The Paizo offices (or our home offices, I guess) may be closed for the holidays, but that doesn’t mean we can’t show off some of the great new minis coming next month in WizKids’s Pathfinder Battles: Darklands Rising set of prepainted plastic miniatures.
Last week, I hinted that maybe, if you were good, Santa would stuff your stockings with some figures representing many of the ancestries available to Pathfinder Second Edition players. Well, it looks like you were either good enough or critically succeeded in your Stealth checks while being bad, because he left quite the haul hanging from the mantle. Let’s dig in, shall we?
One of the goals of this set, apart from getting 3-D plastic versions of some of the Darklands’ most iconic creatures, was to get more minis into the hands of players whose characters aren’t found in the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. Heck, I wanted to make sure that we were offering something to folks whose characters weren’t even based on the Lost Omens Character Guide, which introduced the lizardfolk, hobgoblin, and leshey ancestries to the game. That meant I needed to look even further ahead—this set was designed around this time last year—to the Advanced Player’s Guide.
Let’s change things up and look at these by rarity. First, the common figures. Here we have the Hellspawn Monk, Hollowborn Rogue, and Tengu Bard, all Medium figures. Not to be ignored in a Darklands-themed set, the Deep Gnome Scout and Deep Gnome Warrior are also present at this rarity (both Small, of course).
At the uncommon rarity, we’ve got the Deep Gnome Rockwarden, Gnome Scout, and Gnome Warrior, both repaints of the common deep gnome counterparts of the same name.
In rare slots, we’ve got the Tengu Jinx Eater and Siora Quinndove, Pathfinder , both Medium figures.
Finally, all of this set’s promo figures are repainted versions of Darklands ancestries. Hopefully we’ll see a return of in-person conventions in 2021 so we can start handing these (as well as promos from a few other recent sets) to attendees who visit our booths or participate in our events. Until then, here is a glimpse at the Gnome Hook Hammer Lurker, Aiudeen Elf Rogue, Ekujau Elf Swashbuckler, and the Gateborn Rogue.
Next week, we’ll usher in the new year with a look at a miniature of life-size proportions coming out the first week in January, and then wrap up Darklands Rising previews with a look at some of fantasy’s finest foes. Until then, Pathfinders, stay safe and have a happy new year!
Mark Moreland
Director of Brand Strategy
The Last Minis Preview (of 2020)
Monday, December 28, 2020