would make sense.

For example, if you did a special PC Party line that included the following:
--five miniatures in each pack
--each miniature (per set) would be of a different race
--the five miniatures would have a general makeup of:
1. Melee Combatant
2. Ranged Combatant
3. Champion of Faith
4. Arcane Enthusiast
5. Wildcard (typically a Bard, Druid, Monk, or Rogue)

If you just stuck with one source book it would allow you to directly promote that particular source book and also satisfy some more of the demand for high-quality PC/NPC miniatures.

I would think the NPC Codex would be a wonderful book from which to choose. You've got plenty of amazing illustrations from the eleven core races that could serve as an excellent trial run. And aside from a line like this, pulling from the art on the pages in the NPC Codex book might be tricky.

If the line ended up successful, you've also other options in the NPC Codex, including some great illustrations of characters from each Prestige Class.

I guess it would be similar to the idea of the four-miniature Basic pack you did near the beginning of the Paizo miniature line, with the four iconic characters. These would be top-notch quality, but also more expensive to better reflect the cost of producing each "rare" figure.

I don't know if this type of release would be feasible. Wizards of the Coast did something similar towards the end of their miniature run. I recently purchased a package of them and they are surprisingly well done. I don't know if they were profitable or not for the company, but at least one...

Something similar that I wouldn't mind seeing an "Icons revisited" set with the iconics of later sets repainted and re-released.

Many are unavailable online, and the paint jobs on a few were shakey, and people would pay a lot for a complete set of iconics. And it should be fairly cheap as the molds are already available.


Here's hoping for Sheriff Hemlock!

Grand Lodge

Erik Mona wrote:

There are more "generic" RotR-appropriate miniatures to come in this set. We never had a chance to do a few of them, and it's always bugged me. So expect to see some familiar faces in weeks to come.

My hopes:

BUNYIP
TENTAMORT
GIANT HERMIT CRAB
REVENANT
MAMMY GRAUL
TENDRICULOS
SHOCKER LIZARDS
PIXIE
NYMPH
TERAKTINUS
TAIGA GIANT
MAMMOTH
CONNA THE WISE
THE HEADLESS LORD
FIENDISH MUSTARD JELLY
NIGHTWING
CHERNOBUES
JORDIMANDUS
KARIVEK VEKKER
CLOUD GIANT
AUROCHS
SCARLET WALKER
LENG SPIDERS
ASTRADAEMON
PLANETAR


Mayor Deverin, perhaps?


Mazra: far be it from me to destroy your hopes but... Cloud Giant, Leng Spider, Mammoth, Nightwing, Scarlet Walker, Taiga Giant and Tendriculous are Huge. So at least those are highly unlikely.


Might as well add another similarly unlikely one to the wishlist: Firepelt Cougar.

They seem to appear frequently in publications set along the Lost Coast. But after the flood of animals in RoW I won't get my hopes up too much.


Isil-zha wrote:
Mazra: far be it from me to destroy your hopes but... Cloud Giant, Leng Spider, Mammoth, Nightwing, Scarlet Walker, Taiga Giant and Tendriculous are Huge. So at least those are highly unlikely.

The inability to get access to huge minis is one of my biggest frustrations and disappointments with the Battles line. There are just so many cool beasties at this size that its a travesty to have little to no hope of ever seeing any. I think it's pretty safe to just go ahead and get any huges that appear in the D&D line without fear of PFB duplicates, and count yourself lucky.


Erik Mona wrote:
Had a follow up meeting today that was even more encouraging.

Erik, I’m looking forward to hearing about the results of your encouraging meetings with WizKids.

As for the huge dilemma, was it announced that huges are going to be pretty much non-accessible? I know Erik has said it was “difficult” in that you can’t put them in with normal packaging of a booster box (way too big) and I know he’s mentioned the encounter packs are not selling as well as they’ve hoped.

However, I thought Erik had also said they are looking at ways to still incorporate huges as part of the PFB line.

It would be a real shame and disappointment if this size was just abandoned, as it’s been shown, there are just way too many worthwhile huge miniatures that should be made.


Hobbun, nobody said that there wouldn't be any more Huge figures, at least not that I'm aware of. But there were strong indications that they wouldn't be part of a larger set for the foreseeable future.


Ok. I missed the announcement of not seeing them for “the foreseeable future”, but I do recall Erik saying they are difficult to put out as they are in that odd size (can’t go with a normal sized booster box and the encounters sets aren’t selling well). But I thought I remember Erik indicating they were still attempting to work something out.

Erik, how did the huge booster box sell with RotRL? I’m guessing not extremely well as it hasn’t been done again.

Liberty's Edge

Well... at least these are rare and uncommon so my collection isn't full of them.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

First off, let me say I'm thrilled that Paizo has been looking at a way to create high-quality PC/NPC miniatures that (hopefully) promote some of the relevant source books. The NPC Codex and Advanced Race source books have plenty of potential both in art and actual character-types. Even in Advanced Race, you could make some nice limited-run four or five miniature packs that would appeal to DM's or anyone else that likes increasing their miniature collection.

Some possibilities from Advanced Race Guide might include:

A five-piece set of high-quality miniatures such as this would be amazing:
--Fetchling (Male Ranger; illustration on page 109)
--Ratfolk (Female Alchemist; illustration on page 152)
--Tengu (Male Rogue; illustration on page 166)
--Strix (Female Fighter; illustration on page 200)
--Aasimar (Male Paladin; illustration on page 87)

Or a set of the five Geniekin, also in Advanced Race Guid, would be amazing. They could also help promote the new player companion, Blood of the Elements:
--Ifrit (Male Sorcerer; illustration on page 127)
--Oread (Male Monk; illustration on page 145)
--Sylph (Female Druid; illustration on page 157)
--Undine (Male Bard; illustration on page 179)
--Suli (Female Magus; illustration on page 202)

For those who have the Advanced Race Guide source book, an interest in seeing a couple more PC/NPC miniatures and a few minutes, I highly suggest you check out the pages and the accompanying artwork.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

If you happen to have the NPC Codex, I suggest checking out the NPC section in the back. While a couple of these don't have artwork, the illustrations for the others are great. As a DM, I'd love to get my hands on miniatures like these. I'd wouldn't bat an eye if asked to pay a bit of a premium for one & done sets like these, provided the final versions were well done.

These sets would help fill out the NPC's in a town or city. They'd also go nicely with the small but impressive collection of NPC Commoner-types found throughout the Battles line.

Commoners:
--Accomplished Angler (illustration on page 256)
--Barmaid (illustration on page 243)
--Miner (no provided illustration)
--Shopkeeper (no provided illustration)
--Ruffian (illustration on page 258)

or:

Experts:
--Apprentice Jewler (no provided illustration)
--Journeyman Carpenter (illustration on page 261)
--Expert Blacksmith (illustration on page 262)
--Seasoned Trapper (no provided illustration)
--Successful Merchant (illustration on page 263)

or even:

Adepts:
--Shaman (illustration on page 244)
--Doom Prophet (illustration on page 245)
--Enforcer (illustration on page 246)
--Heretic (illustration on page 247)
--Healer (illustration on page 248)

By one & done I mean sets that I'd love to have, but really only need one of each miniature. On a limited-run, high quality sculpt & paint job, the price would run significantly higher than if they were included in a big blind battles line. The tradeoff, of course, is not just a wonderful looking miniature, but saving Rarity spots in the battles line for more monsters and/or campaign-specific characters.

For every five DM's that might want a Lord Mayor Grobaras miniature, for example, there are likely only one or two that would desire a Jeweler, Miner or that great half-orc Carpenter to help round out different townsfolk. Thus the limited-run idea.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

As for the huge, umm, Huge discussion, here are my thoughts.

This idea is based on the presumption that the Huge RotR blind packs, the Dragon Evolutions series and maybe the Reign of Winter two-pack units weren't as successful as Wizkids (and Paizo) had hoped they would be. We haven't had official confirmation on the RotR Huge brick, but because it hasn't been done since that set, it's safe to say that is likely the case. The Dragon Evolutions were commented on, specifically the initial White packs. We don't really know about the Reign of Winter two-packs, but we do know that both miniatures in that pack were originally planned for other purposes but never made it. For all we know, it was only going to be a special one-off, anyways.

So with that in mind, the best way for Paizo to get more than one or two Huge-sized miniatures out to the public at a time would be to create an actual table-top game that requires such creatures. By creating an experience that is both it's own stand-alone product but also uses Huge miniatures that can be used in more typical "pen & paper" RPG games, the company could increase the demand.

A great example of this is the new D&D Dragon Wing Attack game. It appears to be somewhat different from the D&D Icons set that will be releasing in August. The Dragon Wing Attack series appears to be a separate tabletop game system with unique rules. The genius behind such a move is that the dragons can also be used for regular rpg play. For example, I love dragons, and will likely pick up the starter set. I don't really care about the Attack Wing game, but Large-sized Dragon miniatures in mid-flight poses? Yes please. The ability to purchase a pack of six armored bugbear ground troops is also fitting for my needs as a DM.

On the other hand, I have a friend that eagerly anticipates the game because it's an easier "sell" for him in regards to other tabletop gamers that aren't enamored with RPG gaming. Having a game where four to six people can sit around and play a couple times over the course of a few months, with a clear winner at the end, is very appealing to many people. He'll likely never be able to get the majority of these said players to join one of his RPG campaigns, but if they keep coming back to play the Dragon Attack Wing game, it's still a win for him.

Granted, getting mere casual fans interested in dragons would likely be much easier than getting the same group of people interested in a tabletop game where Huge-sized plants or demons play a key role. But with the right planning, I would think a system could be developed, and said miniatures could see the light of day. Even a game slightly akin to the Pathfinder Module, where the game revolves around one major story arc, might work.

Or maybe even a typical Good vs. Evil battle of the century type of deal? Wrath of the Righteous appeared to have done well as far as the Adventure Path is concerned. At least, I mostly read positive comments about it. I'm not sure how the Battles line faired, sales-wise. But why not create a typical Good vs. Evil system that lets DM's build on that success, and their Wrath of the Righteous miniature collection.

Again, this is just an idea. But it seems it might be one solid way to actually get more Huge-sized miniatures made.


Do we know which of the iconics are going to be in this set? Which ever ones they choose I hope that the paint job is better than the witch's.


I think the way to sell Huges is to *make ones that lots of people want*, not just insane collectors who would buy absolutely anything just for completeness' sake. So far, of the Huges Paizo has made, I'd say only the Frost Worm, the Treachery Demon, and the dragons meet that criterion. Maybe the Karzoug Statue. The other ones, just not enough demand. And you're never going to reach the players' market with Huges, which is where the big-time demand is, unless maybe you toss out a few Huge steeds (read: Mammoth) or critters a Druid might commonly wildshape into. There are definitely other Huges out there that would generate a lot of demand, maybe even some that your average DM would want multiples of (like perhaps Huge elementals.) Or, you could change your packaging and do what WotC did in their old Huge sets (like Giants of Legend and War of the Dragon Queen) and have one Huge per booster. Otherwise, *just stay away from the bizarre and niche where Huges are concerned.* It's not that I don't want them, it's just that I'm a freak who wants everything, and I'm not the norm.


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber
Cleanthes wrote:

I think the way to sell Huges is to *make ones that lots of people want*, not just insane collectors who would buy absolutely anything just for completeness' sake. So far, of the Huges Paizo has made, I'd say only the Frost Worm, the Treachery Demon, and the dragons meet that criterion. Maybe the Karzoug Statue. The other ones, just not enough demand. And you're never going to reach the players' market with Huges, which is where the big-time demand is, unless maybe you toss out a few Huge steeds (read: Mammoth) or critters a Druid might commonly wildshape into. There are definitely other Huges out there that would generate a lot of demand, maybe even some that your average DM would want multiples of (like perhaps Huge elementals.) Or, you could change your packaging and do what WotC did in their old Huge sets (like Giants of Legend and War of the Dragon Queen) and have one Huge per booster. Otherwise, *just stay away from the bizarre and niche where Huges are concerned.* It's not that I don't want them, it's just that I'm a freak who wants everything, and I'm not the norm.

I feel like your opinion on these types of things is extra valuable because you do some buying/selling of miniatures on the secondary market, correct?

I agree with you to the point, but I'd also like to point out that the Paizo Huge miniatures you mentioned are also some of the best looking (both sculpt & paint) on the market. The Frost Worm, Treachery Demon and Dragons aren't just popular creatures, but they look good, too. The Karzoug Statue also appears to have some movement, at least from watching the availability on some of the online stores. But literally all those statues are great.

The Storm Giant, meanwhile, is one of those where the sculpt just isn't impressive. I bought a few because I got a good price on them, but I've heard from miniature collectors and DM's that feel like she could have had much more appeal. I agree; in fact, when I'm only using one Storm Giant for an encounter, I've taken to whipping out the Storm Titan from the old DDM line.

Basically what I'm saying here is that while demand is certainly influenced by type of creature/character, the actual sculpt & paint job play a big role, too.

I do hope that Paizo continues to try their hand at Huge-sized miniatures. One key reason is that many Huge creatures fall in that sweet spot of CR monsters that are relevant in mid-level campaigns. It gets a bit frustrating having all these medium or large miniatures on the table with CRs of 10-15, but next to nothing that represents the Huge size with those CR's.

This is one of the reasons why I don't pound the table for all the Colossal miniatures that could be made. (Kraken & Tarrasque notwithstanding). Simply put, most relevant Colossal-sized creatures are going to be found in high level campaigns, and from gauging other players and DM's, most campaigns will never even make it that high. Most of the Gargantuan and Colossal-sized creatures that would be found at mid-levels are likely going to be animals, and those can found in other toy lines, like Papo and Safari Ltd.

Like we've discussed in the past, the Huge Elementals are likely the safest route when it comes to in-demand miniatures. Erik has admitted that they are tough to do, but he's willing to give it a try. But outside of the Elementals and a couple types of well-sculpted Giants, I'm not sure what would hold enough appeal.

Grand Lodge

Isil-zha wrote:
Mazra: far be it from me to destroy your hopes but... Cloud Giant, Leng Spider, Mammoth, Nightwing, Scarlet Walker, Taiga Giant and Tendriculous are Huge. So at least those are highly unlikely.

You have destroyed my hopes. ;)

I guess Wizkids is unable to duplicate Wizard's feats, which included the following:

Giants of Legend
War of the Dragon Queen
Against the Giants
Legendary Evils
Lords of Madness

That is five full sets where Huge minis were an integral part.

Honestly with the beautiful miniatures Wizkids have created, it would seem they could figure this out; like four miniature boosters with a Huge, and any combination of a large and two smaller minis, or three medium or smaller minis to a booster. Sure the price per booster would need to be higher. Giants of Legend boosters were higher priced than Archfiends or Aberrations, etc. But I would be very interested in a Mammoth, or a Tendriculos, or a Female Cloud Giant, a Taiga Giant or a Nightwing, or a (fill in the blank yet to be made in PPM Huge).

And then they could have the Black Magga for the incentive piece from the set. ;)


Pigraven wrote:
I feel like your opinion on these types of things is extra valuable because you do some buying/selling of miniatures on the secondary market, correct?

Yups. Sell a lot of minis on Ebay.

I agree about that Storm Giant; never liked the look of her, and the paint job doesn't help. The Storm Giant from WotC (also a female, from the Giants of Legend set) is superior in every way.

I also think at least one other Huge would sell well: The Froghemoth. The Tendriculos (or another Huge plant creature that's not a Treant) would probably do well too, since they aren't at all well represented. There are probably others I'd bet on too, but I'd have to look up the list again, and I'm too lazy right now :-p


Pathfinder Adventure, Adventure Path, Maps, Rulebook Subscriber

After giving it some more thought, I think the route I'd take if I were Paizo would be to find a completely different supplier for Huge PPM miniatures.

Customizable miniatures made with 3D printing machines have become more than a dream. I've been looking into 3D printers, and creating various sizes of miniatures is very doable. Creating templates that match what you want is one hurdle, but can be done with some time and effort.

We know the large scale demand for most Huge-sized miniatures just doesn't seem to be there. As Cleanthes has pointed out, only DM's and true miniature collector's are going to make up the demand for such items. But the demand appears great enough that ignoring the size completely would almost be criminal.

I feel like 3D printed Huge-sized miniatures would make sense. Many of the DM's and collector's that would love to purchase these creatures won't mind paying a bit more for great-looking sculpts that are very well painted.

Among the benefits of 3D printed materials is that you don't need to print hundreds or thousands at a time in order to keep costs down. Once the template has been created, it can be pulled up and the item crafted without much trouble. This type of production would allow for more individually customized orders.

So for example, let's say Paizo partnered with 3D Miniatures (a made up company for this example) for the initial wave of Huge miniatures. The gaming company would make ten templates available on the Paizo website, and customers could order these Huge miniatures at their leisure. Once an order was put in and processed, the order would be sent to 3D Miniatures. The miniatures in the order would be made, and then hand-painted. Once the product was finished, it would be sent out to the paying customer.

The benefits of these miniatures would be as follows:
--An exact scale replica of the creature in question.
--Highly detailed miniature, capable of a precision not found in the mass-produced molds.
--Highly detailed hand-painting on each miniature, thus better reflecting the master paint jobs found in the weekly previews.

These miniatures would be higher in price, of course, but not cost prohibitive. While the hand-painting would raise the price, the fact that hundreds or thousands of miniatures wouldn't have to be produced at the same time would help keep them down.

And one key factor for Paizo and the 3D Miniatures is that there is no real lost cost.

At the very least, I feel like it's something to consider.


Pathfinder Adventure Path, PF Special Edition Subscriber

I too am in favor or Huge minis. I would love a set of Huge elementals as an example.

And I would like to see the Evolution set continue. I feel I'm owed a blue and a green dragon evolution set >.>


You had me at "... the glorious wonders of White Castle ..."

And then you talked about minis.

Life is good.

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

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Looks like the Reign of Winter Monsters set is doing well enough that there might be room to do similar packs in the future. I think I've mentioned before how that set was the result of a couple of compromises. The Frost Worm was originally a part of Heroes & Monsters, and the Svaathuurim is one of the only interesting Huge creatures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

It's not the Huge 2-pack I would choose starting from scratch. I think that's a good thing, as other monster mixes will probably sell even better.


Erik Mona wrote:

Looks like the Reign of Winter Monsters set is doing well enough that there might be room to do similar packs in the future. I think I've mentioned before how that set was the result of a couple of compromises. The Frost Worm was originally a part of Heroes & Monsters, and the Svaathuurim is one of the only interesting Huge creatures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

It's not the Huge 2-pack I would choose starting from scratch. I think that's a good thing, as other monster mixes will probably sell even better.

Erik that is the best news I've heard all day!

My vote goes to a Huge Elemental pack next.


Kemiroch wrote:
Erik Mona wrote:

Looks like the Reign of Winter Monsters set is doing well enough that there might be room to do similar packs in the future. I think I've mentioned before how that set was the result of a couple of compromises. The Frost Worm was originally a part of Heroes & Monsters, and the Svaathuurim is one of the only interesting Huge creatures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

It's not the Huge 2-pack I would choose starting from scratch. I think that's a good thing, as other monster mixes will probably sell even better.

Erik that is the best news I've heard all day!

My vote goes to a Huge Elemental pack next.

2 Elemental Packs !! Fire and Water, Earth and Air.


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That's great news on the RoW huge pack selling well enough. I also vote on the two elemental huge packs. That's probably something I would actually buy two of (each).


Erik Mona wrote:

Looks like the Reign of Winter Monsters set is doing well enough that there might be room to do similar packs in the future. I think I've mentioned before how that set was the result of a couple of compromises. The Frost Worm was originally a part of Heroes & Monsters, and the Svaathuurim is one of the only interesting Huge creatures in the Reign of Winter Adventure Path.

It's not the Huge 2-pack I would choose starting from scratch. I think that's a good thing, as other monster mixes will probably sell even better.

This is great news. I'm really happy about the gargantuan case incentives, and a selection of key huges would be even better. Especially since the way they are packaged I can choose to get just one of each or duplicates of those I see a need for more of, without having to get an equivelant amount of additional larges, mediums and smalls.

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