Very awesome stuff! They did a much better job on the chimera than the original image.
You're still earning that burger at Lion's Tap. ;)
Every time I see one of these minis posts pop up in Google Reader, I go "oooh! Minis!"
Cool. And very cool that Wizkids seems to get it that the nature of the final product matters. I'm sure they took a one-time bath expense-wise to re-sculpt and I'm sure producing this mold will cost more than the original sculpt but... I want this one and didn't want the previous. This one has value, which will net sales. The previous one drew down the value of the set.
Anyway, kudos. I'm glad I've got my order in for a case.
I really like the pose of the wolf. I'm so glad he is a common. And I agree that the resculpted Chimera is much better. The set has shaped up very nicely.
The only pieces left unseen in any form now are the Gargoyle and the third and fourth Goblins. Bring on the Goblins!!!!
Aye, this chimera reminds me of the first chimera I saw in that greek mythology filmstrip way back in second grade. :)
There is no rule set for a PF minis game right? Battles just means the minis themselves?
Yeah, I'm thinking of doing a goblin mega-post some time soon.
Awesome. Maybe you could include a hint as to whether we can expect a Goblin adventure pack?
I'm planning on replacing all my WOTC Goblins with you most excellent Paizo versions. That means I'll need many! And I'm guessing I'll only get about 10 in a case of Heroes and Monsters.
It sounds like you're already planning at least one more Goblin (Mystic) for Rise of the Runelords. I'm looking forward to more Ogres and hopefully Hobgoblins as well!
The quality of the commons, the ratio of commons to rares only being about 2:1 and the logic behind assigning rarity for Heroes and Monsters has been marvelous. Throw in the consistency of the same race monsters and grouping of soldiers and you really have some special here. That's not even to mention the interchangable parts for the Frost Giant! I hope hat the market rewards these decisions financially and that these policies will continue in future sets. Paizo + Wizkids = Awesome!
|
I agree with Berk. Paizo and Wizkids makes a good team. The pose on the Wolf is outstanding. Thanks for making this Mummy Uncommon. I will look forward to a Pathfinder Mummy Lord. Finally, when will we be seeing the Blue and Red Dragon Chimeras? Just kidding! ;)
I am really looking forward to the New Year.
Later,
Mazra
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
|
Yeah, I'm thinking of doing a goblin mega-post some time soon.Awesome. Maybe you could include a hint as to whether we can expect a Goblin adventure pack?
I'm planning on replacing all my WOTC Goblins with you most excellent Paizo versions. That means I'll need many! And I'm guessing I'll only get about 10 in a case of Heroes and Monsters.
It sounds like you're already planning at least one more Goblin (Mystic) for Rise of the Runelords. I'm looking forward to more Ogres and hopefully Hobgoblins as well!
There are a bunch of AMAZING goblins in Rise of the Runelords. I may sneak one of them as a very early preview when I show off the Heroes & Monsters gobbos.
We plan to do a big pack of repainted goblins, but it'll need to wait until June or so when we have more sculpts. We're thinking of doing something super-big and super-awesome with it, so we want to make sure we do it right.
|
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
You minis-heads would absolutely wet yourselves to see the sculpts WizKids has been sending me for the last couple of weeks. I've now seen almost all of Rise of the Runelords, and it raises the bar by at least a full letter grade, in my opinion.
Getting those images makes me happy to be alive, and I'm really excited to start sharing them with you soon!
You minis-heads would absolutely wet yourselves to see the sculpts WizKids has been sending me for the last couple of weeks. I've now seen almost all of Rise of the Runelords, and it raises the bar by at least a full letter grade, in my opinion.
Getting those images makes me happy to be alive, and I'm really excited to start sharing them with you soon!
ZOMG SHOW US TEH PLASTICRACKZ!!!!!1!
Getting those images makes me happy to be alive, and I'm really excited to start sharing them with you soon!
You can always spoil us with simple pictures taking of them on your desk. While I give the art department major kudos for their work; sometimes that unofficial official sneak peak (and extra blog post) is even more awesome!
I agree the wolf pose looks great. I think that chimera looks better (obviously wings are a plus), but honestly, the image is so small, it's hard to tell much.
I've now seen almost all of Rise of the Runelords, and it raises the bar by at least a full letter grade, in my opinion.
Wow.
Can't wait until my case arrives. My four "heroes" figures need more figures to play with - they're kinda' lonely right now. :)
The Chimera looks great. Who woulda' thought at this time last year, that we'd be looking at pics of Pathfinders Minis and discussing the second set?
Time flies when you're having fun!
Keep up the great work Paizo.
You minis-heads would absolutely wet yourselves to see the sculpts WizKids has been sending me for the last couple of weeks.
It's true. I know this because Erik has deliberately not shown me any of these sculpts because he doesn't want me to wet myself.
|
Re: The Chimera
The Chimera is one of those silly "Rule of Three" fantasy monsters, like the Xorn or the Otyugh, which sounds fine when described in words and can be made to look good -- depending on the pose -- in a 2d illustration. Once you start to actually model it in three dimensions however, the monster starts to look as improbable as it is.
Three legged and three headed monsters sound fine in literature, but there is a reason we do not see these things in the real world. They are awkward as all hell and look WRONG to a brain which is designed to see and infer symmetry whenever it is trying to resolve and make sense of organic life.
If you want to see how truly STUPID such monsters really are, sculpting it believably is a relative cakewalk in comparison. Instead, try to animate one of these things believably for use in a 3d computer game. It becomes almost impossible to do so and it is exceptionally hard; no matter what the animator tries to do, it almost always looks wrong when viewed from some angle. The problem is underscored in a 3d computer game, because in a game, unlike in a movie, you generally can't carefully control the perspective from which the creature is viewed.
Consider for a moment the art for the Arctic Chimera on page 24 of Vol. 3 of the Jade Regent Adventure Path. It is an entirely brilliant illustration and is one of the top 3 best monster illustrations I have yet seen in a Paizo product. It is inspiring and original. Given that the subject matter of the illustration is a monster that has been present in the mythology of Western Civilization for two to three thousand years, that's no mean feat.
Mind you, even in the Arctic Chimera illustration, the artist is cheating outrageously with the positioning of the wings on the creature. The symmetry doesn't really work so instead the artist implies where he can and is vague where he must be. The human brain fills in what the eye does not actually see and so the art "works".
Well... at least it works in a 2d drawing -- but once 3 dimensions remove all shadowy implications and vagueness from the art, it's a tough beast to nail down and make it look plausible.
Three legged and three headed monsters sound fine in literature, but there is a reason we do not see these things in the real world.
As opposed to all the two-headed critters that are all over the place?
Re: The Chimera
The Chimera is one of those silly "Rule of Three" fantasy monsters, like the Xorn or the Otyugh, which sounds fine when described in words and can be made to look good -- depending on the pose -- in a 2d illustration. Once you start to actually model it in three dimensions however, the monster starts to look as improbable as it is.
Three legged and three headed monsters sound fine in literature, but there is a reason we do not see these things in the real world. They are awkward as all hell and look WRONG to a brain which is designed to see and infer symmetry whenever it is trying to resolve and make sense of organic life.
If you want to see how truly STUPID such monsters really are, sculpting it believably is a relative cakewalk in comparison. Instead, try to animate one of these things believably for use in a 3d computer game. It becomes almost impossible to do so and it is exceptionally hard; no matter what the animator tries to do, it almost always looks wrong when viewed from some angle. The problem is underscored in a 3d computer game, because in a game, unlike in a movie, you generally can't carefully control the perspective from which the creature is viewed.
Consider for a moment the art for the Arctic Chimera on page 24 of Vol. 3 of the Jade Regent Adventure Path. It is an entirely brilliant illustration and is one of the top 3 best monster illustrations I have yet seen in a Paizo product. It is inspiring and original. Given that the subject matter of the illustration is a monster that has been present in the mythology of Western Civilization for two to three thousand years, that's no mean feat.
Mind you, even in the Arctic Chimera illustration, the artist is cheating outrageously with the positioning of the wings on the creature. The symmetry doesn't really work so instead the artist implies where he can and is vague where he must be. The human brain fills in what the eye does not actually see and so the art "works".
Well......
This reinforces my thinking that all such creatures are products of Chaos, the seeing of which should seriously mess with PC's minds.
This reinforces my thinking that all such creatures are products of Chaos, the seeing of which should seriously mess with PC's minds.
Quite possible.
On the other hand, Chaos is very fond of the evolution concept. Take a critter - any critter - and randomly change it. Then let it prove itself. The ones whose changes were for the better will tend to survive and have offspring, thereby propagating and vindicating their changes. The mutation becomes the baseline.
Goto 10.
It would seem that the three-headed freaks that exist, like chimeras, were those who got some extra heads and made it work. On the other hand, it could be an intentional change, too. The fact that the heads aren't random, but always the same critters (with the minor variation of dragon colour), it points to intentional design. Someone helped the process along. They still might have tested and modified the critter, but that's no real substitute to the total randomness, since you never know what will turn out to work really well.
Force-feed that chimera some Amorphia, wait an aeon or two, and see whether the heads won't be something like racoonish, linnorm-like and human.
|
|
Let's see. What have we not seen?
Actual sculpts of the following previously seen in a digital format:
Dire Rat
Gnome Fighter
Half-Orc Barbarian
Lich
Medusa
Selah, Iconic Human Paladin
Succubus
Troll
Vampire
Critters known but not yet seen:
Gargoyle
Goblin #3
Goblin #4
Critter seen but not painted:
Lizardfolk Champion
Orc Warrior
Let me know if I missed something.
Later,
Mazra
Quite possible.
On the other hand, Chaos is very fond of the evolution concept. Take a critter - any critter - and randomly change it. Then let it prove itself. The ones whose changes were for the better will tend to survive and have offspring, thereby propagating and vindicating their changes. The mutation becomes the baseline.
Goto 10.
It would seem that the three-headed freaks that exist, like chimeras, were those who got some extra heads and made it work. On the other hand, it could be an intentional change, too. The fact that the heads aren't random, but always the same critters (with the minor variation of dragon colour), it points to intentional design. Someone helped the process along. They still might have tested and modified the critter, but that's no real substitute to the total randomness, since you never know what will turn out to work really well.
Force-feed that chimera some Amorphia, wait an aeon or two, and see whether the heads won't be something like racoonish, linnorm-like and human.
It's true. I know this because Erik has deliberately not shown me any of these sculpts because he doesn't want me to wet myself.I am now recruiting special agents for Project: Plasti-Scoop. In order to qualify you need to either:
- Be able to gain access to Erik's desk and covertly take photos of the minis; or
- Work at the WizKids plasti-crack factory in China and take photos of the minis; or
- Be able to monitor WikiLeaks daily for news of upcoming minis and/or copy any photos.
All information may be sent to us anonymously or under your special agent codename. The results of your work will be displayed here:
We've never said anything about the ratio of commons to rares.
Yes, that was my interpolation from all larges being rare, eight larges in the set, a case being a decent chance to get the whole set and twelve larges per case. Only a guess on my part.