Crazy Good Commons

Friday, June 26, 2015

One of my favorite things about November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted Pathfinder Battles figures is the strength of the common figures in the set. Picking the right rarities for figures is both an art and a science, and we've been doing our best to get the balance correct since the start. I'm very pleased with how things shook out for The Rusty Dragon, and hope that you agree!

First up this week is a staple of tavern life, the Dancing Girl! She works great as a solo performer or as part of a troupe, and if you imagine her hands are raised for a purpose other than a seductive dance, it's also possible to see her as a spellcaster. Her cultural details suggest the Varisian race of the Pathfinder world, which means she'd also work as a Harrower or a commoner NPC. Anyway, I think her sculpt turned out pretty well! The Dancing Girl is a Medium, common figure.

Last week we revealed the Guard, and this week we introduce his better-armored, haughtier cousin, the Pious Guard. His illustration comes from page 117 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex, where he is depicted as a 10th-level paladin of Iomedae, but he could just as easily be a temple guardian or a heroic player character. Heck, he might even work as a cleric or even a member of the city watch. The Pious Guard is a Medium, common figure.

Although the general theme of The Rusty Dragon Inn set is taverns and the folks who patronize them, not all figures in the set slavishly follow the theme. For players wanting more creatures than barmaids and commoners we have a variety of honest-to-goodness monsters in the set, including several examples of my personal favorite low-level undead critters—ghouls. This Ghoul Cultist looks best in large numbers, surrounding your player characters at the culmination of a profane ritual. Luckily, he's a common, so you'll be able to build a coven of these guys pretty easily! The Ghoul Cultist is a Medium figure.

And that's it for this week! The Sun is shining in Seattle, and I'm ready for the weekend. See you in seven days for more previews of The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Dungeons Deep Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

Another 3 for 3 for me - all of these will be useful and used in future campaigns. Wow! Very sweet versatility for both NPCs and the Ghoul cultist is an awesome addition for an undead and cultist encounters.


Most definitely love that cultist. Cannot wait to see what other ghouls await us....


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Oh, so ghouls don't belong in an inn? I didn't know the Rusty Dragon was an anti-undead establishment. You'll be hearing from our level 12 mohrg lawyer.


It would be fun in future sets to maybe get other races that are undead. I would love some dwarf wights and skeletons.


Love all 3, but especially the Dancing Girl. I'm surprised that one hasn't been covered in prepaints before! And the digital image looks great. Important to get a good paint job on that one's face, though....

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

First thought on seeing the serving girl - Harrower, which you confirmed in the text. I think I'll be looking for a few of these, so common is perfect. As stated above this will be one of those where the painting with be pivotal, especially the face. Very cool addition.

Pious guard is the perfect upgrade to the guard. Will the blue in the final match the blues we see in the current guards line (and the eagle knights coincidentall; I use them as guards. A fair bit)? I think this is a great, armoured bulky warrior and can see some need by me for several. Great mini, great rarity.

Ghoul cultist, second revealed (of 4?, I hope) and it's a beauty (?). I will be getting a lot of these, so common is perfect. I just hope these ghouls tie in well with the rune lords, shackles and undead builder sets - primarily size wise I mean Assuming 4 in this set, that will leave me 6 sculpts and a whole lot of awesome for one my favourite low level baddies as well Erik. Actually I feel a little spoilt here - ghouls and bugbears as a focus, two of my most liked, and the gnolls in the previous.

I'm very keen to see what the dressing will be in this one. When are we going to see spoilers for those?

Liking how this. Set is unfolding. Especially keen to see some more larges from the set since I'm trying to figure out how commoners will feed into that. Or will they be a literal feeding since these will be the monsters (quivering cubes and all)


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Cleanthes wrote:
Love all 3, but especially the Dancing Girl. I'm surprised that one hasn't been covered in prepaints before! And the digital image looks great. Important to get a good paint job on that one's face, though....

Will have to echo Cleanthes on all aspects, the Dancing Girl is my favorite, and also that the face is extremely important to have a good paint job.


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Please, WizKids, don't screw up the faces! I've liked every figure previewed so far; this set is going to be another winner.

Grand Lodge

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Gee, Erik, I don't remember you being so enthusiastic about ghouls when you were playing a 1st level character that ran into one in the hold of a longship...

;)

Silver Crusade Contributor

Really excited for the Dancing Girl/Harrower. Echoing others on the importance of the paint quality...


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Erik Mona wrote:
First up this week is a staple of tavern life, the Dancing Girl! She works great as a solo performer or as part of a troupe, and if you imagine her hands are raised for a purpose other than a seductive dance, it's also possible to see her as a spellcaster.

Or a monk! My first impression was that she was getting ready to deliver a flurry of blows. :)

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

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Wow, I hadn't considered that. She would be great for a monk.

Or, come to think of it, a psychic or kineticist.

(Occult Adventures is so cool, you guys.)


wouldn't mind if the Pious Guard lost his furry hunchback.


Very much like all three, especially like the Dancing Girl and the Ghoul Cultist (perfect as a common). I too am hoping the size of these Ghouls is in proportion to previous Ghouls.

As far as the promo piece, I am warming up to the idea of the bar. My guess is the dressing will be the Inn accessories and furniture. I will be most curious if the bar will be in size proportion to the human miniatures. Erik, might there be a chance to get a picture of the bar next to some miniatures, or at least know if this is the case?


OldSkul wrote:
It would be fun in future sets to maybe get other races that are undead. I would love some dwarf wights and skeletons.

I'd definitely be a fan of this.


You're taking Gould to a new level, and I like it. The Dancing Girl is great too, but I'm not sure if I need four of her yet, or not. The Pious Guard will come in useful as a follower type for any Paladins. I like this set's tone so far. I have to agree with Cat-thuluh, I really wonder what kind of larges are in store for us, I'm holding out for a pack mule or a horse, and am thrilled about the Gelatinous Cube, but that still would leave nine or ten more pieces I have no idea what would be. Would a table be one of them? I'm looking forward to your future reveals!

Paizo Employee Publisher, Chief Creative Officer

Wysteriah wrote:

Very much like all three, especially like the Dancing Girl and the Ghoul Cultist (perfect as a common). I too am hoping the size of these Ghouls is in proportion to previous Ghouls.

As far as the promo piece, I am warming up to the idea of the bar. My guess is the dressing will be the Inn accessories and furniture. I will be most curious if the bar will be in size proportion to the human miniatures. Erik, might there be a chance to get a picture of the bar next to some miniatures, or at least know if this is the case?

We'll definitely do this, but that's honestly months away.


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OldSkul wrote:
It would be fun in future sets to maybe get other races that are undead. I would love some dwarf wights and skeletons.

How about a Wight Dwarf, of does that step ON GW intellectual property?

Contributor

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Pair the Dancing Girl with the spectre from Heroes & Monsters, an air or water elemental from the Shattered Star series, or the promotional shadowfire elemental and you have yourself a world-class pairing of a spiritualist with her ectoplasmic phantom companion!

Sovereign Court

Pathfinder Battles Case Subscriber; Pathfinder Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber; Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Charter Superscriber

Great sculpts, across the board.


A wagon or cart might be cool as a Large! And horsey stuff is always useful. I run a Kingmaker campaign, and horses are ubiquitous. There haven't been many party deaths, but the horses might as well be wearing Red Shirts o.O

Other cool potential urban Larges, as dressing or creatures: Fountain. Market stall. How about a mob of townspeople, with a removable piece in the middle so you could plunk a standard Medium-sized Paizo mini in its place, to surround someone with a mob? Guillotine. Gallows. Torture rack. Weapons rack. Portcullis. Forge. Worktable. Alchemist's lab. Sedan chair. Rickshaw. Archery range (a few targets in a row). I wonder if any of these will show up?


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I also hope we get a street urchin or the like....


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This isn't really the right place, but I can't think of anywhere better...

When the next batch of "dungeon dressing" figures are planned, any chance for an animated object/dancing sword/spiritual weapon figure? I'd often find a use for that, I'm sure.

Scarab Sages

and when will the current dungeon dressing singles be available?


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Steve Geddes wrote:

This isn't really the right place, but I can't think of anywhere better...

When the next batch of "dungeon dressing" figures are planned, any chance for an animated object/dancing sword/spiritual weapon figure? I'd often find a use for that, I'm sure.

In the meantime, I've found that this Heroclix mini works well for a spiritual weapon, and they have a hammer in that set as well as an axe.


Steve Geddes wrote:

This isn't really the right place, but I can't think of anywhere better...

When the next batch of "dungeon dressing" figures are planned, any chance for an animated object/dancing sword/spiritual weapon figure? I'd often find a use for that, I'm sure.

I'm kind of ambivalent at this point. Pretty much what I expected to happen has happened. They were produced at the rare level, making them effectively only available as part of a multi-hundred-dollar case purchase or somewhere on the grey market.

Know what? I don't need or want a bunch of mimics. A bunch of chests? Sure. Maybe I'm unusual that way. But the lack of availability of these basically removes my interest seeing more I won't ever own.

How do you measure demand for a product where the supply is negligible?

Not to poop on Erik's parade. He's got a lot of pressures and the market is complicated. I'm just a little bitter because as far as the result effects me, WizKids/Paizo didn't release dungeon dressing minis; they shipped a few rarities to folks who bought cases, and figured it's worth mentioning instead of just silently being bummed.


I really like the Ghoul cultist. A cool thing I've experienced with Pathfinder is the complexity they've added to ghouls, from RotRL's Skinsaw Man to the write up in Monster Codex. It's interesting to see them portrayed with a variety of motivations rather than as fast zombies.


Anguish wrote:
Steve Geddes wrote:

This isn't really the right place, but I can't think of anywhere better...

When the next batch of "dungeon dressing" figures are planned, any chance for an animated object/dancing sword/spiritual weapon figure? I'd often find a use for that, I'm sure.

I'm kind of ambivalent at this point. Pretty much what I expected to happen has happened. They were produced at the rare level, making them effectively only available as part of a multi-hundred-dollar case purchase or somewhere on the grey market.

Know what? I don't need or want a bunch of mimics. A bunch of chests? Sure. Maybe I'm unusual that way. But the lack of availability of these basically removes my interest seeing more I won't ever own.

How do you measure demand for a product where the supply is negligible?

Not to poop on Erik's parade. He's got a lot of pressures and the market is complicated. I'm just a little bitter because as far as the result effects me, WizKids/Paizo didn't release dungeon dressing minis; they shipped a few rarities to folks who bought cases, and figured it's worth mentioning instead of just silently being bummed.

I hear what you're saying, but I also think this might be a bit premature. Admittedly, they're equivalent to rares in scarcity/availability. But that's not the whole story. Not all rares are equal, and not all of them will be equally expensive or hard to get your hands on. You ask how to measure demand for a product under conditions of scarcity? Answer: you see what people are willing to pay for them. (Scarcity is the norm in markets, not the exception.) Some of the dressing pieces will be highly sought after, and they'll get expensive and hard to land. Others won't be such a hot item, and you'll be able to find them relatively cheaply and easily. In this set, it's looking like the brazier's going to be the hardest one to get hold of (and it's the only one I don't have yet -- I only bought a brick, not a case.) This is no different than any other mini that Paizo or anyone produces, whether rare, common, or whatever. There are rares that end up unpopular that go on the secondary market for less than the most valued commons. You may turn out to be right and the market sucks these dressing pieces up, but I say show a little patience and wait to see how things shake out. It's usually 6 months or more before we find out what the market says these things are really worth, and there are always some surprises. (Have you seen what the Trolls and ogre from the last set are going for? Crazy.)


with the mail on strike in Germany I really don't care that the dressing is not available from Paizo justnow ;-)

I just hope they are not sold out everywhere else and then here within a few hours at some time I can't check.


The dancing girl is awesome, and more generally I am very excited about the number of non-combatant miniatures in this set! I think these are absolutely awesome and this will likely mean I'll be purchasing some additional bricks for this set to get more of the mini's I want!

Grand Lodge

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I like the Dancing Girl in multiples. And to agree with Mercury 141, without a weapon in hand, she is great for a non-combatant. I could have a used a few of her when a bunch of Goblins raided a certain festival. She could have represented Shayliss too.

The Ghoul is cool in multiples for sure. And one with a weapon in hand is unique. I like it.

The Pious Guard looks more like a solitary NPC, PC or Captain of the Guards. He is too well armored for common guards. So I am not interested in having him in multiples. However, this one will surely not stop me from buying a case. This is a really good sculpt for a Paladin or other well-armored fighter type.

Another good preview. Thanks Erik.


hmmm...

why is that Chelaxian wearing a Varisian costume?

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