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Pathfinder Battles: So Many Bugs!

Mon, Feb 11, 2019, 12:00 pm

Paizo is closed today due to inclement weather (better safe than sorry), but that won't keep me from showing off a few new figures from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall set, due out in April. I'll keep the commentary short, however, since everyone is working from home.

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Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: Monster Codex (OGL)

Pathfinder Battles: A Huge Announcement!

Thu, Feb 7, 2019, 02:00 pm

This week, WizKids—our longtime partner for prepainted plastic Pathfinder miniatures—announced the first set to be released after the launch of Pathfinder Second Edition in August of this year. Pathfinder Battles: Legendary Adventures features 44 figures ranging in size from Small to Huge based on all new concept art for the next evolution of Pathfinder, much of it by iconic artist Wayne Reynolds himself!

Pathfinder Battles: A Huge Announcement!

Thursday, February 7, 2019

Yes, you read that right. For the first time since 2012's Pathfinder Battles: Rise of the Runelords set, non-premium Huge figures will be included among the randomized figures in the set. Unlike the 2012 set, however, you won't need to buy a Huge booster, but rather will get either a Huge or Large figure in every four-figure booster.

Illustration by Subroto Bhaumik

While it's still early to begin previewing this set (we're still looking at April's Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall, after all), it would hardly be an announcement befitting such huge news not to show off at least a few of the new figures in the set. Check out the Dragon Turtle (Huge uncommon), Chimera (Large uncommon), Fire Giant (Large uncommon), and Dwarf Sorcerer (Medium rare) for a sample of what's coming in September!

The premium set releasing alongside these and 40 other figures is Pathfinder Battles: Legendary Adventures Goblin Village, which features tents, wooden palisades, and a number of other accoutrements and decorations befitting the game's most recognizable little trouble-makers. While I don't want to give away too many of the village's features in favor of a later reveal full of all the Easter eggs and continuity callbacks they represent, here are a few samples, including the palisade gate, a large tent, a pickle barrel, and a junk pile.

But you don't have to wait until September to get your mitts on minis from Legendary Adventures! A non-randomized set of eight alternative paint figures will be available in the Pathfinder Battles: Legendary Adventures Preview Pack a month earlier to coincide with the official launch of Pathfinder Second Edition. These figures are the Goblin Dog-Slicer, Orc Charger, Bugbear Skulker, Orc Battler, Goblin Guard, Hobgoblin Soldier, Armored Elf Soldier, and Halfling Slinger. Notice the redesigned orcs and hobgoblins, and killer goblin and elf armor, all courtesy of Wayne's second edition concept sketches!

We'll have a lot more about all three of these products in a few months, so stay tuned. WizKids has some truly legendary adventures in store for you this summer!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Pathfinder Battles: Embracing Darkness

Tue, Feb 5, 2019, 02:00 pm

Well, we're at the halfway point of our series of blogs previewing the contents of the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall prepainted plastic miniature set from WizKids. I've shown off the crusaders of Lastwall and their celestial allies, the agents of the lich lord known as the Whispering Tyrant, and the extraplanar exemplars of balance. Today we take a look at a handful of creatures that aren't necessarily involved in the conflict between the tyrant and the people of Lastwall but who nevertheless have embraced the forces of darkness.

Pathfinder Battles: Embracing Darkness

Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Illustration by Valeria Lutfullina

Prime among these are the calligni, also known as dark folk, who reside in the depths of the Darklands beneath Golarion's surface. Ruins of Lastwall features three calligni figures who can make for a variety of challenging encounters for parties of low- to mid-level. The Small common Calligni Creeper showed itself way back in September and today its companions, the Small common Calligni Slayer and Medium common Calligni Stalker. While this leaves a few callignis out of the mix (dancers and callers, mostly), it should allow GMs running the newly released Pathfinder Module: Cradle of Night to represent some of the allies and enemies in the adventure with more accurate miniatures.

Rounding out our Darklands inhabitants for Ruins of Lastwall is the Tomb Giant, a Large uncommon figure representing a member of this race of subterranean necromancers. It's a good thing they aren't big on cooperating with other races, because they would be a terror on the battlefields of Lastwall on the side of the Whispering Tyrant!

All three of the most recent previews of the set have shown off at least one outsider, so I guess I won't break that trend. Who better to appear in a blog about darkness than a creature from the Plane of Shadow? Here we have the Velstrac Evangelist, the most common type of kyton in the setting. A Medium common figure, collectors should be able to build quite a squad of these chain-bound (called, appropriately a link and a chain, depending on their exact number).

Finally, a piece of dungeon dressing befitting a kyton: a torture rack. Whether you're putting a PC on it to raise the stakes for your players or simply setting one in a deungeon to set the mood and show what sort of inhabitants might live there.

That's it for this week, but tune back in next time for an infestation of bugs, bug people, and other squirmy wormies you'll find in Ruins of Lastwall. Until then, beware of the dark!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Pathfinder Battles: Champions of Balance

Mon, Jan 28, 2019, 12:00 pm

So far in our look into the forthcoming Ruins of Lastwall set of prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids, we've seen the agents of undeath working to tighten the Whispering Tyrant's grasp on the Inner Sea region and the noble defenders of Lastwall who dedicate their lives to keeping the lich and his forces at bay. Today we look at the forces of balance caught in the middle of the conflict between good and evil.

Pathfinder Battles: Champions of Balance

Monday, January 28, 2019

Just as angels and daemons are the embodiment of good and evil, respectively, so too are psychopomps the extraplanar manifestation of neutrality. Working out of the Boneyard, these macabre outsiders work to maintain balance in the universe, specifically around the journey of souls through life, death, and the Great Beyond.

Illustration by Jose Parodi

Back when the set was announced, we showed off the Morrigna Psychopomp, a Medium rare figure. Two other psychopomps make their Pathfinder Battles debuts in this set, presenting a range of challenge ratings for Game Masters. The tiny uncommon Nosoi Psychopomp can be taken as an advanced familiar or serve as a guide through the Boneyard, as it did for Valeros in the Spiral of Bones comic series. The masked, birdlike figure can also stand in for a myriad of small avians (if you can overlook its four wings and haunting funeral mask).

At CR 7, the Vanth Psychopomp serves as the Boneyard's foot soldiers, ensuring that nothing disturbs the natural cycle of souls—including an army of undeath attempting to spread their foulness across an entire world. Though they have no bias toward good or against evil, these Medium winged skeletons are likely to side with the forces of Lastwall in the conflict against the Whispering Tyrant. At an uncommon rarity, collectors are likely to get a handful of them to fill out their armies.

Similarly opposed to one another are the denizens of the Negative and Positive Energy Planes, the forces of which play a pivotal role in the creation and destruction of undead. From the Positive Energy Plane come the avian Jyoti, while the Sceaduinar hail from the Negative. Like psychopomps, the jyoti and sceaduinar have no moral bias toward good or evil, but they may serve either side in the conflict nonetheless due to their affinity for positive and negative energy. Both the Jyoti and Sceaduinar are Medium uncommon figures in this set.

But it's not just outsiders holding steadfastly to their neutrality! Among the strongest forces of balance on the Material Plane are the protectors of the natural world, and one of the most disturbing of these guardians are the equine fey known as Nuckelavees. A Large uncommon figure, this aquatic monstrosity exacts vengeance on those who despoil nature, especially wetlands.

Decidedly more amenable to discussion than their fey counterparts, the enigmatic sphinxes of the deserts of northern Garund often serve as wise arbiters in disputes or quizzical guardians of ancient treasures. Ruins of Lastwall features an Androsphinx to compliment the Gynopshinx released in Pathfinder Battles: Deadly Foes a few years back. A Large uncommon figure, this regal magical beast is sure to inspire awe and respect among players and GMs alike.

While we're talking about the deserts of Osirion and its former vassal states, it's the perfect time to show off two more pieces of dungeon dressing from the set. The Afterlife Scale and Funerary Bed are both taken from real-world Egyptian concepts, the former from the scale upon which Anubis weighs the heart of the deceased to judge its worth and the latter from the actual funerary bed found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Both make stunning set pieces in an ancient tomb and could have any number of magical properties to meet a GM's storytelling needs.

Ruins of Lastwall features more figures of Pathfinder deities than any previous set, and it would hardly be fair to include Iomedae and Urgathoa without someone to represent the neutral planes. As such, Pharasma, Goddess of Death makes her debut here, sitting regally upon her throne. The oldest god in the current iteration of reality, Pharasma judges all souls upon their deaths, including fellow deities, and she makes an imposing figure, worthy of her important role in the setting. A Large rare figure, Pharasma, Goddess of Death is probably my favorite figure in the entire set.

That's it for this week's previews! Next time, we'll look at the set's offering of creatures and people who aren't necessarily involved in the conflict between the Whispering Tyrant and the knights of Lastwall but have nevertheless embraced darkness in their own ways.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Pathfinder Battles: Agents of Undeath

Mon, Jan 21, 2019, 12:00 pm

Last time we looked at previews of April's Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall set from WizKids, we saw the amassed forces of good defending the world from the Whispering Tyrant's minions. Those are all well and good (pun intended) for PCs and their allies, but what fun toys does the set hold for GMs?

Pathfinder Battles: Agents of Undeath

Monday, January 21, 2019

Illustration by Ekaterina Burmak

The lich's primary agents are the Whispering Way Cultists, depicted here as a Medium common figure. The most nefarious aspect of the Whispering Way is that its cultists can be hidden among any population, secretly advancing the Whispering Tyrants' goals. When discovered, however, the vassals of undeath fight viciously to see their plans through to fruition.

As numerous and threatening as Whispering Way cultists are, they pale in comparison to the Tyrant's undead minions. While many of these are mindless skeletons and zombies, often raised from the fallen legions of his vanquished enemies, these hordes need leaders. One powerful undead creature often serving in this role is the Murderous Undead, a Medium uncommon figure.

Not all skeletons are mindless, however, and despite their lack of vocal cords, lips, and lungs, they often speak for their lich lord, proclaiming the tyrant's edicts in conquered lands or acting as envoys to potential allies. The Skeletal Speaker, a Medium uncommon figure, makes a great skeletal diplomat or even a spellcasting skeletal champion.

While the remains of mortals make excellent potential servitors, sometimes the agents of undeath need more powerful help from beyond the borders of this reality, in which case they might summon or make a deal with an outsider like a thanadaemon. These deacons of the Horseman of Death, Charon, ply the waters of the River Styx, ferrying souls through Abaddon. Thanadaemon is a Medium rare figure.

Last, we have the ultimate undead, or rather the premier undead, for she was the very first soul to escape the River of Souls and extend her existence outside the normal cycle of death and rebirth. Yes, Urgathoa, Goddess of Undeath makes her Pathfinder Battles debut in this set as a Medium rare figure. Wielding her imposing scythe and exemplifying both the decay of undeath and the debauchery of gluttony, it is to her glory the Whispering Tyrant and all his undead minions do their sinister work. All hail Urgathoa! All hail the Pallid Princess!

Game Masters looking to add some scenery to their undead encounters should be excited by another piece of dungeon dressing from Ruins of Lastwall, the Stone Cairn, a remnant of a culture now as dead as the corpse or corpses buried beneath it. When the gravestones or burial markers from the Cemetery of the Fallen don't quite fit your needs, consider using a Stone Cairn instead.

That's it for this week's preview. Check back next time for a look at the champions of balance stuck in the middle of the war for the souls of the Inner Sea. I'm pompously psyched to show them off!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Pathfinder Battles: Shining Crusaders

Jan 15, 2019, 03:30 pm

Welcome to 4719, Pathfinders! We in the Paizo word mines are hard at work putting together a huge slate of new products for the year but that doesn't mean that I can't take a few minutes to show off some of the new figures coming out this April in the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids.

Pathfinder Battles: Shining Crusaders

Tuesday, January 15, 2019

The Ruins of Lastwall set features lots of figures useful in playing out the conflict between the knights of Lastwall and the forces of the lich lord known as the Whispering Tyrant. For nearly 900 years the stalwart Knights of Ozem have stood watch over the lich's prison from their fortified capital of Vigil, the last remnant of the forces of good whose victory in the Shining Crusade saved the world from the tyrant's grasp. And now players and GMs will have all the figures they need to amass their own army of paladins, knights, and regimented soldiers of light.

Illustration by Craig J. Spearing

The first two figures were drawn from the same inspiring piece of art from the Pathfinder library, this stunning half-page illustration of Lastwall's forces preparing for battle by Craig J. Spearing. In the foreground, we have the Lastwall Soldier, a rank-and-file soldier in the crusader army. Wearing a simple cloak of the purest white, emblazoned with the holy symbol of Iomedae, this Medium common figure is one you'll be glad to have multiples of.

Towering over the soldiers is the Lastwall General atop his rearing charger. His polished gold plate and raised standard serve as inspiration to his subordinates and paint an intimidating picture for the forces of undeath rallied against them. A Large uncommon figure, the Lastwall General can also serve as a PC cavalier or paladin when mounted.

I showed off the Lastwall Knight (Medium uncommon) back in September when the set was announced, but she's not the only elite figure in the set. Check out the Lastwall Paladin with his banner and longsword issuing a challenge to the forces of evil. He's a Medium uncommon figure, so collectors should end up with a few of him to add variety to their Lastwall army or to serve as PCs, cohorts, or prominent NPCs from the ranks of the Knights of Ozem.

When these noble warriors fall in battle, they deserve a fitting final rest. In the catacombs of Vigil lie the remains of countless paladins and soldiers who dedicated themselves to keeping the Whispering Tyrant contained in his prison. The Crypt Wall set dressing depicts one of these catacomb niches, complete with four removable shelves and three decaying corpses so you can customize your use of it.

The Knights of Lastwall don't stand alone against the forces of evil, though. No, the Great Beytond is full of powerful beings who want to see the Whispering Tyrant's forces turned back from their ambitions of conquest. Among them are the noble gold dragons who call Golarion's plains home. The Large Gold Dragon here (Large uncommon) is just one of the mortal beings who may come to the knights' aid (or serve as wise advisors or “quest-givers” for PCs).

From beyond the borders of our realities, the celestial hosts of the upper planes may be summoned or called by powerful clerics or arcane spellcasters, the most formidable of which is the Empyrean Angel. First appearing in Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 and coming in at a whopping CR 20, this Large rare figure is sure to awe all who see it when it appears on the battlefield.

No celestial force is more interested in the outcome of the long war with the Whispering Tyrant than the goddess, Iomedae, who was herself a knight of Ozem before ascending to godhood. The first of five gods making their Pathfinder Battles debut in this set, Iomedae, Goddess of Valor is a Medium rare figure, perfect for GMs running the Wrath of the Righteous Adventure Path or for players of paladins or clerics of the goddess who might attempt to emulate her appearance beyond simply wearing her holy symbol.

That's it for this preview, but it's far from the last you'll see of Lastwall. Check back next time for a look at the agents of undeath working to undermine the knights' efforts and spread their cold, evil will across the Inner Sea region.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Things Get Weird

Oct 23, 2018, 02:30 pm

Well folks, we did it. We made it to the final Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker preview. Were there delays and complications along the way? Sure. But no kingdom rises from nothing without pain and struggle. And I couldn't have done it without you, fair citizens. Your taxes will go to the establishment of nothing but the finest of statues in my hon—...wait, it wasn't me that got king-made? That means I have to do my job and show off these last few minis, doesn't it?

Things Get Weird

Tuesday, October 23, 2018

Well folks, we did it. We made it to the final Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker preview. Were there delays and complications along the way? Sure. But no kingdom rises from nothing without pain and struggle. And I couldn't have done it without you, fair citizens. Your taxes will go to the establishment of nothing but the finest of statues in my hon—...wait, it wasn't me that got king-made? That means I have to do my job and show off these last few minis, doesn't it?

We're left now with six unrevealed figures that exemplify some of the weirder fantasy elements in the Kingmaker campaign, so I won't bore you with further theatrics. Just imagine what would happen if a bunch of drunk proto-deities made a first draft of the world, threw in some magic and glitter, and then sort of left their creations to evolve in isolation for a few millennia. That's how you end up with things like the strange (but incredibly cute) fey dragon, a Small common figure. How does something so silly looking even fit into an ecosystem without going extinct? By having magic powers, that's how!

It's not the only creature in the set tainted by magic and a pastel filter. Check out this dwoemercat, a creation of none other than Ed Greenwood, for the very first volume of Kingmaker. What better size and rarity could one ask for in a dwoemercat than Medium and common, respectively? No better size and rarity, I say!

Are you liking the fuzzies? Here's another new fuzzy, albeit a waterlogged one. The fur on an ahuizotl clumps to form weird little spikes, hence its name, which translates to "spiny aquatic thing" according to Wikipedia. Originating in Aztec myth, these Large rare cuties like human flesh, “especially nails, eyes, and teeth.” YUM!

But wait! It gets cuter! Who's a good boy? Trollhound's a good boy! Yes he is! Look at that well maintained coat of luxuriant mussed hair and thick hide of trollish green. He's even trained: "Roll over! Sit! Don't eat me!" Well, two out of three isn't bad. Cue Sarah McLachlan music. Give this poor creature a home, because every Medium uncommon figure deserves a chance to murder PCs.

Ok, I admit I may have gone overboard with the whole "things get weird" blog theme, but I'm committed now, so there's no stopping me. Spider-man himself couldn't put an end to my antics! Not even Pathfinder's own version of Spider-man, the web lurker. Less an awkward nerd bitten by a radioactive spider and thrust into a life of crime fighting, secret identities, and heartbreak than a literal man-spider, the web lurker is a Medium common figure who can't wait to be your friendly neighborhood aberrant horror.

Finally, we have the weirdest addition to the set yet, as saving the best for last seemed appropriate: a danged-old gnome! Here, good reader, we have a fine specimen of pedantic, pompous, and generally insufferable gnome alchemist, the inimitable Jubilost Narthropple. In his myriad published works, he makes an irrefutable case for being the best companion in not only Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but in the entirety of Golarion and the history of CRPGs as well. It is only fitting, then, that he offset his Small size with an uncommon rarity, so that no adventuring party suffers the indignity of not having him along to tell them everything they're doing wrong.

Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker comes out on October 24 in game stores everywhere! Don't miss it! Your king commands it!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Brigands Abound

Oct 19, 2018, 12:00 pm

Why the River Kingdoms are called such has always puzzled me, given that rivers are only the second most plentiful resource in the region behind bandits and other ne'er-do-wells who find the largely lawless lands a safe place to practice their chicanery. Thus, no adventure set in the region would be complete without its fair share of cutpurses and footpads, and the Kingmaker Adventure Path is no exception. As such, it seemed only natural to include a number of these nefarious characters in the associated Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set coming out later this month.

Brigands Abound

Friday, October 19, 2018

Why the River Kingdoms are called such has always puzzled me, given that rivers are only the second most plentiful resource in the region behind bandits and other ne'er-do-wells who find the largely lawless lands a safe place to practice their chicanery. Thus, no adventure set in the region would be complete without its fair share of cutpurses and footpads, and the Kingmaker Adventure Path is no exception. As such, it seemed only natural to include a number of these nefarious characters in the associated Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set coming out later this month.

All three of the set's bandit figures first appeared in print as specific lieutenants of the sinister Stag Lord (whose figure I showed off in the previous blog), but can easily stand in for any number of more generic baddies at your table. So while some may know them as Kressle, Dovan from Nisroch, and Auchs, their common rarity means that they can just as easily represent a whole band of Stolen Lands bandits, shadow rogues, or River Kingdoms ruffians (respectively). All three are humans, and thus stand on Medium bases.

Despite being river pirates, these highwaymen do most of their robbing on the roads that wind their way through the forests and plains of the Stolen Lands, and as such need places to lie in wait for their unsuspecting victims. The set's final piece of set dressing serves as just such a hiding spot! While it might seem unassuming on its own, the large bush figure can easily become deadly if you put the right threat behind it. It's got a relatively flat top as well, so you should have little trouble putting a figure atop the plant to represent that it's literally popping out of the foliage.

Finally, we need someone to keep these common criminals in line and bring them to justice. And who better to do that than the paragon of lawful neutrality herself, Pathfinder: Kingmaker's own Valerie. A rare Medium figure, Valerie makes a great PC miniature or NPC general, and her lack of specific insignia on her shield or livery means she can serve as both ally or enemy without looking like she's wearing some other soldier's armor.

Just one preview left before Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker releases on October 24, so get your preorders in today!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Untamed Wilderness

Oct 16, 2018, 03:00 pm

Much of the Kingmaker Adventure Path's story involves wilderness exploration and the taming of an untamable land. So of course we had to include a lot of "wilderness monsters" in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker.

Untamed Wilderness

Tuesday, October 16, 2018

Much of the Kingmaker Adventure Path's story involves wilderness exploration and the taming of an untamable land. So of course we had to include a lot of "wilderness monsters" in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker.

The first of these is the imposing smilodon, a saber-toothed tiger from the nearby Realm of the Mammoth Lords. This primordial feline takes up the entire base, and makes for a very intimidating opponent (or animal companion, if you like that sort of thing). The smilodon is an uncommon Large figure.

Since we're showing off some exceptionally large creatures, how about a big-ass frog? You'll be adventuring in the River Kingdoms, after all, and that means swamps and rivers and stuff. So I bet you'll be facing a few of these amphibious menaces. Despite their size, they remain frogs, so you should have no problem making them croak. The giant frog is a common Medium figure.

Amphibians and reptiles are similar, right? I'm no biologist, so I think they're all just different levels of slimy—beasts I'd rather kill than touch. So we included a monitor lizard to kill (or touch, if you like that sort of thing). Based on new concept art for the Kingmaker CRPG, the purple monitor lizard is a common Medium figure.

Since I'm sure the comments are going to be full of slimy creature-lovers yelling at me for being mean, I'll distract you all by showing off a creature everyone likes: a swarm! Swarms are tough to do in miniature form, because they don't always take a square shape, and they are at their best when they are sharing a square with other creatures. That has resulted in many, many swarm figures looking more like bumpy coins than the creatures they're meant to represent. So we went with a more cinematic look for the army ant swarm, a common Medium figure, which is a 4-foot-tall mass of insects that have already stripped an earlier victim to the bone.

Finally, we need a skilled ranger to hunt or tame these beasts of the Stolen Lands, and who better to fill that role than the quiet archer, Ekundayo, from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG. A Garundi native of Absalom, Ekun makes an excellent PC or ally mini, with his nocked arrow and sweeping cape. His rare rarity means he'll remain unique in most collections, making him stand out among the myriad bow-wielding ranger figures out there.

Just two more previews left before the set releases on October 24, so keep your eyes tuned to this spot in the coming days. Until then, roll 20s and don't split the party!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Heavy Weighs the Crown

Oct 9, 2018, 05:00 pm

First, we have the Stag Lord, a Medium uncommon figure, who is in charge of the Stolen Lands when the PCs first arrive to settle the region. A sadistic and cruel bandit king, the Stag Lord is the first major threat the Kingmakers must defeat before they can establish their own barony in the River Kingdoms.

Heavy Weighs the Crown

Tuesday, October 9, 2018

For a Pathfinder Battles set called "Kingmaker", we certainly haven't seen much in the way of kings, now have we? Well, this week's preview should address that oversight.

First, we have the Stag Lord, a Medium uncommon figure, who is in charge of the Stolen Lands when the PCs first arrive to settle the region. A sadistic and cruel bandit king, the Stag Lord is the first major threat the Kingmakers must defeat before they can establish their own barony in the River Kingdoms.

Humans aren't the only civilized creatures in the AP who have hierarchies and rulers, however, and goblins, lizardfolk, kobolds, and mites all have their own kings, queens, and chieftains the PCs must interact with. Heck, even giants have their own rulers, such as the Frost Giant Jarl, a Large rare figure perfect for recreating Amiri's origin story.

The players' only truly royal rival in the Kingmaker Adventure Path is King Irovetti of the neighboring River Kingdom of Pitax, who got his own figure in the Rusty Dragon Inn set a few years back. Never one to fight his own battles if he can avoid it, Irovetti has employed the services of the intimidating, heavily armored Pitax Wardens to do his dirty work for him. The Pitax Warden is a Medium common figure.

No ruler worth her salt leaves it up to chance to secure her legacy, and no one is better suited for that task than Linzi, Halfling Bard, this week's featured companion from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG, out now on Steam and GOG! A Small uncommon figure, Linzi will be sure to offer her unique take on the events in your kingdom, whether you like it or not.

But what good is a king without a throne? The barbarian throne and raised dais, based on this iconic illustration from the Beyond Kingmaker article back in Pathfinder AP #36, are packaged individually as bonus set dressing, but were intended to work together. The throne fits most Medium figures (at least standing on its seat, but who's going to tell the king he has to sit?) and the dais can sport any number of set dressings at its apex, from the depicted throne to the Book of the Damned or any number of pieces from the Court of the Crimson Throne premium set. The dais has a flat cobblestone surface on the bottom as well, so even if you don't have something you want to put on the red carpeted top side, you can flip it over and have a weird stone table or platform for some ritual or elaborate trap or whatever other inventive encounter you come up with.

Mark Moreland
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Undead Threats

Sep 21, 2018, 12:00 pm

Two weeks ago, we announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids, Ruins of Lastwall, set for release next spring. But you don't have to wait much longer to get new undead minis to torment players in your Pathfinder campaigns! We have a bunch of them coming in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker next month!

Undead Threats

Friday, September 21, 2018

Two weeks ago, we announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures from WizKids, Ruins of Lastwall, set for release next spring. But you don't have to wait much longer to get new undead minis to torment players in your Pathfinder campaigns! We have a bunch of them coming in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker next month!

First among them is the Cyclops Lich, a major NPC villain in the Kingmaker campaign who first appeared on the cover of Pathfinder Adventure Path #33: The Varnhold Vanishing. A Large rare figure, this massive undead menace is sure to leave a lasting impression in your game.

Next, we have another large undead abomination, the hideous Soul Gorger. This rare figure is a staple of fantasy RPGs, and gains its power from the souls of spellcasters it has devoured, which now reside in its chest cavity, grasping to escape.

SOUL GORGER

At the other end of the power spectrum, we have the Bloody Skeleton, a Medium common figure that will help GMs everywhere bolster their undead hordes.

Not all undead are so corporeal, and ghosts have long been a pillar of both fantasy and horror stories. The Elf Ghost below can serve as either a ghostly elf pirate or any other lingering spirit trapped in its material existence until the PCs can help it to its final rest. An uncommon figure, customers who purchase a case should get a few of them, allowing for the overwhelming challenge of facing more than one of these menacing foes!

While it's technically a piece of set dressing, this set's Scarecrow makes a great red herring in horror campaigns. It totally won't animate and climb off that post to ravage anyone who gets lost in a corn maze, I promise. Players and GMs familiar with the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path may find other, more ghoulish uses for this piece as well!

Finally this week, we look at the Pathfinder: Kingmaker companion with the strongest undead connection: the undead servant of Urgathoa, Jaethal. The elven inquisitor makes an excellent scythe-wielding elf PC or NPC, and needn't necessarily be undead herself. Jaethal, Elf Inquisitor is a Medium uncommon figure.

We had a bit of a delay in past Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker blogs, but we're back on schedule now! Check back next week for a look at some of the bandits that give the River Kingdoms their reputation of lawlessness.

Mark Moreland
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Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall (and more Kingmaker previews)!

Sep 7, 2018, 12:00 pm

Last week, our partners at WizKids announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures: Ruins of Lastwall! Scheduled for an April 2019 release, Ruins of Lastwall is the last full set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures before the advent of Pathfinder Second Edition in August of next year. As such, it offers a great opportunity for us to fill in as many of the remaining gaps in the series from our iconic first edition sourcebooks, and the chance to tie in with one of the most highly anticipated adventure paths in the history of the game: Tyrant's Grasp.

Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Ruins of Lastwall (and more Kingmaker previews)!

Friday, September 7, 2018

Last week, our partners at WizKids announced the next set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures: Ruins of Lastwall! Scheduled for an April 2019 release, Ruins of Lastwall is the last full set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures before the advent of Pathfinder Second Edition in August of next year. As such, it offers a great opportunity for us to fill in as many of the remaining gaps in the series from our iconic first edition sourcebooks, and the chance to tie in with one of the most highly anticipated adventure paths in the history of the game: Tyrant's Grasp.

As the name might suggest, Tyrant's Grasp involves the return of the Whispering Tyrant, the lich wizard-king of old whose prison was guarded by the paladins of neighboring Lastwall. Nothing in the title of this minis set should be misconstrued as a spoiler, though. Everything's going to be fine for Lastwall. Nothing to worry about for them!

With a heavy slant toward undead and Lastwall crusaders, the Ruins of Lastwall set features 44 randomized figures, six pieces of bonus dungeon dressing, and the associated Cemetery of the Fallen premium set, available for purchase along with the pre-order of a full case of standard boosters. Check out the initial wave of previews released as part of the solicitation!

From left to right: Caligni creeper, Small common; Poltergeist, Medium common; Lastwall knight, Medium uncommon; Morrigna psychopomp, Medium rare; Young time dragon, Large rare

From left to right: Mausoleum, premium dressing; Stone Coffin A, premium dressing; Tombstone A, premium dressing; Tombstone B, premium dressing

With the pending release of the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set, due out in October, I'd be remiss to show off only the figures from the set following it 6 months later. So without further ado, here are a few of the most iconic high fantasy figures from Kingmaker.

This manticore, a Large uncommon figure, takes its design from concept art for the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG from Owlcat Games, which gave it a less lion-like face and really shows off the fact that it's a strange amalgamation of other beasts.

Next we have the swamp naga, another Large uncommon figure. Nagas are always tough to scale correctly in plastic form, as they're large creatures but have the human-sized features. Hopefully this snake-bodied sorcerer adequately fills her base, but that's a balancing act we're working hard with WizKids to get right. When the final figure is in your hands, please let us know if we're getting closer to the ideal figure size.

Not to be left behind by his fellow Large uncommons, the Hill Giant makes his preview debut today.

Finally, we have this week's companion figure. Octavia, Half-Elf Arcane Trickster is a Medium rare figure, and makes an excellent stand-in for any half-elven spellcaster PC or NPC.

Mark Moreland
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Rad Moon Rising

Aug 24, 2018, 05:00 pm

Among the first minis we previewed from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set way back when we announced it in the spring was the werewolf, a staple of the fantasy and horror genres for ages. But that's not the only figure in the set with a tie to the moon.

Rad Moon Rising

Friday, August 24, 2018

Among the first minis we previewed from the forthcoming Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker set way back when we announced it in the spring was the werewolf, a staple of the fantasy and horror genres for ages. But that's not the only figure in the set with a tie to the moon.

I'm super stoked to show off not one, but two new lycanthrope sculpts in this set, both Medium uncommon figures: the wererat archer and the weretiger. Whether they represent enemies of cursed PCs when the full moon calls, these two are sure to be a hit whenever they show up at the table.

Since we have such a great weretiger in the set (and a tiger in the previous set, Jungle of Despair), it is only fitting to also include a Tiger Lord—a tribe of Kellid barbarians from neighboring Numeria who play a pivotal role in the Kingmaker Adventure Path. And who better to epitomize the Tiger Lords than their leader, Armag the Twice-Born (a Medium rare figure) with his magic sword Ovinrbaane? Armag also makes a great barbarian PC for anyone not playing Kingmaker.

A far less brutish barbarian in this set is the divine guardian, also a Medium rare figure. Perfect for a ranger, druid, hunter, shaman, or shifter, this warrior can easily be used to represent a member of many of Golarion's peoples, from Kellid to Mwangi to Shoanti (including the Shoanti moon, axe, or hawk clans, which all hold birds of prey among their favored totems).

Lastly, we have another companion from the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG, with a different link to the moon…not the moon in the night sky, but rather the skeleton moon looking over the Boneyard—Groetus, god of the end times. Harrim, Dwarf Cleric (a Medium rare figure) even has the holy symbol of his apocalyptic god emblazoned on the head of his flail. What campaign is complete without a nihilistic dwarf along to sour any joyous occasion with reminders of the futility of existence?

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

Aug 17, 2018, 03:00 pm

Now that Gen Con is behind us, it's time to once again resume our weekly look at the next wave of Pathfinder Battles pre-painted plastic miniatures from WizKids, October's Kingmaker!

Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

Friday, August 17, 2018

Now that Gen Con is behind us, it's time to once again resume our weekly look at the next wave of Pathfinder Battles pre-painted plastic miniatures from WizKids, October's Kingmaker!

This week we explore a few figures in the set that are more than their initial appearance might suggest, either due to the creatures' special abilities or hidden histories. First among these deceptive creatures is the wild spriggan, a common Small figure. While these goblin-like relatives of gnomes are only a few feet tall in their normal form, they can transform into hulking brutes in an instant. The large spriggan is a Large uncommon figure, meaning most GMs should get enough of spriggans across both sizes to build a sizable (pun fully intended) war band.

While changing size is a pretty neat ability, it doesn't necessarily help spriggans hide from potential prey or lurking threats. For that ability, one need look no farther than the gargoyle, which appears in two different forms in Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker. The first, an uncommon Medium figure places the creature on a standard round base, and depicts it in an action-packed battle pose, while the second, a similarly sized, unbased piece of dungeon dressing, appears as an intricate but completely benign statue adorning a gothic rooftop. While the pictured images depict the figures painted different colors, we asked WizKids to standardize their coloration across the two figures so a GM could place the latter as "set dressing" and then swap it for the former when the creature reveals its true nature. When we get final production samples, we'll update the images from these digital renders to actual photographs.

Finally, we have the first of our weekly previews of the set's many player character-appropriate miniatures, based off the companions from the forthcoming Pathfinder: Kingmaker computer RPG from Owlcat Games (launching worldwide on September 25)! While I won't reveal the exact nature of this figure's secret, I will say that Tristian, Human Cleric—a Medium uncommon figure—is perhaps the most enigmatic and inscrutable companion in the game, and his storyline is one I'm most excited to see the community uncover when the game comes out. Armed with a Sarenite holy symbol, Tristian makes a great stand-in for clerics of the Dawnflower in any Pathfinder campaign.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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The Last Cut is the Deepest

May 7, 2018, 12:00 pm

This week, we look at the final batch of Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts miniatures coming out in the July wave, wrapping up a brief series on the unpainted plastic miniatures from our partners at WizKids. Each of the figures below is sold individually, and is pre-primed for your painting pleasure.

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A Short Blog Post

Apr 30, 2018, 12:00 pm

Each wave of Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts unpainted plastic miniatures comes with both monsters and player character-appropriate figures, usually around a shared theme. Each blister pack of characters comes with two figures—one low- and one high-level—which can either represent the same character across his or her career or two completely different adventurers. The ancestry featured in July’s release wave is none other than gnomes, specifically gnome spellcasters.

A Short Blog Post

Monday, April 30, 2018

Each wave of Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts unpainted plastic miniatures comes with both monsters and player character-appropriate figures, usually around a shared theme. Each blister pack of characters comes with two figures—one low- and one high-level—which can either represent the same character across his or her career or two completely different adventurers. The ancestry featured in July's release wave is none other than gnomes, specifically gnome spellcasters.

Gnomes are a miniature painter's dream, in no small part because they're small minis, so they don't use up a lot of paint, but also because they come in every color you can imagine. The sample painted renders depicted below are pretty conservative with their hair color choices, but you can paint them whatever hue catches your fancy, and repaint them when the gnome's mercurial fey blood leads them to change that hair color mid-campaign. First we have the male gnome bard. A world-renowned musician, this character has a version with and without his short sword (and different armor), but he never goes anywhere without his harp!

Joining the bard is the fellow arcane caster, female gnome sorcerer. She’s got two spell effects sculpted into her figures, which can be customized to be flames, lightning, acid, or whatever you need them to be with a simple ink wash. If you’re fine with her clothes changing, she could even represent the same character casting two different spells, getting swapped out for one another in the middle of combat.

Turning to a more natural set of spellcasters, we have the male and female gnome druids. Like the sorcerer, they all have clear plastic spell effects (including call lightning and produce flame, it looks like). One of my favorite aspects of the druids and sorcerer is that they could also serve as members of just about any spellcasting class, from arcanist to wizard. There's no reason you can't use the sorcerer above as a druid (just put her in a green robe; that's what makes someone a druid, right?) or the druids below as sorcerers.

Next week we'll look at the final two minis in the release wave, and show off the community's painted versions of previously released Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts figures. Just post your painted minis to Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram with the hashtag #pathfinderbattles, and tag the official Paizo account on that platform, and we'll post the best ones here next week (or sometime thereafter). I can't wait to see what our fans have done!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Elemental Invasion!

Apr 23, 2018, 12:00 pm

Last week, we announced the Kingmaker set of Pathfinder Battles pre-painted miniatures and the associated case incentive figures: Huge earth and water elementals. But they don't come out until October! What will fans of elementals do until then?

Elemental Invasion!

Monday, April 23, 2018

Last week, we announced the Kingmaker set of Pathfinder Battles pre-painted miniatures and the associated case incentive figures: Huge earth and water elementals. But they don't come out until October! What will fans of elementals do until then?

Fear not, valiant Pathfinders, for our partners at WizKids have you covered with their next wave of Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts unpainted plastic miniatures! Due out in July, these non-randomized figures are pre-primed with Acrylicos Vallejo primer, making them ready to paint straight out of the box. The preview images in this blog show digital renders of both the unpainted sculpt and a sample paint scheme to serve as inspiration. Each 2-piece blister pack comes with two copies of the same figure, in the same pose, so you can easily build an army of identical elemental warriors, or paint variant versions of the same figure.

First among this wave's elementals is the Medium earth elemental. Pathfinder Battles fans will recognize this sculpt as a boulder-throwing variant of the similarly named (and out of print) figure from the Shattered Star set from way back in 2013. Just like the sample paint scheme illustrated here, that figure had granite and emerald coloration, but this figure's unpainted finish means you can customize your earth elemental to fit whatever setting you want! Need a desert elemental? Paint it a tan, sandstone color with topaz or turquiose accents. Is your party facing an earth elemental on a tropical, volcanic island? Paint its body black, with ruby accents. And if it's especially lava-bound, try putting bright orange or yellow in the cracks of its body to give it a magma glow (see the lava lurker promotional figure for inspiration).

Next we have the Medium water elemental, again varying up the pose of the similarly named (and out of print) figure from Shattered Star. Composed of clear plastic, the figure maintains the sense of transparency that makes water elemental figures so much fun to use at the table. Whether you want a clear blue elemental from tropical waters, or a muddy, murky gray or brown from a swamp or sewer, this figure can be customized with a thin ink wash. If you're using a pre-existing map, like a Pathfinder Flip-Mat, you can even paint the mini to match the color of whatever body of water it's going to rise out of in your game! Give it an appearance of being icy or particularly roiling with some white dry-brushing to make the whorls and wave caps really pop.

What good is a water elemental if there isn't a fire elemental for it to quench? The Medium fire elemental is—you guessed it—a resculpt of the Shattered Star figure of the same name. Also composed of clear plastic, this figure can be customized with a variety of shades of red, orange, and yellow for traditional flames, or other colors like green and blue for more supernatural elementals summoned by strange rituals or specialized spellcasters. You can even give the figure a smoky look with a dry-brushing of sooty black.

And that's it. Just three elementals.

Nah, I'm just kidding. Of course there's a Medium air elemental to complete the set. One of the best things about this figure is that you can use it straight out of the box without getting your brushes dirty as any number of invisible air creatures. If you are looking to paint it, however, the clear plastic again allows for a lot of variety with different ink washes. Cool blues or pale whites can capture the brisk chill of a winter breeze, while darker colors like gray or even black can give the swirling elemental the look of a raging tornado. With a bit more customization, you can attach small green or brown "leaves" to the figure's surface to represent the detritus sucked up into the whirlwind in forested or autumnal settings.

While this is our first Deep Cuts blog, these are far from the first figures in the line, with dozens already in the wild in your local game store or here on paizo.com. Rather than go back and show off these unpainted figures, I'd rather give the community the chance to show off your finished Deep Cuts from the myriad figures we've previously released. Post your painted Pathfinder Battles Deep Cuts figures on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter with the hashtag #PathfinderBattles and tag the official accounts for Paizo and WizKids, and we'll collect and show off our favorites in a future blog.

Next week we'll examine the wave's batch of gnome spellcasters. The "shortlist," if you will. Until then, keep your paintbrushes wet.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker!

Apr 16, 2018, 02:00 pm

Now that we're done with previews of Jungle of Despair—which releases next week—I'm excited to announce the next Pathfinder Battles miniatures set from our partners at WizKids.

Announcing Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker!

Monday, April 16, 2018

Now that we're done with previews of Jungle of Despair—which releases next week—I'm excited to announce the next Pathfinder Battles miniatures set from our partners at WizKids.

Currently scheduled for an October release, Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker, is the fifteenth set of prepainted plastic miniatures in the popular Pathfinder Battles line. Featuring 44 randomized figures in sizes ranging from Small to Large, and six pieces of dungeon dressing, Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker exemplifies the commitment to quality sculpts and paint jobs, as well as variety and utility of figures, the line is known for.

As always, customers who order a case of Pathfinder Battles: Kingmaker boosters will also have the opportunity to purchase the set's case incentive. This set's two-figure incentive features the earth and water elemental lords, completing the Huge elemental series we began last year in Maze of Death with the air and fire elemental lords.

No Kingmaker set would be complete without some of the iconic allies and villains from the Kingmaker Adventure Path, such as the troll leader and Nyrissa, a Large uncommon and Medium rare figure, respectively.

There are also a number of more generic tropes of the genre we're releasing for the first time, like the bat swarm, werewolf, and oni mage. These figures fill in some of the gaps from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, which many fans have requested we represent as thoroughly as possible in prepainted plastic. The bat swarm and werewolf are both Medium figures, at the common and uncommon rarities, respectively, while the oni mage is a Large uncommon figure.

With the pending release of Pathfinder Kingmaker, the first isometric, party-based computer RPG set in the Pathfinder fantasy universe (now in Beta for Kickstarter backers!), we also had the unique opportunity to provide miniatures of the many new characters being introduced in the game by the game's developers at Owlcat Games. These companions will join the player along their journey to conquer and rule the Stolen Lands, and can now join players in their tabletop games as well. Check out Regongar, half-orc magus, the first of these companions we're showing off. A Medium rare figure, Regongar also makes a great PC or enemy NPC with the lightning spell effect giving him unmatched gravitas on the battle mat.

We're still a few months away from showing off the entire set, but keep coming back weekly for more Pathfinder (and Starfinder) miniature previews. Next week, we'll take a look at some of the figures in next wave of Deep Cuts unpainted plastic miniatures from WizKids. Until then, keep rolling 20s!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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The Ultimate Evil

Apr 9, 2018, 12:00 pm

Well, folks, we did it. We made it through the Jungle of Despair, and with a whole month to spare before the Pathfinder Battles set releases at the end of April! Along the way, we faced many challenges, from monsters and Darklands societies to pit traps and summoning pillars, but the greatest threat we faced was the final one, remember? Let me refresh your memory.

The Ultimate Evil

Monday, April 9, 2018

Well, folks, we did it. We made it through the Jungle of Despair, and with a whole month to spare before the Pathfinder Battles set releases at the end of April! Along the way, we faced many challenges, from monsters and Darklands societies to pit traps and summoning pillars, but the greatest threat we faced was the final one, remember? Let me refresh your memory.

In the Mwangi Jungle, the greatest force of evil is the gorilla king, Ruthazek (he got his own mini in the Legends of Golarion set). From his throne in Usaro, the Gorilla King rules a nation of demon-worshiping apes and charau-ka, which he sends to torment the peaceful people of the Mwangi Expanse. Leading these armies are mighty, four-armed apes with distinctive white fur, represented here as the thrall of Angazhan. A Large, uncommon figure, the thrall of Angazhan is the final figure eagle-eyed fans might have seen on the box art.

Aiding us in this battle against the ultimate evil were two forces of goodness, one from a distant corner of Golarion, and the other from blessed Elysium. The latter, the noble azata knight, makes it her mission to hunt fiends, evil dragons, and undead with equal vigor. It is thus no surprise that she graced us with her presence, though I'd describe that as a Medium rare occurance.

Finally, from the distant continent of Tian Xia far to the east (and west, I guess, if you go the long way around), is the graceful kirin. This Large rare figure is right at home in the jungle, especially the air above the kaiju-filled Valashmai Jungle, but can oppose the schemes of evil spirits like hags and oni in any environment. Though rare, some kirin have even served as the flying mounts of particularly worthy cavaliers, paladins, or samurai.

With the aid of both azata and kirin, we overcame all adversity, and ensured the forces of Angazhan did not spread beyond their accursed, ruined jungle citadel. We have vanquished the despair from the jungle! Sort of.

Just because I've now revealed the entire set, that doesn't mean the adventure has to end here. Check back next week for more discussion of our miniature offerings. Whatever could we be exploring next?

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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On a Wing and a Prayer

Apr 2, 2018, 12:00 pm

We're almost out of the Jungle of Despair, but we've still got two more previews to go. This week, we look at four winged inhabitants of our jungle, before we tie up all the loose ends next week.

On a Wing and a Prayer

Monday, April 2, 2018

We're almost out of the Jungle of Despair, but we've still got two more previews to go. This week, we look at four winged inhabitants of our jungle, before we tie up all the loose ends next week.

First on the agenda this week is the pixie, a wild fey prankster sure to add a bit of annoying fun to any campaign. A Small common figure, the pixie should have a few of his friends with him for anyone opening a brick or a case, allowing for all sorts of pixie swarm shenanigans. Though larger than the atomie and other tiny winged fey, the pixie figure can also stand in for a number of similar creatures if you're ok with the size discrepancies.

Next we have the river drake, a lesser dragon that makes a great challenge as the adventurers sail or steam into the heart of the jungle. Perhaps one of the most versatile figures in the set, the river drake is at home along rivers in all sorts of environments, and there are very few adventures I can think of that don't involve a river of some sort, even if just as background. The river drake is a Medium common figure.

This week's third offering is the batlike sabosan, echolocating monstrous humanoids found in warm forests and in the deep caverns of the earth. The sabosan miniature can also stand in for a werebat, or in a pinch, even a winged demon or devil. Its massive wingspan makes it an imposing figure, even on a Medium base, and its common rarity means you can throw a handful of them at the players to really keep them on their toes.

Players of the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path will surely remember one of the campaign's most iconic winged adversaries, which we'd be remiss not to include in this set. The bane of goats and unsuspecting travelers everywhere, the winged chupacabra is a thing of legend. More dangerous than the standard, wingless chupacabra, this Medium uncommon figure is sure to be the highlight of any adventure it appears in.

Thus we end our penultimate entry in the safari journal of the Jungle of Despair. Next week we'll take a look at the final three figures, locked in the eternal struggle between good and evil, and after that, maybe a look at the next set on the horizon. Jungle of Despair is out next month, so make sure to get your preorders in soon!

Mark Moreland
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No Bears, Oh My!

Mar 26, 2018, 12:00 pm

Hail and well met, Pathfinders! We're getting close to the end of our trek through the Jungle of Despair, and we'll be free and clear with a month to spare before its May release. No jungle is complete without animals to call it home, both benign herbivores like the slow-moving sloth and docile deer, and more deadly predators. What fun is a mini of a sloth, though? Let's take a look at some of those hunters!

No Bears, Oh My!

Monday, March 26, 2018

Hail and well met, Pathfinders! We're getting close to the end of our trek through the Jungle of Despair, and we'll be free and clear with a month to spare before its May release. No jungle is complete without animals to call it home, both benign herbivores like the slow-moving sloth and docile deer, and more deadly predators. What fun is a mini of a sloth, though? Let's take a look at some of those hunters!

First we have the lion, the so-called "king of the jungle." Now, you and I know that lions really live on the plains, but who am I to argue with one if he wants to be known by an inaccurate royal name? I've seen the videos of lions attacking, so I'll just call this one king of whatever he wants me to. The lion is a Large uncommon figure.

Next, we have another great cat—and one that actually lives and hunts in jungles, though it doesn't need such silly titles as the lion king. No, the tiger is content to hunt in peace and quiet. And if painted white, it might even do some magic tricks for you in a Vegas review. The tiger is a Large uncommon figure.

How does that line from "The Wizard of Oz" go? It's "lions and tigers and eagles, oh my," right? I think so, because that's what's next in this blog's sequence, and I'd never deviate from canon by changing up such an iconic listing of dangerous critters. The eagle makes an excellent animal companion or a summoned creature, available to even low-level adventurers. A Small uncommon figure, GMs everywhere will be saying, "the eagle has landed" in just a little over a month's time.

The set has more than just these iconic apex predators in it, however. After all, someone needs to clean up all the rotting, half-eaten corpses left behind in the hunters' wake. Leave that to the vulture, a gross, bald-headed scavenger bird sure to strike fear into players everywhere when a few of them start to circle overhead. The vulture is a Small uncommon figure.

With all these wild animals about, we really could use someone to train them. Fear not, for the human ranger is on the task! As a Medium rare figure, he's still a steal for the lucky collector who pulls him from a pack, because he's really two minis in one. With his trusty bird of prey perched on his gloved hand, this figure pairs well with either of the two avians previewed above.

Next week, we explore the horrors wrought by nature run amok, but until then, enjoy the birdies and kitties revealed today; next week's offerings won't be as kind.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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They Came From Below!

Mar 19, 2018, 12:00 pm

The journey into the Jungle of Despair continues this week with a look at some of the myriad threats that may face your party in the Darklands below the jungle, such as in the final two volumes of the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path.

They Came From Below!

Monday, March 19, 2018

The journey into the Jungle of Despair continues this week with a look at some of the myriad threats that may face your party in the Darklands below the jungle, such as in the final two volumes of the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path.

You've already seen the morlock cleric, serpentfolk cleric, and serpentfolk wizard, so there's no use in trying to tease what monstrous civilizations this week's previews are going to represent. What good is a morlock cleric without a congregation of followers to do his bidding? Look no further than the morlock, a Medium common figure. I expect most GMs to get at least two of these figures to take advantage of their swarming special ability!

Not to be outdone by the degenerate offspring of their ancient Azlanti enemies, serpentfolk are even better represented in this set than morlocks, with two more figures we haven't seen yet. The first is the serpentfolk hunter, a Medium common figure, the perfect component for a serpentfolk warband, either guarding their subterranean domain or venturing to the surface with evil intent.

The final serpentfolk in the set is the serpentfolk rogue, a Medium uncommon figure. I love hand crossbows, and this figure shows off why. Using the vials of poison on its belt, the serpentfolk rogue can envenom both a bolt and its blade, presenting a deadly threat both to enemies within reach and dozens of feet away.

Lastly, we have a brave adventurer willing to travel into the darkness to rid the world of these sinister beasts. The human paladin commander makes a great figure for both a player character or the noble leader of a holy order of knights, such as the Glorious Reclamation in the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path. The human paladin commander is a Medium rare figure.

Check back next week, for the antepenultimate entry into our Jungle of Despair preview series! Yes, that makes this the preantepenultimate preview, but who's counting?

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Rituals and Rivals

Mar 15, 2018, 12:00 pm

I know there's a lot of excitement in the Pathfinder community these days, and I'm proud to be at the center of it with the most adamantly followed announcements of them all—Jungle of Despair previews!

Rituals and Rivals

Thursday, March 15, 2018

I know there's a lot of excitement in the Pathfinder community these days, and I'm proud to be at the center of it with the most adamantly followed announcements of them all—Jungle of Despair previews!

Prior to Jungle of Despair, which releases in May, the last major jungle content we've released across our myriad Pathfinder lines was the Worldscape series of Pathfinder comics from Dynamite Entertainment, written by our own Chief Creative Officer and Publisher, Erik Mona. These crossover comics find the iconic Pathfinders whisked from Golarion to a strange, jungle demiplane where they battle and ally with such pulp fantasy heroes as John Carter of Mars, Tarzan, Red Sonja, and Fantoma. The demiplane, called the Worldscape, was actually created by the archmage Nex, one of the Pathfinder setting's most infamous wizard-kings, to serve as a staging ground for the greatest warriors of three worlds to assault the unconquerable city of Absalom. Now you can include elements of the Worldscape saga into your campaigns with the final piece of ~~dungeon~~jungle dressing in the set, the summoning pillar. Modeled off the prominent monoliths scattered throughout the Worldscape, this imposing relic can also serve as any standing stone in your campaign.

No summoning pillar is complete without a powerful spellcaster to active it or bend its ancient magic to her will. One such figure is the serpentfolk wizard, a Medium rare figure based on one of the final villains in the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path, a wizard of the Amphisbaenian Rite.

If serpentfolk aren't your thing, you can instead use the summoning pillar with the morlock cleric, a Medium uncommon figure based on the art for Eudranis, the sample morlock in Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Darklands Revisited. We're not picky about what evil monster person activates the summoning pillar, honest. What's really important is that your PCs get whisked away to a strange jungle of adventure and, I'll venture to say, despair.

Not all your foes need to be spellcasters, however. Why not give your players a hard time with a little bit of friendly assassination? And who better to stab someone in the back than a silent, sneaky elf? The elf assassin figure, a Medium uncommon offering, can easily serve this purpose. Or he can make for a nice rogue of swashbuckler player character. This figure's utility knows no limits!

Next week, we'll delve beneath the Jungle of Despair to look at some of the threats one can find teeming in the Darklands below.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Fiendgully: The Last Painforest

Mar 12, 2018, 12:00 pm

It's just been a bit since our delayed look at the set's creepy crawlies, but a short detour in our journey through the Jungle of Despair won't prevent me from at least trying to stay on schedule. This week we examine some of the fiends featured in the set: daemons and qlippoth!

Fiendgully: The Last Painforest

Monday, March 12, 2018

It's just been a bit since our delayed look at the set's creepy crawlies, but a short detour in our journey through the Jungle of Despair won't prevent me from at least trying to stay on schedule. This week we examine some of the fiends featured in the set: daemons and qlippoth!

Hailing from the desolate plane of Abaddon, daemons serve the Four Horsemen in their efforts to claim as many mortal souls as possible. Like all Outer Planes, Abaddon's primary means of soul acquisition comes from worshipers of neutral evil deities who are judged and sent there upon their mortal demise. But daemons' hunger is rarely sated, and like most fiends, they are always looking for new, less scrupulous means of growing their numbers. The terrifying astradaemon, for example, traverses the River of Souls on the Astral Plane, like a shark, plucking unlucky victims from their rightful path to the afterlife. With a life-draining touch, astradaemons speed their living victims toward death, increasing the prevalence of their prey in the River of Souls. The astradaemon is a Large rare figure.

Exhibiting cephalopod, crustacean, and humanoid features, the menacing venom daemon uses potent poison to bring low its enemies. Native to the swampy or fully aquatic regions of Abaddon, venom daemons target the strongest of their foes first, both as a tactical choice and for the emotional impact when foes see the greatest among them fall. The venom daemon is a Medium rare figure.

Older even than deamonkind are the qlippoth of the Abyss, whose hatred for the myriad demons who now rule their home plane knows no bounds. Last week we looked at the spider-like thulgant qlippoth, but it's just one of the four qlippoths Jungle of Despair has to offer. First this week is the ravenous qlippoth, whose body takes the form of a writhing ball of intertwined intestines and toothy mouths, an anatomy that serves it well as the scavenger of the Abyss. The ravenous qlippoth is a Medium uncommon figure.

The slightly more powerful infectious qlippoth is a manifestation of the Abyss's fecundity, spreading pain and suffering throughout the multiverse. The monocular, tentacle-covered beasts are capable of travel to other planes, where they spread misfortune indiscriminately. The infectious qlippoth is a Large uncommon figure.

Finally, we come to the gongorinan qlippoth, the crablike spawn of the qlippoth lord, Yamasoth, who was himself closely associated with Alaznist, the final Runelord of Wrath. A medium rare figure, the gongorinan qlippoth (along with most of the other figures in this week's preview) is sure to serve Game Masters running the forthcoming Return of the Runelords Adventure Path well.

That's all for now, folks! I hope you survived our glimpse into the Abyss (and Abaddon). Next week we'll return to the jungles of Golarion with a look at some of the mortal rivals your adventurers may encounter along their journey into despair.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Covered in Creepy Crawlies

Mar 2, 2018, 12:00 pm

Happy Friday, Pathfinders! We're now well on our way through our exploration of the forthcoming Jungle of Despair miniatures set from WizKids, due out in May. This week, I set aside my instinctive reaction to snakes and spiders and show off some of the figures in the set most likely to make your players' skin crawl.

Covered in Creepy Crawlies

Friday, March 2, 2018

Happy Friday, Pathfinders! We're now well on our way through our exploration of the forthcoming Jungle of Despair miniatures set from WizKids, due out in May. This week, I set aside my instinctive reaction to snakes and spiders and show off some of the figures in the set most likely to make your players' skin crawl.

Continuing the set's theme of snakes and serpentfolk, we begin with the metal cobra, a Small figure, this ophidian foe works both as a mechanical guardian left in otherwise abandoned tombs and ruins to protect the treasures within, or a more natural snake encountered in just about any environment (especially for GMs willing to repaint the minis). Released at the common rarity, most collectors will end up with a handful of them in their collection, giving them even more versatility to be used as a lone animal companion or an overwhelming swarm.

The metal cobra isn't the only creepy construct in the set, however. Check out the apparatus of the octopus, a magic item from Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Aquatic Adventures. Capable of carrying two riders, this piece of dungeon dressing could easily serve as both treasure in a jungle grotto or as a means of conveyance along the ocean floor to an isolated jungle island. The figure is 60mm tall, which makes it roughly 11 feet tall at scale, making it a formidable presence on the table.

No trip to the jungle is complete without bugs, and not just any bugs. Giant bugs! Huge bugs! Bugs the size of people! THEM! We could make a dozen sets of nothing but giant bugs and still have species and sizes we never covered, so we have to pick our favorites. Jungle of Despair features the giant ant, a common figure, that can stand in for any number of Medium giant insects. Druids with the vermin familiar class feature from Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic can have a Medium giant ant companion at 4th level, making this miniature useful for a handful of players as well as GMs.

The Material Plane isn't the only plane full of creepers and crawlers. The Abyss prides itself on its myriad gross inhabitants, not the least of which are the primeval qlippoth, who hope to eradicate all mortals from existence, thereby ending sin and with it the demons from whom they could reclaim their stolen plane. Jungle of Despair features four qlippoth figures (and a few daemons, of whom the qlippoth also aren't particularly fond), the first of which is the thulgant qlippoth. This horrific, spider-like creature has tentacles and scorpion stingers and an overwhelming hatred for demonkind. Lording over hives of bound servitors in the depths of the Abyss, thulgants make great campaign villains, and at CR 18, present a challenging capstone encounter for experienced adventuring parties. The thulgant qlippoth is a Large rare figure.

Next week, we'll stare fully into the Abyss and see what other qlippoth stare back. Strap in for a journey to the lower planes, as we face off against five jungle fiends! Until then, roll high, and don't split the party!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Feb 19, 2018, 12:00 pm

Okay, so I need to get this off my chest. We all know the classic line from the cave hermit at the start of The Legend of Zelda. "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this." Cool. But how does taking a sword address the fact that Link is still going alone? Sure, he has something with which to fight the danger inherent in solo adventuring, but wouldn't it be better for the old dude to also advise Link to take some friends along? That worked really well for 15 core Final Fantasy games.* I'm just saying.

It's Dangerous to Go Alone

Monday, February 19, 2018

Okay, so I need to get this off my chest. We all know the classic line from the cave hermit at the start of The Legend of Zelda. "It's dangerous to go alone! Take this." Cool. But how does taking a sword address the fact that Link is still going alone? Sure, he has something with which to fight the danger inherent in solo adventuring, but wouldn't it be better for the old dude to also advise Link to take some friends along? That worked really well for 15 core Final Fantasy games.* I'm just saying.

Well, when you venture into the Jungle of Despair in May, I advise you to take allies in addition to your swords, boomerangs, bombs, and whatnot. And when you build your expedition party, you're going to need some miniatures to represent them. That's where today's blog comes in!

What jungle expedition is complete without a ranger to cut a path through the thick underbrush, to listen to the calls of nearby fauna warning of pending danger, or to gauge the best time and place to make camp during the annual monsoon, when the threat of flash flooding could ruin your much-needed 8 hours of rest. Enter the human hunter, a Medium uncommon figure, and your savior when you need a high roll on that next Survival check. Equipped with a ghillie suit, soft leather boots, and a knocked arrow ready to let fly, the human hunter won't make a sound as she blazes a trail to adventure at your side!

"But," you might inquire, "what's our guide's final destination? Where are we going?" Why to find that lost magic anvil from the blog two weeks ago, silly! And who better to accompany such an expedition but the dwarf explorer? No one. There is no one better. If you don't believe me, this curmudgeonly companion will remind you at every opportunity. He's clearly planning on doing some spelunking, what with his rope and grappling hook, but even aboveground he stands to be a stalwart ally with his short sword and heavy crossbow. The dwarf explorer is a Medium rare figure.

Rounding out the party is some magical support—a companion capable of deciphering ancient runes and dispelling arcane wards that protect your prize from plunder. The human arcanist looks like he could hail from the esteemed magical academy of the Magaambya deep in the heart of the Mwangi Jungle, where acolytes of Old-Mage Jatembe still mix the traditions of arcane and druidic magic to keep the forces of evil at bay. And if his magic fails, he can always literally throw the book at his enemies. Look at that thing! It has to weigh 20 pounds! The human arcanist is a Medium rare figure.

When the dangers of the deep jungle become too much for even these capable adventurers to handle, they can always call upon the help of outsiders (maybe that giant book is full of true names used for planar binding and other summoning spells). But the arcanists of the Magaambya would never treat with the likes of devils or demons. Only the forces of good are, well, good enough for our magic warriors! The azata wilder, a CR 6 outsider capable of being summoned via summon monster V, relishes the thrill of battle, and would be more than happy to come to your aid. Since higher level variants of the spell could result in as many as 1d4+1 of the azatas, this is a common figure, enabling you to represent an entire host of Elysian archers on the battle mat. As a Medium creature with distinct elven features, the figure can also serve as a player character in a pinch—I could see this as an aasimar or a sorcerous elf arcane archer with the celestial bloodline.

Next week we'll look at the antithesis of today's previews: creepy, crawly creatures from the dark places of the earth (and at least one outer plane), as well as a thematically related piece of dungeon dressing! I look forward to continuing the conversation with you then, friends!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

*Yes, I know there are like fifty Final Fantasy games at this point. I said "core"—like with a Roman numeral in its title. You don't get to out-pedant me, nerds.

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Nature's Protectors

Feb 12, 2018, 12:00 pm

We're now a full month into our journey through the Jungle of Despair, the next set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids, and this week I get to show off some of my favorite figures in the set. So without further ado, let's begin!

Nature's Protectors

Monday, February 12, 2018

We're now a full month into our journey through the Jungle of Despair, the next set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids, and this week I get to show off some of my favorite figures in the set. So without further ado, let's begin!

As long as humanity has stood on the edge of the jungle and peered into the darkness beneath the impenetrable canopy, the imagination has created as many phantasmal dangers as actually exist in the unforgiving environment. But not all of these dangers are primeval, unthinking beasts that see explorers as little more than a potential meal. Many, in nearly every culture and mythology, exist to protect the untamed, untainted regions of the world from humanity's encroaching influence.

The first such creature in Jungle of Despair is the couatl, a lawful good staple of fantasy roleplaying games that takes its inspiration from the Aztec god, Quetzlcoatl, who is often referred to as "The Plumed Serpent." As such, the couatl is a mighty, mystical flying serpent with wings the color of a jungle bird's plumage. Couatls make for great protectors of jungle ruins or sacred sites for their ability to aid the adventurers, but only if the interlopers can convince the winged serpent of their true intentions and veneration for the purity of the unaltered wilderness. The couatl is a Large uncommon figure.

Similarly, nature spirits from the First World, the capricious realm of the fey, often serve as protectors of portions of the Material Plane. Comprised in large part of dense undergrowth and ancient trees, jungles make for the perfect habitat for dryads, each of whom is linked to a specific tree and given dominion over a particular copse or grove. The dryad in Jungle of Despair is a re-posed version of the reclining dryad illustration from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, and thus can be used in nearly any wooded environment, from a palm tree in a desert oasis to a lone evergreen high atop a mountain vista. The dryad is a common Medium figure.

Often filling a niche similar to that of a dryad but found in other environments beyond the woods is the enigmatic nymph, a paragon of natural beauty who uses her charms to bend would-be defilers of the wild to her will. Also based on the primary creature illustration from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, the nymph has been given some clothes in her miniature iteration, in the form of a seaweed skirt. With a pair of starfish stuck to her legs, she makes a great protector of seaside grottoes or isolated beaches but can still easily fit in anywhere that nature needs a steward. The nymph is a Medium common figure.

Mortal protectors of the natural world are no less powerful and intrinsically tied to the land, as in the case of the elf druid, a Medium common figure perfect for either a player character or in a cabal of Green Faith worshipers. In fact, the illustration used as reference for this figure was the Green Faith druid in Pathfinder Player Companion: Faiths of Balance; now where could his hawk animal companion have gotten off to?

Finally, we have a guardian not born or spawned by the raw power of nature itself, but rather created with arcane magic and set to a specific, ceaseless task by its master: the clay golem. As a construct, this Large uncommon figure has no natural habitat, and thus can serve campaigns set in ancient jungle ruins, high-magic metropolises, and everything in between. While a clay golem can take any shape its creator molds it into, the iconic Pathfinder clay golem (and thus the miniature) has a hulking humanoid form and the head of a jackal, giving it a decidedly Egyptian feel, making it equally appropriate for use in the moldering pharaonic tombs of the Osirian desert.

That's it for this exciting installment of Jungle of Despair! Be sure to tune in next week for a look at some of the player character-appropriate figures in the set. Until then, roll high, Pathfinders!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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Dressing on the Side

Feb 5, 2018, 12:00 pm

We're now on week three of our ongoing safari into the Jungle of Despair, and things are not looking good for our survival. We overcame the murderous vines, shambling refuse heaps, creeping tendrils, and pygmy plant people that plagued us last week, but it seems our trials are only beginning!

Dressing on the Side

Monday, February 5, 2018

We're now on week three of our ongoing safari into the Jungle of Despair, and things are not looking good for our survival. We overcame the murderous vines, shambling refuse heaps, creeping tendrils, and pygmy plant people that plagued us last week, but it seems our trials are only beginning!

This morning we passed what can only be interpreted as a warning—a clear suggestion to TURN BACK! I mean, look at this skull pole. Look at it! Don't tell me that doesn't freak you out.

But did we heed the warning? Of course we didn't. And the result was a nice trip to the bottom of this fine obstacle. That's some welcome mat! See that blood on those spikes? Yeah, you guessed it—that's mine. I much prefer my life-sustaining bodily fluids remain on the inside, thank you very much.

And all this for some magic relic supposedly lost in dwarven ruins deep in the heart of the jungle? I didn't even know there were dwarves in the jungle. I thought they liked caves and canyons and dark, dry places. This place is anything but that! Still, ancient legend of the magic anvil claims that anything forged upon it will be flawless in form and unbreakable in construction. That's worth all this trouble, right? Right?

What the others don't realize, however, is that anything we find in the heart of this humid hellscape we must carry with us the many miles back to civilization. And we came for an ANVIL! Maybe I can use it to forge myself a wheelbarrow. In the meantime, everything we find goes into this trunk case. It looks like it'd be right at home on the deck or in the cargo hold of a jungle river barge, doesn't it? It's less appealing strapped to my back while I wade through thigh-deep, leech-filled muck, though, believe me.

Who am I to complain, though? I get to live the dream, the life of an adventurer. I get to venture into the untamed wild, and plunder whatever treasures I find there, left unguarded for millennia. Huh? Nature isn't unguarded, you say? There are forces protecting it and its bounty from exploitation? Great, I guess I'll just have to talk about some of those next week.

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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When Plants Attack!

Jan 29, 2018, 12:00 pm

Last week, I previewed a few of the figures from the forthcoming Jungle of Despair set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids, including the case incentive Hydra.

When Plants Attack!

Monday, January 28, 2018

Good Moonday, Pathfinders!

Last week, I previewed a few of the figures from the forthcoming Jungle of Despair set of Pathfinder Battles miniatures from WizKids, including the case incentive Hydra.

The mythical hydra's heads aren't the only thing growing wildly in the depths of the jungle, however. Today, we explore some of the verdant villains featured in the set, sure to seal player characters' floral fates. That's right—plant monsters!

Among the most iconic plant creatures in the game, and the bane of low-level adventurers everywhere is the well camouflaged Murder Vine. All too often unsuspecting explorers stumble across the remains of their predecessors, their treasures still intact, while hacking through the dense foliage of a forest or jungle, only to discover that the vines winding through the corpses are not so benign. This Large miniature, released at the Uncommon rarity, features just such remains, certain to remind your players of just how deadly a threat they're facing when it plops down on the battle mat.

While many would-be treasure seekers fall victim to murder vines and litter the jungle with their desiccated bones, not all prey of predatory plants are so lucky. Those who die at the tendrils of other mulchy menaces may be infected by their seeds and raised as fungal zombies! The culprit of such nefarious natural schemes is none other than the Musk Creeper, whose animated spawn not only serve as protectors of their parent vine, but act as seed carriers when they inevitably wander off into the jungle and die, creating a new plant to further torment future explorers. The Musk Creeper is a Medium Uncommon figure.

Other plants, such as a particularly pernicious variety of reddish brown mold, create not zombies, but intelligent pygmy plant men whose primitive societies spread through the jungles of the world. These Mold Runts hold their progenitor corpse, from whose innards they spring, wholly formed after the subject dies from exposure to the mold, in almost religious reverence, and often craft crude weapons out of the bones or equipment found on their birthing corpse. While weak in small numbers, these diminutive plant people are truly a force to be reckoned with in large numbers. The Mold Runt is a Small Common figure, allowing GMs to easily collect multiple copies with which to overwhelm their players.

Finally, another iconic plant makes its Pathfinder Battles debut in Jungle of Despair: None other than the hulking Shambler, whose formless bulk strikes fear into any explorer with even a passing result on her Knowledge (Nature) skill check. Dangerous in its own right, a Shambler exposed to electricity—either from a poorly planned magical attack, a natural lightning storm, or a nearby nest of static-charged lizards—flies into a rampage, absorbing the energy into itself and making it all the harder to bring down. Appearing as little more than moldering heaps of rotting vegetation, Shamblers are especially deadly when they infiltrate mulch piles and refuse pits, catching unsuspecting victims in their constricting tendrils. The Shambler is a Large Uncommon figure.

But surely adventurers the likes and caliber of most Pathfinder player characters will defeat these threats handily, right? Reducing Shambler, Musk Creeper, and Murder Vine alike to little more than salad? Mmmm, salad.* How about next week we look at something that goes perfectly with any salad? I am, of course, referring to dressing!

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

*My wife, were she to read this blog, would surely require I clarify that I have never uttered this phrase before in my life, though she would like me to.

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Enter the Jungle of Despair!

Jan 22, 2018, 12:00 pm

It's been a while since the last Pathfinder Battles preview blog, in part because the blog, like the proverbial torch, has passed to a new patron: Me! As Paizo's Franchise Manager, I work closely with all of our licensors to ensure that their products are the highest quality and accurately reflect both the Pathfinder and Starfinder brands. This includes, of course, the Pathfinder Battles line of pre-painted plastic miniatures from our longtime partner, WizKids!

Enter the Jungle of Despair!

Monday, January 22, 2018

Greetings, Pathfinders!

It's been a while since the last Pathfinder Battles preview blog, in part because the blog, like the proverbial torch, has passed to a new patron: Me! As Paizo's Franchise Manager, I work closely with all of our licensors to ensure that their products are the highest quality and accurately reflect both the Pathfinder and Starfinder brands. This includes, of course, the Pathfinder Battles line of pre-painted plastic miniatures from our longtime partner, WizKids!

And what better debut blog content than the announcement of a new set?

In May, WizKids and Paizo will be releasing the fourteenth (!) full set in the line: Pathfinder Battles: Jungle of Despair. This set features 44 randomized figures, plus six new pieces of set dressing, all themed around jungle exploration, ancient ruins, and (mostly) natural threats. As with past sets, those fans who purchase a full case of Jungle of Despair will be eligible to purchase a Huge case-incentive figure, and man is this one fun!

Hydras are a classic jungle threat, dating back to ancient Greek mythology, and we're happy to introduce the legendary beast to Pathfinder Battles with this incredible figure. While it's impressive on its own, what really makes this sculpt exciting are its interchangeable heads. That's right. When your neophyte adventurers chop one of the beast's five heads off without proper application of fire to the writhing stub, you can simply replace the single head with two, representing in exquisite plastic detail the growing threat facing the poor player characters. Check out both the 5- and 10-headed versions of the Hydra!

The hydra isn't the only serpentine threat found in Jungle of Despair, either! The featured villains in this set are none other than the sinister, ancient serpentfolk, who ruled the world for thousands of years before the advent of pesky, warm-blooded humanity. The Serpentfolk Cleric, below, is just one of the new serpentfolk figures in the set (stay tuned for previews of the rest in the coming weeks). The Serpentfolk Cleric is a Medium uncommon figure.

Not all serpentine threats in the set are members of the psychic ophidian race, however. Some, like the Hollow Serpent, are undead monstrosities the serpentfolk create to defeat their foes. Animated from the sloughed-off skin of a giant snake, the Hollow Serpent is a perfect high-level threat for any serpentfolk-based campaign (including the Serpent's Skull Adventure Path). The Hollow Serpent is a Large Rare figure.

The jungle also serves as home to countless natural inhabitants, including innocent animals and vermin just trying to get by in a harsh, unforgiving world. Take this Giant Leech, for example. It doesn't mean you any harm, really. It's just hungry. Why'd you have to go swimming through that murky water in the first place? You had it coming, honestly. The Giant Leech is a Medium Common figure, meaning you're likely to get a few of them in your collection, and you can fit eight of them around the typical player character for some bloodsucking fun.

Finally, we have the mischievous Tanuki—raccoon-like monstrous humanoids inspired by Japanese mythology and common in the temperate forests of Tian Xia. While they often appear in disguise as other creatures (especially when infiltrating sake-filled festivities in human civilizations), this figure represents the creature as it's most likely to appear in combat against the player characters. The Tanuki is just one of several protectors of the natural world found in Jungle of Despair, but certainly the cutest! The Tanuki is a Medium Uncommon figure.

That's it for this week's preview! Fans with max ranks in Perception may note that WizKids previewed all of these figures last fall when they announced the set, but have no fear! Next week it's all new reveals — When Plants Attack!

Pathfinder Battles: Jungle of Despair releases in May 2018 and can be preordered now!

Until next week,

Mark Moreland
Franchise Manager

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I am the Law

Nov 20, 2017, 12:00 pm

Hello and welcome to this week's miniature unveiling! We continue with Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Box Set 8. This week, we have the Noble Aric and his alter ego the Red Raven. These miniatures were really fun to work with because it made me notice all the small, similar details between the two that I had not noticed before. See if you can spot them.

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My ESPN Isn't Working

Oct 30, 2017, 05:00 pm

Now that we are finished with Maze of Death unveilings, I'm jumping into unveiling the sculpts from Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes set 8! To kick it off, I am starting with my favorite Iconic from Occult Adventures, Rivani the Psychic. The detailing on this lady is exquisite. I love the texturing on the border of her robe and on her sashes. You may notice that she is not floating, as she is in her textual depiction. We made that change to have a wholly accurate character representation, while changing her stance to be more generic.

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All That Ends Well, Something Something

Oct 16, 2017, 12:00 pm

All That Ends Well, Something Something Monday, October 16, 2017 Hello and welcome to the last set of reveals for Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death! This includes the rest of our rare figures, dungeon dressings, and the elemental lord case incentives. We'll start off with Talmandor, a rare medium figure, whom those familiar with the Pathfinder Campaign Setting will recognize. If not, this miniature is a good stand-in for any avoral agathion, or feathered player character. And if that's not...

All That Ends Well, Something Something

Monday, October 16, 2017

Hello and welcome to the last set of reveals for Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death! This includes the rest of our rare figures, dungeon dressings, and the elemental lord case incentives. We'll start off with Talmandor, a rare medium figure, whom those familiar with the Pathfinder Campaign Setting will recognize. If not, this miniature is a good stand-in for any avoral agathion, or feathered player character. And if that's not quite enough for you, we have the swashbuckling Tengu Hero, also a rare medium. If you like bird men, this miniature would make a great swashbuckler, gunslinger, rogue, fighter, ranger, or thief.

Looking to expand your options for spellcasting figures? Maze of Death includes the rare large Cyclops, rare medium Diabolical, and rare medium Elf Mystics, based off of artwork from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path and Inner Sea Monster Codex.

Set the scene for a creepy encounter with the Barred Door and Blood Stained Altar! Almost every adventurer, at some point in their career, needs a barred door in between them and some monster. Don’t forget, that monsters also need barred doors to keep the pesky murder hobos out of their lairs. And what credible villain wouldn't use one of these altars in their decor?

The next few dungeon dressing pieces are great flexible items to drop into just about any scenario. Maze of Death includes a Fireplace, Fountain, Knight Statue, and Portcullis. Especially good for any adventure you may be running that say, has a fountain whose waters act as a potion of healing, or take up for a rest in a local estate (that totally isn't haunted). WizKids took the extra step to make the logs in the fire removable for the Fireplace, but unfortunately, creating a Portcullis that would open and close is a bit too expensive for the price point. Suspend your disbelief, remember this is a mini, and remember that magic and extra dimension space saving spaces exist in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.

And finally, here come the big guns! I present you with the Air and Fire Elemental Lords, the case incentive figures for Maze of Death! These miniatures are Huge, and based off of artwork from the Mythic Adventures hardcover.

Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death officially releases this month and is now making its way out to subscribers and game stores! Stay tuned into this space next week as we take a look into the upcoming Iconic Heroes sets.

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

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You Don't Vote For Kings!

Oct 9, 2017, 12:00 pm

With the release of Maze of Death nigh, this week, we are revealing the remaining common and uncommon sculpts for the set. So buckle up!

You Don't Vote For Kings!

Monday, October 9, 2017

With the release of Maze of Death nigh, this week, we are revealing the remaining common and uncommon sculpts for the set. So buckle up!

First, we have the Werebear, a common medium. I have been wanting to make this miniature for quite some time. So I am very excited for this to finally happen! The miniature is based off of the Bestiary art for this creature. A reminder to always be nice to random woodsman NPCs...

Next is the Wood Golem a common medium. My favorite part of this guy is the cut pieces with the internal grain of the wood. Very cool.

Then we have the Urdefhan Warrior an uncommon medium. Disturbing, as all Urdefhans are. I think Wizkids did a great job in communicating the semi translucence of his skin. Also, who doesn't love a ghoul esq tongue. This miniature is based off of art from the Inner Sea Monster Codex.

We also have the Urdefhan Necromancer another uncommon medium. I really like the small detailing on her outfit. Nothing says necromancer like skulls. Lots of skulls. This miniature is also based off of art from the Inner Sea Monster Codex.

Here we have the Blight Druid an Uncommon Medium figure based off of art from the Strange Aeons Adventure Path. Don't let her name keep you from using her for your good aligned druid, ranger, or hunter player character. The wooden armor came out great on this figure.

Next we have the Gate Hellknight an uncommon medium figure based off of one of my favorite prestige classes in Pathfinder, the Hellknight Signifier. Tapping on their face covering and yelling "hello?! Hello!!" is not advised.

Finally, the Ghul an uncommon medium figure and malignant spirit. This guy has it all. Cloven hooves. A missing lower jaw, and malevolently eerie glow where his happiness should be.

Check back next time for more Maze of Death reveals!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

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Scaly Doom

Oct 2, 2017, 12:00 pm

Hello and welcome to this week's Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death preview! This week we are looking at scaly horrors from the swamps, bogs, and other dark and scary places. To start this week, we have the Lizardfolk Warrior, a common medium. This miniature is based off of the art from the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary, and I think Wizkids did a great job changing the pose and keeping it looking awesome.

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The Devil's in the Details

Sep 25, 2017, 12:00 pm

Happy Monday! Welcome to another installment of our Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death previews. Releasing next month, Maze of Death is full of wickedly cool figures for you to encounter in your Pathfinder campaign. Up first this week is the Pitborn Fighter, a common medium based off of artwork found in Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends. I think he looks rad, especially for a common. The horns and spikes on his face are great, and I really love the armor.

The Devil's in the Details

Monday, September 25, 2017

Happy Monday! Welcome to another installment of our Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death previews. Releasing next month, Maze of Death is full of wickedly cool figures for you to encounter in your Pathfinder campaign. Up first this week is the Pitborn Fighter, a common medium based off of artwork found in Pathfinder Player Companion: Blood of Fiends. I think he looks rad, especially for a common. The horns and spikes on his face are great, and I really love the armor.

Next, we have the Ice Devil, an uncommon Large. While the paint scheme may be simple (ice), I love the detailing of its carapace, and the spear is freaking cool. This figure is based off of art from the Bestiary Box, and I really feel it does this devil service.

To wrap up our devilish lineup is the Apostate Devil, which is a rare medium in this set. I think my favorite part of this figure is his cloak, which,if you look closely, is made out of the skins of its victims. Would you like to join its collection?

Since it's fall, why not top off this week's preview with some festive snakes? To start, we have the Viper Vine, an uncommon large. The texturing and root fangs this things has is the stuff of nightmares. Think it is safe to take a day trip to see the fall colors? Wrong. Leafy poisonous death awaits.

Next, what is better than a giant snake? A giant snake with two heads that can split and reattach as need be to more easily hunt you down and eat you. Meet the Amphisbaena, an uncommon large figure. This figure is just down right cool, and if any of your players have Ophidiophobia, I highly suggest you pickup at least one.

Finally, while not snakelike in shape, still slimy, gross, and creepy, is the Canopy Lurker, a rare medium. Afraid of Octopi? Well then this is a must have miniature, because this is a giant carnivorous octopus that lives on land! Yay! I really like the color transitions, and the face is nightmare fuel.

Check back next time for more Maze of Death reveals!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

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Big Things in Little Packages

Sep 11, 2017, 12:00 pm

Hello, this blog heralds the return of licensing blogs since the chaos of GenCon and a certain other, fairly large product release! This week we will be focusing on pint sized miniatures from the Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death set, which will release in November of this year. These critters may be small, but they pack a big punch, starting with the "Pretty” Goblin, a small common figure. The first thing you might notice is her hair. You might think, "wait, Pathfinder goblins don't have hair! Whats going on here”. I think you know...

Big Things in Little Packages

Monday, September 11, 2017

Hello, this blog heralds the return of licensing blogs since the chaos of GenCon and a certain other, fairly large product release! This week we will be focusing on pint sized miniatures from the Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death set, which will release in November of this year. These critters may be small, but they pack a big punch, starting with the "Pretty” Goblin, a small common figure. The first thing you might notice is her hair. You might think, "wait, Pathfinder goblins don't have hair! Whats going on here”. I think you know...

Next, we have the Ratfolk Artillery, a small common. I think this miniature is great for anyone who wants to play a ratfolk. I really like the pose, and Wizkids did a great job on the texturing of the fur.

Then there's the Halfling Butcher, small common. Unlike the stereotypical halfling, this guy is not happy to see you. He wants to know what you are doing in his shop. This miniature reminds me of a halfling cook turned slayer that a certain Adam Daigle played in a session with Ben Loomes of Syrinscape.

Next is the Ratfolk Alchemist, a small uncommon. I really like this miniature, both for the detailing on her robes and potion bottles, but also for the steaming beaker.

The Dero Artillery, a small uncommon, is based off of art from the Strange Aeons Adventure Path. I feel this miniature accurately captures the "only a little sane” aspect of dero. A note that this miniature and the dero magister will be changed to match the preexisting dero miniatures from the Shattered Star set, in terms of hair and skin color.

Speaking of nightmare fuel, here we have the Pugwampi Gremlin, a small uncommon. This miniature is creepy because at once, I want to laugh at it, try and pet it, and run screaming from the room all at the same time. So much cuteness and homicidal violence in such a cuddly package.

Finally we have the Dero Magister, a small rare. I love the clear, crystal staff, and all the gems and potions on this guy.

Sleep tight, and we will see you next week!

Michael Kenway
Director of Licensing

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The Maze Doesn't Sleep

Aug 11, 2017, 12:00 pm

Hello, and welcome to this week's Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death preview! The march to Gen Con continues, but we've taken a break from preparations to show off six new sculpts from November's Pathfinder Battles set. This week we begin with three undead creatures that are sure to give your players (and their characters) waking nightmares. To start, we have the Juju Zombie, medium uncommon, based off of artwork from the Strange Aeons Adventure Path.

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Beware the Sea and Garden

Jul 21, 2017, 12:00 pm

Hello and Happy Friday! This week we're diving in with aquatic and marshy foes found in November's Pathfinder Battles: Maze of Death set. Let's start off with the giant moray eel, a large uncommon miniature.These guys are scary enough in real life, let alone when they are twelve feet long. This mini fills out its large sized base, and is coiled to strike at any PC foolhardy enough to come too close.

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Pack an Iconic Punch

Jul 14, 2017, 12:00 pm

As we have recently moved past the days of curses and thrones, we begin the unveiling of characters so iconic that we call them iconic. The first of these appears in Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set #7 this November, is Erasmus, our iconic medium. Wizkids nailed the details, and I think this miniature is going to be an awesome addition to the iconic line of iconics. I think my favorite details are the crystal ball, which looks fantastic, and the ouija board and case on his left hip.

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Enter the Maze of Death

Jul 7, 2017, 12:00 pm

Happy Friday, all! After some delay in our blog schedule, I am super excited to begin showing you some of the awesome figures in the next Pathfinder Battles set, Maze of Death. This next set releases in November 2017, and is chock full of awesome creatures, villains, and heroes. So, without further ado, here is this week's unveiling!

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The End is Nigh

May 12, 2017, 12:00 pm

Happy Friday! To polish off Pathfinder Battles: Crown of Fangs set, this week we are starting with the Reclamation Squire, a medium common. This gal take putting down evil seriously. Based off of art from the Hell's Vengeance Adventure Path, the shield and chainmail detailing are awesome. It is also always nice to see a woman warrior in combat appropriate armor, with a combat appropriate haircut. Bad to the bone.

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Dressings for the Dungeon

May 5, 2017, 12:00 pm

This week I will be showing you the Dressing pieces for the Crown of Fangs set. 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

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The Queen's Court

Apr 29, 2017, 01:30 pm

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.

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Here Comes the Cavalry

Apr 21, 2017, 03:00 pm

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!

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They Come in All Shapes and Sizes

Apr 14, 2017, 12:00 pm

Happy Friday, and welcome back. This week 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.

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Diamonds in the Ruff

Apr 7, 2017, 12:00 pm

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!

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Here Comes the Riffraff

Mar 24, 2017, 12:00 pm

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.

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The Darkness Looks Back

Mar 17, 2017, 06:30 pm

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.

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The King is Dead! Long Live the Queen!

Mar 10, 2017, 12:30 pm

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.

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Dirty, Cheating Halflingsesss

Mar 3, 2017, 06:00 pm

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.

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The Dead Walk

Feb 24, 2017, 02:30 pm

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.

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Creepy Crawlies

Feb 17, 2017, 12:30 pm

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.

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The Dead, the Big, and the Evil

Feb 10, 2017, 06:26 pm

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!

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Bring Out Your Dead

Feb 3, 2017, 03:00 pm

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.

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Servants of the Mantis God

Jan 20, 2017, 02:00 pm

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.

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The Grey Maidens Have Arrived

Jan 13, 2017, 04:30 pm

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!

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A First Look at Crown of Fangs

Dec 2, 2016, 05:30 pm

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.

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

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Deadly Foes on the Loose!

Nov 4, 2016, 07:26 pm

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?

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

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The Last of the Deadly Foes

Oct 14, 2016, 07:27 pm

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.

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

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Two for the Road!

Sep 30, 2016, 05:52 pm

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.

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

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A Haughty Horse and Some Funky Furniture

Sep 23, 2016, 04:51 pm

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!

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Three More to Go!

Sep 16, 2016, 08:00 pm

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.

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

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Back in the Saddle!

Sep 9, 2016, 06:00 pm

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!

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

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Two Cave Creatures

Aug 19, 2016, 06:00 pm

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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!

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

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The Wrath of CONNNNNNNNNN!

Jul 29, 2016, 06:30 pm

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!

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!

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Here Come the Hobgoblins

Jul 8, 2016, 08:00 pm

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!

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Friday Publisher Preview: Feelin' Crabby

Jun 24, 2016, 07:00 pm

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.

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Greetings from Hellywood

Jun 10, 2016, 02:30 pm

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.

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PaizoCon Reveals Up-Close!

Jun 3, 2016, 05:00 pm

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!

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

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Big Guns

May 20, 2016, 05:30 pm

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!

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

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The Devils in the Details

May 13, 2016, 04:00 pm

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.

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

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Good Guys!

May 6, 2016, 05:45 pm

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!

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

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Bad Guys!

Apr 29, 2016, 06:15 pm

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.

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Good Bad Dogs

Apr 22, 2016, 06:00 pm

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.

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

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Winged Warriors (Big and Small)

Apr 15, 2016, 05:30 pm

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!

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Two for the Road

Apr 1, 2016, 07:23 pm

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.

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The Clear Choice

Mar 25, 2016, 06:00 pm

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.

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More Iconic Promos!

Mar 22, 2016, 02:45 pm

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’.)

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

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News from the GAMA Trade Show!

Mar 18, 2016, 05:00 pm

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.

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

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A HUGE Announcement: Deadly Foes!

Mar 11, 2016, 06:00 pm

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.

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

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The Magnificent 7 of Set 6

Feb 12, 2016, 05:30 pm

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!

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

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Tags: Feiya Hayato Iconic Heroes Lem Miniatures Pathfinder Battles Quinn Reiko Seltyiel

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Iconic Heroes Set 5—THE REAL DEAL

Jan 29, 2016, 05:45 pm

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.

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

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Tags: Adowyn Enora Iconic Heroes Kess Miniatures Oloch Pathfinder Battles Zadim

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Out Adventuring, Be Back Soon

Jan 22, 2016, 06:00 pm

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.

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Tags: Adowyn Enora Iconic Heroes Kess Miniatures Oloch Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn Zadim

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Pull Up a Stool (The Rusty Dragon Inn Debrief)

Jan 15, 2016, 05:30 pm

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.

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

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The Rusty Dragon Inn is Open for Business!

Jan 8, 2016, 05:30 pm

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 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

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Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles Rusty Dragon Inn

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A New Look at Some Old Friends

Dec 11, 2015, 06:38 pm

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)

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.

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Stocking Stuffers

Nov 20, 2015, 05:00 pm

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.

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

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Singles Bar

Nov 13, 2015, 06:00 pm

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.

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

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In the Cargo Hold

Nov 6, 2015, 03:00 pm

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!

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

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Seat Yourself at Any Table

Oct 30, 2015, 06:00 pm

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.

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

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Rusty Dragon Grab Bag!

Oct 23, 2015, 06:30 pm

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.

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

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More Denizens of the Rusty Dragon

Oct 16, 2015, 05:30 pm

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!

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

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Large and In Charge

Oct 9, 2015, 05:00 pm

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!

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

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A Rare Farewell

Oct 2, 2015, 05:30 pm

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.

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

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Short and Sweet

Sep 25, 2015, 03:00 pm

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!

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Bugbear Brigade

Sep 11, 2015, 04:30 pm

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.

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

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More from the Rusty Dragon

Sep 4, 2015, 05:00 pm

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.

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

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More from the Rusty Dragon

Aug 28, 2015, 05:30 pm

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.

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 ~~victim~~bystander 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

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Around the Inn

Aug 14, 2015, 04:00 pm

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.

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Iconic Heroes Set 4, Part 2

Jul 24, 2015, 08:00 pm

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.

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

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Iconic Heroes Set 4, Part 1

Jul 17, 2015, 05:00 pm

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.

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

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Innside and Out!

Jul 10, 2015, 03:00 pm

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.

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

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Tags: Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

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Dungeon Dressing Singles Online!

Jul 3, 2015, 12:00 pm

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 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

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Tags: Dungeons Deep Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

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Crazy Good Commons

Jun 26, 2015, 05:30 pm

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!

Crazy Good Commons

Friday, June 26, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Tags: Dungeons Deep Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

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Men and Monsters

Jun 19, 2015, 05:15 pm

I'm pleased to see that our current Pathfinder 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!).

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

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One Last Look at Dungeons Deep

Jun 12, 2015, 06:00 pm

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.

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

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Tags: Dungeons Deep Miniatures Pathfinder Battles The Rusty Dragon Inn

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Catching Up, Looking Ahead

Jun 5, 2015, 07:00 pm

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.

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

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PaizoCon Product Announcements and Sneak Peeks!

May 24, 2015, 12:00 pm

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!

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

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Tags: Hell's Rebels Pathfinder Adventure Card Game Pathfinder Adventure Path Pathfinder Battles Pathfinder Campaign Setting Pathfinder Roleplaying Game

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Summon Monster X

May 15, 2015, 05:26 pm

We're getting closer and closer to the June release of Dungeons Deep, the latest, greatest set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles miniatures from our friends at WizKids! By my count, we've revealed nearly the entire set so far, but I've been holding off on two figures in particular, waiting for the right time to show them off. Lots of folks have been asking if Dungeons Deep will have any iconic characters, now that we're also releasing those characters in the form of the spectacularly detailed Iconic Heroes Base Sets. The answer, my friends, is a resounding YES, and this set's iconic hero rounds out the ranks of the iconic characters we featured in our second class-centered RPG release, the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide.

Summon Monster X

Friday, May 15, 2015

We're getting closer and closer to the June release of Dungeons Deep, the latest, greatest set of prepainted plastic Pathfinder Battles miniatures from our friends at WizKids! By my count, we've revealed nearly the entire set so far, but I've been holding off on two figures in particular, waiting for the right time to show them off. Lots of folks have been asking if Dungeons Deep will have any iconic characters, now that we're also releasing those characters in the form of the spectacularly detailed Iconic Heroes Base Sets. The answer, my friends, is a resounding YES, and this set's iconic hero rounds out the ranks of the iconic characters we featured in our second class-centered RPG release, the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Player's Guide.

I speak, of course of Balazar the summoner and his beloved "pet," the otherworldly eidolon Padrig!

Let's take a closer look at Balazar, Gnome Summoner.

Balazar's sculpt captures him mid-spell, or perhaps directing the actions of his eidolon from afar. While the sculpt is similar to Balazar's appearance in the just-released Iconic Heroes Set 3, here the colors are somewhat brighter, and if I'm being honest I think I like this version of Balazar just a little bit more than the Iconic Heroes version, which is a bit darker. Balazar is, as I mentioned, the final iconic character of the original 17 to appear as a prepainted miniature in one of the random Pathfinder Battles sets. While the stand-alone Iconic Heroes boxes will delve further into the ranks of iconic heroes from the Pathfinder RPG Advanced Class Guide (and possibly beyond), Balazar is also the last iconic character to show up in the regular Pathfinder Battles line, at least for the next set, which contains none.

So let's take a moment to celebrate our tour through the iconic characters of our first two major hardcover rulebook releases. We knew we'd get to you eventually, little guy! Balazar, Gnome Summoner is a Small, rare figure.

Balazar is just a wee gnome without his best buddy Padrig, who in Dungeons Deep is called simply "Eidolon." The Eidolon represents a class feature with lots of variability, so it's probably fitting that Padrig is a weird snake/chicken hybrid. He'll see plenty of table use for folks playing the Balazar pregenerated character in the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild organized play program, but I'm also hoping he gets use as a generic eidolon figure, or just as a weird monster used to throw off players who think they have every Bestiary memorized.

The sculpt here is a bit meatier than the Padrig figure in Iconic Heroes Set 3. Check out the back view to see Padrig's snake body fading away into clear plastic, taking a cue from his original Wayne Reynolds illustration. The figure twists and turns with some real dynamism, and it's growing on me even more as I sit and look at it now. Yes, he's a weirdo, but he's a fun weirdo. The Eidolon is a rare, Medium figure.

I leave you this week with a look at Balazar and his Eidolon as they face off against the vicious Gargantuan Red Dragon Case Incentive figure from the Dungeons Deep set.

Don't forget to order our most recent Iconic Heroes boxed sets: Iconic Heroes Set 1, Iconic Heroes Set 2, and Iconic Heroes Set 3, all of which are shipping now to paizo.com customers.

Better yet, set up a Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription to unlock a whopping 30% discount on Iconic Heroes box purchases (the discount for new subscribers goes into effect only after your first case ships next month). Existing subscribers should also consider ordering the Iconic Heroes sets soon, as they've proven to be very popular and they will not last forever!

There will be no Pathfinder Battles preview blog next week, as we'll all be rolling dice and hanging out with fellow gamers at PaizoCon 2015! I'm going to try to have the entire Dungeons Deep set on display in the Paizo store at the convention, so swing by there to see these awesome figures in person.

I'd also like to remind all PaizoCon attendees that I host an annual Miniatures Trading Afterparty in the hotel bar following the formal close of the show. I'll have a bunch of Pathfinder Battles figures for trade, as well as remnants from my own personal miniatures collection that I'm looking to unload. We've been doing this event for something like 6 years now, and it's always a highlight of the show. Bring any minis (painted preferred, but there's a market in unpainted figures too) you don't want and trade them with other gamers for figures you do. It's awesome, and I'll see you there!

Until then, I remain,

Erik Mona
Publisher

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I Can See Clearly Now

May 1, 2015, 05:00 pm

We're now a little over a month away from the release of the Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures, and I'm getting very excited! I can see the set clearly on the horizon, so today let's talk about some of the "clear" figures in the set!

I Can See Clearly Now

Friday, May 1, 2015

We're now a little over a month away from the release of the Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures, and I'm getting very excited! I can see the set clearly on the horizon, so today let's talk about some of the "clear" figures in the set!

Clear plastic is one of my very favorite "tricks" WizKids pulls to make our figures look incredible. From the elementals and incorporeal undead of past sets to a few knock-outs from Dungeons Deep, these figures always seem to deliver something special.

Here we have the Ochre Jelly, one of the deadliest oozes in the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. You definitely don't want to get enveloped by one of these acidic bastards, that's for sure. The Ochre Jelly is a Large, uncommon figure, making it the first Large ooze we've yet created for the line. Best of all, the clear plastic of the Ochre Jelly allows us to take a peek at what he's been eating, as you can clearly see skeletal remains floating around inside him. Or it. I dunno how to sex a jelly.

The Daughter of Urgathoa appears on page 309 of the Pathfinder Campaign Setting: Inner Sea World Guide hardcover. Clocking in at an imposing CR 8, the Daughter of Urgathoa are monstrous undead creatures "promoted" from Urgathoa's wickedest priestesses at the moment of their death. As the book says, "Even after their transformation into things of pestilence and dead flesh, Daughters of Urgathoa remain social beings who typically surround themselves with fanatical cults." We've already supplied lots of cultists (notably in The Lost Coast), so we thought it high time to add something worth idolizing to the line. The Daughter's diaphanous dress is a chilling blue clear plastic fading up into a dark black skirt. It looks gorgeous.

Ladies and gentlemen, step right up and meet the Pickled Punk, a disgusting little creature straight from the pages of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4! You may not have realized that you need a "deformed, often humanoid fetus raised by necromancers and stored in jars of embalming fluid" until now, but once you get a look at this adorable little rascal, you'll want to adopt him into your campaigns with no time to lose. Although the Pickled Punk is quite small relative to the other figures in the Dungeons Deep set (and especially when compared to the other figures in this week's preview), he is exceptionally gross, and rewards you with some new discovery each time you look at him (not unlike an adorable child). The contours of his skin folds mix with expert inking to create a hideous skin texture I really think you will enjoy. Here's looking at you, kid! The Pickled Punk is a Small, rare figure.

And that's it for this week. Be sure to check back next week for an early look at three more figures from the Dungeons Deep set!

In the meantime, please swing by my donation page for Paizo's team in this year's "The Gauntlet" Seattle area game company charity tournament. This year we're raising money for Hopelink, a great charity that helps homeless families, and your support will help the Paizo team get the edge it needs to retain the Gauntlet trophy, which we won last year. I've added some fun personal "thank-you" rewards to folks who participate, so if you're in a giving mood, please swing by the link and help us out if you can!

Thanks, and we'll see you next week!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Happy Birthday to Me!

Apr 24, 2015, 05:00 pm

As I mentioned in last week's preview, Wednesday was my birthday, so for this week's preview blog, I want to be a bit selfish and focus on three of MY personal favorite figures from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic gaming figures.

Happy Birthday to Me!

Friday, April 24, 2015

As I mentioned in last week's preview, Wednesday was my birthday, so for this week's preview blog, I want to be a bit selfish and focus on three of MY personal favorite figures from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic gaming figures.

Without further ado (and because I'm old now, and I'm rapidly losing patience), let's get on with it!

Here we have my favorite figure in the whole set, the Cruel Conjurer, from page 190 of the Pathfinder RPG NPC Codex. The Conjurer in that book is statted up as a 15th-level human wizard, but I think the figure works for just about any sort of evil mystic. I say evil because of the various hooked chains and things hanging from his belt, and for the foreboding hood he wears, but we all know a lot of player characters like to look a little tough now and again, so I can even see the Cruel Conjurer used as a player character mini. The Cruel Conjurer is a Medium, uncommon figure you won't believe isn't a rare.

Aside from a great sculpt and an awesome paint job, the Cruel Conjurer has two unusual elements that push it to the top tier of minis, in my opinion. The first is the unusual swirl of green mystical energy keeping him levitated off the ground. This is a weird effect for a mini in general, making the Cruel Conjurer stand out from the crowd, but the really exciting element here is the color of the energy. It's difficult to describe, and I'm not certain it comes out perfectly in the photos, but the green WizKids used here is an AMAZING shade of green. It's got just the right level of tone and opacity to create a very special effect. Whenever I take the Dungeons Deep figures around the office, the Cruel Conjurer is one that everybody highlights as a favorite.

But really, the coolest aspect of the Cruel Conjurer is his grimoire, which balances atop the green energy. WizKids went above and beyond with the tampo stamp effects on this guy to the point that his magic book even has magical writing on the pages! The photo above is a little rough and blurry, but you can see over his shoulder that this mini is reading a bit more than the usual blank pages so common among his 30mm peers. I love it, and consider the Cruel Conjurer the greatest birthday gift of the entire set.

But the Cruel Conjurer isn't the only disturbing figure in the set. For my favorite of the gross figures we've got the Mouth Horror, a familiar creature from page 153 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. Dude is gross. I don't know what else to tell you except that you probably need three of them. The Mouth Horror is a Medium, uncommon figure.

And here's a figure that no one outside the office has seen yet, as we haven't taken him to any of our spring trade shows—the Emperor Cobra! Oversized snakes are a staple of fantasy fiction and gaming, and when it came time to add our own to the ranks of prepainted plastic, I just knew we had to go cobra. Inspired by Wayne Reynolds's cover illustration for Pathfinder Adventure Path #9: Escape from Old Korvosa, the Emperor Cobra stands well higher than a Medium adventurer, and its open mouth promises a nasty poison bite. He's even got a cool symbol on the back of his hood, as seen below. The Emperor Cobra is a Large, uncommon figure.

And that's it for my birthday favorites! Actually, there are so many cool figures in this set that I could add a handful more, but hey, I've got to make these previews last through June!

And now I leave you as a broken old man, crippled with age and arthritis, shuffling off into the slow decline into retirement.

Godspeed, all.

Erik Mona
Publisher

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GOLEMANIA!

Apr 17, 2015, 05:30 pm

This week I'm revealing two amazing figures from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures. The idea behind this set is to present high-utility figures based around a rough "dungeon" theme. This allows us to include whatever figures we want to, rather than attempting to adapt a specific adventure or Adventure Path. That's resulted in a few "dealer's choice" selections, letting us pick whatever we want for no reason other than "we think it looks cool."

GOLEMANIA!

Friday, April 17, 2015

This week I'm revealing two amazing figures from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures. The idea behind this set is to present high-utility figures based around a rough "dungeon" theme. This allows us to include whatever figures we want to, rather than attempting to adapt a specific adventure or Adventure Path. That's resulted in a few "dealer's choice" selections, letting us pick whatever we want for no reason other than "we think it looks cool."

Up until about a two years ago, "we think it looks cool" really meant "Erik Mona thinks it looks cool," as before that point I was more or less solely responsible for the selections in each set. That all changed when we added our Licensing Coordinator Michael Kenway to our team to help me out with the miniatures and other projects that involve working with teams outside the Paizo office to create cool Pathfinder-related content. Mike has been an invaluable assistant to me as he ushers sculpts, paint plans, comic sketches, soundsets, and scripts through the approval process.

But Mike Kenway is much more than just a paper-pusher. He got his start here at Paizo as an editorial intern, and has always had a keen interest in the Pathfinder RPG. In fact, every day at noon you can find Mike in our employee break room, running or playing in a daily Pathfinder campaign with several members of the Paizo staff. He knows his stuff, and his attention to detail is absolutely amazing.

So, a few sets back, I decided to reward Mike's excellent work by giving him an opportunity to choose a miniature of his own to include in a set—I think it was Legends of Golarion. Unfortunately, that set was the first to see a scale-back in the number of figures per set from 55 to 45, and Mike's enthusiastic selection didn't make the original cut for a variety of reasons. But it's been waiting silently in the shadows since then, eager for a chance to spread carnage when a slot became available.

Mike's first choice was this horrific Bone Golem:

The Bone Golem appears on page 133 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 3, where it clocks in at CR 8 and includes a creeptastic power known as "Bone Prison," in which it tosses some of its constituent bones at you to form a cage of bones that crushes you. A great guy to have at a party, or to protect the evil lair of a necromancer. In the image above we see the Bone Golem from the front, a jumble of skulls, ribcages, and muscle tissue just waiting to give a great big bear hug to your deserving player characters. The detail on this figure is insane. Take a look at his back:

More skulls. Maybe one day he'll add yours to his collection? The Bone Golem is a Large, rare creature. Way to go, Mike!

While we're on the subject of golems, let's check out the set's other major construct:

Here we have the Clockwork Golem, from page 137 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2. If you're familiar with that book, you'll note that the design here is quite different. While the original version has a cool illustration, it didn't really sell the "clockwork" element as much as we would have liked, and its unusual limbs seemed ill-suited for a 3D miniature. So we had the creature re-illustrated for the Pathfinder Pawns Bestiary 2 Box, and that's the version we used as the basis for this miniature. The Clockwork Golem is a Large, rare figure.

And that's it for this week! To make sure you don't miss either of these two cool figures, please consider setting up a Pathfinder Battles Ongoing Case Subscription!

I'll be back next week (unfortunately one year older, as my birthday is Tuesday) with a special birthday treat—my personal favorite figures from the Dungeons Deep set!

Until then, I remain...

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Two from the Codex

Apr 10, 2015, 05:39 pm

We've already revealed a ton of cool monsters and dungeon dressing from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, and there are more to come in the weeks between now and the set's release. But Dungeons Deep has more than just creepy crawlies, and this week I'd like to focus on two figures from the set that are drawn from the fantastic art in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex.

Two from the Codex

Friday, April 10, 2015

We've already revealed a ton of cool monsters and dungeon dressing from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, and there are more to come in the weeks between now and the set's release. But Dungeons Deep has more than just creepy crawlies, and this week I'd like to focus on two figures from the set that are drawn from the fantastic art in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game: NPC Codex.

Do you have the NPC Codex? I absolutely adore this book. Using the ready-made stats provided there has cut my prep time considerably in my own games, and it's great to have a whole army of classed characters at my fingertips. The book's excellent art is also a great resource for Pathfinder Battles.

As I travel around the country from convention to convention, I always enjoy chatting with hobby retailers and with folks selling our minis at their booths. And they almost always tell me the same thing: "We need more player character minis!"

It's unusual feedback, from a certain perspective. Hard-core minis collectors are often in the opposite camp. Over the years, they've already got a ton of humans, dwarves, and elves, and would much prefer that we focus our efforts on monsters, particularly monsters than have never before been made in prepainted plastic. Unfortunately, you can't run a successful miniatures business catering only to the hard-core collectors, as a set filled with nothing but catoblepases and flail snails is unlikely to impress the more casual collectors, who outnumber the hard-cores by at least an order of magnitude. And yet those hard-core collectors are the heart of the line, the folks who keep me always seeking out new and fun things to do with the minis line, and who support us release after release.

Customers at retail stores, generally speaking, come in looking for a figure to represent their character (a tough job for a catoblepas). The new Iconic Heroes boxed sets are a good answer to that type of customer, but the fact of the matter is that the mainline Pathfinder Battles sets need to serve both constituencies, which means I've got my job cut out for me when deciding which player character figures to include in a set. Too many, and I lose the hard-core collectors. Too few, and I lose the retailers.

In this environment, the NPC Codex is a godsend. Filled with awesome images of awesome characters, it gives me a great chance to pick and choose the figures I think will have the most appeal to just about everyone.

Here are a couple of my selections for Dungeons Deep.

This dashing gentleman is the Paladin of Abadar, Golarion's god of commerce and law. I've been looking for an excuse to include a "super good guy" mini in the line for a long time, and when I saw this guy's art on page 126 of the NPC Codex, I knew I'd found my man. He's perfect for any paladin or armored crusader in your campaign, whether as a player character or a haughty, annoying NPC. The Paladin of Abadar is a Medium, rare figure.

The imposing Dragon Smiter is also a paladin, but you wouldn't know that from looking at her. In fact, she's so covered in armor that it's difficult to tell much about her at all, except that you definitely don't want to get on her bad side. (Honestly, the figure is so heavily armored that it works as a male or female, and probably could be a human, elf, or half-elf with no one batting an eye.) The Dragon Smiter appears on page 120 of the NPC Codex, where she's a lawful good human paladin. For my money, she could just as easily be a villain. Either way, she looks cooool. The Dragon Smiter is a Medium, uncommon figure.

And here's a shot of both final figures together, haunting a plant in my office. I think they came out great!

See you next week for another look at upcoming figures from the Pathfinder Battles line!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Things That Should Not Be

Apr 3, 2015, 06:00 pm

We love H. P. Lovecraft. The old gentleman not only wrote some of the most chilling and flat-out awesome horror stories of the Twentieth Century, but he also knew how to get his monster on. Fantasy author China Miéville, one of my personal favorite modern writers, was one of the first to point out to me that fantasy fiction monsters could basically be divided into pre-Lovecraft and post-Lovecraft, and my own obsession with reading early Twentieth Century genre stuff suggests he has a point. Before Lovecraft, monsters in fiction were usually giant animals, human-animal hybrids, or basically animals with multiple limbs. A few writers, like Edgar Rice Burroughs, mixed things up enough to invent awesome stuff like plant men with mouths on the palms of their hands, but for the most part you were looking at a field of giant animals.

Things That Should Not Be

Friday, April 3, 2015

We love H. P. Lovecraft. The old gentleman not only wrote some of the most chilling and flat-out awesome horror stories of the Twentieth Century, but he also knew how to get his monster on. Fantasy author China Miéville, one of my personal favorite modern writers, was one of the first to point out to me that fantasy fiction monsters could basically be divided into pre-Lovecraft and post-Lovecraft, and my own obsession with reading early Twentieth Century genre stuff suggests he has a point. Before Lovecraft, monsters in fiction were usually giant animals, human-animal hybrids, or basically animals with multiple limbs. A few writers, like Edgar Rice Burroughs, mixed things up enough to invent awesome stuff like plant men with mouths on the palms of their hands, but for the most part you were looking at a field of giant animals.

Lovecraft changed all of that with an assortment of alien, eldritch beings designed to scare the crap out of his protagonists—and his readers. Many of those monsters have gone on to inspire tabletop games and the gamers who make them, and we here at Paizo are very much in thrall of Lovecraft's creations. Judging by the response to our past dabbling with his themes and creatures, such as the now-classic Greg A. Vaughan Carrion Crown adventure "Wake of the Watcher" and the monster article that accompanied it, Pathfinder players also love his creations.

So it seemed like a good idea to get some of them out in prepainted plastic.

Here then are three Lovecraftian monsters from June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted fantasy miniatures.

One of Lovecraft's most famous monsters is the brain-stealing Mi-Go, a flying alien creature that just loves to experiment on mankind. We've featured Mi-Go in a few Pathfinder adventures to date (notably in James Jacobs's Emerald Spire Superdungeon level), and in the Iron Gods Adventure Path's awesomely named "Valley of the Brain Collectors". The Mi-Go in Dungeons Deep is a Medium, uncommon creature.

The Elder Thing, or Old One, is one of the foremost stars of Lovecraft's famous novella "At the Mountains of Madness," one of our favorite of his tales. It was thus a certainty that we'd get to them as prepainted miniatures. The Elder Thing, like the Mi-Go, appears in Bestiary 4, where we learn that in addition to having the ability to fly around in outer space, Elder Things "possess a boundless capacity for war and egotism." The Elder Thing is a Medium, uncommon creature.

The Yithians starred in Lovecraft's tale "The Shadow out of Time," where they play the role of a prehistoric time-traveling race responsible for populating much of the Earth. Bestiary 3 describes them as planetary explorers eager to discover new worlds, where they fancy swapping minds with natives to experience strange planets from a local perspective. The Yithian, from my perspective, is one of the most impressive-looking figures in the set, a true "WTF" alien to drop on your unsuspecting player characters. The Yithian is a Large, uncommon figure.

That's it for this week! Tune in next Friday for another glimpse at the horrors and wonders yet to come in the Dungeons Deep set!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Deeper into the Dungeon

Mar 13, 2015, 05:27 pm

We're just a few days away from next week's GAMA Trade Show, where I intend to show off about half of June's Dungeons Deep set for our Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic gaming figures. In preparation for that, WizKids sent us a very early production set of the figures, and I've got to say, I'm absolutely THRILLED with how this set has turned out!

Deeper into the Dungeon

Friday, March 13, 2015

We're just a few days away from next week's GAMA Trade Show, where I intend to show off about half of June's Dungeons Deep set for our Pathfinder Battles line of prepainted plastic gaming figures. In preparation for that, WizKids sent us a very early production set of the figures, and I've got to say, I'm absolutely THRILLED with how this set has turned out!

For starters, the Gargantuan Red Dragon limited edition "case incentive" figure is one of the best figures we've done to date, and easily ranks as my favorite Pathfinder Battles dragon thus far. From the moment I set the figure up in my office I've had a parade of Paizonians pounding on my door to get a closer look. It's phenomenal.

I'm also pleased with the general utility of the Dungeons Deep set. From "dungeon dressing" props like chests and braziers to enemies like four different gnoll figures, a large ooze, and dungeon critters like giant centipedes and beetles, I see the figures in this set hitting game tables again and again, which really excites me.

Here's an early look at three additional figures that I'm excited about, even more so now that I've got production-run samples in-hand.

First up this week is the Deinonychus, a creepy little dinosaur from page 84 of the Pathfinder RPG Bestiary. We're excited about this guy not just because he's a dinosaur, but because it's one of our first chances to create a feathered dinosaur more in fitting with modern science's understanding of how dinosaurs might actually have looked. As a common, Medium miniature, case subscribers can be sure to get a whole pack of them to menace their player characters.

Previous animals like ravens, falcons, and even pigs have proven popular additions to the Pathfinder Battles line. Now that we're venturing into the dungeon, it's only fitting that we include the Bat in Dungeons Deep. The Bat is a Small, common figure.

I mentioned gnolls up above. This guy here, the Gnoll Leader, is perfect for the Big Boss of a gnoll encounter. His breastplate even has the symbol of the evil beast-god Rovagug printed on it. Awesome! The Gnoll Leader is a Medium, rare figure.

That's it for this week. Expect a bunch of cool photos to leak out of the GAMA Trade Show next week. I'll still be in Las Vegas next Friday, so there's a good chance those photos won't show up here until a week from next Friday, but keep your eyes on the Internet.

They'll be out there!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Short But Sweet!

Mar 6, 2015, 05:25 pm

With ToyFair behind us and the hobby game industry's annual GAMA Trade Show only about a week away, things here at Preview Central are busier than a four-armed girallon in a handshaking contest. Expect a few more trade show photos to leak at GAMA, but until then, I wanted to show off a digital sculpt of two figures I'm very excited for in June's Dungeons Deep set.

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ToyFair (Part 2)

Feb 27, 2015, 03:19 pm

I've been in the office only 5 days since returning from my ToyFair trip, but that time has gone by like a flash. When I think back to my time at ToyFair, it seems like only yesterday that I was checking out the latest action figures, playsets, statues, and other cool stuff on display. And I'm especially pleased that this year, we had a nice display of Pathfinder items to show off at the show, as well.

ToyFair (Part 2)

Friday, February 27, 2015

I've been in the office only 5 days since returning from my ToyFair trip, but that time has gone by like a flash. When I think back to my time at ToyFair, it seems like only yesterday that I was checking out the latest action figures, playsets, statues, and other cool stuff on display. And I'm especially pleased that this year, we had a nice display of Pathfinder items to show off at the show, as well.

Last Friday, I showed off a few of my personal camera-phone photos of upcoming Pathfinder Battles figures from our friends and partners at WizKids. WizKids had plenty of Pathfinder on display, from the first three Iconic Heroes sets to about a third of June's Dungeons Deep set.

Here are a few more shots from their booth. These are production-run versions of these figures, so expect the finals to look pretty much exactly like this.

Let's start by focusing on a few shots of figures from the Iconic Heroes boxed sets.

This is Harsk, Dwarf Ranger from Iconic Heroes Set #2. Check out his eye for a good sense of the level of detail WizKids is going to to make sure these sets are of the finest quality possible. It took all of my willpower not to simply walk away with this figure.

The phone I was using focused a bit strangely in these photos, but I wanted to include them anyway for historical reasons. Our very first WizKids release, Beginner Box Heroes featured a Kyra figure that blew away the expectations of collectors (and the Paizo staff) with the quality of design work, in particular on Kyra's very detailed cloak. Here's the new version, and I think the detail here is even more impressive. Kyra, Human Cleric also appears in Iconic Heroes Set #2.

Next up is Amiri, Human Barbarian. WizKids did an amazing job on all of the little details on this figure, and she looks fantastic. I'm also quite partial to Amiri because, while I was at ToyFair, the first issue of the new Pathfinder Origins comic series released in comic shops, and Amiri is the special guest star. I wrote Pathfinder Origins #1, and hope you guys have had a chance to check it out. Our favorite barbarian more than accounts for herself, that's for sure! Amiri is also in Iconic Heroes Set #2.

Here we have another denizen of Iconic Heroes Set #2, Ezren, Human Wizard. Great, great detail work on this figure.

Let's move on to Iconic Heroes Set #3, with a look at Damiel, Elf Alchemist. I confess this is not the sharpest photo in the world, but it gives a good sense of the level of amazing detail WizKids is putting into these figures. I can't wait to add Damiel to my personal collection.

Next up is Balazar, Gnome Summoner. For such a cute little guy, his miniature packs a ton of awesome details. Balazar is included in Iconic Heroes Set #3.

Balazar the summoner is lost without his eidolon, Padrig. Here he is from front to back. Padrig comes in Iconic Heroes Set #3.

Let's move on to Dungeons Deep, which is rapidly shaping up to be one of my favorite sets in the line, with tons of high-utility figures. One of my favorites is the Giant Crawling Hand, a Medium undead monstrosity just waiting to slide some (rotting) skin with your player characters. I'm thrilled that the Hand is a common figure, as I can't wait to give my player characters a "round of applause" for their tireless heroism.

Every GM needs a great Griffon figure, and this set gave me the perfect opportunity to slip one into Pathfinder Battles. The Griffon is a Large, uncommon figure.

Last up this week is the Veiled Master, a variant aboleth that first appeared in my Paizo-staff "Kings of Absalom" in-office campaign, where they were revealed to have been heavily involved in the last days and ultimate fall of the ancient Empire of Azlant. They subsequently appeared in the Inner Sea Bestiary, and you can expect to see them again in the not too distant future. The Veiled Master looks fantastic in plastic. It's a Large, rare figure with tons of cool details.

And that's it for this week, and for my storehouse of ToyFair images. Check back in this space next week for more cool reveals for upcoming Pathfinder Battles releases!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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ToyFair (Part 1)

Feb 20, 2015, 05:46 pm

Last weekend I was in New York City for ToyFair, the annual trade show for the toy business that sees hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of buyers (but no kids!) gather for four days of meetings, buying sprees, and other assorted activities. Paizo had a nice display of our gaming stuff at the Diamond booth, as Diamond distributes our books and games into bookstores and comic shops. Diamond's sister company, Diamond Select Toys, makes a number of Pathfinder toys, including Pathfinder Minimates and an incredibly cool vinyl goblin bank, which comes out late next month.

ToyFair (Part 1)

Friday, February 20, 2015

Last weekend I was in New York City for ToyFair, the annual trade show for the toy business that sees hundreds of manufacturers and thousands of buyers (but no kids!) gather for four days of meetings, buying sprees, and other assorted activities. Paizo had a nice display of our gaming stuff at the Diamond booth, as Diamond distributes our books and games into bookstores and comic shops. Diamond's sister company, Diamond Select Toys, makes a number of Pathfinder toys, including Pathfinder Minimates and an incredibly cool vinyl goblin bank, which comes out late next month.

Diamond's toy division didn't have any Pathfinder goodies on display this year, but I was able to meet with their team to discuss additional projects in 2015 and 2016 that I'm certain Pathfinder fans will love. I'm very excited by what the future has in store!

Here's a look at the Pathfinder section of the overall Diamond booth.

But even if the Diamond booth didn't have a lot of plastic Pathfinder items on display, that absence was more than made up for by our partners at WizKids, who showed off a huge number of new Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic figures. I managed to snap several photos of their display, but doing so was somewhat difficult because of the huge crowd ogling them throughout the convention. I had a chance to chat with a few hobby retailers who carried the line while I obsessively snapped my photos, which was definitely fun! ToyFair brings in all kinds of retailers, and it's always great to chat with store owners and managers who appreciate and support hobby gaming!

The largest Pathfinder Battles display at the WizKids booth was Dungeons Deep, the set we plan to release in June.

In this shot we see a Pukwudgie and an Andrazku Demon (both of which were originally going to be in the Reign of Winter set), with a Clockwork Golem in the middle and a Dire Bat in the background.

Here we have the second half of WizKids's display, with a bunch of figures including the Gnoll Slaver, Daughter of Urgathoa, and Sasquatch, some of which we've revealed already on the blog.

This shot reveals a Giant Centipede, Baykok, and Chupacabra in the foreground, with a Griffon, Daughter of Urgathoa, and some other stuff in the background.

Here we have a Dracolisk. I noticed that a lot of photos other ToyFair attendees had taken tended to have this figure in the background (sometimes not even standing up!), so I wanted to make sure to get a good shot of it for you guys.

That said, it was about this time that I started to get really, really frustrated with the quality of photos from my iPhone 4, so I switched over to a much better camera on the phone of one of my colleagues. That phone allowed me to take SUPER-HIGH-RES photos of Iconic Heroes Sets 2 and 3, which were the centerpiece of WizKids's ToyFair display.

Unfortunately, we couldn't figure out a way to get those photos onto my computer before my associate had to leave town, so I'm going to have to bring them to you next Friday.

Believe me, they're worth the wait!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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ToyFair Eve

Feb 13, 2015, 05:46 pm

I just landed in New York City in advance of ToyFair, the annual toy business trade show that launches tomorrow. While Paizo does not have a booth at the show (yet!), it's become an invaluable stop for me to catch up with some of our licensing partners, including the fine folks at WizKids, who manufacture the Pathfinder Battles line. I've got it on good authority that WizKids will have an entire production-run set of Dungeons Deep on hand for their display, and I hope to snap a few key photos to show off what some of the figures look like in hand. Next week's blog will, I hope, feature some images of upcoming Pathfinder Battles figures, and perhaps some additional surprises as well!

ToyFair Eve

Friday, February 13, 2015

I just landed in New York City in advance of ToyFair, the annual toy business trade show that launches tomorrow. While Paizo does not have a booth at the show (yet!), it's become an invaluable stop for me to catch up with some of our licensing partners, including the fine folks at WizKids, who manufacture the Pathfinder Battles line. I've got it on good authority that WizKids will have an entire production-run set of Dungeons Deep on hand for their display, and I hope to snap a few key photos to show off what some of the figures look like in hand. Next week's blog will, I hope, feature some images of upcoming Pathfinder Battles figures, and perhaps some additional surprises as well!

But the thing I'm really excited about at the moment is Pathfinder Battles: Iconic Heroes Set #1, which arrived in the Paizo warehouse yesterday, and will hit stores and subscribers very shortly.

When WizKids told us they were aiming for a super-premium production on the Iconic Heroes line, I was very excited to see how that commitment would translate to the final figure. It's relatively easy for a professional painter to produce a killer paint master, for example, but it's another thing entirely for everything to go right at the factory in a way that really raises the bar. Frankly, I think WizKids has been raising the bar set after set with Pathfinder Battles, so while I was excited to see what they could do with Iconic Heroes, I confess my enthusiasm was tinged with at least a little bit of skepticism. I mean, how much better could they be, really?

Well, I'm holding them in my hands right now, and I can tell you the answer is "much better." I don't think I've seen such polished prepainted plastic figures from any manufacturer since the birth of prepainted minis. WizKids has really set a new bar for figures that I honestly don't see how they (or anyone else) will exceed. The figures look fantastic. They have blazed by the threshold of "probably better than I could do myself" to "way, way, way better than I could do myself." I am very excited to see what you think of them.

I do apologize that this shot is a little bit on the blurry side (all the others I took are completely unusable). I'm not dealing with optimal lighting conditions in my hotel room, and my phone is within 72 hours of being death-marched to the Manhattan Apple store, where it will be replaced by an upgraded and superior model.

"Upgraded and superior models." That's a good tagline for Iconic Heroes Set #1!

But enough about Iconic Heroes (for now), let's move on to our next big set, Dungeons Deep, which releases in a few months.

First up this week, is the Goblin Archer. I was astonished to discover, upon adding this guy to the set, that Paizo did not actually own a full-body image of a goblin archer appropriate for use as miniatures reference, so we commissioned an original illustration for the sole purpose of the minis line—the first time this has happened to date (though not the last!). The Goblin Archer is a Small, common figure.

We've already revealed a couple of gnolls in Dungeons Deep, so I thought it might be fun to keep fleshing out their ranks. Here we have the Gnoll Slaver, fresh out of the pages of the Monster Codex. The image above is a digital sculpt, but I've seen the paint master for this villain, and it looks incredible. I can hardly believe it's a COMMON. It's also Medium.

That's it for this week's preview. Tune in next Friday for what I hope will be some shots of Pathfinder Battles goodies from the WizKids booth, ideally taken with a new camera phone!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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S(More) Story of the Season of the Shackles

Feb 10, 2015, 04:41 pm

Hello, Pathfinders! The inaugural season of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild marches on, and I thought you might like an update on how the pirate PCs are progressing.

S(More) Story of the Season of the Shackles

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

Hello, Pathfinders! The inaugural season of the Pathfinder Society Adventure Card Guild marches on, and I thought you might like an update on how the pirate PCs are progressing.

Avast, mateys! Story spoilers for Adventure #2 of the Season of the Shackles lurk below!

Love is in the air here in the Inner Sea, and the Lady of Tidewater Rock needs your help to choose a helpmeet! She's got a bevy of suitors, but her eye lingers on one "Heartbreak" Hinsin, apparently despite his ominous name. There are many who'd raise an objection at this proposed wedding, including the oh-so-charming Master Scourge, but you're around to help ensure that love conquers all. Surely Hinsin's heartbreaking days are over?

Never trust a man with braids in his beard.
Illustration by Bryan Sola

Having earned the lady's trust, you embark on a mission to deliver supplies to an isolated settlement badly in need of supplies. The hapless hamlet has fallen afoul of a tribe of marauding grindylows, and the tentacled little terrors (yuck) are intercepting all attempts to reach them. Lady Smythee has enlisted a ransacking goblin pirate and his weidling vessel to help you sneak up on the grindylow hideout. After a whole lot of really gross-looking monsters, and some truly incorrigible behavior from your goblin pirate ally, you manage to get relief to the settlement, and Lady Smythee rewards you generously.

Apparently, your reputation precedes you among the aquatic denizens of the Shackles, because a badly crippled fishfolk woman offers to handsomely reward you for enacting a little vengeance upon the sea devils who maimed her and stole her spawn. Pirates and revenge go hand in hand, so you eagerly set out to slaughter some sea devils and make a little old lady happy.

Back in the land of two-legged employers, "Heartbreak" Hinsin and Lady Smythee are sponsoring a wedding regatta, and the prize is a sweet new ship. The rules of the race: "Many men enter; one man leaves." Your uncle Mad Max would be proud. Will your doughty band of pirates have what it takes to take down the other sailors? You'll have to play to find out!

MOAR CARD SPOILERS

Are you implying that most people don't carry around bags of sticks?

Today you learned that Lini likes to whittle. She carries around a bag of wood from forests she's visited and whittles and polishes it. Our girl's a touch OCD.

My god likes me better than you.

From Iconic Heroes Set #2 comes a special blessing just for clerics, who know how to get every ounce of goodness out of a god's blessing.

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

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Endless Chest

Feb 6, 2015, 12:00 pm

I'm still on vacation in Hawaii, but that seems like a rotten reason to deprive you of previews from the upcoming Dungeons Deep set for Pathfinder Battles. As I've mentioned in previous blogs, Dungeons Deep features a new type of figure we're calling dungeon dressing—props and "stuff" beyond creatures to help you flesh out your tabletop combats. We've previously revealed a Sarcophagus, Bubbling Cauldron, and Burning Brazier.

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Season of the Shackles Updates

Feb 3, 2015, 12:00 pm

Hello, Pathfinders. I hope the Price of Infamy Adventure Deck is treating you well? And by "treating you well," I of course mean thoroughly beating you up before you battle back and achieve exciting victory.

Season of the Shackles Updates

Tuesday, February 3, 2014

Hello, Pathfinders. I hope the Price of Infamy Adventure Deck is treating you well? And by "treating you well," I of course mean thoroughly beating you up before you battle back and achieve exciting victory.

We're most of the way through our inaugural Adventure Card Guild season, and the response has been pretty positive. We've got a few changes and clarifications to make, and then at the end you get pudding. How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?

Your Meat

In the original, bleeding-edge store release of the season so far, players don't receive their role cards until the end of Adventure 4. There was a reason for this, but for a few different reasons, (cue millions of voices suddenly crying out in terror before suddenly being silenced), we're changing this. Effective today, the rewards for Adventure 4 and Adventure 3 are swapped, meaning that you get your role card (and your new power feat that you can use on your role card) at the end of Adventure 3, and access to the Letter of Marque and Pirate's Favor (as well as another feat) at the end of Adventure 4. Blame the Empire.

We've also made some small tweaks to a few scenario powers and rewards, as well as some templating changes. To wit:

Scenario 02-C Revenge of the Fishfolk: Krelloort can no longer attempt to hide forever behind the comforting bulk of Hirgenzosk, as Pinnacle Atoll has been replaced by Raker Shoals. We've also clarified that everyone's boon type choices are shuffled together to form the treasure stack.

Scenario 04-A A Tale of Two Alchemists: This scenario originally gave out a loot card that allowed you to remove it from the game to gain a skill feat. The idea behind giving that out as opposed to a skill feat is that in a particular tight spot, you might choose a non-primary skill to improve. Maybe Flenta reeeeeally wants to impress that Rogue Ape, so she gives up her loot for a much-needed Charisma bump. Player feedback let us know that this overhead was more trouble than it was worth and was also subject to serious abuse, so we've simplified the reward. Now, once during an encounter, you can choose a skill feat. Same idea, but simpler, with less overhead.

Finally, I want to talk a bit about the Adventure Path reward and how it will work. After you complete all six adventures, you'll unlock the loot item Councilor's Ring. (No, you may not have a sneak peek at it. Where's the fun in that?) Anyway, you will be able to assign that item to a new character in the upcoming Season 1, Season of the Righteous. That character will be able to use it as if it came in her Class Deck box. We're not sending all zillion ACG players a copy of the card—sorry—but we will make sure that the PDF of the card is sized for easy printing and sleeving.

I think of this style of boon as a legacy item. Editor Brian Campbell likes to talk about the heirloom ring that his character's ancestor passed down to his current character. Characters that unlock the ring might also find other ways to use it in the future, but we'll save that for another day.

Your Pudding

MOAR CARD SPOILERS!

Om nom nom, Biter bites the bad guy's butts.
-Harsk's Song (not really)

Everyone's favorite badger makes an appearance in Iconic Heroes Set #2 and if the card isn't enough to make you want him, check out the miniature.

I make old-man Ezren good at everything and also keep him from running around naked!

I look forward to seeing the first playthrough of Skull & Shackles with Ezren, Wizard-Captain of the Inner Sea.

Until next time, Pathfinders!

Tanis O'Connor
Adventure Card Game Designer

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You Guys, You Guys!!!

Jan 23, 2015, 05:09 pm

I just got out of the final paint master approval meeting for June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, and my jaw still hasn't come up from the floor.

You Guys, You Guys!!!

Friday, January 23, 2015

I just got out of the final paint master approval meeting for June's Dungeons Deep set of Pathfinder Battles prepainted plastic miniatures, and my jaw still hasn't come up from the floor.

We reviewed 28 figures today, including the breathtaking Gargantuan Red Dragon limited-edition "case incentive" figure, and I'm prepared to make the prediction that this will be our best set yet.

I've already extolled the virtues of WizKids's digital sculpting process for releases like Iconic Heroes Set #1, but this is the first time we've been able to implement the process within the context of a large set. All I can say, after handling and reviewing all those figures today, is that the difference is palpable and significant. Not only has the process allowed us tighter control during the sculpt approval phase, but it's also resulted in generally better-looking, more detailed figures across the board. I am SO EXCITED for this set I can't even handle it. I wanted to steal the paint masters and use them in my own games immediately, but somehow made my saving throw against abject greed.

Wow, wow, wow.

Let's start with the Frost Giant.

To be totally honest, this is the figure I was most worried about in this set. Conceptually, I love her. It's long been a personal goal to produce a male and female of every major giant race in the Pathfinder RPG, so the figure definitely hits the mark there. The original illustration—and even to some extent the digital sculpt shown of above—always struck me as a little top-heavy. I was, I must say, a little worried. Having just held the final miniature in my hand, I can say that all of my concerns evaporated. Some of the other members of our approval team (I won't name names, but it rhymes with Meesa Shmeevins) audibly gasped as the figure hit the table. So, so awesome. The Frost Giant is a Large, uncommon figure.

A few weeks back, I mentioned that Dungeons Deep contains a creature type that we have not yet done in previous Pathfinder Battles sets. I should have said "sub-type," really, but at last I can officially reveal that that creature type is GNOLLS. Here we have the first in the set, the Gnoll Warrior. I'm very, very happy with how this guy turned out. I'm also happy that he will have several gnoll brothers and sisters elsewhere in the set. The Gnoll Warrior is a Medium, common figure.

And because I am as giddy as a schoolgirl, I've decided to go ahead and reveal my absolute favorite piece of dungeon dressing that will be included in the set: the Sarcophagus. Oh. My. God, this thing is amazing. For starters, we're looking at a three-piece figure, here. Sarcophagus, lid, and an actual MUMMY that easily comes in and out of the tomb. Best of all, the mummy has entirely flat feet, so you can easily use him as a genuine figure. Bonus! There are six pieces of dungeon dressing in the set. They'll be randomly inserted into eight boosters in every case (so case subscribers can be sure to get a full set). Trust me, you do not want to miss this figure. It is one of the most amazing miniatures we've produced so far!

And lastly, before I leave you for this week, I'd like to make one more push for our Ongoing Case Subscription service. We'll deliver a factory-sealed case direct to you at a substantial discount over the full retail price. The sub also comes with other benefits like an across-the-board discount on singles and other Pathfinder Battles releases (like our forthcoming Iconic Heroes sets). We've seen a nice, steady increase in subscribers since the last set, but I'm hoping we can increase those numbers significantly. Retailers are getting increasingly choosy with the large number of prepainted fantasty miniatures on the market at the moment, and a healthy number of subscribers is the best way to ensure the line's future by providing a core group of customers who we can count on to support each release. If you appreciate what we're doing with Pathfinder Battles and want to help us continue well into the future, please consider setting up an Ongoing Case Subscription today. It really is the best thing you can do to keep the Pathfinder Battles miniatures goodness coming!

I'm on vacation (in Maui!) next Friday. I MAY pre-load a preview blog for next week if I can carve out the time early next week. Otherwise, I'll see you guys in February!

Erik Mona
Publisher

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Here There Be Dragon!

Jan 16, 2015, 05:00 pm

Last week I revealed the next big set for Pathfinder Battles: Dungeons Deep! The new set includes 51 figures, counting 6 pieces of "dungeon dressing" like the Bubbling Cauldron I revealed last week. That total also includes the amazing limited-edition case incentive figure for the set, the Gargantuan Red Dragon.