Pathfinder Battles Preview: A Monster Miscellany

Same title twice in a row, how confusing. ;)
For a second I thought there was no new post yet, then I wondered "Where did all the comments go".

Nice preview, as usual. In the spirit of the post a few weeks back I have a couple of questions.

1) Why are some miniatures cast in clear plastic even though the paint jobs do not make any use of this fact whatsoever (e.g., Kamadan, Medium Black Dragon)? I assume some, like the Shadow Demon, may have been planned with some translucent effects but you later decided to go a different direction (I remember something like this happened with the Earth Elementals).

2) What sort of paint/sealer is used? I noticed that most of the (less aggressive) suggestions to strip paint off of miniatures that are out there don't work on this product. Luckily most of the time it's unnecessary to do this even if you plan on repainting the multiples (unless you want to utilise the clear plastic somehow or get rid of the "blob-face syndrome").

4 nice minis. The maftet is very nice, if a little monochrome. The fawn really makes me hope wizkids master faces in this set, he has a really nice, serene look on his face that needs to come across in the mini. The mirror man is brilliant but tell me is the face shiny silver like his namesake? And finally a Catoblepus, thank you Erik, I've been waiting a long time for this one. It also brings joy to my heart to hear you are planning for the coming years. Perhaps more huge minis?

First you give us the interesting and exotic Maftet.

Then you give us a very fine sculpt of a much needed Faun.

Next a truly unique looking Mirror Man. The fringes on his robe look really good.

And finally, I was hoping you would include a Catoblepas when thumbing through the AP. And you delivered.

Superb preview.

Catoblepas. Awesome. Bout time! Now for a leucrotta. Can't wait for this set!

Well, there are no leucrotta in _this_ set…

Dum dee doo de dum de doo.

In the spirit of the post a few weeks back I have a couple of questions.

1) Why are some miniatures cast in clear plastic even though the paint jobs do not make any use of this fact whatsoever (e.g., Kamadan, Medium Black Dragon)? I assume some, like the Shadow Demon, may have been planned with some translucent effects but you later decided to go a different direction (I remember something like this happened with the Earth Elementals).

It's a combination of things.

Sometimes we assume a clear plastic figure will work great, but once we see it, we decide to add paint highlights to make it more interesting. Ideally, you can still appreciate some of the clear effect by holding it up to light or something, but these are generally mid-process changes to create what we think will be better-looking miniatures.

Understanding why something like a black dragon or a Kamadan might be cast in clear plastic requires a bit of understanding of how miniatures are made. Generally speaking, a mini is composed of between 1 and as many as 8 different pieces, each with its own "slot" in the mold. Molds tend to be about the size of a dirt bike wheel in circumference, so many more than one figure fits on the same mold. All of the pieces on a single mold are filled with the same plastic, so if even one figure in that mold must be cast in clear plastic, they all will be cast in clear plastic. If there is not enough clear figures to fill a mold, WizKids will put non-clear figures on the same mold and simply paint over the clear plastic.

2) What sort of paint/sealer is used? I noticed that most of the (less aggressive) suggestions to strip paint off of miniatures that are out there don't work on this product. Luckily most of the time it's unnecessary to do this even if you plan on repainting the multiples (unless you want to utilise the clear plastic somehow or get rid of the "blob-face syndrome").

Unfortunately, I do not know enough about the sealer or paint specifics to answer this question. Sorry!

Holy cow, you went ahead and chose a Catoblepas! When I saw it in the Adventure Path, I fell in love with the art. I wasn't sure you'd be able to pull this one off, or try it, but this thing looks amazing.

FEY! And definitely one of my favorites, too. I love the look of this guy; with the pipes, I can even give him a few levels of bard and let him travel with my parties for awhile. Speaking of that, he's chaotic good in alignment, so he also fits the mold for those seeking more good-aligned creatures.

I'm also excited for the Mirror Man. The AP's were full of good artwork with him in it, so I'm glad to see he gets his due. I also like the fact that he's a construct but not a golem. As much as I love golems, it's nice to see other constructs get some love. He's probably one of my favorites as far as creatures straight from the pages of the Adventure Path Bestiaries.

I've never encountered a Maftet in any campaign, so I'm looking forward to the miniature. She's the type of creature that I've somehow managed to skip past in the Bestiary. Now with her very own miniature, she will be revisited. Her face looks pretty good, I hope it holds up on the release product. I love Monstrous Humanoids, so I'm glad to get another one.

Have fun in the Big Apple planning out future lines/projects. Don't forget the Huge Elementals.
Just sayin'...

Erik,
With the catoblepas, what made you go with this artwork instead of the original look? Is this representative of the Pathfinder version. I'm so used to the long necked version from yesteryear.

We had two decent illustrations of the creature. The older one is more of the 'classic" look, but we thought this one would be better reference for a miniature.

I'd love to see a donkey or pack animal with optional cart. Maybe a covered (Varisian?) wagon with horses?

Lol, getting awesome monsters like the catoblepas and all some people do is wish for donkeys and pigs :-p

Где российские солдаты? Oh, Comrade Mona?
Catoblepas is really awesome, and I'll second the pro-Fae sentiment. Hope there's a quickling in the set..

This set is looking great! Just a reminder to those who were thinking about backing this kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1679800548/ravenfell-28mm-fantasy-vill age

The first stretch reward is Baba Yaga's hut and I have heard their buildings will come with snow textures, as well, which would work perfectly for this adventure path. There are 2 days left to back it.

We love prepainted minis, but there's only so many we can use. we even have all the adventures we need until 2020 given my group's pace.
The worst thing that could happen is for Paizo to start publishing stuff just to sell stuff, instead of adding to the game like they did in the early years...

We love prepainted minis, but there's only so many we can use. we even have all the adventures we need until 2020 given my group's pace.

The worst thing that could happen is for Paizo to start publishing stuff just to sell stuff, instead of adding to the game like they did in the early years...

I don't understand what you are trying to say here in relation to pathfinder miniatures. Are you implying that Paizo stop making them? Until they have a miniature representing every creature in their Bestiaries and Adventure Paths (a lofty, likely unattainable goal) I hope they continue making them.

I agree that anything Paizo publishes should always maintain a particular level of quality, but I'm confused as to what your second sentence means. Do you not find the Adventure Paths helpful? I find them pretty well thought out, organized and easy to pull from when I put together my own campaigns. Flip-Mats and Map Packs, while more of a niche product, definitely serve some campaigns well. And although the Campaign Settings and Player Companion lines tend to run a bit expensive for my tastes relative to how much new information we receive in them, I still think the two lines themselves are of good quality. I certainly hope they don't stop making them as long as they prove viable to enough customers.

We love prepainted minis, but there's only so many we can use. we even have all the adventures we need until 2020 given my group's pace.

The worst thing that could happen is for Paizo to start publishing stuff just to sell stuff, instead of adding to the game like they did in the early years...

so you want them to quit making them? No ones forcing you to buy them man lol. Slowing down or halting production because a few people weren't playing at the pace they were coming out is just silly. Don't buy them all, the rest of us will, everyone's happy.

I'd love to see a donkey or pack animal with optional cart. Maybe a covered (Varisian?) wagon with horses?

omg this is an awesome idea. to make a horse+cart/covered wagon as a huge? omg I'd be so into that. <3.

+1 on the horse & cart idea.

+1 more for horse and cart

Not one to start a riot, but I was wondering why no good dragons?

Not one to start a riot, but I was wondering why no good dragons?

"The only Good Dragon, is a Dead Dragon!" ;-) Someone had to say it, might as well be me.

Though I confess I'd be far more interested in Imperial, Primal, or Outer Dragons, bumping the Metallic Dragons to the back of the line (I am acutely aware I am in the minority, but as a game for over 30 years I find I need far more antagonists than allies as miniatures).

Thehigher cause wrote:

Not one to start a riot, but I was wondering why no good dragons?

"The only Good Dragon, is a Dead Dragon!" ;-) Someone had to say it, might as well be me.

Though I confess I'd be far more interested in Imperial, Primal, or Outer Dragons, bumping the Metallic Dragons to the back of the line (I am acutely aware I am in the minority, but as a game for over 30 years I find I need far more antagonists than allies as miniatures).

Who said they were allies??

Thehigher cause wrote:

Not one to start a riot, but I was wondering why no good dragons?

"The only Good Dragon, is a Dead Dragon!" ;-) Someone had to say it, might as well be me.

Though I confess I'd be far more interested in Imperial, Primal, or Outer Dragons, bumping the Metallic Dragons to the back of the line (I am acutely aware I am in the minority, but as a game for over 30 years I find I need far more antagonists than allies as miniatures).

While I do hope we get different sizes of the green and blue dragons in the Evolutions set first, I wouldn't mind seeing a different set of dragons after that. The conversation from a previous thread prompted me to go back and look at all the other dragons, and there is some wonderful art there.

That said, I suggest checking out what Safari Ltd., Papo and Schleich have in the way of dragons. I bought a few back in September, and they were well made. The sizing isn't exactly to scale, but most can pass as Huge-sized in Pathfinder and other games. Safari Ltd. actually had a very nice looking set of Asian-inspired dragons, though I didn't purchase any at the time. You'll have to add bases to them; I suggest foam. Perhaps that will hold you over until Paizo can get around to doing their own versions straight from the bestiaries and to scale.

And I've seen people asking for animal miniatures that are a size category larger than what are in the bestiaries, to account for the Animal Growth spell. I suggest anyone interested in that check the toy lines from the three companies above. Their animals are generally too large for normal-sized scale miniatures, but many of them would probably be great for the next size up.

I will say that I purchased a big elephant from one of the companies, and it works out well as a Huge creature. I'm still hoping that we one day get one from Paizo and Wizkids but until we do this one will work.

Though I confess I'd be far more interested in Imperial, Primal, or Outer Dragons, bumping the Metallic Dragons to the back of the line (I am acutely aware I am in the minority, but as a game for over 30 years I find I need far more antagonists than allies as miniatures).

While I really want my metalic dragons, I have to admit I agree with Leo_Negri. I need antagonists than allies when it comes to miniatures.

I think Thehigher cause was commenting in the sense that he likes to play bad guy campaigns.

In my homebrew world I'm not even using metallic dragons. Civilized races are rare, having only handfuls of small settlements. There is much danger to avoid or confront. That kinda helps not need metallic dragons. That said, I've also taken away the second half of a dragons alignment restriction. So, all red dragons are short tempered and impulsive, but not all of them are inheritly selfish and evil. Of course this is still a rare occur dance since most of the world IS selfish and evil lol

I think Thehigher cause was commenting in the sense that he likes to play bad guy campaigns.

In my homebrew world I'm not even using metallic dragons. Civilized races are rare, having only handfuls of small settlements. There is much danger to avoid or confront. That kinda helps not need metallic dragons. That said, I've also taken away the second half of a dragons alignment restriction. So, all red dragons are short tempered and impulsive, but not all of them are inheritly selfish and evil. Of course this is still a rare occur dance since most of the world IS selfish and evil lol

Not so, I like to play games where life can get complicated... Just there seems to be a very low number of good creatures..