Dressings for the Dungeon

Friday, May 5, 2017

This week I will be showing you the dressing pieces from Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs. They are all really cool, and will add to the environment of your game, whether your players are in a dungeon, or in the great outdoors. The Dressings are split into two sizes, medium, and large. Ill start with the medium's. First, we have the Totem. This could also work as a marker, statue, or whatever else you feel would work

Next, for those characters that think there are no consequences for starting a fight when they are in town, we give you the stocks.

Every villain needs a podium to help communicate their plans for the future of Golarion, and for that the below lectern should work beautifully.

Now for the larges. We start with the Grave Monument, which many of you may recognize from the cover of Horror Adventures.

Next, we have a long, rectangular table for feasting, weddings, or betrayals...

Finally, the Well. Good for wishing, or disposing of evidence.

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The Queen's Court

Saturday, April 29, 2017

This week we're showing off the Court of the Crimson Throne Case Incentive for next month's Crown of Fangs set! Fully stocked with food and dressing, the Court of the Crimson Throne lets you set the scene for a decadent evil court. Starting with your own plate of food and an entire cooked turkey.

And of course, you need a table to put your food on, with chairs for guests to sit.

And pillars with torch sconces for mood lighting.

You should always have your gnome executioner standing by in case someone insults you, whether they meant too or not.

Of course, you need your throne, so that petitioners fully realize your majesty.

There should always be Doctor present, in case you fall ill. In this case Dr. Davalus, a distinguished gentleman and learned healer.

Every court, needs courtesans, that are definitely not Rakshasas.

Finally, while mimicry is considered the highest form of flattery, one could do without unscrupulous characters pretending to be your equal.

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Here Comes the Cavalry

Friday, April 21, 2017

Happy Friday, everyone! This week in Pathfinder Battles, we start with the reclamation cavalry miniature, which is a large rare in the upcoming Crown of Fangs set, and is based off of art from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. I love the in motion look of this miniature. It makes an awesome miniature for any armored fighter, or cleric, war priest, or paladin of Iomedae!

Next, we have the reclamation sky cavalry, also a large rare miniature. This miniature is also based off of art from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. The detailing on the Hippogriff's wings looks fantastic, and who doesn't love a knight on a winged steed!

Finally, to round out the skeleton collection in this set, we have the skeleton cavalry, which is also a large rare. This guy is based off of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path cover art for "Skeletons of Scarwall." I really like how the skeletal horse came out. The bones and the barding are spot on.

Hope you all enjoyed seeing these minis as much as I did getting them ready. Next week I'll be showing off the entire case incentive, so stay tuned!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

They Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Friday, April 14, 2017

Happy Friday and welcome back! This week in Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs previews we are starting with the wereboar, a medium uncommon figure. If you like lycanthropes, then you definitely need to big the big guy up so that he can give your players a hug. This figure is based off of art from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path.

Next, we have Issaya, a lillend azata, and a large uncommon in the Crown of Fangs set, also based off of art from Hell's Vengeance. This miniature can stand in for any good aligned celestial you choose to field, or even a demon or devil, if you want to mess with your players. I know I do. I love the rainbow color variance on her wings.

Finally, we have Jolistina Susperio, a medium rare figure in this set. This figure is based off of art from the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. It is also a perfect stand in for a bard, rogue, ranger, or slayer.

Well that's it for this week! Thanks for stopping by to check out this week's Pathfinder Battles reveal. Have a great weekend, all!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Diamonds in the Ruff

Friday, April 7, 2017

Happy Friday. As there may, or may not (there was) some confusion on my part as to what had already been revealed in previous posts, this week you all will get 4 unveilings. Remember to not judge by appearances, as beauty is within. On that note, lets get this week's Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs show off session going!

First this week, we have the Dog, a small common miniature. This little guy looks fantastic for a common. The muscles standing out is freakin sweet. The pose could either be "waiting for you to throw the stick" or "about to maul your low level characters while they try to stand up after being knocked prone again and again and again and again and again". I may speak from personal experience. Turns out, dogs are horrifying opponents if you are short on hit points and don't have a good combat maneuver defense. This miniature could also be used as an animal companion. But lets move on.

Next, we have the Boy, a small uncommon. Don't let his baby face fool you. This miniature could be used as a halfling, the kid that delivers the message, or the prince named Joffrey that noone in the group minds finding out drank bad wine.

Then we have the Girl, another small uncommon. This young lady means business (see: knife). Highly versatile figure that could also double as a small character if one prefers.

Finally, we have the Reclamation Infantry, a medium common figure. Again, for a common, the detail on this guy is fantastic. Anyone wanting to play the grizzled old soldier should definitely pick up this miniature. Also, what GM doesn't need the drill sergeant, surly watchman, or veteran paladin npc to liven their game up?

See you next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Here Comes the Riffraff

Friday, March 24, 2017

For this week's unveiling of fantastic Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs miniatures, we are starting with the Emperor's Thug. This mini is a medium common in Crown of Fangs, and is highly versatile. Easily useable as a fighter, ranger, rogue, woodsman, trapper, of whatever you need a gruff, slightly bedraggled miniature for.

Hey, you guys should totally check out the Cabbagehead miniature. It is a mMedium uncommon, and is actually modeled after an Ogrekin that you encounter in the first chapter of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, Edge of Anarchy. While he is an Ogrekin, you could just as easily use this miniature as a stand in for a flesh golem, skinstich, or any variety of flesh warped creature.

Last but not least, we have The Emperor. He is a medium rare in this set, and is modeled after the NPC Pilts Swastel, a deranged bard that takes over part of the city of Korvosa in Curse of the Crimson Throne. He is also very well portrayed in the Pathfinder Legends representation of Escape from Old Korvosa, put together by Big Finish Productions. This miniature could be used as a jester, slayer, rogue, or other despotic NPC to bother and generally frustrate your players with.

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The Darkness Looks Back

Friday, March 17, 2017

Hello, and welcome to your weekly download of Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs reveals. This week I'm starting with the Deacons of the the Horseman of Pestilence. Everyone in the office is sick, anyway, so what's the worst that could happen? The Leukodaemon is a large, uncommon, and looks fantastic. If you ever tire of giving your players nightmares with devils, we suggest using this guy. You are welcome.

Speaking of devils (its almost like I knew what was coming next), we have the Bone Devil, also a large uncommon in this set. I love the raw sinew on the wings. The spinal ridges on the tail also looks fantastic.

Finally, we have the Horned Devil, another large uncommon. Wizkids did a great job with the armor plated scales on his abdomen, legs, and tail.

All of these creatures appear in the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, as well as several other adventures. If you ever want or need high level outsiders, these three have got you covered.

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The King is Dead! Long Live the Queen!

Friday, March 10, 2017

Welcome to the next installment of Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs reveals. This week, I'm starting with the Gray Maiden Captain. This figure is based off of art from the newly released Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path Omnibus. WizKids did a great job in getting the details right for her plate mail. Great for anyone looking to play a female badass, whether it be cavalier, fighter, inquisitor, cleric, or war priest. The Gray Maiden Captain is an uncommon medium in the Crown of Fangs set.

Next we have Trinia Sabor, an iconic NPC from the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path. I love the texture of her chain shirt. While Trinia is a bard, this miniature could easily be used as a rogue, bard, investigator, or slayer. Trinia Sabor is a rare medium.

Lastly, but far from being close to the least, we have Queen Ileosa Arabasti, complete with her crown of fangs and awesome looking rapier. As the arch villain of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, she is designed to ruin your player's day, and enjoy doing it. This figure could be used as a sorcerer, wizard, rogue, or any noble character or npc. Queen Illeosa is a rare medium, and a definite must have figure for your Pathfinder collection.

Also, be sure to check out the fantastic Pathfinder Battles: Deep Cuts miniatures now available for preorder on paizo.com!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Dirty, Cheating Halflingsesss

Friday, March 3, 2017

Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!

This week in the lead up to Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs, I will regale you with tales of second breakfasts, elevensies, and supper, along with a miniature that would likely enjoy man flesh (if it wasn't a miniature). To start, we have the Halfling Rogue. This dapper fellow is based off of art from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path, and was a member of the Bellflower Network. But whether you are battling the house of Thrune, or merely picking your party member's pockets, this miniature is highly versatile for any small folk character or NPC. The Halfling Rogue is a small common.

Next, we have the Halfling Archer. This miniature could be used as a ranger, hunter, rogue, druid, or fighter. If you like playing small characters, and want one that looks more adventurer than "I miss the Shire", this is the miniature for you. The Halfling Archer is also a small common.

Finally, we have Ury Sevenskulls, the leader of a tribe of undead hunting orcs. If you are familiar with the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, then you know this NPC for the machine of death that he is. If not, you are in for a pleasant surprise. Thank me later. While he is an Orc, one could use him as a miniature for any half-orc character as well. Ury is a medium rare.

Stay tuned for more miniatures reveals next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The Dead Walk

Friday, February 24, 2017

Happy Friday everyone! This week we will be exploring what happens when necromantic energy and humanoid soldiers mix in Crown of Fangs. All of the miniatures this week are based off of art from Curse of the Crimson Throne. Specifically, the original cover artwork (and character artwork) for Pathfinder Adventure Path #11: Skeletons of Scarwall. First, we have the Skeleton Infantry. The Skeleton Infantry is full of great detail and can be used as your standard skeletal swordsmen or a graveknight.

Next, we have the Skeleton Spearman, made to accompany the skeleton infantry figure. Together, you can accurately represent a diverse mix of skeletal opponents in any undead encounter. I really like the spearman's pose! Both the Skeleton Infantry and Skeleton Spearman are medium common figures.

Finally, we have the Skeleton Champion. Distinct from his minions, with a head that flames with the power of evil, he's a must have figure for anyone looking to field skeletons against their players. The Skeleton Champion is a medium uncommon figure, and frankly, looks like a rare.

Stay tuned for more miniatures reveals next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Creepy Crawlies

Friday, February 17, 2017

Hellooo! With this week's Crown of Fangs preview I decided to try and trigger as many of your arachnid responses as I possibly could. If you don't like alien creatures that need to be purged with fire, I'd skip this week.

With that out of the way, I'd like to introduce you to the Dream Spider. These lovely abominations secrete a venom that causes hallucinations, up until they eat you. The Dream Spider is a small common figure in this set, and can be used for all of your nightmare inducing needs.

Speaking of nightmares, next we have the Giant Spider. Just your standard, run of the mill, killing machine with an exoskeleton. Whenever I look at this miniature I have flash backs to the Lord of the Rings with Frodo creeping through Cirith Ungol. The Giant Spider is a medium common figure.

I would say I saved the best for last, but I guess that is only if you like the Fallout series. Here, we have the Giant Scorpion. It can grab and constrict two of your players while stinging a third. All in good fun, of course. Wizkids knocked it out of the park with this guy. I "love" the texturing of the carapace and the hunting stance they set it in. The Giant Scorpion is a large uncommon figure.

In other Pathfinder Battles news, if you like painting your own miniatures, then you should check out Deep Cuts. These plastic unpainted miniatures release this spring and are now available for preorder here on paizo.com!

Until next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The Dead, the Big, and the Evil

Friday, February 10, 2017

So we had half a foot of snow here, and the first official snow day that I can remember. But here at Paizo we like to say "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom..." Anyway, this for this week's Crown of Fangs preview we start with the Fungal Guardian! This guy can be used as any type of skeleton you like, or even as an undead genie... He is a medium common figure in the set, and I love the mushrooms growing on him!

Next, we have the Red Reaver. Whenever you need an alien esque creature to throw a kink in your player's plans, this big baddy fits the bill. The Red Raven is a large uncommon miniature, and they like warm hugs.

Finally, we have the Rakshasa. I think this miniature looks spectacular, and is based off of one of my favorite pieces of art from the Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover. I like it so much it is my chat avatar and business card image. This figure could be used as a were tiger, a cat folk monk or spell caster, or a tiger headed demon. The rakshasa is a medium rare figure, and no, you should not try and pet him.

Until next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Bring Out Your Dead

Friday, February 3, 2017

It's official—I will be your main point of miniature unveiling! Erik may jump in from time to time in the future, but it looks like you all are stuck with me. :)

This week in our previews of Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs, we are going to turn (too soon?) to undead, starting with the geist. The geist is basically my favorite undead miniature. It shows you just enough to get your own imagination to creep you out. These things can control haunts, as well as panic you with their terrifying laugh (always necessary). This miniature is good for any campaign were undead are featured, and can be used as wraiths, specters, poltergeist, or whatever creepy incorporeal thing you are throwing at your characters. The geist is a medium, common figure in this set.

Next, we have the banshee. These grief maddened ladies have held a special spot in my heart since I first got into fantasy roleplaying games back in my early teens. I love it whenever they are featured in an adventure, and love the dichotomy of their rage fueled evil, and the tragedy of their creation. They feature in several of our recent adventure paths, and will make your players', and their characters' hearts skip a beat when you put them on the flip mat. You could also use them for ghosts or other wakeful spirits. The banshee is a medium uncommon figure.

Finally this week, we have the figure named Death. It could go by many names, such as The Grim Reaper, The Harvester of Souls, or Dance Macabre. Use it to invite your players to the dance of their lives. Revel in the inevitability of their deaths. It really doesn't get creepier than this. This embodiment of all creatures' weakness is a large uncommon figure.

See you next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

Servants of the Mantis God

Friday, January 20, 2017

Alright folks, looks like I made it to round two. I am sure that Erik being out of the building has nothing to do with it! This week will be a treat, as long as you haven't recently done anything to anger He Who Walks in Blood. If you don't know who that is, then that is a start, but not likely to be a full proof out.

So, without further ado, take a look at Cinnabar, a ruthless leader of the infamous Red Mantis assassins. There is a reason they all wear red... She is also an excellent figure for anyone playing a: rogue, ranger, inquisitor, or slayer. She is a rare, medium figure.

Next we have TWO Red Mantis Assassins with different poses. There is definitely more than one way to look good while dual-wielding swords! You may notice slight differences in armor, helmet, and footwear. That is because the lower is based off of art for the Red Mantis Shivane, who features in the Serpent Skull AP, as opposed to the Curse of the Crimson Throne. Both of these awesome miniatures will be medium, uncommons in the upcoming Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs set.

I hope you liked this weeks sneak peek at some of the baddest girls and boys from Golarion! Who knows, you may be hearing from me next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

The Grey Maidens Have Arrived

Friday, January 13, 2017

Well, hey there! You're all in for a treat. Erik is out on vacation (we make him do that every so often), and he has asked me to let you all see some of the awesome miniatures coming out in Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs. Buckle up!

I'd like to start with the Grey Maiden Dragon Rider. This piece is based off of the fantastic cover art for the sixth volume of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, Crown of Fangs.

It depicts Sabina Merrin, the military leader of the Grey Maidens, astride the Black Dragon Zarmangarof. We think you'll agree, that whether you are running Curse of the Crimson Throne, or simply putting the fear of the gods in your players, this piece is one you will not want to miss. It is a rare, large miniature in the set.

Next, we have the Grey Maiden Guard, a great looking, highly versatile miniature that can be used by both players and GMs alike. I do like a lady in full plate. You may recognize this gorgeous figure from the cover of the Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path Hardcover, which brings this epic adventure up to full Pathfinder deadliness. This figure is a medium sized, common.

Finally, we have the Grey Maiden Archer, for those of you that like shooting stuff while wearing the best armor you can get your hands on. Anyone looking to play a ranged fighter or paladin should strongly consider picking this up. It is also featured in the gorgeous new Curse of the Crimson Throne Hardcover. It will be a medium, uncommon figure.

That's all for this week. Keep your eyes peeled for more awesome figures coming your way next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

A First Look at Crown of Fangs

Friday, December 2, 2016

By now I hope you've had a chance to check out Deadly Foes, the hot new Pathfinder Battles set of pre-painted plastic gaming figures from WizKids that's in stores and shipping from the paizo.com warehouse RIGHT NOW! Deadly Foes contains a wide variety of commonly encountered creatures from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and looking at the production-run figures, I think it's one of our finest sets to date. In fact, following up Deadly Foes is a bit intimidating.

Happily, our next set, April's Crown of Fangs, ups the ante in ways that will take me several weeks to fully explore. It's an exciting time for Pathfinder Battles, with lots of new figures and set features unlike anything we've done before.

It's become a bit of a tradition that the first image I post from a new set is that set's limited edition case incentive figure, but in the case of Crown of Fangs, the Court of the Crimson Throne incentive playset is so awesome, so packed with value that I don't have enough time today to go into it in full, glorious detail. Instead, I'd like to show off four figures (including two from the incentive) that give a nice taste of what's in store.

For starters, Crown of Fangs is a bit of an unofficial companion to Paizo's popular Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path, now available in a special collected hardcover edition! The set includes many key NPCs, factions, and creature types encountered in that classic Pathfinder campaign, but the set also includes plenty of "generic" figures useful for any fantasy campaign. Today's preview shows off both types of figures.

First up today is the imposing Queen Ileosa Arabasti, wearer of the titular Crown of Thorns and a major, let's say character, in the Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Ileosa previously appeared in a different outfit in our Legends of Golarion set a few years back. I'll leave the reasons behind her costume change to the campaign itself, but suffice it to say we thought it would be fitting to include an "after" figure to Legends of Golarion's "before." Queen Ileosa Arabasti is a Medium, rare figure.

Here's another look at Queen Ileosa seated upon the eponymous Crimson Throne itself, the centerpiece of the Court of the Crimson Throne case incentive playset. The seated version of Ileosa seen here also comes in the incentive playset, and is fully removable from the throne, which stands alone as an amazing piece of dungeon dressing.

But it's not just Crimson Throne and Ileosa all the time. Crown of Fangs also includes tons of in-demand figures for commonly encountered foes such as this awesome Bone Devil. The Bone Devil is a Large, uncommon figure, and I simply cannot wait to add a couple of handfuls of these to my personal Pathfinder Battles collection.

Speaking of Pathfinder Battles collections, the best way to make sure you never miss a single figure is to sign up for a Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Subscription, which delivers Pathinder Battles goodness directly to you as it is released. Your subscriptions are the single most important factor in keeping the line healthy with lots of robust offerings, and I'd like to offer a heart-felt "thanks" to all current and future subscribers.

You guys are the best!

Next week, I'll have more awesome Crown of Fangs figures to reveal!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Deadly Foes on the Loose!

Friday, November 4, 2016

We're just a few short weeks away from the November 23rd official release date for Deadly Foes, the newest release in our prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles line from our partners at WizKids! As I write this, the Paizo warehouse elves (almost certainly drow) are unpacking minis to be sold as singles, prepping case subscriber orders, and overall getting our act together to release everything on time. Meanwhile, I've been sneaking in and stealing figures left and right. What value is there in absolute power if you don't allow it to absolutely corrupt you, at least a little bit?

I'm VERY pleased with how Deadly Foes turned out, and think it's one of our best sets yet. From great facial details to amazing "tampo" stamping of intricate designs (mostly pentagrams), Deadly Foes will soon prove to be just as popular outside the Paizo office as it is inside.

Because you never quite know how these sets are going to turn out until you see final production figures, earlier this afternoon I grabbed two handfuls of my favorite figures from Deadly Foes and ventured outside to take advantage of some rare November sunshine here in Seattle. This gave me the chance for some "candid" photos of the final production figures that I'd like to share with you today.

Here we have the mighty Barzillai Thrune (rare), arch-villain of the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path, leading a horrific ceremony to summon a devil from the depths of Hell. With him, from left to right, are the Fire Diabolist (rare), the Priest of Asmodeus (common), and the Thrune Enforcer (common). In the background we see examples of the set's ultra-rare dungeon dressing pieces, which come 1-2 per case. Here we have two candelabras, the Book of the Damned (which comes off its lectern), and the Hellgate.

Great success! All hail mighty Asmodeus as a Bearded Devil (uncommon) emerges from the Hellgate! What a joyous occasion for the forces of evil! But wait, what's that dark shadow in the flames of the gate? Is something else coming? Perhaps more than the diabolists bargained for?

Oh nooooo! It's an almighty Pit Devil (rare)! Even the evil servants of the diabolical House Thrune are on the run after the appearance of this unwelcome guest! Run awaaaaay!

Speaking of the Pit Devil, here he is standing next to the Fire Demon from Legends of Golarion, by way of a size comparison. Demon? Devil? YOU decide!

Here's a close look at some of the dungeon dressing in Deadly Foes. The Hellgate looks much better to my eyes in hand than on the digital image, since you can make out the writhing bodies of its frame much more easily. And take it from me, they're pretty disturbing. These pieces make for great décor in almost any frightful scene, and I'm eager to add them to my own campaigns.

Hobgoblins are a major creature type in Deadly Foes. Here are a few of them (from left to right): the Hobgoblin Archer, Hobgoblin Cleric, and Hobgoblin Alchemist, all of them commons.

We've been adding characters from the villainous nation of Cheliax to our Pathfinder Battles sets for years, and this set is no exception. Some day soon I'll array all of these figures for a class photo, but here are four from Deadly Foes: the Thrune Enforcer, Priest of Asmodeus, Fire Diabolist, and Barzillai Thrune!

And that's it for this week. Next week I'll show off more Deadly Foes figures "in the wild." Let me know if there are others from the set you'd like to take a closer look at, and I'll do my best to accommodate.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Last of the Deadly Foes

Friday, October 14, 2016

Deadly Foes, the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, releases next month! Over the last few months, I've been using this space to preview new digital sculpts for the figures, and this week I've got the final two miniatures for the set! The Paizo Warehouse Runelords tell me that our shipment of packaged product from WizKids hits our office soon, so I also hope to provide a few first-looks at actual production figures in the weeks between now and the set's official release date in the middle of November.

Then we've got ANOTHER whole set that WizKids just announced this week to cover in future previews—more on that at the bottom of this week's blog.

But first, let's take a look at the last two figures from Deadly Foes!

Up first is the Shadow Giant, the final creature figure to be revealed for Deadly Foes! This guy has a fascinating Pathfinder origin. The Shadow Giant first appeared in the illustration accompanying the religion chapter waaaaay back in the Pathfinder Chronicles Gazetteer, the first-ever look at the world of Golarion as a whole (co-written by yours truly). It took until The Inner Sea Bestiary to give the Shadow Giant statistics. Keep an eye out for their upcoming appearance in Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Bestiary 6 next spring! The Shadow Giant is a Large, rare figure.

The last figure of the entire set to preview is the Rope Trick, a fun piece of dungeon dressing suggested by my friend Ross Williams, a player in my weekly Pathfinder game (under GM Jason Bulmahn). During a particularly rough patch in the campaign, we found ourselves frequently hiding out in the extra-dimensional rope trick created by Ross's wizard, and it often became necessary to know where exactly on the battlefield the rope trick was meant to be. Ross suggested a rope trick miniature, and I thought it a sufficiently fun idea to add it to the set. Opinions here at Paizo are somewhat divided as to the utility of this piece, but I know I'll use it in my game, so it's in. As they say, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Absolutely! The Rope Trick is a super-rare piece inserted once per case in place of an uncommon figure. I hope you like it.

And that's it for Deadly Foes, which I think is one of our best and most useful sets yet!

The end of Deadly Foes previews comes just in time, as WizKids this week announced the NEXT Pathfinder Battles set, Crown of Fangs! Crown of Fangs contains 47 creature figures and a bunch of dungeon dressing. My favorite element of the set is the case incentive, the Court of the Crimson Throne, a full throneroom playset that contains thrones, a banquet table, courtiers, and more. We took the idea from the bar incentive in The Rusty Dragon Inn set and said "how can we make this waaaay cooler?" I think you'll be pleased with the results.

But that's getting way ahead of myself. There will be a lot more time to talk about Crown of Fangs in future weeks!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Two for the Road!

Friday, September 30, 2016

We've got four more figures to preview for November's Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic gaming miniatures, but just to be mischievous, I'm going to split them into two previews of two figures each. To draw things out a bit longer, next week I'll be on-site at New York Comic Con, and there will not be a Friday Publisher Preview (though I do hope to keep up my new Worldscape Workbook blog column while I'm on the road. If you haven't yet checked out my new column, which gets into the nitty gritty of my design decisions when putting together official Pathfinder RPG stats for legendary heroes like Red Sonja and John Carter, I urge you to do so at the above link. I've had a ball writing the blog series, as well as writing the Pathfinder Worldscape comic itself, which hits newsstands Wednesday, October 19th. If you enjoy my writing here on the Paizo blog or enjoy the Pathfinder comics in general, please consider setting up a Pathfinder Comics Ongoing Subscription.

But enough about comics! This space is for miniatures, and this week I've got two fantastic figures to show you from Deadly Foes!

Ardent watchers of this space have been predicting this Angelkin Paladin from the first day we revealed the set's packaging, and here he is in all his celestial glory! Based off of a character who shows up semi-frequently in our interior illustrations, as well as on covers like Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Angels. The clear plastic effects on his flaming sword and glowing halo make quite the impression upon evil foes, or even goodly folks who happen to be in his way. The Angelkin Paladin is a Medium, rare figure.

Last up this week is another Medium, rare figure, and what a rare figure it is indeed. Here we have Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs's personal character, Shensen! James has played many different versions of this swashbuckling bard over his RPG career, but two of them are my favorites. First, of course, is the version that appeared in the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path. That appearance, in the blockbuster Pathfinder Adventure Path #100, came with a nice Wayne Reynolds painting of Shensen that now hangs in James's office (which, incidentally, is right next to mine—I can hear him through the wall as I type this). But an even better version of Shensen, or at least one that's more meaningful to me personally, is the version James played in my old Kings of Absalom office campaign, where she was one of many stars of the show. Shensen as presented in Deadly Foes makes a fantastic player character or NPC, whether good or evil. Shensen, is a Medium, rare figure.

That's it for this week. I'm off to New York Comic Con! See you in two weeks!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

A Haughty Horse and Some Funky Furniture

Friday, September 23, 2016

It's the end of another exciting week here at Paizo Inc., and what better way to celebrate than by revealing a few new miniatures from November's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures! Time is short today, so I'm going to jump right into it with four exciting new reveals!

Everybody loves a good Unicorn, and I think WizKids has done a great job with this one. Use it to represent a paladin's mount, a fun forest encounter, or as a captive in need of rescue. It's a Unicorn. The Unicorn is a Large, uncommon figure.

Speaking of captives, why not use this Cage to imprison your player characters? With a lid that removes from the flat base, you actually can fit miniatures inside this simple metal Cage for an encounter they won't soon forget. As dungeon dressing, the Cage will appear about once per case, in place of an Uncommon figure.

Speaking of cool dungeon dressing, check out this spooky Candelabra! The Candelabra is also randomly inserted, about one per case.

There are a lot of devils and devil-aligned critters in Deadly Foes, and they've got to have come from somewhere. Watch your players eyes go wide with fear when you place the Hellgate upon the table. The gate probably leads to the home plane of devils, but you can really use it for just about any kind of evil-aligned magical portal. Your secret is safe with me. I (probably) won't tell Asmodeus. Again, as a bit of dungeon dressing, the Hellgate should appear once per case.

And that's it for this week's short-and-sweet preview. We'll see you next week, for what I believe will be the final four figures of the set!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Three More to Go!

Friday, September 16, 2016

By my count, we've got 11 figures left to preview for November's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic gaming figures. I've decided to break down those figures over three different previews in the coming weeks, with this being the first of the "home stretch." After that, I have piles and piles of even newer stuff to show off, but that's getting a bit ahead of myself. Some of my favorite figures in Deadly Foes have yet to make their preview debut, so before we get to 2017 stuff, let's take a breath and appreciate the wonders yet to come in 2016.

First up this week is the Sewer Beast, a beloved (and re-named) creature from the very first Pathfinder RPG Bestiary! This popular denizen of dungeons and sewers alike makes his Pathfinder Battles debut with art inspired by Wayne Reynolds's cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #7: Edge of Anarchy, which we're reprinting next month as part of the incredible Curse of the Crimson Throne Adventure Path hardcover. Those of you playing that epic campaign will find this a most helpful miniature indeed, as will anyone whose adventures routinely take them to the smellier part of a city's infrastructure. My favorite part of this figure are the eyestalks, complete with their very own tampo'd eyes. Spooky! The Sewer Beast is a Large, uncommon figure.

Gamers have been asking for proteans in Pathfinder Battles for ages, and I'm happy to report that Deadly Foes gives us our first opportunity to answer those prayers directly, and in the best possible way! Again using classic Wayne Reynolds Pathfinder art as inspiration (this time the cover of The Great Beyond), WizKids's talented digital artists have brought this creature—completely original to Pathfinder—to three glorious dimensions. I'm thrilled with the complex color guide (seven different colors on this one!), and overall the final figure is just delightful to drop on the table. There will definitely be more proteans to come, but we had to begin with the one that started it all! The Keketar Protean is a Large, rare figure.

Just last week, in the FANTASTIC and VERY HELPFUL thread of minis suggestions that accompanied the weekly preview blog (we're seriously stealing at least a dozen figure ideas from that thread), at least one poster mentioned the need for regular old pillars as dungeon dressing in a future Pathfinder Battles set. While I'm not sure the glowing runes on this Arcane Pillar count as a "regular" pillar (you'll have to wait for the NEXT set for that!), I can deliver a pillar of some kind much sooner than many of you probably anticipated. With glowing runes along one side, the Arcane Pillar makes a versatile piece that can be used in just about any dungeon encounter. I like the idea of running a gauntlet of three sets of these, in which crossing the plane of the inward-facing runes causes some kind of horrific magical effect. Fun! The Arcane Pillar is a randomly inserted dungeon dressing piece that takes the place of an uncommon figure. While collation is never guaranteed, the idea is that each case should include at least one of them.

And that's it for this week, leaving us two more four-figure previews for Deadly Foes in the weeks to come.

Feel free to keep posting figure suggestions to the comments. Mike and I read them assiduously and will definitely consider them for the setlist we're currently building.

Thanks again for your interest in and support of the Pathfinder Battles. It's a labor of love for everyone involved, and your support makes it possible.

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Back in the Saddle!

Friday, September 8, 2016

I'm back from Dragon Con with a handful of new preview images from November's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures! And thanks to one friendly Dragon Con panel attendee, I've decided to add a FOURTH figure to this evening's preview, in part to make up for the last couple of weeks with no updates and in part to show her that dreams really do come true, sometimes much more rapidly than you can imagine!

Let's start things off today with this imposing Dwarf Slaver, as nasty a ginger as your player characters will ever encounter. With art based on the Chelish villain Kossrani from Pathfinder Adventure Path #97: In Hell's Bright Shadow, this guy has enough personality to be a hero OR a villain. He's also a good illustration of how things can go wrong during the sculpting and approval process, and how good WizKids is at fixing our mistakes! Take a close look at Kossrani's shield, with the awesome carved-in symbol of Asmodeus. Well, it would have been awesome if it hadn't been sculpted in reverse. You see, sometimes when we're laying out books, we flip an image on its Y axis to make for a more interesting page layout. This usually works with no problems, but occasionally, as in the case of Pathfinder #97, something like a holy symbol gets reversed and causes a bit of a problem. In this case, I didn't notice until the paint master came into the Paizo offices and I was holding it in my hand. Happily, WizKids was able to fill in the mold for the cut-out part of the shield, and will instead be producing the (correct) Asmodeus symbol using a tampo stamp. All praise be to the Lord of the Nine Hells! Miracles really do happen, you guys! The Dwarf Slaver is a Medium figure slated at the uncommon rarity.

Up next is the Torrent Hellknight, based on the Wayne Reynolds character design for the Hell's Rebels character Lictor Octavio Sabinus from the cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #98. This is our third or fourth Hellknight in Pathfinder Battles so far (I've lost count!), and he's definitely one of my favorites. I think I've found that, as cool as all-black armor looks on the printed page, it sometimes results in fairly underwhelming prepainted figures, at least color-wise. Thankfully, the blue cape and silver scale armor in Wayne's design gives us some interesting colors to pop with this guy, and I think he'll be a popular choice for player characters and NPCs alike. Heck, get a couple of them and they serve as pretty killer elite guards for any of the various Chelaxian (or even just generally evil) NPCs we've released to date. The Torrent Hellknight is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Speaking of despicable Chelaxian villains, here we have Jilia Bainilus, the former mayor of the city of Kintargo and a very interesting character in the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path. Calling Jilia a villain is a bit of a stretch (as well as a bit of a spoiler), so in the interests of not ruining anything let's just say her Facebook alignment status is "It's Complicated." Jilia's look comes direct from the brush of Pathfinder superstar artist Wayne Reynolds and the cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #99. I think she's got a fantastic look for a player character noble swordswoman. Although Jilia's official game statistics are... let's just say, "somewhat different," to me this is pretty much the perfect swashbuckler miniature, and I can't wait to use it in my games. Jilia Bainilus is a Medium, rare figure.

After one of my fun Dragon Con panels this last weekend, a dedicated Pathfinder fan came up to ask me if we might ever do a Pathfinder Battles figure of a Strix, the dark-skinned primitive winged folk who feature so heavily in the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path, Liane Merciel's wonderful Nightglass novel, and elsewhere. I was pleased to not only say "yes, we will!" but to say "yes, we will, as soon as humanly possible. In fact, we've got one in the very next set!" So here you go, Pathfinder fan. Your very own Strix Sorcerer, suitable for use as a player character or a nasty winged villain. Huzzah! The Strix Sorcerer is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Next week, I'll be back with more awesome previews for Deadly Foes. A formal announcement of the next set should hit soon. In the meantime, I'm currently working on the NEXT setlist with our recently returned Director of Licensing, Mike Kenway. We're starting with a blank slate and a VERY loose theme for this one, so please let me know if you have any requests! I'm particularly interested to hear what major races or groups you'd like to see us cover with multiple "like" figures in the same set. By my count we've done goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, bugbears, ghouls, and a few others.

What else do you want or need? Let us know in the comments.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Two Cave Creatures

Friday, August 19, 2016

The bulk of the convention season is behind us, and it's time to jump back aboard the weekly Pathfinder Battles preview train! And I've got to say, Gen Con was just the thing to re-ignite my excitement about the product line and all of the amazing stuff we have coming out in the next year or so! Before we get into this week's Deadly Foes preview, please allow me to list a few items that are stirring my excitement, including some behind-the-scenes stuff you might not be aware of!

1. Deadly Foes, now scheduled for a November release, is shaping up to be one of our best sets yet. We've approved ALL of the paint masters for the set, the packaging is finished, and we're into production as I write this. While I have not yet seen final production figures from the run, everything I've seen for Deadly Foes makes me even more excited about the set than I've previously been, which is really saying something. From the digital sculpts to figure selection to the paint masters, everything has gone "right" with this set, and I can't wait to see the final product in hand.
2. While waiting at the Indianapolis airport upon my attempted escape from Indiana on the ill-fated day of the Deltapocalypse, our friends at WizKids provided about two-thirds of the digital sculpts from the next set, entitled I CAN'T TELL YOU YET, and holy moley, there was so much coolness packed into that set that I didn't even mind being delayed by seven hours, so fueled was I with overwhelming awesomeness. I barely had any corrections or comments for this batch, and all of the fellow Paizonians I fanatically showed the images to while they also waited to board their planes agreed with my assessment. Some of the very best Pathfinder Battles figures are yet to come. The multi-figure "themes" in the next set are REALLY strong, and I think folks are really going to dig them.
3. Speaking of the next (secret) set, I can confirm that the case incentive is EXTREMELY SPECIAL, and unlike anything we've done previously. Not totally unlike what we've done before, but definitely bigger and better. There will be more value packed into this incentive than in any of our previous sets, and now that I've seen some of the sculpts associated with it... man. So, so cool.
4. While at Gen Con, I had a chance to meet with WizKids, and I'm happy to report that based on that discussion I'm now at work building the NEXT setlist, which should cover us through all of 2017 insofar as big sets are concerned. This set, too, will have an unprecedented and completely awesome Case Incentive featuring something people have been asking for for a long time. The line is healthy and we're moving forward full steam ahead!
5. Lastly, I'm super excited to welcome back to the Paizo family Mr. Mike Kenway, our former Licensing Coordinator, who returns to Paizo after a year in the wilderness as our Director of Licensing. Mike will return to helping me out on setlists, approvals, and reference coordination, which will be an enormous boon. Mike has worked on nearly every Pathfinder Battles set, and bringing him back onto the team frees me up to push the envelope conceptually even further. A team of two is much, much better (and much more efficient) than just little old me doing nearly everything (on the Paizo side, anyway) by myself, and I speak for the entire Paizo team when I say: "Welcome back, Mike!"

So with all of that great news out of the way, let's take a look at three figures from November's Deadly Foes set!

First up this week is the nasty Cave Catcher, a sneaky subterranean hunter who ensnares adventurers with its sticky tongue. This Medium, uncommon figure is sure to menace your player characters, and at the uncommon rarity, why not pit your heroes against a small clutch of the creatures?

Want something larger for your cavern adventures? How about Bestiary 3's Cave Giant? These monstrous brutes dwell in caves, where they make slaves of lesser creatures like dwarves, orcs, troglodytes, and player characters. Wielding a massive bone battleaxe and clad in filthy hide, the Cave Giant makes a perfect addition to the ranks of Pathfinder Battles giants we've produced to date. The Cave Giant is a Large, uncommon figure.

Last up this week is the delightful little House Drake, which appears under a different name on page 229 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. This deadly creature packs impressive power into its small (actually Tiny) frame. Perfect as either an improved familiar, a mischievous opponent, or even the child of a larger dragon figure, the House Drake is a rare figure on a Small base.

And that's it for this week! It was great to chat minis with a few of you at Gen Con, and I look forward to our paths crossing again!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Wrath of CONNNNNNNNNN!

Friday, July 29, 2016

It's that magical time of year again when I break my time into 30 minute chunks as I leap from state to state and country to country for the annual ritual of level-draining known as "Con Season." I only just returned to the States from (the absolutely wonderful, it must be said) PaizoCon UK, and here I sit in my office with only a few more working hours before it's time to head out to the big one—GEN CON!

This year marks my 22nd consecutive year at the convention, and I'm still just as excited about going as I was that very first year. Since I haven't gotten a chance to actually play a game at Gen Con since the 1990s*, these days the aspect of the convention that most gets my blood pumping is the chance to see old friends from all over the world in the evenings. Also, for about an hour on Sunday, after all the business meetings and seminars and media interviews are over, I like to speed-walk the trade hall on the hunt for new miniatures!

All of the best minis manufacturers are present at the show, displaying their latest and greatest offerings. Because of strange timing this year, WE don't have any brand new WizKids Pathfinder Battles sets to show off, though we will have a few cases of The Rusty Dragon Inn that we managed to find recently. So if you missed that much-in-demand set the first time, you'll have a chance to check it out in the Paizo booth (#103).

We'll also have a few new metal miniatures from our friends at Reaper Miniatures making their debut in the Paizo store, including iconic characters from Occult Adventures and a few other exciting surprises.

As in past years, we've set up a special promotional repaint miniature FREE with purchases of $50 or more at the Paizo booth. This year's promo mini is the Blue Guard, a repaint of the Guard from The Rusty Dragon Inn that we've produced in extremely limited quantities. We should have a FEW of this guy left over for sale here on paizo.com after we get back from the show, but I wouldn't expect him to last long. He's really cool, and guards are the type of figures most GMs want by the small handful.

We'll also be giving away top-secret promo repaints to all ticketed players of the Friday and Saturday night Pathfinder Society Specials in the massive Sagamore Ballroom. If you're there on Friday night especially, there's a good chance that I or a member of the Paizo editorial staff will hand-deliver your limited-edition figure, just by way of saying "thanks" for playing Pathfinder and enjoying what we do. We couldn't do it without you, and a free miniature every once in a while is but a token of our appreciation for your continued gaming loyalty and support.

But most of you won't be at Gen Con, and you're probably eager to see more previews of figures from the upcoming Deadly Foes set. I've been on the road at conventions the last two Fridays, so it's understandable if everyone is a little bit starved of previews.

So let's get on with it!

It's unbelievably hot in Seattle right now, so today's previews both involve FIRE! Up first we have the Peri, from Bestiary 3. Peris are a race of celestials native to the good-aligned Outer Planes, but they are often found in the company of mortals on the Material Plane. Sworn enemies of divs, Peris are drawn from Persian mythology, and their fiery wings certainly give them a nifty appearance. At CR 14, you're gonna want a pretty titanic battle to make up for these guys being in the Common rarity slot, but hey, at least they look really sweet with clear wings and a great sculpt. The Peri is a Medium figure.

As I sit here writing this, the sun is beating into my office, which has surely grown as hot as the flaming bow of this incredible Erinyes devil. It's difficult to believe it's taken us this long to create one of the most iconic and beloved devils, but some of our early sets were so filled with winged female fiends that I wanted to wait for the right time for this specific creature to strike. WizKids has done a phenomenal job with the sculpt—don't let the relatively simple paint job fool you. This one is a winner. The Erinyes is a Medium, uncommon figure.

And that's it! I'm off to Gen Con. If you can catch me between meetings in the Paizo booth, I'd love to chat with you about Pathfinder Battles, miniatures in general, or pretty much whatever! It's great to get to see our customers face-to-face at the show, and more than a few of those conversations have resulted in figures added to the line, so you never know! I'm always open to suggestions.

See you at the show, or see you back here in a couple weeks!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

* Ok, that's a bit of an exaggeration! I'm actually playing in a LIVE Pathfinder game this year with Jason Bulmahn, F. Wesley Schneider, and Crystal Frasier! It's the Live RPG Plus "celebrity" gaming event on Saturday night at 7:00 in the Westin Capitol III room. I understand tickets are still available. You can find more information HERE!

Here Come the Hobgoblins

Friday, July 8, 2016

One of my favorite moments in the development of any Pathfinder Battles set is the day when WizKids brings in the paint master and I get to see the figures for what amounts to the first time. Sure, I've carefully selected the reference images and approved digital sculpts, but it's not until you can actually hold the figures in your hand that they truly become "real." And oh, boy did we have a "real" experience looking at Deadly Foes!

Incidentally, the set has officially moved to a NOVEMBER release. I am told by reliable sources that it is unlikely to slip further.

The theme of Deadly Foes is high-utility monsters, humanoids, and heroes, and the feeling in the room as each of the painted figures was that this may be one of our best and most useful sets yet.

This week I'd like to show off three figures from the set: Hobgoblins all!

Up first is the Hobgoblin Archer, a nice rank-and-file ranged weapon attacker. Simple. Effective. Deadly. The Hobgoblin Archer is a Medium, common figure.

This guy is the bomb. The Hobgoblin Alchemist is a Medium, common figure.

Last up this week is the Hobgoblin Cleric, another Medium, common figure.

All three hobgoblins were inspired by art from the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex, which also has relevant game statistics.

Lots more to show off in the coming weeks!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Friday Publisher Preview: Feelin' Crabby

Friday, June 24, 2016

It’s been a long, long week filled with sick days and budgets and other things that make Erik a dull boy, so here at the end of Friday, with the prospect of Saturday staring me in the face, I thought it might be fun to focus on a couple of miniatures that seem well suited to my current mood. Nothing makes me feel better than miniatures (ok, well, almost nothing), and this week’s previews are especially tasty. Both are from the new Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures that is currently slated for an October release.

Here we have my current mood’s namesake, the Giant Crab, in all his crabby glory. These guys come up in play enough that I knew I wanted to include one in a set. I’m happy to report that the Giant Crab is a common figure, so you can send a whole swarm of them at your player characters the next time they decide to let their guard down while enjoying an afternoon at the beach. The Giant Crab is a Medium figure.

Sometimes when you’re in a bad mood, all you really need is a hug. The Flying Ray is very happy to lend a couple of gnarly skin flaps to the cause, cloaking you in its warm embrace. Once inside, you’ll never want to leave! The Flying Ray is a Large, uncommon figure.

That’s it for today’s blog, and for today, really. And not a moment too soon! We’ll see you next week with a couple more exciting reveals from Deadly Foes!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Greetings from Hellywood

Friday, June 10, 2016

As I write this blog, I'm sitting in a writer's room in Hollywood working on a secret Pathfinder project. Everyone here thinks I'm taking notes, but in fact I'm making good on my mission to provide you, the Miniatures Fiend, a weekly preview of upcoming Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from October's Deadly Foes set. It'll be a short update this week—it's an exciting meeting—but excitement is no excuse for no update at all.

Here we have a wicked Bearded Devil, one of countless elite warriors in the legions of Hell. WizKids did a fantastic job with the sculpt on this one. His face (and beard) is particularly charming. The Bearded Devil is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Last week some folks said they wanted to see more of the NPCs in Deadly Foes, so here we have a very important one—Barzillai Thrune, one of the primary antagonists of the Hell's Rebels Adventure Path. Your players will already hate him as they play the campaign, so why not let them see the source of their loathing? Barzillai Thrune is a Medium, Rare figure.

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

PaizoCon Reveals Up-Close!

Friday, June 3, 2016

Last week we revealed a number of figures for October's Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles figures, and the response at the show has been fantastic. I've seen a few of the images show up online from cameraphones in the audience, but today I'd like to reveal the four new figures I showed off at the preview banquet here on the blog, to give you all a MUCH better look at them!

Up first is the Salamander, everyone's favorite snake-bodied denizen of the Plane of Fire. The Salamander has a cool spear and stands ready to scorch your player characters into ashes. The Medium figure is slated at the common rarity.

This masked Pathfinder Society Leader is a member of the Decemvirate, the 10-person group of mysterious masked leaders who run the Pathfinder Society from the shadows. Are they good guys? Bad guys? WHO KNOWS? That's part of the fun of working for the Pathfinder Society. Every day is a surprise! The Pathfinder Society Leader is a Medium, rare figure.

At long last I'm pleased to reveal the Pit Devil, a paragon of law and evil that serves as a fitting end-boss to any fantasy campaign. Or, you know, throw him at your third-level heroes and see what happens, just for fun. The Pit Devil is a Large, rare figure.

At the PaizoCon Preview Banquet I also revealed the first piece of "dungeon dressing" in the Deadly Foes set, the Book of the Damned itself! Like all of the other dungeon dressing in the set, this guy comes one per case, and is randomly swapped out for another mini in a randomly selected booster. Now, just like the impulsive rogue in my Monday night Pathfinder game, your player characters can have their very own copy of the most evil book in the Pathfinder world. Fun for everyone! Even more fun: The book can be removed from its base, giving you two minis in one. Kinda!

And that's it for today. Thanks to all of you who attended PaizoCon this year. The Miniatures Trading Afterparty was a huge success again this year, and I hope those of you who didn't get a chance to come this year will make it out to Seattle over Memorial Day Weekend next year so we can meet in person, talk about minis, and do a trade or two! Or three. Or four.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Big Guns

Friday, May 20, 2016

Friday brings the smell of fresh plastic wafting on the winds, a sure sign that it's time again to preview some digital sculpts for October's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures! As we prep for PaizoCon next weekend, we're heading into a big week for Paizo, so I wanted to take the time to focus on a couple of "big" miniatures in the set—namely two of my favorites!

Here we have the Ankhrav Drone, a new name for a classic creature found on page 15 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary. The story behind this burrowing, bug-like monster's origin is quite interesting. The standard version, with a name gate-locked by our inability to include the Open Game License on the bottom of every figure, also was saddled with an illustration that wasn't too inspiring, and that didn't seem to me like it would make a good miniature. Still, it's a very useful creature in general, and eventually I want to make sure we make every creature in the first Bestiary (if not all the others), so I had a lot of impetus to make the figure, but knew we'd need a better illustration (for minis purposes) AND a new name for the creature. Enter the Pathfinder Campaign Setting book Belkzen, Hold of the Orc Lords. That book introduced the Ankhrav, a Huge cousin of the classic Bestiary monster, and positioned it more as a brood queen for the standard Large version of the character. It also had a very cool illustration that, when coupled with the re-do we put into the Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary Box created the new look for this creature. I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out, and look forward to having this guy burrow his way up from under my player characters! The Ankhrav Drone is a Large figure at the uncommon rarity.

The Gynosphinx is a classic dungeon creature that we've somehow not managed to produce in more than 10 Pathfinder Battles sets. I think we've been waiting for the right piece of art, and with this version, we've finally got it. Sure, she's a bit Liz Taylor, but I'd hardly call that a problem. Ahem. Anyway, the Gynosphinx is a Large, rare figure.

And that's all I've got for this week. We will likely NOT have a Publisher Preview next week, as I'll be at PaizoCon with the rest of the Paizo staff. I WILL be revealing some new figures at the Preview Banquet on Saturday night, though, so keep your eyes on the Internet to see if you can't find some camera phone photos before we formally share them here after the convention.

And if you ARE coming to PaizoCon, don't forget the 9th-annual Miniatures Trading Afterparty in the hotel bar immediately after the conclusion of the convention on Monday. I'll have piles of Pathfinder Battles goodies, and it's a great chance to swap doubles with other miniatures fiends in the community. Plastic, metal, painted, unpainted. Bring it all! Dump stuff you don't want anymore for new stuff you never knew you wanted. It's one of my favorite parts of the convention, and I look forward to seeing many of you there!

Until then (and after), I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Devils in the Details

Friday, May 13, 2016

Once upon a time, October's Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic miniatures from the Pathfinder Battles line had a much heavier focus on fiends vs. celestials, with a huge emphasis on the devils of Hell. Probably too much of an emphasis, if I'm being completely honest. Eventually we toned down some of the diabolical content and replaced it with other creatures to give the set a more general appeal, but some of that infernal impetus still remains, and there are PLENTY of devils left in Deadly Foes.

This week, I'd like to show off a couple of the minor devils in the set—the Lemure and the Accuser.

Here we have the Lemure, and from where I sit I'm not certain that we've ever produced a figure quite so ugly. And I mean that in the nicest possible way! The Pathfinder RPG Bestiary describes Lemure Devils as the least of devilkind, shapeless masses of quivering flesh. They are further described as "grotesque and useless." I beg to differ on that last point! I can see swarms of these guys converging upon my player characters. The Lemure is a CR 1 Medium figure at the common rarity.

Our second fiend today comes from the pages of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2, which describes them as "childlike souls tormented and scoured of innocence by the flames of Hell and then reshaped by the mad whims of the archdevil Baalzebul." Accuser devils embody the foul, merciless, and pervasive corruptions of Hell. At CR 3, they also make for great group encounters. This gross little guy is slated at the common rarity, making him perfect for an otherworldly ambush by the party's devilish foes. The Accuser Devil is a Small figure.

There are a lot more devils coming in Deadly Foes, but I've made my own infernal promise to drag these previews out until October, so I'm afraid they'll have to wait for future previews!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Good Guys!

Friday, May 6, 2016

Last week we revealed a couple of bad guys from October's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures, so it seemed only fitting that this week we tip the celestial scales back in favor of good! Only this time, because the Sun is shining in Seattle and I'm ready to leave work behind for a relaxing weekend, I want to OVER-tip the scales, so as a special Spring bonus I'm going to reveal three "good" minis today!

Up first is the simple-but-effective Celestial Lantern. This low-level lawful good spirit eagerly converses with and assists other goodly creatures, and can even be taken as a familiar or summoned by even low-level casters. Molded in clear plastic with a golden lattice, the Celestial Lantern keeps the light of good alive against the darkness. The Celestial Lantern is a Small, common figure.

Celestial Sentinels are disciplined watchers for good-aligned deities, often guarding specific places or individuals important to pure-hearted gods. Their ranks fill the celestial armies, where they are great enemies of evil fiends, showing them no mercy. At CR 4, they're also among the most commonly summoned allies for lower-level spellcasters, making them a nice addition to the ranks alongside Celestial Lanterns and the like. The Celestial Hound is a Medium, common figure.

To round out our goodly trio we've got the Celestial Trumpeter, a messenger of good deities and the vanguard of divine armies. Their glorious trumpets transform into magic +4 greatswords, adding significant punch to a significant array of magic spells, justifying their CR 14 status. The Celestial Trumpeter is a Medium, uncommon figure.

And that's it for this week (though more celestials remain for future reveals)! I wish you all the best of weekends to come, and look forward to showing off another round of figures next week!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Bad Guys!

Friday, April 29, 2016

This week's Pathfinder Battles preview reveals two of my favorite figures in October's Deadly Foes set, both of whom very much live up to their name.

Up first this week is the Technic League Captain, a villainous lout from the barbaric land of Numeria, where the remnants of a huge spaceship that crashed long ago still fuel the people with weird liquids and technological debris. Our friend the Technic League Captain, culled from the pages of the Inner Sea World Guide, has made that technology work for him in the form of a cool futuristic sword. Is it a ghost touch weapon? A brilliant energy blade? You decide! The Technic League Captain is a Medium, rare figure.

The Fire Diabolist is one of my favorite illustrations from the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex, which continues to be a great source of images for the Pathfinder Battles line. This 20th-level cleric of Asmodeus (!!!) comes ready to rumble with a killer mace and a sturdy shield. The Fire Diabolist is a Medium, rare figure who would probably prefer to cook your player characters all the way to well done!

That's it for this week. Swing by in seven days for another look at what WizKids has in store in October's Deadly Foes set!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Good Bad Dogs

Friday, April 22, 2016

It's been a long week of hard work and hard business travel (ok, fun business travel), so at the end of the day here on Friday, the thing I'm most looking forward to doing is heading home and hanging out with my dog. I got my first pet—a wonderfully chubby pug named Tiny—about 5 years ago. Before that I didn't really understand compassion. While I always (sort of) enjoyed hanging out with my friends' dogs, I never knew why people liked them so much. Then I got one of my own, my heart melted, and I guess you could say I'm a better man than I ever was before.

But the thing is, not all dogs are as awesome as my little Tiny. Some of them are right bastards.

For this week's preview, we're taking a look at two terrible canines from October's Deadly Foes set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures. Bring your pepper spray and choke chains, and most importantly, BEWARE OF DOG!

Up first this week is the Cerberi, a nasty three-headed dog from the pages of Pathfinder RPG: Bestiary 3. Based on the mythical guard dogs of Hell, these outsiders can dimensionally anchor an enemy with a bite, and their three noses are particularly good at sniffing out undead. Of course, they're lawful evil, so they aren't so great with the living, either. The Cerberi is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Bad dogs travel best in packs, and when you're talking about dogs from Hell like the Cerberi, you've got to also talk about the original hounds of hell—hell hounds! This charming fellow is the Advanced Hell Hound, a Large and more imposing version of the original creature (whom we included in the Shattered Star set). I've included a side view, as the flames coming out of this guy's mouth make it a little difficult to interpret from straight-on. Either way, this guy is sure to light a fire under the feet of your player characters. The Advanced Hell Hound is a Large, uncommon figure.

And that's it for this week! Join us in seven days for another look ahead at the villains, heroes, and monsters of Deadly Foes!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Winged Warriors (Big and Small)

Friday, April 14, 2016

Hard to believe it's already Friday, which also means it's already time for another sneak peek at new minis from the upcoming Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles gaming figures from our friends at WizKids! This week I've decided to focus on two winged figures, one quite small, and the other very large! Let's take to the air and see what all the fuss is about!

Up first this week is the Imp, a diabolical little fellow who makes a perfect familiar for a villain or for the somewhat villainous arcane spellcaster that seems to infect nearly every party. Even though this figure is Tiny, I love all of the detail WizKids put into his face, and he's a nice addition to the ranks of devils that we'll continue to see in this set as we move toward its October release. The Imp is an uncommon figure.

Look, up in the sky, it's a freakin' terrifying raptor with claws as long as short swords! Here's hoping he's friendly! Giant Eagles have been a staple of fantasy since long before J.R.R. Tolkien had them rescue a bunch of hobbits from a tree, and I'm pleased to finally bring this "staple" creature to the Pathfinder Battles line. At the Large size and positioned in the uncommon rarity, it should be pretty easy to build up a terrifying flock!

And that's it for this week. I've got to space these things out a bit to make it all the way to October! In the meantime, keep on keepin' on, and keep up with the suggestions for new minis we can make for you!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Two for the Road

Friday, April 1, 2016

I'm leaving for a much-needed vacation to the ruined ancient cities of Mexico in about an hour, so I'm going to make this week's Pathfinder Battles preview short and sweet. The sun is shining, I've got packing to do, and this is no time to be at work.

That said, I'm absolutely thrilled with the quality of sculpts WizKids has been sending us for October's Deadly Foes set of prepainted plastic gaming figures. This latest pair—a diabolical pair if I've ever seen one—bring dark flames to my wicked heart.

Two maces. A wicked beard. A giant upside down pentagram to properly honor Lord Asmodeus. What's not to love? The Priest of Asmodeus makes a great rank-and-file evil cleric, but he's dynamic enough to be a specific, credible villain. The figure is a Medium piece slated at the common rarity.

This cool Thrune Enforcer is the perfect compliment to the Priest of Asmodeus, a great shock-trooper for an evil army or even a member of an evil town's city watch. Heck, if you look past the glyph of the evil empire Cheliax, she'd even work well for a darkly garbed, mace-wielding player character. Either way, you don't want to see her coming at you with that mace held high after you unexpectedly interrupt a candle-lit ceremony! The Thrune Enforcer is a Medium, common figure.

And with that, I say "GRACIAS" for your interest in and support of the Pathfinder Battles line. I'm off work next week, which means no figure preview next Friday. I WILL return in two weeks time with even more cool minis to show off, however, provided I don't take a nasty tumble down a Mayan pyramid.

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Clear Choice

Friday, March 25, 2016

This week I've got two figures from October's Deadly Foes, the next set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles gaming figures! This week's choices allow me to show off figures tied to one of my favorite features—clear plastic.

When it comes to things like invisible creatures and flames, clear plastic offers a verisimilitude that's very difficult to achieve even with a well-painted miniature. Try as I might, I can never blend orange, yellow, and red well enough to really "sell" it as fire, but when clear plastic comes into the picture, things get considerably more "realistic."

I've loved several clear figures from the past of the Pathfinder Battles range, from the flaming pole-arm of early experiments like High Lady Athroxis to all-out classics like the elementals from the Shattered Star set. Deadly Foes continues the tradition, with a significant number of creatures that employ clear plastic effects sure to drop your jaw.

Here we have the Invisible Guardian, an incredibly versatile figure that can double as a dungeon stalker or any kind of incorporeal undead. The Invisible Guardian stands a bit taller than your average adventurer, and it's ready to sneak up and do some stranglin'. The Invisible Guardian is a Medium, common figure.

Also today we've got the Hellcat, one of my favorite sculpts from the Deadly Foes set. If previous Pathfinder Battles figures like the Hell Hound from Shattered Star are any indicator, this guy is going to turn out wonderfully. Even better, it's a Large figure, so I expect the juxtaposition between bone and fire is going to look fantastic. The Hellcat is slated at the uncommon rarity.

I hope you agree that both of these figures are "clearly" great choices for your game table! I'll be back next week with a look at some more figures from Deadly Foes!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

More Iconic Promos!

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Obsidian Pathfinder Adventures Update

Before we jump into your regularly scheduled blog, we have the following message to relay from Obsidian:

We know many of you are eagerly awaiting the chance to explore Sandpoint and defeat the Runelords, and we're sorry to keep you waiting just a little bit longer: We're moving the launch day for Pathfinder Adventures to April 26.

The good news is why the game is being delayed: during beta testing over the last couple of weeks the community has given us a ton of feedback on everything from visual polish to card balance and general gameplay. We want to evaluate all of the ideas and address as many as possible before launch, and that process is going to take a little bit of time.

Ultimately, we hope you all agree that the result will be a better Pathfinder Adventures, just at a sliiiiightly later date.

Stuart Roch
Director of Publishing, Obsidian Entertainment

---

We're just laying down the final versions of the Mummy's Mask promo cards this week, which reminds me that we have more promos to talk about! Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set #6 has just been released, complete with an extra miniature and an extra promo card. (See? Don't say we never gave you nothin'.)

Here's a look at the promo cards in Set #6. As a reminder, these cards have the Owner trait, meaning the character whose name is on the card can treat it as a Basic card.

Some Cards from Iconics that Already have ACG Character Cards...

Daji's card could have been named "Red Fox," but then I wouldn't stop shouting "I'm coming to join you, Elizabeth!"

People have been saying "Where's Lem?" since Iconic Heroes Set #1. There's this thing where we could only get one small mini into each set, and we wanted to make sure that Biter and... screw it, the important thing is that he's finally here.

And he brought his flute! The Instrument trait first appeared on Oloch's Orc War Drum, but has since migrated into Wrath of the Righteous and other decks. Basically, it means that you're gonna add 1d4 to other people's checks in some way—in other words, it'll make you a bit like a Bard. But if you're already a Bard, you get to add that d4 to everything anyone does that turn. Everything. Lem + Flute = popular.

Our favorite emo magus gets a shiny bent scimitar. Since he's just as concerned with spells as swords, Seltyiel can use it to pick up spells and then fling them back later.

Feiya has two cards in this set, including Daji the fox. Feiya's trick, both in the Skull & Shackles Character Add-On Deck and the upcoming Witch Deck revolves around recharging cards to reduce the difficulty of checks. Daji's great for many a spellcaster due to the Intelligence and Wisdom bumps, but when it's Feiya, suddenly she's reducing difficulty by 6 or 7 all the time. Pretty dodgy, if you ask me.

... And Cards from Iconics that Don't have Character Cards Yet

I swear there was some armor around here a minute ago.

We haven't released playable versions of Quinn the Investigator, Hayato the Samurai, or Reiko the Ninja yet. But their Iconic Heroes cards are useful even without their owners.

The investigator's main gimmick is peering into dark places. Just as Holmes has his magnifying glass, Quinn has his lamp. Anyone can use it to peek at cards and clear out barriers. When Quinn shows up, he'll be doing that a lot.

Reiko's black ninja armor is loaded with hidden weapons. Don't have a need for armor right now? Voop, it's a Hand Crossbow. Or a Dragon Pistol. Or in Reiko's case, maybe it's a Kusarigama. Just the kind of thing your shadowy figures would need in a pinch.

So that's Set 6. We get asked a lot, "Will there be more Iconic Heroes sets?" WizKids is still contemplating the answer to that, but we sure hope so.

And Speaking of Promos...

This year's Free RPG Day is June 18, and we've got another goblin character coming your way. We're not gonna say much about him for a little while, but here's Tup the Terrible!

Oh, one more thing: He has a sheep named Deliverance.

Enjoy the promos, Pathfinders!

Mike Selinker
Adventure Card Game Lead Designer

News from the GAMA Trade Show!

Friday, March 18, 2016

Greetings, everyone! I'm writing to you today from the floor of the GAMA Trade Show, the game industry's annual convocation of manufacturers, distributors, and retailers in lovely Las Vegas, Nevada. GAMA is not only a great chance to meet up with industry friends and business partners, but it's also a great place to pick up exciting news from the attending publishers. This year, Paizo and Pathfinder are no different! You've probably also seen the news about our new paperback Pathfinder RPG Pocket Editions of the Core Rulebook and Bestiary, as well as the exciting announcement of September's Curse of the Crimson Throne hardcover Adventure Path. You may not have seen the great news about Pathfinder miniatures, however, so I wanted to carve out some time from my busy convention schedule to bring you up to speed.

Our partners at WizKids, who have already produced nearly a dozen sets of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles releases, announced on Tuesday that they are launching a brand-new line of unpainted plastic miniatures based on their two popular fantasy miniatures licenses—Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons, along with some original unbranded dungeon scenery!

In all the new unpainted figure line will launch with more than 150 unique sculpts, and is scheduled for a fourth-quarter 2016 release. All of the figures will come fully assembled, and will be pre-primed with Acrylios Vallejo primer, some of the finest-quality hobby paint available. The figures will come in a few different configurations:

• Hero Packs will contain both a low-level and a high-level sculpt of the same character, such as the Pathfinder iconic hero Valeros, pictured below.
• Monster Packs will contain 1–3 miniatures with different versions of the same type of monster (for example, goblins, orcs, etc.).
• Item Packs will contain scenery and items (treasure chests, traps, furniture and the like) for detailing adventures.

Each pack will be priced from $2.99-$3.99, depending on the size and number of figures included.

I had a chance to review early versions of these figures in hand at the show, and I think you will all be blown away by the enhanced sculpting process WizKids will be using, which highlights minute elements and includes deep cut surface details and scaled features for easier hand painting.

Take a look at the quick photos I took of Valeros on my iPhone to get a sense of how cool these will look. Much more detailed photos will appear here in the weeks to come.

The launch of WizKids new unpainted figure line will not impact either of Paizo's two existing miniatures lines, Pathfinder Battles from WizKids and Pathfinder Miniatures from Reaper. As the new figures will use completely new sculpts and poses, there should be very little overlap with existing figures, though it's safe to assume that some familiar faces are certain to appear in the new line.

Also at the show, I revealed two more digital sculpts from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles set Deadly Foes, scheduled for an October release.

Look out! It's a Cockatrice! He nips you with that nasty beak of his and you're sure to be turned to stone. The Cockatrice is a Small, uncommon figure.

Look out! That friendly NPC you picked up a few dungeon rooms back isn't friendly at all—it's a Doppelganger! The Doppelganger is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Lots more to reveal in the weeks to come. Keep your eyes on this space for more exciting Pathfinder miniatures developments!

Until the stars are right, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

A HUGE Announcement: Deadly Foes!

Friday, March 11, 2016

I'm thrilled to announce that the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic gaming figures will be Deadly Foes! Deadly Foes is a 45-figure "full" Pathfinder Battles set with 6 pieces of bonus "dungeon dressing" randomly inserted into standard 4-piece booster boxes. The set's general theme allows for a huge variety of high-utility monsters and allies, with a focus on key creatures we've not yet produced and some exciting new surprises.

The biggest surprise, both literally and figuratively, is that the Deadly Foes set includes two HUGE figures as its limited-edition case incentive! It's been a long, long time since we've been able to include Huge creatures in Pathfinder Battles, for a number of largely boring reasons related to production hurdles, form factors, and the like. I'm thrilled to report that we worked with WizKids for a solution to this problem. Past case incentive figures have been Gargantuan, the Pathfinder RPG size just above Huge, and we'll continue to include Gargantuan case incentives when they make sense. Mixing things up with our previous set, The Rusty Dragon Inn was so successful that we're in an experimental mood. And we've decided to experiment by making the Deadly Foes Case Incentive a two-pack of two of our favorite Huge creatures: the Clockwork Dragon and the Spawn of Cthulhu!

Here we have the insanely detailed Clockwork Dragon, from the pages of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4! The creature's neutral alignment makes it the perfect foe for good or evil characters, and its looming size make it an impressive addition to any tabletop battle. The art for this creature is one of my favorite pieces to ever appear in a Pathfinder monster book, so I'm extra delighted to see it come to glorious three dimensions!

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, and with strange aeons even death may die" is not just a sweet line from a Metallica song, it's also a key phrase in the mythology of American horror author H. P. Lovecraft, creator of the Cthulhu Mythos. It's also the inspiration for Pathfinder's next Adventure Path, Strange Aeons, which launches in August. Here we have the dreaded Spawn of Cthulhu as it emerges from the water to destroy the sanity of your player characters. The world has seen a lot of Cthulhu miniatures over the years, but I've never quite seen one emerging from the ocean like this guy. WizKids's brilliance with clear water effects is sure to make this a distinctive, pants-ruining experience for your players when you plop down the Big C on your game table.

That's it for this week! I've got a ton of other images to show for this set, but it's unfortunately going to take two weeks to get to them. I'm off to the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas on Monday, and will be out for the entire week. I will try to get a blog completed while I am on the road, but I expect to be very, very busy next week and don't want to make any promises I can't keep.

But I did promise the Huge figures would reappear in Pathfinder Battles, so I think you can count on my word!

Until the stars are right, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Magnificent 7 of Set 6

Friday, February 12, 2016

It's Friday, and I've got some delightful news to share with you! I'm pleased to report that last week, WizKids sent Paizo the first batch of digital sculpts for our next, as-yet-unannounced Pathfinder Battles set, and they are PHENOMENAL. A few of our editors looked over my shoulder as I flipped through them the first time, and one even suggested that this may turn out to be the best Pathfinder Battles set yet. I certainly agree that, at the very least, it's in the same league as some of our very best sets!

And just wait until you see the case incentive(s)! You guys are going to FREAK!

Of course, the set has not yet been announced (that happens VERY soon), and the sculpts are still in approvals, so I can't quite show them off just yet.

But don't despair! I do have some delightful images to show off of actual figure photos of miniatures from Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 6, which is now available in stores and here on Paizo.com! This set is especially interesting in that it comes with one "extra" figure to help us round out the complete list of iconic characters revealed in Pathfinder RPG hardcovers up to the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide!

Check 'em out!

Here we've got Quinn, Human Investigator, one of my absolute favorites from the entire Iconic Heroes line (the other one probably being Oloch, from Iconic Heroes Set 5. From his perfectly applied eyes and facial details to the huge amount of well-painted gear, this figure has it all. It's also amazingly versatile, and can double easily as numerous characters, from spellcasters to rogues to swashbucklers, from heroes to villains alike. Quinn is COOOOOL, and I'm thrilled to add him not just to the Iconic Heroes line, but also to my own personal miniatures collection!

This is the one we've been waiting for ever since the original Feiya, Human Witch turned out something short of everyone's expectations back in the Reign of Winter set. The recent replacement figure WizKids randomly inserted into The Rusty Dragon Inn boosters was a minor improvement, but really revealed that the culprit was a weak face sculpt overall. There just aren't enough details on that face for painters to pick out, resulting in, well, let's just call her a "very happy" Feiya and leave it at that. I'm personally very happy to reveal that the second time is the charm (thanks in no small part to the shift to digital sculpting), and this version of Feiya suffers from none of the problems that marred her first appearance. Her face looks fantastic this time around, and her new "in the middle of battle" pose suits, her, as well. When you're trying to decide which witch to use, I think you'll find this is a witch worth making a switch. Ahem.

Of course, a witch isn't much without her familiar, so in this set we've also included Daji, Feiya's fox familiar. Daji has a neat mid-stride pose that differentiates him from the previous Fox miniature in Reign of Winter, and honesty the two foxes go together well for an animal encounter, if you don't want to use it as a familiar. Either way, folks seem to love them some animals, and Iconic Heroes Set 6 contains one of the most lovable to date.

Do you like your men bare-chested and a bit on the "goth" side? This figure is the answer to all of your (probably very adult-oriented) dreams! Seltyiel has his big magus sword ready for a skillful attack, and you just know his thin lips are about to let loose an absolutely cutting insult. I'm currently writing this character in our Pathfinder: Hollow Mountain comic from Dynamite, and having a blast. He's pretty much a villain (or, if you prefer, an "anti-hero") in the comic, but on your game table he can be whatever you want him to be. Good guy, bad guy, maybe a little of both...

Back in the ancient days, when the then very small Paizo editorial staff was brainstorming iconic characters, we decided that we wanted our iconic halfling bard to have awesome sideburns. "You know," we said, "like Lemmy in Mötorhead." When his illustration came in, I think it was James L. Sutter who suggested "Why don't we just call him Lem?" And a legend was born. I really appreciate the way this version of Lem, Halfling Bard is captured mid-song. Very useful for a bard figure. Alternatively, pair Lem with the Dwarf Bard drummer, the Half-Elf Bard violinist, and some Dancing Girls from The Rusty Dragon Inn, and you've got a ready-made concert!

We couldn't finish the Iconic Heroes sets without our two Asian-inspired iconics from Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Combat, of course! These guys don't get quite the same love as our standard iconics, largely because they represent sub-classes rather than full core classes, but that's pedantic inside baseball talk. They're still super cool, and they deserve some love. Reiko, Human Ninja comes in a sweet battle pose, a chain dangling between her two blades. She's definitely a cool killer you don't want to run into in a dark alley. But if you do, at least you'll now have a miniature to commemorate the encounter!

Last up this week is Hayato, Human Samurai! With his banner, lamellar armor, helmet, and more, Hayato is perhaps the most detailed of artist Wayne Reynolds's many iconic characters. I'm happy to report that WizKids is up to the challenge, and have delivered a fantastic rendition of the character in Iconic Heroes Set 6. Their efforts, as Hayato himself might say, are most honorable.

All seven figures come with unique cards for use with the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, and all are produced at the highest possible quality allowed by the manufacturing process. Now that we've completed all of the Iconic Heroes sets in our original plan, I can say that I am very proud of the work both Paizo and WizKids have put into making these among the finest prepainted plastic gaming figures ever produced. We've done, I think, an excellent job, and have set quality standards it will be difficult for anyone else to match or exceed. But we'll keep trying, of course!

But wait, I can hear you gasp. Is set 6 really the final Iconic Heroes set?

That, my friends, remains to be seen. We've had a few discussions with WizKids about what comes next, but nothing has yet been decided officially. I can say that WizKids is watching sales of these sets very closely, so if you'd like to see more of them, the best possible thing you can do is purchase the ones we've already released. We'd all love to produce figures for the Occult Adventures iconics, or both versions of the vigilante class from Ultimate Intrigue (or heck, maybe even a "We Be Goblins" or "Iconic Villains" set), but those decisions are not entirely up to me—they're up to the market.

I'm at ToyFair in New York City this weekend, where I'll be discussing this and even more diabolical plans in person with our friends at WizKids. I hope to be able to report big things soon!

But more importantly, we're very very close to the announcement of the next big set, and that means we start the preview train all over again here, every Friday.

Don't forget to bring lots of coal so we can keep this engine HOT!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Iconic Heroes Set 5—THE REAL DEAL

Friday, January 29, 2016

Howdy, minis hounds! Last week, while I was trapped in the dreaded Paizo Conference Room (CR 23), the able Chris Lambertz took the wheel to show off digital renders of WizKids' incredible Iconic Heroes Set 5 for the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic miniatures.

I'm happy to report that the actual figures have arrived at Paizo and out in the wild, so this week we move from digital renders to actual photographs of the figures in the set. Would you like to take a peek? Of course you would!

Here we have Kess, Human Brawler. Kess is perfect for any unarmed female PC (though she'd honestly double as a male fairly convincingly), and even works as an NPC thug leader. I love her fist-forward pose, and the color detail on the face of the figure I have on my desk is very well done.

Next up is Oloch, Half-Orc Warpriest. Oloch is probably my favorite figure in this bunch, and one of my favorite miniatures in the entire Iconic Heroes range. He is a sentimental favorite, as I've been having a blast writing him in Dynamite's ongoing Pathfinder: Hollow Mountain comic series, but boy, what an intimidating, awesome figure. The banners on Oloch's back feature amazing detail. I really love this guy.

Zadim, Human Slayer is another sentimental favorite, since I wrote his "Meet the Iconics" backstory. This figure's pose is really interesting, depicting Zadim mid-strike with one of his deadly kukris. WizKids has done a phenomenal job properly painting the various layers of his voluminous robes.

Enora, Halfling Arcanist is another highly versatile figure, either as a spellcasting player character or as an NPC. We haven't done too many halflings in Pathfinder Battles so far, so she fills a very useful niche. Her eyes, at least on the version I have in hand, are among the best I've yet seen on a WizKids figure.

Is this set specifically designed to strum my heartstrings with sentimental favorites? Adowyn, Human Hunter is based on a character from my weekly Pathfinder campaign, run by my neighbor and Pathfinder's Lead Designer Jason Bulmahn. It's fun to see a character I've known for so long come to life, first as an amazing illustration by Wayne Reynolds and second as a sweet miniature from WizKids. You can really use Adowyn for any kind of archer character, but her flowing cape and overall aura of awesomeness almost demand that she be a player character. An amazing figure, overall!

Last up in Iconic Heroes Set 5 is Leryn, Adowyn's animal companion wolf. In the campaign, her animal companion is a gibbon, but perhaps Pathfinder Battles is not quite ready for that level of awesomeness. A wolf is, nonetheless, a highly versatile, useful miniature. With a run on its head and a mean black stripe running down its back, Leryn makes an even more imposing foe than friend. Team Leryn up with a pack of wolves from our first set, Heroes & Monsters, and watch your players run for the hills!

Iconic Heroes Set 5 is currently shipping from paizo.com, and is on shelves at your local game store. With premium paint jobs, unique Pathfinder Adventure Card Game cards, and some of the best sculpts yet in this range, this is one you won't want to miss!

I'm still hoping to get some new sculpts for our next big set so I can start off a new round of brand new reveals. It's coming very, very soon now...

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Out Adventuring, Be Back Soon

Friday, January 22, 2016

Hey, Pathfinder Battles fans! Erik is currently sequestered in meetings and other important Paizo happenings, so I'm stepping in to take the blog wheel this week.

Iconic Heroes Set 5

Earlier this week Tanis gave us a glimpse at a few brand new Adventure Card Game promo cards included in Iconic Heroes Set 5. I think it's about time to put some faces to those names, so let's take a look at the renders for the set. First up we have Kess (the iconic brawler), Oloch (the iconic warpriest), and Zadim (the iconic slayer):

And up next, we have Enora (the iconic arcanist), and Adowyn (the iconic hunter) and her wolf companion Leryn:

Iconic Heroes Set 5 is due to release soon, so keep your eyes out for final photographs of these figures on paizo.com in the next couple weeks!

Rusty Dragon Inn Singles

To give a quick update on the status of the Rusty Dragon Inn Singles: we do still plan to do a restock and some of our more highly sought after figures will be available once again early next week and to give our subscribers a heads up once this happens. Subscribers to Pathfinder Battles and any of our other subscriptions from paizo.com should have received their shipment notification email by now. If you still haven't seen this go through, let our Customer Service team know!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director

Pull Up a Stool (The Rusty Dragon Inn Debrief)

Friday, January 15, 2016

The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles fantasy gaming figures is officially out and available in the wild! You can pick them up from your local retailer order the figures by case or brick, or select your favorites from the list of singles available from the set. I've been hearing from folks with an Ongoing Case Subscription that subscriber cases have begun to arrive, and as you're all opening your minis or deciding which ones to get, I'd like to take a moment to look at the set as a whole and share some of my thoughts about how it came together, and how it turned out.

I've always wanted to do a Pathfinder Battles set themed around a tavern. Most of my own campaigns tend to spend a lot of time in the city, and player characters can't help but get themselves into trouble when they're visiting the local watering hole. Paizo's tavern-themed Flip-Mats almost always sell out soon after we print them, proving that I'm not the only one who says "roll initiative" as often as "what'll you have?" when my player characters enter the tavern.

When we announced The Rusty Dragon Inn set several months ago, I knew that some folks would be concerned that the set was too NPC-heavy, so I made sure to include as many cool monsters as I possibly could, with a slight bias toward creatures I thought worked well in an urban environment (namely, ghouls). We also had a few hold-overs originally intended for earlier sets, like Zilvazaraat, the Large Silver Dragon, and the Gorgon. And, perhaps most importantly, the set gave us a chance to execute an idea I've been kicking around with WizKids for a long time—doing a major terrain piece as a special limited edition "case incentive" figure, in this case the Tavern Bar. Add to this the continuing experiment with dungeon dressing and my first chance to include things like the Cart and Large Cart, and you've got a set I've been excited about for a long, long time. It's finally here, and here are some of my own thoughts from along the way, and especially from opening my own personal case last weekend.

Dungeon Dressing

I'm thrilled with how the dungeon dressing came out for The Rusty Dragon Inn. From a gamer perspective, like a lot of you, I'd prefer more tables, crates, and barrels than are included in a single case, but I'm also sensitive to folks who don't enjoy their monster or NPC figures being swapped out for a piece of furniture. Demand for these pieces is extremely high (I think they all sold out within a couple of days of our first singles release batch), and that's a factor we will continue to weigh with WizKids to determine the best mix in future releases. The next set also contains a bunch of cool dungeon dressing pieces, and I'm eager for you to get a look at them. Beyond that, anything is possible. Please leave a note in the comments with suggestions of additional pieces of dungeon dressing you'd like to see in future sets.

Singles Sales

Singles from The Rusty Dragon Inn have sold incredibly well, with 14 figures already out of stock on paizo.com within the first week of the set's release. That's a phenomenal show of support for the set, and I think it probably bodes well for the overall sales we're expecting to see this time around. We know that the new paizo.com sales strategy for singles (ending sales at the end of the month) caused some alarm with subscribers who did not have their case to know what they might want or need before high-demand singles started vanishing from the site, and I've had a chat with our warehouse and web store team, and I'm confident that we will be releasing at least one more "wave" of singles before the end of the month, timed after we believe most subscribers will have received their cases. Watch this space very closely in the coming weeks for an announcement when this next batch goes on sale. We'll do the best we can to make sure that if you want a single from this set, you'll have a good chance of getting it, so long as you act quickly.

Rusty Dragon Flip-Mat?

In recent comment threads regarding the set, I've seen a lot of suggestions that we release a Rusty Dragon Inn Flip-Mat scaled to the Tavern Bar case incentive and designed for optimal use with the set. I think that's a fantastic idea, and I'm relatively confident that we'll do it—eventually. The actual size and contents of the Tavern Bar set were in flux until very late in the game, and I want to be able to match the scale on this stuff exactly so that everything fits the way it should. Suffice it to say, this is very likely coming, but probably not as rapidly as you might like it to. A good idea is worth taking the time to do right.

Overall Impressions

I'm thrilled with this set overall. As usual when you crack a case, some elements of rarity choices become more clear in your hand and on your table than they did in your head. Had I a chance to do it again, I might move the Bunyip to uncommon, for example, but that's really just a quibble. The paint jobs on the rares are remarkable (especially Allevrah, Elf General), and overall I think the factory did a good job, even on the faces (which is one of the toughest aspects of making these miniatures). I'm really happy with a lot of the figure and rarity choices, and I'm eager to use these figures on the table. I've already used the Half-Elf Enchanter as a conductor leading a little band of a Half-Elf Bard, a small circle of Dwarf Bard drummers, and three Dancing Girls. That's an encounter right there. I love it when random collections of figures from a single set fit so well together.

So, what do you think of the set? What are your favorite figures? Where do you think we could have done a better job? And, as always, what else would you like to see in future sets?

Let's debrief The Rusty Dragon Inn in comments!

I'll bring the beer.

Until next time, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

The Rusty Dragon Inn is Open for Business!

Friday, January 8, 2016

Welcome to the first 2016 edition of the Friday Publisher Preview, where I show off upcoming Paizo releases, usually (but not always!) for the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic gaming figures. While I don't have any brand new images of upcoming miniatures to show this week, I do want to pop the cork off a bottle of champagne and celebrate the official release of The Rusty Dragon Inn, the latest set!

The occasion allows me the chance to update folks on a number of items related to the release of The Rusty Dragon Inn.

Singles Sales

Single figures from the set are on sale now here at paizo.com. We're changing the way we stock and sell single figures for the foreseeable future, starting with The Rusty Dragon Inn. Henceforth Paizo will be stocking significantly fewer singles for all new sets, with sales lasting as long as our limited supplies last. Singles sales of The Rusty Dragon Inn on paizo.com will cease at the end of January. It's possible that some will re-appear later, but these will be figures cycled through the secondary market rather than from a vast supply that we keep in our warehouse. If you prefer to snipe the handful of figures you want as singles rather than buying boosters, bricks, or cases, be aware that you're going to have to act more rapidly than you're used to in order to get the figures you want. We MAY restock singles during January, but after that the entire set will be removed from singles sales indefinitely.

Feiya and King Irovetti Replacements

WizKids has taken the opportunity of this set's release to re-release repainted versions of two figures that did not match their quality control standards from previous sets, namely King Irovetti from Legends of Golarion and Feiya, Human Witch from Reign of Winter. These figures are repainted versions of the same sculpts, with improved paint application from their previous versions. WizKids has packed both replacement figures into a single unmarked "super-booster" in each case of The Rusty Dragon Inn. The two figures are in addition to the four regular figures in each booster, totaling six figures per "super-booster."

If you're already an ongoing Pathfinder Battles case subscriber, you need do nothing to receive these two free replacement figures. Customers buying a full case of The Rusty Dragon Inn will likewise receive the super-booster. As usual with these sorts of things, collation is not guaranteed.

If you own an unsatisfactory original version of Feiya or King Irovetti but are not currently an ongoing Pathfinder Battles case subscriber you can receive a replacement figure direct from WizKids through their standard figure replacement system.

We've listed a small number of the Feiya and King Irovetti repainted figures for purchase as singles on paizo.com.

Beds, Beds, Beds!

Lastly this week, when I saw the amazing dungeon dressing figures for this set come through approvals, I knew GMs would want more than the number of beds they were likely to get in their cases. As a result, we had WizKids create a special promotional version of the bed figure with a blue bedspread (rather than the standard red). These promo beds were produced in very limited quantities. Once they're gone, they're gone for good. You can get as many as you'd like (for now) here.

And that's it for this week. I'm quite pleased with the few boosters of The Rusty Dragon Inn I've opened so far, and look forward to diving into the rest of my personal case this weekend! I hope to be back next week with some news to reveal. The next set is even better than this one!

See you then!

Erik Mona
Publisher

A New Look at Some Old Friends

Friday, December 11, 2015

With the January release date for The Rusty Dragon Inn right around the corner and everything entering "pause" territory for the upcoming holiday, I don't have any new figures to show off for this week's Pathfinder Battles previews. I DO, however, have a few new images of some old friends to show off, so in the holiday spirit, I thought I'd share a look at actual final figures from December's Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes Set 4. (These figures hit the Paizo warehouse too late to go out with December subscription shipments, and will be fulfilled in late-December/January.)

WizKids has continued their tradition of providing amazing paint jobs for the entire Iconic Heroes line, and Set 4 is certainly no exception. Below, I've outlined the six figures in the set with "final" photographed images of the actual release figures. Sometimes, zooming in super close on figures like this has a way of highlighting some of a figure's minor blemishes, but overall I think these photos are a good representation of what you get in the box.

Let's take a look!

First we've got Crowe, Human Bloodrager, from the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide. Crowe puts the "show" in Shoanti. Did you know superstar Pathfinder artist Wayne Reynolds based the look of Crowe on his own Pathfinder character? While I have little doubt that Wayne could produce an absolutely KILLER paint job on a blank Crowe figure, I also have little doubt that there is only Wayne Reynolds, and we can't all be great at art. For the rest of us, Iconic Heroes Set 4 does all the work, resulting in a beautiful figure.

Our first crack at Lirianne, Half-Elf Gunslinger, came in the Skull & Shackles set. While I adore the attention to detail and fine points of the costuming on that figure, I was never quite satisfied with the way Lirianne's face sort of fell into the overall composition, leading to a somewhat compromised miniature altogether. I'm pleased to report that Iconic Heroes Set 4 does away with compromise to present a figure that is awesome from top to bottom.

Next up is Hakon, most famous for being the iconic skald in the Advanced Class Guide, but more beloved to me personally for being the brother of the greatest Pathfinder RPG character who ever lived, Ostog the Unslain*. Hakon's face tattoos and eye tampos look better in hand than under the unforgiving magnification of digital photography, and overall I'm very pleased with how he turned out. He works great for any kind of axe-wielding warrior, and I can see this piece getting a lot of use at my table fighting with or against the player characters.

By my eyes, this figure turned out the best in the entire set. Here we have Jirelle, Half-Elf Swashbuckler, again from the Advanced Class Guide. Jirelle has a remarkably complex costume, so I've always been a little concerned with how the final figure would turn out. I needn't have worried. She looks fantastic.

Although the straight-on angle of this photo makes it difficult to see, my favorite thing about the Shardra, Dwarf Shaman figure is its three-dimensionality. I think this is the best dwarf we've created for Pathfinder Battles so far, and the morningstar/censer combination makes her great for any kind of ceremonial dwarf—a race that always stands on ceremony.

Shardra would feel quite lonely without her spirit animal Kolo, a rambunctious rock lizard. Perfect for use as a familiar, animal companion, or even just a random lizard in a subterranean encounter, Kolo has a message on its little scroll that says: Beware! I kick ass.

And that's it for Iconic Heroes Set 4! I'll be back next week with one more preview for 2015, and after that, we'll all have visions of brand new minis dancing in our heads!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

*Not guaranteed.

Stocking Stuffers

Friday, November 20, 2015

It's been a crazy week here at Paizo as we put the final finishing touches on the Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Intrigue hardcover before sending it to the printer. That coupled with the fact that we're "between sets" and I don't have any digital sculpts to show off for the next set yet OR photos of production figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn, this week's Publisher Preview is going to be a bit of an outlier.

First, I want to follow-up on some questions resulting from last week's preview blog. When listing the components of the frankly incredibly cool The Rusty Dragon Inn Bar Case Incentive, I mentioned that each set would come with three (3) long barfront sections. Eagle-eyed readers noticed that the accompanying photo, which used pieces from two case incentive sets to create a cool diorama, actually had five (5) bar sections. So, how many straight barfront sections are in the incentive? I've confirmed with WizKids that each will indeed have THREE long barfronts, as I stated in last week's blog. So that, as they say, is that.

Since I don't have any NEW minis to show you this week, I did want to circle back and show off all of the special limited edition promotional figures we've released this year, all of which are now available for purchase on paizo.com. These figures were given out at conventions throughout 2015, and now that the convention season is over, we're offering the remaining figures for sale here on the site. They make great stocking stuffers for the gamers in your life. Because these figures are NOT available in sets, even a lot of hardcore Pathfinder Battles collectors probably do not have them. Let's take a look!

From the moment I first saw the gold-hued Burning Brazier from Dungeons Deep, I knew we had to order up a promotional repaint. I asked for this one in silver, figuring folks would want numerous "normal" braziers offset by the rarer golden version, perhaps as a special focus of a ritual or something. The standard Burning Brazier is long sold out, but we've got plenty of the promotional version available for all your holiday dungeon dressing needs.

This sweet Red Dracolisk was available free with purchase at Paizo's Gen Con booth, and made subsequent appearances at other conventions throughout the summer. I've always been taken aback by the quality of this sculpt, and for my money the red version is even cooler than the standard Dracolisk from Dungeons Deep. Encountered alone or in a pack of several, this guy is sure to send shivers down the spines of your player characters just as effectively as the Krampus. Plus he's red. You know, for Christmas.

Until the Fire Beetle hit paizo.com a few weeks back, the only place to get it was by playing in one of the Pathfinder Society Specials at Gen Con. One of my favorite annual traditions is going from table to table in the immense Sagamore Ballroom and handing out free minis to all of the event's 1000+ participants. We're so honored that so many folks enjoy and play our game, and it's fun to give back and personally thank everyone for their support. If you missed the event, don't fear, we've got plenty in stock just in time for the holidays.

Another Gen Con debut, the Duergar Soldier is a fantastic repaint of the Dwarf Barbarian from Dungeons Deep. He works great as a singular villain or as one of several duergar mooks. And "best" of all, we spelled his name incorrectly on the base, so... collector's item!

We've also got several promotional figures for previous years still available, such as the Lava Lurker, Shadowfire Elemental, Bloodbriar Goblin Raider, Hellfire Wisp, Albino Wererat, Slaver Demon, Goblin Raider, Reta's Bridesmaid, and Konkrud the goblin. Get 'em while we've got 'em!

The Publisher Preview Blog (and all of Paizo, for that matter) will be closed next Friday for the Thanksgiving holiday. Paizo.com, of course, will still be open during that time, so while you're knocking off holiday gifts for friends and family, please take a moment to check out our Pathfinder Accessories Sale, which includes a lot of great deals on Pathfinder Battles miniatures, like $20 off the suggested retail price for the Red Dragon Evolution and White Dragon Evolution boxed sets.

It's a Christmas miracle!

See you in two weeks!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Singles Bar

Friday, November 13, 2015

Do you have a favorite bar? I do. It's called The Rusty Dragon Inn, and it's coming your way in prepainted miniature form in January! Over the last few months, I've been previewing figures from the upcoming Pathfinder Battles set, and with last week's preview, I've revealed all of the new sculpts in The Rusty Dragon Inn set.

I have not yet revealed the final version of the special limited edition case incentive. I'm happy to correct that now with this amazing image, courtesy of our friends at WizKids:

This image includes two complete case incentive sets, plus a lot of figures and some dungeon dressing from the full set. The final piece list for a single case incentive box is:

• 3 Long Barfront Sections
• 1 Corner Piece
• 2 Bar Shelf Sections
• 1 Table
• 6 Bottles (2 sets of 3)
• 2 Barrels
• 1 Small Keg
• 4 Stools

The table and barrels are alt-deco repaints of the standard table and barrel from the main set. Everything else is a new sculpt unique to the case incentive. I'm very excited about the look of this incentive, and I hope that it will bring life and excitement to your fantasy RPG campaigns.

Canny readers will also notice a couple of familiar faces from earlier sets among the assembled crowd in this image—Feiya, Human Witch, and King Irovetti. Both of these figures are intended as replacements for previously released figures that simply did not meet Paizo or WizKids's quality standards.

I have confirmed that these two replacement figures will be inserted together randomly into boosters in the set, at an intended rate of 1 pair per brick. These replacements will not replace any figures (the booster they are in will contain 6 figures).

Finally, I'd like to talk a little bit about singles, and particularly singles on sale here at paizo.com. For past sets, we have stocked a very large number of single figures for sale on our website. We still have stock on hand for many older figures, allowing customers to pick and choose and to take their time in deciding which specific figures they would like to purchase.

Starting with The Rusty Dragon Inn, we're changing the way we offer singles for sale on paizo.com. We will have a limited selection of figures available for roughly the first two weeks after release, but following that we will not be offering any singles for sale for this set. You will likely be able to get them from other retailers, if you must, but I want to give an early warning that supply for The Rusty Dragon Inn will likely be significantly lower than in previous sets. No longer will we be offering enough figures to last several years. If you prefer to "pick and choose" your Pathfinder Battles figures, I HIGHLY recommend that you do so as close to the set's official release as possible. I definitely cannot guarantee you will be able to wait and choose. In fact, I can guarantee you that you won't be able to, at least here at Paizo.com.

As with previous sets, the best way to ensure that you do not miss a single figure is to set up an ongoing case subscription or preorder a case today.

We'll be back next week with a look at more miniatures goodness. For now, it's Friday evening, and I'm headed to the bar for a drink!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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

Seat Yourself at Any Table

Friday, October 30, 2015

As the Halloween weekend approaches, and fancy dress parties loom on the very near horizon, I find myself getting a bit thirsty for the cavalcade of beer and alcohol that's just around the corner. That brings me, naturally, to The Rusty Dragon Inn, the next set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles gaming figures! The set, now scheduled for a January release, adopts a "tavern" theme, with many of the figures in the set being appropriate for tavern-based encounters and battles. Early reaction to news of the set had some folks worried that maybe the set would include too much bar stuff, or too many NPCs, and over the last several months worth of previews I've done my best to assuage those concerns with previews of all manner of generally useful creatures and characters, whether your heroes are in the tavern or not.

No more. By my count I have six figures plus an updated and much-improved case incentive to preview, and all but ONE of those figures fits hand-in-glove with the tavern theme. The outlier figure will have to wait for next week, but I suggest all minis fans start chilling their pint glasses immediately. There's some heavy drinking up ahead!

Every good bar needs a Bartender, of course, and the The Rusty Dragon Inn is no exception! This sassy, saucy lady is more than happy to pour you a foamy brew or share rumors from the local community—for the right-sized pile of coins, of course! I don't know why, but I appreciate the fact that she's got a dishrag. Adventurers can be such messy folk. The Bartender is a Medium, rare figure.

I suppose the Bartender's dishrag might come in very handy once adventurers make a mess on this table! Randomly inserted about one-per-case in exchange for an uncommon figure, this Medium table is just one of a handful of useful bits of dungeon dressing spread out through the set (others include the previously previewed wagon, cart, and bed). I suspect a lot of folks would appreciate more tables than just the one they're likely to get in the set. As with the bed we previewed last week, I'll see what I can do about getting a promotional repaint, but there is not currently one in the works. But there may be more news on this in the next couple of weeks...

One of my favorite gods in the Pathfinder pantheon is Cayden Cailean, god of beer, wine, freedom, and bravery. With a sword in one hand and a frothy beer in the other, Cayden sometimes manifests in local bars to check out new brews. Here we see him in mortal form—he became a living god by drunkenly passing the Test of the Starstone. It just so happens that Cayden makes a GREAT proxy for a drunken player character, or a short-term ally of the party who gets them into trouble by always being a little too deep in his cups (or in his tankards, as the case may be). I love the expression on his face, which came through great on the paint master I saw a few weeks ago. What a wry bastard. Love him. Cayden Cailean is a Medium, rare figure.

By my count, we've got one more rare and two more pieces of dungeon dressing before we get to the grand finale!

Happy Halloween, everybody! See you at the bar!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Rusty Dragon Grab Bag!

Friday, October 23, 2015

Let's start off this week's Friday Publisher Preview with the bad news. The Rusty Dragon Inn, the next set in the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted fantasy miniatures, has been officially moved from a November release to a January, 2016 release. So we're all going to have to wait just a little bit longer to receive these amazing miniatures. Having seen the paint masters at this point, all I can say is that I can assure everyone the wait will be worth it. There's a little bit of knock-on fluidity with the upcoming Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes boxed sets as well, but I don't have final confirmation and I don't expect a significant delay on that front. I'll let you know more when I know more. Again, those sets are incredible, and the wait will be worth it.

With that unfortunate news out of the way, let's move on to this week's previews!

Up first this week is the Graceful Slayer, an elf barbarian from page 22 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. One of the last figure selections from my dear, departed licensing assistant Mike Kenway, this fearless warrior is ready to rock with an elven curve blade and a formidable bow. She should work great as a player character, or as a member of a wilderness tribe. The Graceful Slayer is a Medium, uncommon figure.

It's been a while since I've had a chance to reveal any of The Rusty Dragon Inn's "dungeon dressing," so I'm pleased to show off this handsome Bed. Sleep on it, tip it over and use it as cover, or... well, I'll leave other uses to your imagination, but you can't have a proper nighttime inn ambush without a proper bed, and The Rusty Dragon Inn is here to help you out! The Bed is a dungeon dressing piece that will be randomly inserted into booster packs, with the general idea of there being at least one per case (collation, as per usual, is an inexact science and is not guaranteed).

And here we have my favorite miniature in the entire set, a bird/bear combination we can only call "Beaky". This monstrous creature is one of the largest of its time produced in prepainted plastic to date, and while he's technically a Large creature, he really pushes the limits of his size in a way that's sure to send shivers up the spines of your players. Beaky is substantial, in terms of size, weight, and table impact. I cannot wait to get one of my very own. Beaky is a Large, uncommon figure.

And that's it for this week. Join us in seven days as we reveal more amazing figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

More Denizens of the Rusty Dragon

Friday, October 16, 2015

The next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted miniatures is getting closer and closer, and I've still got such sights to show you! This week I want to focus on previews of three figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn set!

The Rusty Dragon Inn is loosely themed around the types of characters and creatures you might find in a tavern in the Pathfinder world. That's meant a fair number of "NPC types" as well as urban adversaries. This week we've got a nice mix of both creature types.

First up this week is the Vampire Spawn, a sort of lesser vampire created by a real vampire as a servitor. Stats for Vampire Spawn appear on page 271 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. These nighttime creatures make for a chilling urban ambush, so we've put the Vampire Spawn at the common rarity to make sure your vampire villains can build up a whole gang of them. The Vampire Spawn is a Medium figure. It's also the final common figure of the set. From this point forward, everything I reveal will be either uncommon or rare.

I'll probably never get sick of miniatures of rich people in nice clothes, and The Rusty Dragon's Aristocrat is the latest to come down the line. The Aristocrat's fine staff makes him a good proxy for a wizard or cleric, and I think his style runs the line between good and evil, making him an excellent option of a stylish hero or villain. The Aristocrat is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Here we have the insidious Ghoul Monarch, from page 87 of the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex. This CR 12 beast was originally slated at rare due to his high degree of challenge at the table, but in production we realized that his simple design and relatively basic paint scheme would be better at uncommon, leaving the rare figures for truly unique or challenging sculpts. I think that works fine. While three of these guys on your table might not make sense as “monarchs,” they work great for any kind of spellcasting ghoul adversary. The Ghoul Monarch is a Medium figure.

That's it for this week. Swing by this space in seven days for another look at more minis from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Large and In Charge

Friday, October 9, 2015

Greetings and salutations from New York Comic Con, where I have braved halls choked with cosplayers to bring you another Friday preview! I had to escape from the terrible Cobra Clutch of Sgt. Slaughter himself to bring today’s blog to you, so let’s make it a good one!

We all love monsters, right? And when it comes to miniatures, I’m a big proponent of “bigger is better.” Lots of people, if presented with a time machine, would go back to solve some prominent historical mystery, or to witness some great achievement first hand. At this point what I would probably do is go back and convince the earliest tabletop gaming figure companies to make their tin soldiers just a little bit larger, so the gamers of future generations could get more detail on their prepainted plastic miniatures.

I imagine those gamers would be shocked by the idea of well-painted plastic figures of today’s quality, but shame on them for living in the past. In retrospect it was a very poor choice.

So, since regular-scaled minis are so small, it’s really something to get a larger creature, because they often have so many more details and personality. Today’s previews are certainly expressive, well-sculpted monsters that benefit from a larger presentation. I’ve seen all three in-hand at this point, and I’m proud of all of them.

These figures are all in the forthcoming The Rusty Dragon Inn set.

Here we have the Kirrix, an enormous six-legged rat monstrosity from the ratfolk section of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Monster Codex. When that art rolled in, I couldn’t resist putting it on the fast track for miniature-dom. What a great match he makes for our oversized Dire Rat from Heroes & Monsters or the Wererat from Skull & Shackles. Rats are mainstays in dungeons, and I think this beast has what it takes to be the pinnacle fight against a whole rat-based faction. His mouth is huuuuge. The Kirrix is a Large, uncommon figure.

This imposing Flesh Golem will look very familiar to players of "The Trial of the Beast", the second adventure in the Carrion Crown Adventure Path, since the image comes directly from that volume’s cover. I’ve never seen a better flesh golem illustration than that one, so into the minis line he went. We’ve only got a few more “core” golems to go, and lots more from the later Bestiaries after that. Very exciting! The Flesh Golem looms over other figures, being an amalgamation of body parts from other similarly Large creatures. Seeing this guy hit the table will definitely have your players reaching for their torches and pitchforks. The Flesh Golem is a Large, uncommon figure.

There have been a lot of dragons hitting the prepainted plastic market in recent years, so I’m not in quite the hurry that I once was to cover all of the sizes of all of the basic dragons. That said, some of our dragon designs, like Ben Wootten’s Silver Dragon, simply cry out to be made in prepainted plastic, and who am I to resist their clarion call? They have breath weapons, don’t you know? The Silver Dragon is a Large, rare figure.

That’s it for this week. Come on back next Friday with a look at more figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn. I still have such sights to show you.

Until then,

Erik Mona
Publisher

A Rare Farewell

Friday, October 2, 2015

It's Friday, which means it's time for your (mostly) regularly scheduled preview of upcoming figures from the Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted fantasy gaming figures. Up this week are three early looks at digital sculpts for November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set. I should add here that while these are digital sculpts, I've actually seen and approved all of the paint masters for this set, and they look phenomenal. Because so many of our figures include stamped-on additional details (called "tampos" in the lingo of the business), I don't tend to photograph paint masters, even when I really want to. Once we begin to receive early production samples, we'll shoot several of them and show them off here. But for now, we're still looking at digitals.

I've showed off a lot of the set's common and uncommon figures so far, so this week, in celebration of something special (which I'll get to below), I want to pull back the curtain on some of the set's rare figures. Our partners at WizKids always pack an amazing amount of paint and sculpt details into the rare figures, and this set is no exception. Some of my absolute favorites from the set are found at this rarity.

And so, as my favorite television scientist might say: "Awaaaaaaay we go!"

Here we have the imposing Allevrah, Elf General, looking splendid in her green dragon skin armor. A few months back, as I was working on Pathfinder Battles set lists, my boss and Paizo CEO Lisa Stevens came by and said "Mona, put some more elves in the line. We need more elves!" I decided to fulfill that request in the form of a few figures from The Lost Coast, but I think Allevrah here is the coolest of the bunch. She was, in a slightly different form (NO SPOILERS) a major NPC in the Second Darkness Adventure Path, but I think she works just as well as a major NPC ally or even a player character. There's no denying that she looks ready to kick some serious ass. Allevrah, Elf General is a Medium, rare figure.

Up next is the Goblin Vulture Pilot, from page 109 of the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex hardcover. I love the way WizKids' sculptors perfectly captured this guy's facial expression, and I can't wait to have him (literally) dive bomb my player characters. This figure looks incredible in hand, and I'm delighted to get more mounted figures into the line. Let me know if there are other mounted monsters and characters you'd like to see, and I'll try to sneak them in somewhere! The Goblin Vulture Pilot is a Medium figure at the rare rarity. (Ok, the goblin himself is Small, but the vulture is Medium and on a Medium base.)

Last up today is one of The Rusty Dragon Inn's stranger visitors, a multi-dimensional merchant of arcane wares known as Zilvazaraat. The towering planar peddler first appeared in Pathfinder Adventure Path #70: The Frozen Stars, and he was originally slated to appear as a miniature in the Reign of Winter set. That set (and a few others at the same time) lost about 10 figures when we went from 55-figure sets to 45-figure sets, and Zilvazaraat here has been waiting for his time to strike ever since. I figured, hey, you never know who might stop by The Rusty Dragon Inn for a bit of drink and some back corner business, so he sauntered his way back into our lives. I think it's fair to say that this creature has never been made before in prepainted plastic. He's a little bit off-kilter, but he's got a gorgeous sculpt and I hope you like him. Given that he appears anywhere to buy, sell, and trade magic items, your players will probably love him. Zilvazaraat is a Large, rare figure.

With the previews behind us, I'd like to reveal some sad news to Pathfinder Battles fans. Although I tend to get a fair amount of credit for the line in public forums based on the regular appearance of this blog, the truth is that making these sets as amazing as they can be is a team effort. Over the last few years, I've been honored to include in that team Paizo's Licensing Coordinator, Mike Kenway. Mike has been an absolute workhorse behind the scenes of Pathfinder Battles, tracking down art, managing the approvals chain with WizKids, and making sure that I don't fall too behind on planning set lists and other Pathfinder Battles business.

We've got Mike to thank for the awesome Bone Golem from Dungeons Deep, and numerous other figures he's championed over the years. A significant part of the line's quality and success can be attributed directly to Mike's keen eye for detail and excellent work ethic.

Unfortunately (at least for us!), Mike has accepted a job with another company, who understands how good he is at this type of thing, and what an asset he is to licensing coordination. Mike's last day in the Paizo office is next Thursday, October 8th, and I wanted to be sure to take this opportunity here in the Friday Publisher Preview to thank Mike for his tireless efforts on behalf of Pathfinder Battles fans. The line would not be what it is today without his hard work, and we will miss him dearly.

That said, time (and minis production) waits for no man, and the show must go on. We're currently looking for Mike's replacement to join the Paizo staff as Licensing Coordinator. Since a major part of the job involves helping me manage the Paizo side of Pathfinder Battles, I thought I'd put a link to the job opening here in the blog, in case some of you miniatures stalwarts might consider a change in career.

I could definitely use the help!

I'm off to New York Comic Con next week, and will try to drop a preview from the road. There's still so much awesome stuff in The Rusty Dragon Inn set that I can hardly believe it!

Until next time, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

Short and Sweet

Friday, September 25, 2015

This week's figures come from The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted fantasy Pathfinder Battles miniatures. With amazing paint masters, great digital sculpts, and lots of creatures and NPC types not previously available in prepainted plastic, The Rusty Dragon Inn is shaping up to be one of my favorite sets ever!

This week, I'm previewing a few of the set's "shorter" figures, to account for this week's relatively short blog!

Up first is the Dwarf Wizard, a stalwart who appears on the cover and interior of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. Quite a mustache on this guy, who is showing off some elemental power by turning his hand to stone. I think it's safe to say... he packs on HELL of a punch! (Ahem.) The Dwarf Wizard is a Medium, uncommon figure.

It's long been a goal of mine to provide male and female figures for all of the primary Pathfinder class types (arcane spellcaster, rogue, warrior, cleric, roughly speaking). The Rusty Dragon Inn has proven very helpful in that regard, allowing us to grab some of the coolest images from the NPC Codex and bring them to you in prepainted plastic. Here we have the Gnome Wizard from that volume. Honestly I think she also works well as a gnome rogue, if you want to play it that way. The Gnome Wizard is a Small, uncommon figure.

Like the NPC Codex, the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex has likewise been a great resource for this set, and from its pages come this week's monster, the Kobold Trapmaker, a Small, uncommon figure. This guy is a good example of a figure that I think looks even better in hand than in its 3D render, and I can't wait to add him to my kobold army.

That's it for this week! As one of my favorite Doctors once famously said:

"Sorry, must dash."

Erik Mona
Publisher

Bugbear Brigade

Friday, September 11, 2015

I can't believe it's already Friday, which means it's time for another installment of the Friday Publisher Preview! I'm still a bit giddy from our recent in-office review of the paint masters for November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles miniatures. The set looks absolutely fantastic, and I couldn't be happier with the communications and production standards WizKids and Paizo have been able to achieve with this set. It really feels like we are firing on all cylinders at the moment, and I'm thrilled to think of what the future has in store.

We've spent some time recently focusing on the NPCs, townfolk, and bar denizens of the set, so this time around I wanted to get back to the monsters. In this case—bugbears!

Since the very start, I've had a personal goal to have at least one kind of "focus creature" per set. My experience shows that if you can get multiple figures of one type (say, orcs, goblins, and the like) in the same set, paint application and sculpt details tend to be more consistent. For this set, my focus creatures are ghouls (most of which we've previewed already) and bugbears (most of which we haven't).

I previewed the Bugbear Tyrant back in June. This week, I'd like to show some of his companion bugbears. A tyrant isn't a tyrant without someone to boss around, after all.

Up first this week is the brutish Bugbear Lurker, whose image comes from the opening illustration of the bugbear section of the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex. His statistics appear on page 25 of that volume. Bugbear Lurkers double as any kind of nasty bugbear menace, so I decided to slot this guy into the common rarity to help you build up a small gang of them. The Bugbear Lurker is a Medium figure.

Next is the Bugbear Mystic, our take on the bugbear bloodmage from page 26 of the Monster Codex. It's also a goal of mine to create both male and female figures for all the major humanoid races, and in this case the Monster Codex has been something of a godsend in terms of art reference. The Bugbear Mystic is also a Medium common, all the better for building a little bestial cult of your very own.

Perhaps my favorite bugbear in The Rusty Dragon Inn is the Bugbear Flesh Glutton, from page 22 of the Monster Codex. These unruly beasts so love the taste of intelligent creatures that they have grown to a disgustingly large size. The Bugbear Flesh Glutton is a Large, uncommon figure, perfect for peppering your growing bugbear brood with a few loutish brutes.

These three bugbears add to the Bugbear Tyrant to flesh out the Pathfinder bugbear ranks (which also includes a base common Bugbear Warrior from Legends of Golarion and the bow-wielding Bugbear Hero from way back in the Rise of the Runelords set.

What other humanoid "focus creatures" would you like to see in future sets? Drop some suggestions in the comments and we'll chat about it until next week, when I return with another batch of previews from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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 from the Rusty Dragon

Friday, August 28, 2015

I’m writing this from the floor of PAX Prime, where we’re running thousands of gamers through Pathfinder Roleplaying Game and Adventure Card Game demos here in our home town of Seattle. It’s always a blast to rub shoulders with gamers at this convention, as it has a youthful, joyful buzz that makes it the perfect way to (pretty much) end the summer convention season.

I am giddy with excitement not because of PAX, however, but because of what WizKids delivered to the Paizo offices last week: ALL the paint masters for November’s The Rusty Dragon Inn set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted gaming figures!

I’m getting a bit ahead of myself, naturally. It took our crack team more than an hour to carefully evaluate the paint masters for Iconic Heroes: Set 5 and Iconic Heroes: Set 6, where were absolutely incredible and include some of the best prepainted figures I’ve seen from Pathfinder or any other line.

But all along, my eyes kept wandering to The Rusty Dragon, which looks absolutely phenomenal. I couldn’t be more proud of the way the set is coming together. If you liked Dungeons Deep (and sales suggest that most of you did!), you’re going to love The Rusty Dragon Inn.

It’ll be a while before we can show off the paint masters, but seeing all of them got me in the mood to share some more images from the set!

Up first this week is the Farmer. He farms. He’s a great victimbystander figure for rural or town scenes, and I imagine he slakes his thirst after a difficult day by grabbing a seat at the Rusty Dragon Inn. The Farmer is a Medium, common figure.

People on the comment threads keep worrying that this set doesn’t have enough monsters. You might think they’re afraid. Or even PETRIFIED. In the grand spirit of petrification, and to prove that The Rusty Dragon has more than farmers and barmaids, I present the Gorgon, whose breath turns victims into stone. The Gorgon is a Large, uncommon creature.

Did you know that no one has ever made a prepainted miniature of a Bunyip? Well, no one until November, that is! Another straight-up monster from The Rusty Dragon flops its way onto the scene. Bunyips show up in a surprisingly large number of Pathfinder adventures (including The Rise of the Runelords Anniversary Edition), so I thought it high time they got a chance in the spotlight. The Bunyip is a (meaty) Medium, common figure.

And that’s it for this week. I’m back to PAX! See you in seven days!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Around the Inn

Friday, August 14, 2015

With Gencon behind us, it’s time to get back to weekly previews of upcoming Pathfinder Battles releases! Today I spotlight three figures from November’s The Rusty Dragon Inn set.

Here we have the Kobold Devilspeaker, from page 134 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Monster Codex. That book is the gift that keeps on giving for Pathfinder Battles, since it contains so many great full-body illustrations that are perfect for miniatures. We’ve done several kobolds so far (notably in the Legends of Golarion set, but I always wanted a robed, spellcasting kobold, and the Devilspeaker makes a great addition to the hordes of kobolds already available. Best of all, the Small figure is slated at the common rarity, so you can pretty easily build up a whole coven of robed kobolds for all your nefarious GMing needs.

While it’s a little difficult to imagine a kobold being allowed in the Rusty Dragon Inn, it’s well known that the bar caters to some, shall we say, less reputable characters. The Cutpurse, from page 144 of the NPC Codex is a great example of one such lout. Use him as your rogue player character or collect a handful for a street ambush. At the common rarity, this Medium figure is great for filling out your tavern map on the off chance that a fight breaks out.

Everyone loves horses, right? The set includes this Riding Horse, perfect for tying to the hitch outside the tavern or using as a mount. We decided to go without a saddle for this guy, so he also works for a wild horse. If demand is there, perhaps we’ll see a saddled horse in a future set. We’ve already announced a Draft Horse, so this horse will have plenty of equine company in the set. The Riding Horse is a Large, uncommon figure.

That’s it for this week! Check back next week for more previews of upcoming Pathfinder Battles releases!

Erik Mona
Publisher

Iconic Heroes Set 4, Part 2

Friday, July 24, 2015

Last week, I revealed three digital sculpts for the upcoming Iconic Heroes Set 4 boxed set of prepainted plastic gaming figures. This week we complete the set with a look at the final three figures, as well as a look ahead to a special promotional repaint figure that will be available free with $50 purchase at Paizo's booth at Gen Con next week.

Let's look at the minis!

Here we have Crowe, Human Bloodrager from the Advanced Class Guide. Crowe is based on artist Wayne Reynolds's own Pathfinder character, so when we wrote an art order that said "just draw your own character here, Wayne," we were pretty confident we'd end up with something awesome. Since Wayne is incapable of producing anything that isn't awesome, we knew it was a pretty safe gamble. Crowe works great for a bloodrager, a barbarian, or really any sort of martial character. His face tattoo gives him a cool exotic look, and his earthbraker weapon looks like it packs a real punch.

When our friends from WizKids brought the paint masters for this set to the Paizo office last week, we all pretty much agreed that Shardra was the most impressive of the bunch. This dwarf shaman comes from the Advanced Class Guide, and for my money I think she's one of the coolest dwarf minis we've done to date. The level of detail on her headdress and the overall "weight" of the figure makes a strong impression. I'm thrilled to add this figure to the collection.

Of course, Shardra wouldn't be complete without her rock lizard familiar, Kolo, who also makes an appearance in this set. You can use Kolo in conjunction with Shardra or simply as a Small/Tiny lizard, something we've produced surprisingly few of in Pathfinder Battles so far. He's a fun addition.

Iconic Heroes Set 4 is expected to hit stores and subscribers this November!

Let's move on from boxed sets to talk about the very special figure above, the Red Dracolisk! This impressive lizard is available free with a purchase of $50 or more at the Paizo booth (#203) at Gen Con next week, while supplies last. We're leaving a few Red Dracolisks behind at Paizo to put up for sale some time after the convention season, so if you miss out on the Red Dracolisk or can't get to the show this year, don't despair!

We also have TWO MORE promotional Pathfinder Battles miniatures that we'll be distributing at Gen Con, but I want to keep their identities secret for now. We'll supply these figures to ticketed players of the Thursday and Friday night Pathfinder Society Specials at Gen Con, so be sure to look out for them at the show. Like the Red Dracolisk, we'll have several available on paizo.com eventually, so missing out at the show won't necessarily mean missing out forever.

I'm going to be spending most of my Gen Con packed away in Paizo's meeting room, but if you see me wandering around the booth, please take a moment to say hello! I love chatting about minis in person even more than I love talking about them here, and I'm eager to see you at the show!

That's it for now. No blog next week, but we'll catch up after the Big Show!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Iconic Heroes Set 4, Part 1

Friday, July 17, 2015

Last week, WizKids announced the release dates for the next two Pathfinder Battles Iconic Heroes boxed sets of premium-quality prepainted plastic figures for use with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game or the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. This week, I'd like to take a closer look at three of the figures from Iconic Heroes Set 4, which features familiar faces from the Advanced Class Guide and Ultimate Combat.

I want to start with Lirianne, Half-Elf Gunslinger today, because I had a chance to review the paint master for this figure in-hand last week, and I was really impressed with the overall improvement since Lirianne's first miniature, which appeared in the Skull & Shackles set.

The original Lirianne is a perfectly acceptable miniature, even a good one when you consider the amount of detail on her outfit. But I was never completely thrilled with the way her face came out, and overall the pose wasn't terribly exciting. With the Iconic Heroes Set 4 version, Lirianne appears to be aiming or even firing her gun, and overall the pose is much more dynamic and interesting. Coupled with the superior paint jobs that are the hallmark of Iconic Heroes sets, this figure is well-positioned to end up looking really spectacular.

The iconic skald Hakon has always held a special place in my heart. I had a chance to write his "Meet the Iconics" backstory, where I not-so-subtly made him the brother of my long-running character in Paizo Creative Director James Jacobs's office Pathfinder campaign. So, in a way, Hakon is family, and it's been very important to me that he get an amazing miniature!

I'm pleased to report that WizKids definitely delivered on that score. Of the six paint masters we reviewed in-hand last week, Hakon was my second favorite (after Shardra, whom we'll see up close next week). Hakon definitely works as a skald, as a barbarian, as a ferocious villain, or really as just about any axe-wielding maniac.

Last up this week is our iconic swashbuckler, Jirelle. When Wayne Reynolds's original art first came in to Paizo I was thrilled and terrified, all at the same time. Thrilled, because here we had a fully clothed, fully ass-kicking woman warrior. Terrified because her costume was so complex I wondered how we were ever going to do justice to it in miniature form. I shouldn't have worried. That was before the advent of WizKids's super-premium Iconic Heroes sets, which are more than up to the challenge. Once again, the paint master for Jirelle looks wonderful, and is a great representation of the character and the digital sculpt revealed above.

"Hey," I can hear some of you asking. "If you've already seen paint masters, how come we only get to see digital sculpts? Why are you holding out on the real thing, Mona?"

That's a fair question, and the answer is that the final figures in all cases have sooooo many tampos—stamped-on details like face tattoos, clothing adornments, and so on—that the paint masters wouldn't reveal an accurate look at what the final figures will look like. They're very much a part of the process, in this case, and I want to wait until I have samples with the tampos finished before we show off actual minis. In the meantime, the digital sculpts I've revealed today do a very good job of showing what we're shooting for.

Iconic Heroes Set 4 hits stores and ships to subscribers in November. I'll reveal the last three figures in the set next week, and after that we're deep into Gen Con territory, and to see new Pathfinder Battles figures you'll have to track me down personally on the convention floor, get them as a $50+ sales incentive at the Paizo booth, or play one of the Pathfinder Society Specials.

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Innside and Out!

Friday, July 10, 2015

Welcome to another edition of the Friday Publisher Preview, and another look at November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted plastic gaming figures! Before we get to this week's reveals, I'd like to update everyone on the status of our popular Pathfinder Iconic Heroes sets. The first three sets are currently available, and ever since they hit shelves, people have been asking for more! I'm happy to report that WizKids has just announced official release dates for Iconic Heroes Set #4 and Iconic Heroes Set #5, which will be released in November and January, respectively. We're also at work on a Set #6 (and possibly more beyond that!), but we're not quite ready to announce release dates, yet.

I'll have nice images of the figures from these sets here on the blog over the next couple weeks, but until then, let's take a look at three more figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Here we have the Ghoul Huntsman, inspired by the ghoul stalker art on page 82 of the Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex. GMs often overlook ranged combatants when it comes to undead hordes, and we wanted to make sure we had a figure that could help! This is the third of four ghoul figures in The Rusty Dragon Inn, so there are even more to come! The Ghoul Huntsman is a Medium, common figure.

Last week we revealed a draft horse, and we're not yet finished with the set's beasts of burden. Here we have a handsome Riding Dog for all your Small heroes. I'm looking to see some interesting gradients and stuff on the final paint job for this figure that don't quite come out in the digital sculpt, but I really like the looks of this figure and am glad to add it to the line. The Riding Dog is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Finally today we have the gorgeous Half-Elf Bard figure, straight from the cover (and page 29) of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. She's great as an adventurer OR an NPC entertainer, and pairs perfectly with the Dancing Girl figure we showed off a few weeks back. I remember a day when literally the only bard figure available anywhere was a lute-playing metal Ral Partha figure with a big floppy hat. We've come a long way since then! The Half-Elf Bard is a Medium, rare figure.

And with that, I'm off on a couple of days of vacation back to the ancestral homeland of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I'll be back next Friday with a look at some of the fantastic Iconic Heroes figures yet to come!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

Dungeon Dressing Singles Online!

Friday, July 3, 2015

Welcome everyone to the Friday Publisher Preview, and another look at some of the sweet Pathfinder Battles miniatures coming up in November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set of prepainted plastic gaming figures. Before we get to that, however, I'd like to talk a little bit about the PREVIOUS set, Dungeons Deep. Specifically, I'd like to discuss dungeon dressing.

Dungeon dressing is a new type of figure introduced in Dungeons Deep. That set saw the release of six different sculpts, the Anghazan Idol, Bubbling Cauldron, Burning Brazier, Chest, Iron Maiden, and Sarcophagus.

Based on online commentary, it appears as though dungeon dressing has been very popular, and some of the singles have been selling for crazy money on the secondary market. From my perspective, that's primarily due to a small handful of factors. The most important is availability.

In order to test the market for this sort of miniature, WizKids inserted them in place of uncommon figures in randomly selected boosters, with at least a full set of each figure in each case (case collation not guaranteed, etc., etc., etc.). In practice, that makes them equivalent to rares at the very least, which is probably fitting in some sense. Since we announced dungeon dressing, a minority of customers have been very against the idea, either because they don't use "props" on their table, or simply because they'd prefer another monster or character mini.

This sort of distribution for dungeon dressing has another effect—it significantly reduced the number of figures we at paizo.com have to sell. That's meant that, until today, zero dungeon dressing singles have appeared on our web store.

Well, that changes as of now, with one major caveat. As of this moment, customers can order dungeon dressing from paizo.com. However, we know that the demand for these pieces will be very high, so in order to spread their distribution as widely as possible, we are limiting sales of dungeon dressing minis to one of each piece per customer account. I want to stress that we have an extremely limited supply of these pieces, so even with the one-per-customer limit I do not expect them to last very long. We'll evaluate how this goes for the next set, and I'll do my best to keep you updated here over the months between now and November.

But wait, I hear some of you saying. One Sarcophagus or Iron Maiden might be enough, but how about that awesome Burning Brazier? I want like a dozen of those things!

Happily, I anticipated the demand for the Burning Brazier immediately upon seing the final brilliant design by WizKids, and I immediately ordered a special repaint Burning Brazier Promo Mini, that is available exclusively from paizo.com. They are online right now, with no per-customer limit. Trick out your whole dungeon in these things!

I also made sure to differentiate the Burning Brazier Promo from the regular Burning Brazier figure by changing up the colors. The promo version is a flat silver metal color, whereas the Dungeons Deep version has a gold color to it. That means you can set up an encounter with several "normal" Promo Burning Braziers and use the more rare "gold" version as some kind of "special" set piece.

So buy away to your heart's content!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to get a promo version of the Chest (probably the best other candidate from this set), and there's no guarantee I'll be able to do this with "common" dungeon dressing in future sets. But I knew people would want more than one of those braziers, and I did what I could to make that possible.

And Now, Back to The Rusty Dragon Inn

With that out of the way, let's take a look at two pieces of dungeon dressing from November's The Rusty Dragon Inn set. As many of you have suspected, the dressing in this set follows the theme of the set in general—the tavern. Let's take a look!

Here we have a Cart that will look great as part of a campsite, to liven up an urban street encounter, or carry around random junk. I don't have final outputs of any of the Rusty Dragon figures yet, but the idea is to make the back of this thing big enough to fit a figure into, so it also makes a crude chariot. To my knowledge, the wheels on the cart are stationary, so (as with all figures), you'll have to use a bit of imagination.

Even cooler than the cart is its older brother, the Wagon. This simple wood-textured vehicle has a ton of uses. Cart around a player character! Pick up several to fashion a crude barricade! Carry your dungeon treasure back to town in style!

So, there you have it. Two of The Rusty Dragon Inn's dungeon dressing figures. But wait! I hear your questions already!

"Hey Erik," I hear you say. "Just who is supposed to pull around this cart and wagon? Our player characters?"

"Why no," I reply calmly. "I expect the set's Draft Horse to pull them."

The Draft Horse is a Large, uncommon figure.

See you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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

Men and Monsters

Friday, June 19, 2015

I'm pleased to see that our current Pathinder Battles set, Dungeons Deep, is arriving in stores and in the hands of collectors, and early reaction to the set has been very encouraging. We put a lot of effort into making Dungeons Deep the best and most useful set of figures we've done to date, and with tons of high-utility figures, it looks like we either achieved or came very close to that goal (hey, we've done some great sets in the past too, so the competition is fierce!).

This week I'd like to move on from Dungeons Deep to present three figures from our NEXT set, November's The Rusty Dragon Inn. After I announced that we planned a tavern-themed set at this year's PaizoCon, a few miniature collectors expressed some concern about a set with so many non-combatant figures. I guess the taverns in my campaigns see a lot more fighting than the national average, but never fear! In addition to barmaids, bartenders, and other NPC figures, The Rusty Dragon Inn set also includes a good number of monsters or fight-ready humanoids.

Here are three of them.

Every location needs a Guard, and I knew I had to make a miniature of this guy as soon as I first saw his image on page 267 of the NPC Codex. Good guy, bad guy, you be the judge. The only thing that's certain is he is way, way lower-level than your player characters, and he's probably going to die in large numbers. That's why we made this Medium figure a common!

We've already produced a couple of frost giants in the Pathinder Battles line, but I'm not convinced we've created enough to build a truly meaningful battle royale. Thus, I present to you the Frost Giant Ice Mage, a regal figure who could just as easily double as a cleric or leader type. What's a frost giant doing at the Rusty Dragon Inn, you ask? Shhhh. Shhhh. Not everything has to fit the theme perfectly, you guys. There's always room for more monsters. The Frost Giant Ice Mage is a Large, uncommon figure.

Last up this week is a real winner, the mounted Orc Rider on Dire Wolf. I'd like to see the look on the faces of bar patrons when this dude wanders into town. The Orc Rider on Dire Wolf comes with a sword and a battle standard bearing the symbol of the Hold of Belkzen, where orcs have carved out a bit of a nation for themselves. Will he carve out a place at your tavern table? The Orc Rider on Dire Wolf is a Large, rare figure, and I can't wait to see what he looks like in his final form!

That's it for this week. Tune in next Friday for another early glimpse at digital sculpts from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

One Last Look at Dungeons Deep

Friday, June 12, 2015

Last week, I previewed some Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures from the upcoming set, Dungeons Deep that had originally leaked to the Internet thanks to trade show photos, which often don’t reveal the figures in the best possible light, or even from a decent angle. And, while I’m eager to show off a bunch more figures from Dungeons Deep now being shipped to paizo.com customers and appearing in retail stores, today seems like the best time to make up for that omission.

So, without further ado, here are most (if not all) of the remaining Dungeons Deep figures, now available as singles or in booster boxes from paizo.com and elsewhere. Thanks especially to our crack Community Team members Liz Courts and Chris Lambertz for taking snazzy new photos of the final figures from the entire set, which you can browse in our singles gallery here.

First up this week is the Nuglub Gremlin, one of my favorite creatures from Bestiary 2! The Nuglub’s three eyes shine with a pearlescent blue paint that adds a touch of color to this dastardly figure. The Nuglub Gremlin is a Small, common figure.

The Pukwudgie was originally intended for the Reign of Winter set, but got bumped to Dungeons Deep for a variety of reasons. Its statistics appear in Bestiary 3. The final figure features some really nice paintwork for a Small common, including picked-out fingernails and a wash on the garment that adds a nice sense of three-dimensionality.

The Andrazku Demon is another refugee from the Reign of Winter set. Its statistics appear in Pathfinder Adventure Path #69: "Maiden, Mother, Crone", which among other things details powers like “icewalking” and “mutilating gouge.” WizKids did a nice job with the Andrazku’s sculpt, giving the creature a great, menacing scream. The Andrazku Demon is a common, Medium figure.

Here we have the Dire Bat, a long-anticipated creature for the line. Based on the illustration from page 30 of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary, the mini depicts the Dire Bat hovering in flight, facing its enemies directly. This pose gives it a strange, almost humanoid appearance that, for my money, makes the figure great as a proxy for any number of bat-like foes. The Dire Bat is a Large, uncommon figure.

Dungeons Deep is the first set to greatly benefit from the amazing art in the NPC Codex, and almost as soon as we saw the Half-Orc Adept on page 245, we knew we needed to add him to a Pathfinder Battles set. With a mace, blade, and a nasty mask, this guy works great for any orcish villain or for a decidedly nasty player character. The Half-Orc Adept is a Medium, rare figure.

Our last figure today actually comes from the very first volume of the Pathfinder Adventure Path—the adventuring hero Eando Kline! The first 18 Pathfinder Journals depicted Eando’s field reports to his Pathfinder Society masters, and in the years since his 2007 debut we’ve come to think of old Eando as the “iconic Pathfinder.” He’s subsequently appeared on the cover of the Pathfinder Society Field Guide, and he was an NPC in the Serpent’s Skull Adventure Path. And we definitely haven’t seen the last of him, either. Based on fantastic art by PaizoCon 2015 Artist Guest of Honor Jason A. Engle, Eando Kline is a GREAT choice for a player character figure, an NPC Pathfinder Society agent, or really just any sweet-looking human warrior with a sword. Eando is one of my favorite figures in the set, and not just for reasons of nostalgia. Eando Kline is a Medium, rare figure.

All of these figures and more than 40 others are currently available in the Dungeons Deep set. Snap them up before they’re gone forever!

Until next week, I remain…

Erik Mona
Publisher

Catching Up, Looking Ahead

Friday, June 5, 2015

Whew! What a roller-coaster the last few weeks have been here at Paizo HQ and beyond! Two weeks ago from this moment we were deep in the throes of PaizoCon 2015, which is rapidly earning a place in my heart as the best PaizoCon to date! It's always such a wonderful experience getting to spend a weekend with Pathfinder players tossing dice and throwing back beers, and this year's show was no exception.

Actually, it was a bit of an exception in that the new, larger hotel space at the Doubletree Hotel allowed for more focused gaming and a slightly more relaxed atmosphere, conjuring memories of the earliest PaizoCons. I had a wonderful time chatting about Pathfinder Battles with fellow minis enthusiasts, and from the attendee reports I've read so far, everyone on hand seemed to appreciate the two full booster boxes of Pathfinder Battles figures we packed in every attendee's goodie bag. These packs primed the pump for my favorite PaizoCon event, Erik Mona's Miniatures Trading Afterparty, now in its SEVENTH consecutive year.

This year I seeded the party with a few samples from the forthcoming Dungeons Deep set, which is now shipping to paizo.com customers and should be hitting retail stores any day now. Folks were very positive about the new figures, and I was very proud to show them off. Dungeons Deep is one of my favorite Pathfinder Battles sets to date, and I'm confident you're going to really enjoy it.

PaizoCon was also special from a Pathfinder Battles perspective in that I announced the very next set of Pathfinder Battles figures at the Preview Banquet—The Rusty Dragon Inn! I've long wanted to base a set loosely around a tavern theme. Not only does it provide a great excuse to produce dungeon dressing suitable for the tavern environment, but it also allows us to feature several NPC and even player character-appropriate figures in a naturalistic way. Of course, The Rusty Dragon Inn set will also include a nice mix of monsters, but we'll get to those shortly.

Before that, however, let's preview the one figure from Dungeons Deep that somehow slipped through the cracks: the Anghazan Idol! Anghazan is an ape demon lord in the Pathfinder campaign setting, and his blood-soaked idol—based on one of the first metal miniatures Paizo ever created back in 2006—seemed like a natural (ahem) fit for our first round of dungeon dressing.

The Anghazan Idol comes complete with blood-stained hands and cheeks, and works well as any primitive stone idol, either in a dungeon or in the wilderness. I've teamed it up with a gaggle of dancing Charu-ka from Legends of Golarion in the photo above to put it in its proper context.

While out in the Sun, I noticed the idol's special, somewhat secret feature. The green gem at the crown of the idol is, in fact, translucent plastic, and it caught the light of the Sun in a really interesting way (did I mention that I love summers in Seattle—these outdoor dioramas will definitely be vanishing in a couple months as our weather turns terrible). Check out the gem in particular in this close-up shot:

Anyway, the Anghazan idol is, in many ways, the most modest of the dungeon dressing in Dungeons Deep, but I hope you'll discover that it's got a charm all its own.

But what about the Rusty Dragon Inn?

The big Pathfinder Battles news out of PaizoCon was, of course, The Rusty Dragon Inn, currently set for release in the fourth quarter of 2015! As I said, I've wanted to do a tavern-themed set for a long time, and I'm thrilled with the characters, creeps, and critters we've been able to fit into this set.

Ever since the line debuted, I've been trying to balance the different requests I get from customers and retailers. Generally speaking, super-collectors want stuff they don't already have, while retailers (who often break boosters down for singles) say they want figures suitable for player characters, since that's what their customers most often want to buy.

Well, the Iconic Heroes boxed sets are serving the need for straight-up heroes admirably (and sets 4, 5, and 6 are currently in the works!), but that still leaves the need for NPCs. But again, they should be NPCs that not everyone already has—a tall order after 15 years of prepainted plastic figures.

Anyway, I think we did a pretty good job making our selections. Honestly I'll be thrilled to have the figures in The Rusty Dragon Inn set for my own gaming, in which fights seem to break out in taverns nearly as often as they do in dungeons!

Let's take a quick look at many of the figures I revealed at PaizoCon, and get into some of the whys and details I didn't have time to cover during my banquet presentation.

No tavern set would be complete without a Serving Girl, here with a tray laden with food and drinks. This figure takes inspiration from Wayne Reynolds's cover to the NPC Codex, and I can see plenty of uses for this figure—mostly involving getting caught in an area of effect spell, but hey, that's tactically important too! The Serving Girl is a Medium, common figure.

There always seems to be a Merchant lurking about in the inn right before things go down, so he was another obvious inclusion in The Rusty Dragon Inn set. Whether you use this guy as an NPC to be protected, as an alchemist player character or adversary, or as a villain with an amazing mustache to twirl, he's bound to make an impression on your players. The Merchant is a Medium, uncommon figure.

We've been doling out city watchmen for a long time in the Pathfinder Battles line, and with The Rusty Dragon Inn, we're finally providing a no-nonsense commander. Decked out in the familiar blue from previous watch figures, the City Watch Commander cuts an imposing figure, fists on hips, ready to kick some ass. We based her look on Kasadei, a character from both Dawn of the Scarlet Sun and the Pathfinder Comics series, but she can really be anyone you want, including a player character. The City Watch Commander is a Medium, uncommon figure.

Of course, a set filled with nothing by NPCs would likely doom the line, so I'm pleased to report that The Rusty Dragon Inn also includes a bunch of monsters!

We've had really good luck picking a couple of adversary types and providing multiple figures within a set, and The Rusty Dragon Inn is no exception. This time, we're focusing on monsters that, while not exactly welcome in an urban setting, certainly aren't out of place there.

The first focus race this time is GHOULS, one of my all-time favorite fantasy races. Yes, we've done a few ghouls in previous sets, but The Rusty Dragon Inn allows us to plumb the pages of the Monster Codex in particular to present even more ghoulish goodness. The Ghoul Champion depicted here, for example, is just one of a small handful of amazing ghouls that we'll reveal over the weeks to come. He's a Medium, rare figure.

The set also focuses on bugbears, a staple humanoid enemy race that has long been plagued by inconsistent or just flat-out unappealing figures. Here we see the imposing Bugbear Tyrant, a Medium, uncommon figure.

And, because I love you guys, here's a bonus reveal that we didn't show off at PaizoCon. It's one of my favorite figures in the set, a nasty, sticky… thing we can only call: the Quivering Cube. The Quivering Cube is a Large, rare figure that comes complete with skeletal remains and some gear visible within it. Hooray!

Lastly this week I'd like to mention that the replacement figures for the badly produced Feiya and King Irovetti figures that were originally going to appear in Dungeons Deep have been moved to The Rusty Dragon Inn instead. WizKids simply wasn't happy with the quality of the figures, and they want to make them as awesome as possible. I'm eager to see how they turn out.

And that's it for this week, folks. Tune in next Friday for even more amazing reveals of all-new figures from The Rusty Dragon Inn!

Erik Mona
Publisher

PaizoCon Product Announcements and Sneak Peeks!

Sunday, May 24, 2015

One of the exciting parts about PaizoCon for a lot of our attendees, fans, and onlookers are the juicy spoilers and announcements that come out of the show (whether it comes from one our RPG or Adventure Path panels, or the Preview Banquet). So, let's take a look at what's coming this November and beyond!

Gather Your Forces!

The Season of the Righteous for the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild starts this week! Be sure to take a peek at the newly released Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild Guide to get yourself ready for laying down cards and taking down the evil that's begun spilling out of the Worldwound. You can also check out the whole line Wrath of the Righteous products here due out later this year.

We also announced our return to Osirion, land of the pharaohs, in the next Adventure Card Game base set, Mummy's Mask! Look out for more details about this release soon!

Hell's Rebels Continues!

There's been a lot of speculation surrounding the 100th issue of the Pathfinder Adventure Path. Now we can tell you! Pathfinder Adventure Path #100: A Song of Silver will be a 128-page softcover issue with several new monsters, revelations about the great mystery himself—Aroden, and a retrospective of the previous 16 Adventure Path campaigns.

You might have noticed that we haven't been saying much about the Adventure Path line lately, or announced what's coming next. And since we've been talking quite a bit so far about hell, it's evil denizens, and the good fight against 'em, it only makes sense to mention what's coming up next:

Hell's Vengeance!

Friends, Food, Good Times!

Whether it's the start of a long adventure, tracking down contacts, interrogating suspects, or just plain enjoying some downtime, inns and pubs are a mainstay of many roleplaying campaigns. During the PaizoCon Preview Banquet, Erik took time to give us a glimpse of what's coming in the next set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures. This next set, The Rusty Dragon Inn comes with set dressings, just like the June release Dungeons Deep, some friendly faces, and monsters that fit in perfectly with any bar brawling, plot scheming, or memory making game sessions.

Other November Releases

In addition to the products above, we've also just announced the following on paizo.com today:

• Pathfinder Adventure Card Game—Class Deck: Barbarian
• Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Occult Realms
• Pathfinder Player Companion: Weapon Master's Handbook
• Pathfinder Flip-Mat: Winter Forest

Trust No One

As if it wasn't stressful enough to be a Pathfinder adventurer, a new tome of monsters and other worldly beings is coming your way! Within the pages of Bestiary 5 are creatures that warp the minds of their victims, monsters from beyond the stars, as well as an array of other monsters, familiars, and other allies.

And as much as we know you love monsters, we also know you want more... so I'm going to leave you all with a mockup of the hardcover coming up after Bestiary 5:

Ultimate Intrigue will reveal new options for skill-based classes (like the alchemist, bard, druid, hunter, inquisitor, investigator, mesmerist, ranger, rogue, slayer, or spiritualist), a complete influence system, feats and spells that can be used in social settings, and THE VIGILANTE!

Chris Lambertz
Community & Digital Content Director