Pathfinder Battles Preview: Two for Turkey Day!

Yeesh, that's a lot of mini.

Is the swampy fellow a Froghemoth?

Erik keeps teasing me with mentions of swamp creatures... so cruel...

FROGHEMOTH!!!! Yes, someday that must come to pass.

But in the meantime, these two are AWESOME!!! (I don't usually indulge in a lot of caps and exclamation points, so I really mean it.) I'll be thrilled to have both of these. I'm curious, though, how the distribution will work. Will they be sold individually in their own boosters, like the ones in RotR? Will they be visible or invisible? (I bet it will be pretty easy to tell which is which even if they're boxed, and I'd also bet that the Frost Worm will go for more on the secondary market than the Svathurim will, since the latter is so unusual and niche.) Will you have to order a case in order to be able to buy them, like the case incentive?

I know this is crazy talk, but it would be fun to imbed a little speaker in the Frost Worm to make it keen, too. Like the annoying little things in gift cards these days, except not, you know, annoying o_O

Also, If you don't feel like a Huge mini has enough oomph to be a case incentive, you might consider doing a *group* of Huge minis as the incentive instead, and that might do the trick quite well. Although I'm also perfectly happy getting new Gargantuans as well, and look forward to seeing more Garg's that aren't dragons, like the Rune Giant.

And I hope we eventually start seeing some dragons other than the chromatics getting some attention too! Metallics and drakes would both be welcome additions, particularly in the size categories that were never covered by DDM. And oriental dragon would also be cool.

Both very nice, although I have a fondness for the Svathurim!

Oh, by the way both the Red dragon and White dragon links lead to the white dragon set. I wanted to check out the red dragon set, but the link led me to the white.

Cleanthes they are sold as a dual set in a box, like the evolution series I imagine. If these are the face of the future for the huge mini you can count on my dollars. I was uncertain about the frost worm, simply because I'm not a fan of the emerging from the ground look. However this works well, the snow falling from the body, the depth of detail in the sculpt and the curiously appealing colour palette. If the production mini is this good these will be really impressive. My only questions in regard to the worm - why does the ice at the bottom curve away from the base at the edges? Why pick a solitary creature for the first pack? Couldn't that limit sales a little?

Svathurim, wow. The sculpt is incredible, you may well be right on thus one, it's a remarkable effort. The colour looks good and I'm sure it's there, but the shading still seems a little underwhelming, mainly the metallic elements which look a little toy-like/flat. I think the spear is a little too thin, it has a warped/curved look even in the production proof.

That said you can colour me impressed I really hope these are a success the quality is amazing, probably above amazing, plus I want me that frogemoth.

Hmm... so, how does one work ice worms and svathurim into Kingmaker... because, well, I pretty much need these.

Hmm... so, how does one work ice worms and svathurim into Kingmaker... because, well, I pretty much need these.

The ice worm would be an acceptable stand-in for a purple worm, which is a classic enough monster that you can basically use it anywhere and no one would bat an eye.

Remember, just because a mini SAYS what it is on the bottom doesn't mean you have to USE it as that creature!

Hmm... so, how does one work ice worms and svathurim into Kingmaker... because, well, I pretty much need these.

Let's see...Brevoy is noted for cold winters and the PC's realm is just south of that, so the ice worms probably show up on occasion in winter. A great way to disrupt the towns of the PC's kingdom during a Winter Week festival!

As for the svarthurim, they are found in Iobaria...which just happens to be next door!

If you happen to be running AoW, the frost worms would come in handy as well.

The Svathurim are my favorite monster in recent memory. Being blasphemous against Norse mythology? Frost giant/Sleipnir centaur? Unf, soooo good.

While I love the "classic" monsters, the new-to-Pathfinder figures are always my favorites. Can't wait to pick up the Svathurim.

I am getting cold just looking at these miniatures. Sweet!

Alexander, Feros - cheers! You've managed to justify my purchase of these! ;-) While I may thank you, my wallet does not...

I was hoping for baba yagas hut

I've been very impressed by the Pathfinder Battles huges since RotR. That said, I'd prefer to see the huge line expand earlier with more commonly used huge monsters. Dragons are cool, but extremely rare in games my girlfriend and I run. Huge elementals, on the other hand, have shown up multiple times in every campaign one of us has run, both as foes and potential summons or shapechanges. And, they are one of the huge omissions from the pawns. If you made a set with all four huge elementals, I'd buy at least three sets. Niche creatures like froghemoth on the other hand, while cool and Paizo specific, aren't really a priority for us.

I second the call for huge elementals and other huge creatures in general. That being said the Frost Worm looks amazing and the Svathurim is quite possibly the most intimidating looking huge mini paizo has made to date.

Ok, so that's a helpful thing to point out, and raises the question: What Huge and up minis aren't just super cool, but which actually see lots of use in games? I'd add Mammoths to that list, for instance.

Ok, so that's a helpful thing to point out, and raises the question: What Huge and up minis aren't just super cool, but which actually see lots of use in games? I'd add Mammoths to that list, for instance.

Huge monsters without pre-painted mini presence (Pathfinder or D&D) from Bestiary 1:

1. Aboleth (a large mini exists)
2. Bebilith
3. Black Pudding
4. Dinosaurs (Ankylosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Stegosaurus, Triceratops)
5. Dragons, Blue and Metallic except Gold
6. Dragon Turtle
7. Elementals except Fire
8. Elephants (including Mammoth/Mastodon)- There is a Mammoth being ridden by a Frost Giant, however.
9. Flytrap, giant
10. Froghemoth
11. Hydra
12. Nightmare, Cauchemar
13. Retriever
14. Shoggoth (no idea how they would pull that one off)
15. Slug, giant
16. Squid, giant

How often any of these are used in play varies from campaign to campaign.

Hmmm... The Bebilith, Hydra and Triceratops all were made in the Lords of Madness set. And while not made exactly as elementals there are huge representations for Earth and Air.

That's not to say I would mind new sculpts of any of these, but I'd prefer stuff we don't already have like this encounter pack offers.

Oh, yeah. The Elder Blue was also in Lords of Madness. How could I forget that one?

Hmmm... The Bebilith, Hydra and Triceratops all were made in the Lords of Madness set. And while not made exactly as elementals there are huge representations for Earth and Air.

That's not to say I would mind new sculpts of any of these, but I'd prefer stuff we don't already have like this encounter pack offers.

Oh, yeah. The Elder Blue was also in Lords of Madness. How could I forget that one?

I'll tell you how I forgot them: lack of booster packs! When those came out, I got very few boxes and have nowhere near a complete set. Not for lack of desire or money: they just didn't send out that many. So, adjusting for that set:

1. Aboleth (a large mini exists)
2. Black Pudding
3. Dinosaurs (Ankylosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Stegosaurus)
4. Dragons, Bronze, Brass, and Silver
5. Dragon Turtle
6. Elemental, Water
7. Elephants (including Mammoth/Mastodon)- There is a Mammoth being ridden by a Frost Giant, however.
8. Flytrap, giant
9. Froghemoth
10. Nightmare, Cauchemar
11. Retriever
12. Shoggoth (no idea how they would pull that one off)
13. Slug, giant
14. Squid, giant

There are a number of Huge plant creatures it would be nice to see. Various sorts of evil tree creatures, though I don't have a Bestiary handy to look up their names. They show up with some regularity in adventures, too, so I'm pretty sure I'd get use out of them.

You can get a Shoggoth from the Arkham line.

The Shoggoth from the Arkham line is less than inspiring (their Dark Young is impressive though). Still it is out there, so:

1. Aboleth (a large mini exists)
2. Black Pudding
3. Dinosaurs (Ankylosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Stegosaurus)
4. Dragons, Bronze, Brass, and Silver
5. Dragon Turtle
6. Elemental, Water
7. Elephants (including Mammoth/Mastodon)- There is a Mammoth being ridden by a Frost Giant, however.
8. Flytrap, giant
9. Froghemoth
10. Nightmare, Cauchemar
11. Retriever
12. Slug, giant
13. Squid, giant

We probably won't do dinosaurs, so it's safe to cross them off any wishlists. Huge slots are so precious that it doesn't make sense to use them on creatures that are so easily represented by a plastic toy. And honestly, it's possible to get dinosaur toys with really great paint jobs relatively cheaply, so these creatures are, alas, never going to be a priority for the Pathfinder Battles line.

Froghemoth is an obvious one I'd really like to do. I think the elementals would sell well, but you'd need to do four of them so the packaging is a little strange. Two sets of two?

Dragon Turtle is one I'd like to do, probably paired with some other sort of aquatic dragon.

Elephants and mastodons fall into the dinosaur category for me. We could do them, and I'd do them sooner than dinosaurs, but I'm certain there are decent enough proxies out there.

I think the retriever is probably too associated with D&D, and I try to be very cautious with regards to respecting that sort of thing.

Glad people are digging this two-pack. It's a bit of an odd duck due to the circumstances surrounding its birth (one pick up from an earlier set, one a really cool but fairly obscure monster), but both of these figures look absolutely great, and I hope you really like them when you have them in hand.

I think the Elementals you should do like the Dragon Evolutions, with a medium, large and Huge version. Even if people already have the smaller two, they would probably still buy them just to have multiples. Also, even the newer Shattered Star larges are still pretty expensive on the secondary market, and the prices for older elementals just go up from there.

On the monsters: I really like the Frost Worm (the snow detail is fantastic), but hopes this doesn't mean we'r never going to get a Gargantuan sized worm. I would love to see a Neothelid eventually done. The problem with the current worm miniatures is that they're all huge, so its kind of hard to accurately depict the larger ones like the Purple Worm, Bhole, and the aforementioned.

T

1. Aboleth (a large mini exists)
2. Black Pudding
3. Dinosaurs (Ankylosaurus, Elasmosaurus, Stegosaurus)
4. Dragons, Bronze, Brass, and Silver
5. Dragon Turtle
6. Elemental, Water
7. Elephants (including Mammoth/Mastodon)- There is a Mammoth being ridden by a Frost Giant, however.
8. Flytrap, giant
9. Froghemoth
10. Nightmare, Cauchemar
11. Retriever
12. Slug, giant
13. Squid, giant

I would like to see Nightwings and Nightcrawlers before any of these. I think Giant Squids and Krakens get the same argument as the dinosaurs: You can pick up toy squid and octopus stand-ins at a number of places. The Cauchemar Nightmare can also be depicted with a number of larger sculpts I've seen used for Lord of The Ring toys, specifically the Nazgul's steeds.

We probably won't do dinosaurs, so it's safe to cross them off any wishlists. Huge slots are so precious that it doesn't make sense to use them on creatures that are so easily represented by a plastic toy. And honestly, it's possible to get dinosaur toys with really great paint jobs relatively cheaply, so these creatures are, alas, never going to be a priority for the Pathfinder Battles line.

Froghemoth is an obvious one I'd really like to do. I think the elementals would sell well, but you'd need to do four of them so the packaging is a little strange. Two sets of two?

Dragon Turtle is one I'd like to do, probably paired with some other sort of aquatic dragon.

Elephants and mastodons fall into the dinosaur category for me. We could do them, and I'd do them sooner than dinosaurs, but I'm certain there are decent enough proxies out there.

I think the retriever is probably too associated with D&D, and I try to be very cautious with regards to respecting that sort of thing.

I would like to see Nightwings and Nightcrawlers before any of these. I think Giant Squids and Krakens get the same argument as the dinosaurs: You can pick up toy squid and octopus stand-ins at a number of places. The Cauchemar Nightmare can also be depicted with a number of larger sculpts I've seen used for Lord of The Ring toys, specifically the Nazgul's steeds.

That said, an Abolteh/Shoggoth combo pack would be bought by me in an instant. Terrors from the Deep Pack?

Yeah, I figured those would be easily replaced from other sources. I would also remove the Black Pudding because, well, anybody with some clay and paint could throw one of those together quite easily.

That said, the Aboleth/Shoggoth idea is brilliant, Rakshaka! Love it!

So modifying for possibles:

1. Aboleth (a large mini exists)
2. Dragons, Bronze, Brass, and Silver
3. Dragon Turtle
4. Elementals
5. Flytrap, giant
6. Froghemoth
7. Shoggoth (placed back in due to excellent idea!)

Much shorter list.

Hmmm. Maybe we should expand the list to include the later Bestiaries and place it in the Pathfinder Battles Wishlist thread.

Re: A Black Pudding, I hear what you're saying about being able to make one out of clay. But I've also thought that with some ingenuity, it would be possible to make one that could be split apart into smaller pieces, each of which would look good by itself, and ideally it could be made so that when the pieces were all connected into the larger creature, it would have a space inside so that it could engulf your average medium-sized mini. I think that would be pretty darn cool, and I'd love to see Paizo (or anyone!) do it.

Wow that's actually a tiny list. Started a thread in the messageboards. Will update with B2, 3 and 4.

Black Pudding point, not everybody make minis so it's a need in my book as are all slimes! Gotta remember that the majority of us just BUY them.

I get where you're coming from on Dinosaurs, but it's worth noting that they're on Summon Nature's Ally lists, Summon Monster AND can be Wild Shaped into.

I'm not saying make every Dinosaur, but a couple here and there would go a long way. (Raptors/TRex/Triceratops/Anklyosaurus at the very most, not a bunch).

Of these only Triceratops and Anklyosaurus are Huge.

Maybe consider Raptors at medium (or large depending on type) and the Trex as a case incentive since it's a Gargantuan (and a Dino favorite)?

There's no conflicts with huge's that way.

I get where you're coming from on Dinosaurs, but it's worth noting that they're on Summon Nature's Ally lists, Summon Monster AND can be Wild Shaped into.

I'm not saying make every Dinosaur, but a couple here and there would go a long way. (Raptors/TRex/Triceratops/Anklyosaurus at the very most, not a bunch).

Of these only Triceratops and Anklyosaurus are Huge.

Maybe consider Raptors at medium (or large depending on type) and the Trex as a case incentive since it's a Gargantuan (and a Dino favorite)?

There's no conflicts with huge's that way.

If you need dinosaurs, just ask a random 8y old boy where to get them

Herr Mona, I also think you should reconsider Mammoths. After seeing your claim that they're not hard to find, I did some Ebay searching, and actually, there's not a lot of Mammoth options out there, and what there is is pricey and maybe not sized quite right. I use plastic animals I find at toy stores all the time as minis, and I'm telling you, I want a Pathfinder Mammoth :-)

I would also like to throw in a request for Mammoths.

Lorian wrote:

I get where you're coming from on Dinosaurs, but it's worth noting that they're on Summon Nature's Ally lists, Summon Monster AND can be Wild Shaped into.

I'm not saying make every Dinosaur, but a couple here and there would go a long way. (Raptors/TRex/Triceratops/Anklyosaurus at the very most, not a bunch).

Of these only Triceratops and Anklyosaurus are Huge.

Maybe consider Raptors at medium (or large depending on type) and the Trex as a case incentive since it's a Gargantuan (and a Dino favorite)?

There's no conflicts with huge's that way.

If you need dinosaurs, just ask a random 8y old boy where to get them

That's what I've been using in the meantime, and sadly, they're rather low quality and never scaled quite right.

I'm picky :/

One of the problems I have see with Black Puddings (and other assorted oozes as well) is the ability they have where they split themselves. A huge Black Pudding could prolly turn into 6 huge puddings in short order, which is a lot of mini's. I am thinking that with oozes people would be better served using the cardstock versions, since they are cheap and easily portable. Just a thought.

Exactly why I suggested a modular pudding mini!

Of course, you could always use food colouring and jello...

;-)

I've actually seen oozes made by just making blobs of glue with a hot glue gun and then painting them. I've also thought of melting plastic pony beads in the oven. I hope to try both methods eventually!

I can't decide which of those methods sounds messier..

I would also like to throw in a request for Mammoths.

Agreed, especially in light of the fact that there is a Kingdom on Golarion where they are prominent.

(I'd like a Mimmoth (tiny Mammoth on a small base), too, but I sincerely doubt Studio Foglio would ever release the rights to do one.)

These look amazing!!

I'm secretly, fervently hoping for a siege weapons (catapult, ballista, battering ram) set...

I did alter a DDM Mammoth, but I would much prefer if Paizo made their own. I bought another one to alter as well, as I wanted to make a "natural" appearing one without a saddle. After all the hours I put into modifying my first one though... my desire to modify another quickly expired.

Mammoth

Original Mini

Wow, nice mod! Though I also totally agree, it would be great to have one without any trappings of civilization at all.

Wow, Kor, that looks like entirely too much effort and chance to mess things up. Nice job, and I don't blame you not wanting to do it more than once.

My only questions in regard to the worm - why does the ice at the bottom curve away from the base at the edges?

That's just the prototype, which isn't actually glued to the base it's sitting on.

Mammoth from Schleich