Friday Publisher Preview: The Runes Shall Rise Again!

I couldn't agree more with your first paragraph :)

Cool to see some of RotRL holes filled.

Every time I see an awesome humanoid sculpt like Justice Ironbriar (and Quink and the Lord Mayor last week), I get a little sick in advance wondering what the actual mini I get is going to look like. I'd almost rather not get my hopes up. :(

To be honest, a little disappointed that Ogre number 5 is again a male. All three sculpts look fantastic, though.

*sigh*
More minis someone needs to send back in time for me, for when I was running the early sessions of RotRL.

Yeah, no more male ogres for a long time. I just couldn't resist this one.

Love them. The Ironbriar is perfect for so many different things and its a beautiful mini. Nice sculpt, nice colour scheme, well detailed face - disdainful and haughty. Hopefully the facial detail on this and the other NPC's are sculpted deep enough that they won't be lost in casting or obscured in painting. Get the detail on that face right and he is yet another winning NPC type for this set. At 1/case for a rare this seems like an all round big plus.

Ever since I saw the art for the Koruvus I've been begging for this mini. He looks simply awesome (Now if we can get Ranzak all will be good). What can I say, Koruvus and the Shamhazian! It's promising to be a dream set for me AND it releases around my birthday! Since he's uncommon I'm not sure I'll need 2 cases since I'll net 4 of him in the one case.

I assume from the scale of Malugus that the Kreegs will set the standard scale for Ogres? This makes the smaller Ogre in Runelords the lonely runt sadly. On the plus side I now will have three different Ogres for my table - just need a female now (Mammy for sure but perhaps even Dorella, I'm sure she would translate into a great mini). I'm not fussed by having another male mind you, Ogres are such a common low-mid level foe that variety of sculpt is a huge plus. Again uncommon so I can even get 3+ from a case.

If this set is like Reign then the new distribution and numbers means I can get pretty well get all I need in 1 case, however these are looking good enough for me to buy two and split the second with a mate.

Again I hope the production woes that plague some of the line can be resolved, this like Legeneds looks to be crown jewel of a set and I'd hate to see the final production run diminish what would be such a great set. Personally I seem to have been incredible lucky with my cases, aside form a few patchy paint jobs my sets have all be quite passably painted and produced (yep, even my Feiya).

Reading the first part seems to imply we may see some crimson throne minis, perhaps:
A Shoanti (krojun eats-what-he-kills! Thousand bones),
Jolistina Susperio,
plaguedoctor,
Pilts Swastel (nice contrast to our other "nobles"),
Togomor and Pudgeknuckles,
A red mantis assassin (Just saying)
or even another Illeosa as she appears at the end, sort of a redux to get her perfect.

LOVE these, all 3, but especially Ironbriar. He'd make an awesome PC. I also really hope his face comes out well. The goblin mutant is cool, and I like the ogre a lot. I do hope we get Mammy at some point (and I wonder if the mini will include the mudity from the original illustration? I'm indifferent myself, but I'm philosophically curious about how bold Paizo is willing to be about their minis and skin.) Dorella would be cool too (just killed her last night in my own campaign, woot woot!), but I think I might prefer a more martial female ogre.

I'm philosophically curious about how bold Paizo is willing to be about their minis and skin.

Judging by the Maftet, I'd say fairly bold.

Yeah, no more male ogres for a long time. I just couldn't resist this one.

Maybe a female ogre....wink, wink, nudge, nudge. :)

I am so glad you couldn't resist. Malugus Kreeg looks fantastic.

Justice Ironbriar is a welcome addition, though I did pick up and paint the Reaper version. Does this mean we have a chance at getting Xanesha? The 3.5 version of her was a killer. I have a Reaper version, but a PPM would be welcome too.

But the prize is Koruvus. I thought he might have been too exotic to be made. But deep down I was hoping he would be. He was a tough one to proxy. (Slight modification of a Dolgrim from Deathknell).

The miniatures all look great, I especially like Malugus.

I will say I'm a bit disappointed (and a bit surprised) we didn't hear anything on the results of your encouraging meetings with WizKids in regards to the issues that has plagued Reign of Winter.

Good news is coming on that front, and you'll hear it in the Paizo blog as soon as we get the details fully nailed down with Wizkids.

Ok, thanks Vic. I'm looking forward to it.

Great news Vic. Let me once again reiterate how nice it is to deal with a company that really communicates with its customers.

I'm assuming the colours on Malagus match the runelord ogres? He seems a little greener but I think that is just the photo.

All three of these miniatures look great. And all there are great choices.

After seeing the fat mayor last week, I was unsure on whether or not you'd make a figure like Justice Ironbriar. The artwork obviously warrants the decision, but I didn't know if you'd fear pumping too many NPC/PC types into one set. I'm glad you did. This guy walks that fine line between great PC and great NPC/Nobility. And spot on with the Rarity selection, as more than one would be rather unnecessary.

I've never used a mutant goblin in any of my campaigns. This particular creature looks so amazing, that I'll likely be adding him to all my campaigns from here on out. As an uncommon, I'll likely get a couple of him in my case. This will allow me to use them as a small group for an encounter, or add them to my mass army of Goblins that I've built. Perhaps he'll serve as the big, ugly freak of the goblin horde. Regardless, I love that he's a something new for my campaigns, but not so out there that it's hard to find a way incorporate him.

By the way, the Mutant Goblin's face reminds me of those old Boglin toys from the 80's. Does anyone else remember Boglins?

The ogre was another figure that I didn't think you'd make. Like Justice Ironbriar, the artwork seemed too good to pass up, but I was concerned because Paizo had already done several other ogres. I'm glad he made it. For my tastes, ogres fall into the category of "it's nice to have a few different sculpts." Like everyone else, I look forward to one day getting a female ogre, but I understand and agree this particular illustration was too good to pass up.

For what it's worth, I feel like each Rarity decision you've made regarding this set has been the right one. Hopefully that streak continues. One thing I realized from the Reign of Winter set--with reduced total of sculpts and thus more per case of each common & uncommon--is that nailing which sculpts go to what Rarity slots becomes more important than ever.

Here the mini still missing from Rise of the runelord (put an * for the most important)

GOGMURT goblin druid rogue (small)*
TANGLETOOTH Fire pelt cougar (small)*
ERYLIUM Female quasit witch (tiny)*
Yap, the pixie's (tiny)

Iesha Foxglove REVENANT (med)
Sheriff Hemlock (med)
THE BlACK MONK Male Azlanti dread mummy monk (med) *
Xyoddin Xeniock Male Azlanti ravenous dread zombie (med)*
JORDIMANDUS Male Azlanti conjurer (med)*
KARIVEK VEKKER Male ghost dwarf expert (med)
SVEVENKA Female icy nymph druid (med)
Myriana Female advanced nymph ghost (med)
MAMMY GRAUL Female ogre kin necromancer (med)*

Avaxial, the pit fiend (large)
Barl Breakbones Male stone giant necromancer (large)*
SCARECROW Awakened flesh golem (large)*
TERAKTINUS Male stone giant ranger (large)
THE HIDDEN BEAST Male vampire decapus (large)
GAMIGIN Male ice devil (large)*
Isvig and Jaansk frost giant brothers (large)
CONNA THE WISE Female stone giant elder sorcerer (large)*
GALENMIR Male stone giant fighter (large)
THE HEADLESS LORD Male fast ogre zombie undead lord fighter (large)

WARDEN OF WINDS cloud giant (huge)*
LAmiA-KlN, HUNGERER (huge)*
SCARLET WALKER outsider (huge)
NIGHTWING (huge)
LOKANSIR Male jotun blood hill giant (huge)

THE HORROR TREE Unique undead treant (Gargantuan)
BLACK MAGGA (garg)**

Thanks for the list. I'm going through the Anniversary Edition now to see if there is artwork for any of these.

Edit: It looks like most of these have artwork. I'm picking out the ones I think we are most likely to see.

I'd be pretty pleased to see Vencarlo Orsini make an appearance! I'm sure he'd be popular for PC's, too. A plague doctor would be awesome too, they look so creepy. Or the Daughter of Urgathoa from the end of the 2nd adventure in CotCT

The miniatures all look great, I especially like Malugus.

I will say I'm a bit disappointed (and a bit surprised) we didn't hear anything on the results of your encouraging meetings with WizKids in regards to the issues that has plagued Reign of Winter.

That is because the discussions have grown even more encouraging, and we need to line up a couple of important details for certain before we announce anything.

But things are moving. Interesting things.

For what it's worth, I feel like each Rarity decision you've made regarding this set has been the right one. Hopefully that streak continues. One thing I realized from the Reign of Winter set--with reduced total of sculpts and thus more per case of each common & uncommon--is that nailing which sculpts go to what Rarity slots becomes more important than ever.

Thanks! That's another great thing about a set that isn't tied to an Adventure Path, at least when it comes to planning set lists. Sometimes an adventure calls for a half-dozen or more combatants from an otherwise pretty rare creature, and that has influenced some of my rarity decisions in the past.

LOVE these, all 3, but especially Ironbriar. He'd make an awesome PC. I also really hope his face comes out well. The goblin mutant is cool, and I like the ogre a lot. I do hope we get Mammy at some point (and I wonder if the mini will include the mudity from the original illustration? I'm indifferent myself, but I'm philosophically curious about how bold Paizo is willing to be about their minis and skin.) Dorella would be cool too (just killed her last night in my own campaign, woot woot!), but I think I might prefer a more martial female ogre.

I'm pretty sure that's what Erik means by being unable to get a good illustration of her - the one in the book is fine to sculpt, except for the nudity

I disagree that it is fine to sculpt, actually. My experience is that sculptors tend to be quite literal (especially in China), and thus it helps to have an illustration that more clearly portrays dimension, scale, etc. Anything particularly stylistic or vague is a killer, and that illustration is a bit of both.

Speaking of irresistible art, I unfortunately was not able to get a good picture of the infamous Mammy Graul in time for this set, so there's at least one more ogre in the offing before I close the book on them. That will have to await a future set. Something to look forward to!

Just for you, Erik, I've posted a little sneak peak of the Graul homestead sidetrek my PCs will be making in my Curse of the Crimson Throne campaign. Mammy Graul is a fairly easy Big Big Bertha Horrorclix conversion; you can find her here.

I used the same mini for mammy graul in my game! I wouldn't mind a few added sinspawn sculpts(lust spawn, glutton spawn etc) mane even another ogrekin since a lone sculpt makes them look like inbred clones.

even another ogrekin since a lone sculpt makes them look like inbred clones.

Which they are, of course, especially when you compare them to their trueblood fathers, the ogres, who have so many wonderful sculpts now. Someone at Paizo must be a huge ogre fan and I have to agree with Erik, Malugus Kreeg's art was awesome indeed, resulting in an impressive mini.

So cool! Customs will kill me though...

Ruyan.

Hi Eric. I'm very pleased with the quality of the minis. Pathfinder minis receive ooohs, and aaahs everywhere they're seen. As someone who would like to buy whole complete collections, rather than buy piecemeal aftermarket singles, might you consider smaller collections priced at the 220.00 range. For many I speak with the disposable income is available but once costs exceed that range, the choice to buy whole collections becomes cost prohibitive. Otherwise, I'm sure most agree the collections are fully worth their cost as-is... but I would like to see more people buying the collections rather than admiring them from afar. Just my 2cp worth of thoughts. Take care.

I believe Erik stated in an earlier post a desire to stick with the current number of Rarities in each size category as much as possible in the forthcoming sets. I believe this means seven different small-sized miniatures of the common rarity. The four base elementals make up four of these seven, so I'm trying to guess what the last three will be.

Here are my guesses:

Intellect Devourer (CE Aberration) -
--I don't think this small creature has a Pathfinder miniature yet, but there is a nice big illustration to be used on page 42 of Magnimar, City of Monuments. It looks like a brain on legs with a long tongue. It can also be found in the first Bestiary on page 180. It's found in the sewers of Magnimar, and thus would make for a great inclusion in the Lost Coast miniature line. My guess is he would be a Small Common miniature.

Attic Whisperer (NE Small Undead) -
--A while back Erik mentioned that he was debating at what level of rarity he wanted to include this guy. I'm not sure he was talking about this line or the next line, but the Attic Whisperer can be found on an Encounter Table on page 51 of Magnimar, City of Monuments. The cool illustration to be used could be found on page 34 of the Bestiary 2. I believe Erik said he was leaning towards making him a Rare or Uncommon, but perhaps with the recent changes he went with the Common slot after all.

Giant Cockroach - (N Vermin) -
--It is hard for me to imagine that we'd get a line called The Lost Coast without getting at least one type of Vermin. While the Lost Coast region consists of many different cities and towns, I believe it also refers to the coastline itself. I believe it's possible we could get a Giant Crab or Giant Mosquito as a Medium common, but the smaller size is harder to figure out. I found Bat Swarms, Mosquito Swarms, Cockroach and Tick swarms throughout the sources for Magnimar and other Lost Coast sourcebooks, but each lacked any art. Even the Bestiaries were bereft of art for such swarms. However, there was a solid drawing in the Bestiary 2 of both a Giant Cockroach and a Giant Tick. I chose the Giant Cockroach because they are found in more places than Ticks, although either type of vermin would suffice. If Erik was able to find good artwork in another source for one of the swarms mentioned above, then I think it's entirely possible we see a swarm of some creature instead.

Hi Eric. I'm very pleased with the quality of the minis. Pathfinder minis receive ooohs, and aaahs everywhere they're seen. As someone who would like to buy whole complete collections, rather than buy piecemeal aftermarket singles, might you consider smaller collections priced at the 220.00 range. For many I speak with the disposable income is available but once costs exceed that range, the choice to buy whole collections becomes cost prohibitive. Otherwise, I'm sure most agree the collections are fully worth their cost as-is... but I would like to see more people buying the collections rather than admiring them from afar. Just my 2cp worth of thoughts. Take care.

If you're a collector looking for a way to obtain a complete set at minimal cost, consider this method. It will take a decent amount of work, but you should be able to end up with what you want without breaking your bank account each release.

Part of the effectiveness of this method also depends on where in the world you live, and thus how much shipping adds to your order. We'll use my situation as an example. I live in Northeast, Ohio.

Step 1: Save up and buy one case by ordering a subscription from Paizo. I realize that this first step flies in the face of the fact that you don't have that much to spend on miniatures. But to make this work, you have to start with this step.

For example: The cost of a case of Pathfinder Battles miniatures through this website using their subscription model is $289.00. It costs me an additional $31.79 to have that product shipped here to my door. When combined, that total comes to $321.78. But Paizo covers $10.00 of the shipping costs if you spend $100.00 or more on their website. Once that reduction is applied, the total cost of a case--with incentive piece--is $311.78.

Now it is time to do some basic math.
-->Each case + incentive piece costs $311.78.
-->Each case includes 128 total miniatures.
-->If you divide $311.78 by 129 (taking into account the incentive piece), you'll get $2.42.
-->This means that you are paying $2.42 per miniature (including the incentive).
-->If you multiply that number by 45, you'll end up with $108.90. This would be the total cost of the complete 45-piece set.
-->Subtract $108.90 from the original $311.78 cost. You end up with $202.88. This marks the ideal amount of money that you hope to receive by the end of this entire process.

Step 2: Open the case and remove all your miniatures. Set aside the 45 miniatures that are necessary to obtain a complete set. Don't forget the incentive piece, as this also counts as one of those 45 pieces. You'll have 84 pieces left over after the 45-piece complete set is removed.

Step 3: Sell these 84 miniatures on the secondary market. There are plenty of shops online that will buy back your miniatures. As long as the total value of each miniature measures out to $2.42 by the time you have sold all 84, you'll "break even". In this particular case, break even means you'll have gained back any extra money over the $108.90 it cost you to complete your set.

If you don't want to sit and go through the process of selling all 84 miniatures through online stores, try doing an auction on ebay. Plenty of DM's troll ebay looking for large collections of creatures--including multiples--at an affordable price. Don't forget that ebay takes a percentage of what you make, so be sure to account for that in your asking price.

Step 4: Once you have that extra $202.88 back, take out whatever you need to get your other finances back on track. If you plan on making this process a habit, I suggest setting that $202.88 aside and adding it to whatever disposable income you accumulate over the next several months for the next line (The Lost Coast line, in this example).

-->In your case, I believe you said that $220.00 per Battles line is your comfortable limit.
-->But because you'll already have $202.88 of the $311.78 total cost of a case set aside for the Lost Coast line, you'll only need to spend $108.90 of your allotted $220.00 disposable income for the new batch.
-->This leaves you with an $111.10 to spend on other fun things in your life, or perhaps to use to go back and purchase other miniatures you might desire.

Step 5: Do not cancel your case subscription. Instead, repeat the first four steps of this process the next time a Battles line is released.

If you continue to set aside the money you make once you sell back the 84 extra pieces you don't need from each Battles line, eventually you'll be buying entire sets for what amounts to nothing. Basically, over the course of a couple releases, you'll have saved enough money that the $108.90 cost per 45-piece set is more than covered by what you've made by selling what you don't need to another consumer.

Keep this up for as long as you desire to increase your collection of Pathfinder Battles lines.
___________________________________________________________________________ ________________

Remember that variables can change, and that these total case costs reflect what it would cost me to do this, not necessarily anyone else. If shipping costs you more, the $2.42 average per figure will rise. If shipping costs you less, the cost per figure will be lower.

Don't forget that not every case is 100% guaranteed to contain an entire 45-piece set. Those that don't are pretty rare, and they should become even less rare with these smaller piece sets. And usually when a case is missing something, it's just one miniature. After following this pattern for a couple releases, you'll have more than enough money to spend on an occasional miniature should you come across a case that doesn't contain an entire set.

I only suggest this method to people that wish to ONLY collect entire 45-piece sets of each Battles line but find it too pricey to buy each miniature individually. For most DM's or players that double as the supplier of miniatures for his or her gaming group, the appeal of buying an entire case is that to obtain multiples of many different creatures, at an affordable price, and most of which make plenty of sense for the gaming table.

Because you're buying an entire case each time Paizo releases a new Battles line, they still get your money. Selling off the extra pieces to recoup your extra costs doesn't negatively affect their bottom line of cases sold. In fact, it actually increases their profit and cases sold. If the current cost of a case is too much for an individual each time a new line is released, they will either sit not the sideline and not by any, or spend what they have to get as many different pieces as they can to complete the set. Nobody gets any of that money in the first scenario, and you still aren't spending the money for a case per release in the second scenario.

In the scenario I propose, Paizo gets to add another tally mark on their cases sold chart, and you get to sit back with a set complete set of all 45 miniatures in each Battles line. And somewhere out there, a DM can purchase a nice selection of miniatures for $2.42 a piece (give or take) to help add to his or her growing collection.

I hope this helps...

That math just doesn't add up.

Omg yes thank you. Can we get a Cona the Wise as well?

There's about a dozen more off of Big Jays list that I would like to see as well

Would love to see a Guffy mini someday since she is hard to proxy for. Great set so far!

That math just doesn't add up.

I admit, I was never a math major. I'm pretty confident, however, that this works out.

As I mentioned before, I rounded off, so the numbers might not match 100%. But it'll only be off a dollar here and there. It won't affect the bottom line.

I've factored this under two assumptions.

The first assumption is that he can find a way to borrow the extra $91.78 he'll need. In addition to the $220.00 he mentioned that he already has available in his Disposable Income Account, this will make up the $311.78 necessary to purchase a case.

The second assumption is that he'll be able to tuck away $220.00 between Pathfinder Battles Line releases into a Disposable Income Account.

He can do this once with the Reign of Winter line. After he pays off the borrowed $91.78, he'll have the option of keeping the remaining money and setting it aside for the next release. Once The Lost Coast line is released he won't even have to find the additional money from another source.

Omg yes thank you. Can we get a Cona the Wise as well?

There's about a dozen more off of Big Jays list that I would like to see as well

If Erik is serious about adding female versions of some of the more iconic fantasy monsters, including Giants, then a Conna the Wise (Female Stone Giant) miniature makes plenty of sense. My only concern is that I believe there is only a head shot of her, right? I don't recall seeing a full body illustration. I'm not as familiar with the sourcebooks that are based in the Lost Coast area, so I don't know if there is another place (besides RotR) with possible Conna artwork.

I get the feeling that most--if not all--of the miniatures Erik chooses for this set are going to be heavily influenced by artwork. And that will likely go double for any of the holdovers from the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path.