In the Cargo Hold

Friday, November 6, 2015

Today I've got the final three figure previews for January's The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles, and by a happy coincidence, it's easy to use all three to create a mini-encounter set in the hold of a ship! Two of these items are "dungeon dressing," while the third is an oft-requested character that I consider one of the strangest figures we've done to date. Let's take a look!

First up this week is the Crate. It's a crate. WizKids has added a nice ink wash to pull out the wooden details here, and if you can somehow figure out how to get a bunch of them (I suspect—but do not know for sure—that there will be as many as 2 per case), you'll be able to create a cool warehouse scene, or dress up a basement, a bandit lair, or just about any encounter with some handy terrain. The Crate fits nicely on the Wagon and Cart figures that also fill out the "dungeon dressing" offerings in The Rusty Dragon Inn, so while it's a simple "wooden" box, there's a lot of versatility here that I suspect will make the Crate a popular piece.

Next we have the Barrel. It's a barrel. Very much in place at an inn or a tavern, the Barrel is another versatile piece of dungeon dressing I've been trying to get into a set since the idea of terrain pieces first crossed our mind about a year ago. Is it filled with booze? Explosives? I dunno! That's up to you!

Last up this week is the perfect accompaniment for crates and barrels in a ship's cargo hold, Ranzak, the goblin pirate! First introduced as a playable goblin character in the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, Ranzak is a delightfully psychotic little wretch who has been demanding representation in Pathfinder Battles almost since the day he was created. Seriously. Dude has been carving his name into my office door with his hook hand. He's very ill-behaved. This, of course, makes him a great addition to a Pathfinder campaign, whether at the head of a group of goblin scallywags, or as a unique "oddball" crewmember for the party's next ocean voyage. Ranzak is a Small, rare figure.

And that's it for The Rusty Dragon Inn previews! We've significantly revised (for the better) the bar case incentive for the set, and between now and next Friday I hope to get new shots to show off the increased size and versatility of the set.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher