More from the Rusty Dragon

Friday, September 4, 2015

It's a gorgeous Friday afternoon in Seattle, and I'm on vacation. After an utterly amazing PAX Prime weekend in which we ran more than 3,000 Pathfinder demos in four days, I'm exhausted and reveling in a genuine four-day weekend away from work.

But almost nothing can keep me from sharing my enthusiasm about our Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted fantasy miniatures. Not vacation, not sleep, not even my brand new Xbox One. I've got the goods, my friends, and I feel compelled to share them!

This week started with a bang on Tuesday, when I returned from PAX to spend a couple of hours looking over the paint masters for the entire The Rusty Dragon Inn set of miniatures, which releases in November. Sometimes paint masters arrive in the Paizo offices a few at a time, but every once in a while we get the while thing all at once, and it's possible to get a "big picture" of what the entire set will look like all together.

And I'm here to tell you, the entire set looks GLORIOUS. The Rusty Dragon Inn is filled with useful figures, from bands of ghouls and bugbears to horses, bar staff, monsters, and NPCs galore. On a production note, we had far fewer changes and comments on this set than any previous offerings. From the sculpts to the paint masters, I feel like the Paizo and WizKids teams are really gelling together better than ever before. These figures sailed through our approval process.

Although the set contains several savage humanoids, genuine monsters, and undead beasties, the theme of the set emphasizes characters and creatures you might expect to find in a fantasy tavern, the titular Rusty Dragon Inn.

We've already seen tavern denizens like the Serving Girl, Merchant, and Half-Elf Bard, but that Dancing Girl we revealed several weeks ago has got to have something to dance to if the tavern's really going to be a top night spot, and today's duo of previews is here to oblige.

First up this week is the Dwarf Bard, a drum-banging buff-master who marches to his own beat. He's also got a stringed instrument across his back when the situation calls for more subtlety. He's slated at the uncommon rarity—I figured two or three dwarf drummers wouldn't look out of place in a band of dwarves—perhaps accompanying a noble or command unit. The Dwarf Bard is a Medium figure.

This Half-Elf Enchanter isn't really a musician, but the way she wields her wand and her fancy outfit give her the demeanor of an orchestra conductor. During the approval meeting I put her alongside the set's other musicians and the dancer, and she looked right at home. Her look—wild hair color and all—comes from the NPC Codex. The Half-Elf Enchanter is a Medium, rare figure.

That's it for previews this week. I wish I could tell you about our in-office meeting with WizKids's president on Wednesday afternoon, and about the absolutely amazing ideas and developments we discussed there, but it's getting late, and after all, I am supposed to be on vacation today.

It'll have to wait for future Friday Publisher Previews!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

More Paizo Blog.
Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

Love that drummer!

Dark Archive

1 person marked this as a favorite.

Thank you for posting in your vacation, Eric!

I think the uncommon rarity for the "Tunnel Drummer" from page 37 of the NPC Codex is ok. So is the rare rarity for the "Puppet Master" from page 194.

I noticed that the Iconic Heroes Set 4 is on the Product Schedule page for november but the Rusty Dragon Inn minis are not.

Have a great vacation.

Dark Archive

how about a little info about when the promos will be on the web store.


It should be mentioned that that enchanter is also so a playable character in the card game, Radillo, making it, if I'm not mistaken, the second non-iconic player character from the ACG to have a miniature, with the first being Arueshalae. Either way, that's a must have for me to use as a PACG token.


I really look forward to setting up a tavern scene with the dancing girls, the dwarf drummer, the half-elf violinist, Rosie Cuswell, and Lem. :)


I'm really happy to have a miniature for Radillo from the Adventure Card Game. I'm still a little miffed that they had TWO potential choices for the Paladin Class Deck for existing minis from the NPC Codex (Nyalil Stormstrike and Leisair Truemark), either of whom I'd have been thrilled to see added, and they included neither of them. But it is what it is. I'm sure there are others who will enjoy the Paladin Class Deck while I pass on it.

At least I now have more incentive to play Radillo! Now to start putting together a party for November...

Dark Archive

I´m excited about getting the Bar mini and the various guests of it
bUT i´m also excited about getting a Cockatrice, Drider, Nightmare, Rust Monster, Ettercap, Grell, Nalfeshnee and 3 differnt new Drow minis in the Rage of Demons minis Set from Wizkids tomorrow.

I want to complete my Pathfinder Bestiary (1) minis collection and only a few are still missing (30some most of them HUGE or GARGANTUAN).
I´ll buy the Pathfinder versions too when they come out because they are of better quality but until that happens...

And i actually plan on using Beholders and Mindflayers against my players in Pathfinder. ;-)

Only 10 weeks until "The Rusty Dragon Inn" releases and 24 minis still have to be revealed.

It´s not important anymore for me (because i already ordered one) but for some people that want to order a case and the BAR mini with it it would be cool to see an actual photo or at least to get more information about it.
Also is the "Bigger Tavern Flip-Mat" that comes out in February depicting the Rusty Dragon Inn? ;-)

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber

The drummer I've seen before. As an uncommon I'm not sure I need multiples, but something has to fill the UC spots. It is a nice mini, well render really.

I love the pink haired half elf enchanter. Screams enchanter to me, looks very cool, want a few; too bad it's rare. Hopefully I won't get a repeat of my last case and get repeat bricks and miss this one.

Overall I'm really looking forward to this set, and since we've only seen 5 large minus I imagine a few cool monsters are yet to come.

I really hope the meeting with Wizkids is to discuss Huge sets. Really need them huges.


Dulcee wrote:

I'm sure there are others who will enjoy the Paladin Class Deck while I pass on it.

I'd take a second look at the set. The Paladin deck contains one of the best new characters in Raz, and the mastiff miniature previewed from this set will be perfect for her riding dog.

Dark Archive

Cat-thulhu wrote:

The drummer I've seen before. As an uncommon I'm not sure I need multiples, but something has to fill the UC spots. It is a nice mini, well render really.

I love the pink haired half elf enchanter. Screams enchanter to me, looks very cool, want a few; too bad it's rare. Hopefully I won't get a repeat of my last case and get repeat bricks and miss this one.

Overall I'm really looking forward to this set, and since we've only seen 5 large minus I imagine a few cool monsters are yet to come.

I really hope the meeting with Wizkids is to discuss Huge sets. Really need them huges.

We have seen 7 large minis so far:

1 Draft horse (uncommon)
2 Frost Giant Ice Mage (uncommon)
3 Gorgon (uncommon)
4 Orc Rider on Dire Wolf (rare)
5 Quivering Cube (rare)
6 Riding Horse (uncommon)
7 Wagon (technically a Dungeon Dressing/ultra-rare)

As there are always 8 large uncommons and 4 large rares that leaves 4 uncommons and 2 rares to be revealed.

Of the mediums i like: the Bunyip, Farmer, Riding Dog, Half-Elf Bard, Dancing Girl, Dwarf Bard, Serving Girl, Merchant and Bugbear Tyrant minis.

In the case of the rest i have to wait until i see the actual minis or photos of them. And i don´t yet know if i like ghouls with class levels enough to use them on the table... ;-)

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

2 people marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:
It´s not important anymore for me (because i already ordered one) but for some people that want to order a case and the BAR mini with it it would be cool to see an actual photo or at least to get more information about it.

I'm very glad that the details of the bar haven't been made public yet, because WizKids brought a few new ideas on that topic to last week's meeting. They have to look into a few things, so it'll probably be a little while before we can tell you more, but I think it's going to be worth the wait.

Dark Archive

Vic Wertz wrote:
Marco Massoudi wrote:
It´s not important anymore for me (because i already ordered one) but for some people that want to order a case and the BAR mini with it it would be cool to see an actual photo or at least to get more information about it.
I'm very glad that the details of the bar haven't been made public yet, because WizKids brought a few new ideas on that topic to last week's meeting. They have to look into a few things, so it'll probably be a little while before we can tell you more, but I think it's going to be worth the wait.

That seems odd.

Personally i think that people are going to be happy if things get changed for the better with the bar.
On the other hand if something would change for worse between an early image and the final one there would probably be disapointment.

I´m sure i´ll like the final product no matter if its 2 big pieces or many smaller ones that can be rearranged in different poses.
It would even be ok in my book if the release would be delayed for one or two weeks if that makes the final product better.

I´ve seen tavern counter pieces from Dwarven Forge that are amazing but they are far more heavy and don´t include a wine rack so Paizos plastic version will be a welcome addition even for people who already have these pieces. And you can always combine them for a bigger tavern set.

Thx for your explaination Vic.

Paizo Employee Chief Technical Officer

1 person marked this as a favorite.
Marco Massoudi wrote:

That seems odd.

Personally i think that people are going to be happy if things get changed for the better with the bar.

Unfortunately, the internet is forever: years from now, there will be people who still believe that the currently released images are exactly representative of the product.

Shadow Lodge

Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Pathfinder PF Special Edition Subscriber
Marco Massoudi wrote:
Cat-thulhu wrote:

The drummer I've seen before. As an uncommon I'm not sure I need multiples, but something has to fill the UC spots. It is a nice mini, well render really.

I love the pink haired half elf enchanter. Screams enchanter to me, looks very cool, want a few; too bad it's rare. Hopefully I won't get a repeat of my last case and get repeat bricks and miss this one.

Overall I'm really looking forward to this set, and since we've only seen 5 large minus I imagine a few cool monsters are yet to come.

I really hope the meeting with Wizkids is to discuss Huge sets. Really need them huges.

We have seen 7 large minis so far:

1 Draft horse (uncommon)
2 Frost Giant Ice Mage (uncommon)
3 Gorgon (uncommon)
4 Orc Rider on Dire Wolf (rare)
5 Quivering Cube (rare)
6 Riding Horse (uncommon)
7 Wagon (technically a Dungeon Dressing/ultra-rare)

As there are always 8 large uncommon and 4 large rares that leaves 4 uncommon and 2 rares to be revealed.

Ah, I had forgotten the dire wolf rider! I don't count the terrain, they're really bonus add-ons to the base 45 mini set in my mind.

Community / Forums / Paizo / Licensed Products / Miniatures / Paizo Blog: More from the Rusty Dragon All Messageboards

Want to post a reply? Sign in.
Recent threads in Miniatures