We’re just a few days from the most magical day of the year, but for Pathfinder players, every day is filled with magic, be it a healing potion, consecrated ground around a Pharasmin temple keeping the restless dead at bay, or a tactically cast wall of fire spell. As we delve deeper into the Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising set of prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids, it’s hard to think about all that right now. I’m downright terrified of some of the creatures that lurk below. So, of course, I’m going to share some of them with you now!
First among them is the vampiric Vrykolakas, a Medium common figure, representing one of the Darklands’ many undead denizens. It’s far from the only undead creature in the set, however (thus the nightmares). Take, for instance, the Attic Whisperer and Blood Mist, Small and Medium uncommon figures, respectively. Who doesn’t love a creepy skeletal child with an animal skull instead of a human one, or a sentient cloud of aerosol blood? I know I do!
Some of the horrors of the Darklands Rising are more traditional, representing deep-seated fears shared by all sane surface dwellers. I mean, everyone I know is afraid of a Scarecrow (and not just because of Jonathan Crane’s fear-inducing gas), so this Medium uncommon figure is sure to scare the straw out of them when they find it in one of their boosters. But that’s nothing compared to the Animate Dream which is literally a nightmare made manifest. As a Medium rare figure, however, you probably won’t have to worry about it popping up too many times when digging into your pre-ordered brick or case.
For fans of more cosmic horror, Darklands Rising presents a few creatures drawn from the ever-popular Lovecraftian mythos, including the Leng Spider(Huge uncommon) and a Shoggoth(Huge rare), both Huge monsters at the uncommon and rare rarities, respectively. If you’re looking for even more alien additions in the set, look no further than the D’ziriak (Medium rare), Fungus Leshy (Small common), or Witchwyrd (Medium uncommon), three of the strangest creatures we’ve yet put into plastic.
Finally, we would be remiss not to include one of the gods of the Age of Lost Omens in a set like this. I’m happy to inform you that we weren’t remiss. We put the body-horror mastermind Zon-Kuthon (Medium rare) in the set to give you sweet dreams of exquisite pain, torturous vivisection, and impenetrable shadows. You’re welcome!
That’s it for this week, kids, but if you’re real good and you stop bothering your sister, maybe Santa will bring you a brand new preview next week. You can fit a bunch of Pathfinder Second Edition ancestries into a stocking, right? Maybe if we go light on the coal? I’ll see what I can do. In the meantime, have a safe and happy holiday, and I’ll see you on the flipside.