Pathfinder Battles Heroes & Monsters Preview: Getting Into Character

I like that sneaky looking rogue. :)

That thief and murderer is simply adorable!

The elf wizard could just as well just point someone out. "*You* are one crazy cat!"

Rogue: "Phew, what smells?"

Elf Wizard: "I'm going to kill you, and you, and you."

Human Druid: "Am I missing... an eyebrow?"

I like the Mwangi wizard.

PC silly comments about diversity aside*, it's nice to have figures of different ethnic bents. It's disappointing sometimes to say "The Mwangi warriors advance on you, spears and shields raised." and pull out the white skinned human barbarians. ;-)

*

I do like the sculpts of these figures a lot. The Mwangi Druid looks to be the best of the three by far as I love her detail. Why are the details on the Human Rogue and the Elf Wizard so limited? Will the Elf Wizard get some color on the bottom trim of her robes? Just a thought, thanks Erik for the wonderful sneak peak!! Game on friends!!

Hmm...see, the rogue mini, to me, screams "rogue!!!".

The elf wizard mini screams "Caster!!!" and then hastily adds "or haughty elven noblewoman!".

The druid mini, on the other hand, doesn't scream "druid!!!". She doesn't scream at all. She kinda just mutters in a monotone, "I'm taking some groceries to grandma and dropping off the rug at the cleaners. Want me to get you a latte on the way back?" Great color scheme, and nice details, just not druid-y enough for me.

The minis that you've posted pics of so far have been great thus far (imho) but I am a little sad that the list of uncommons I was waiting this week for wasn't here :( another 7 days of waiting! aaaarg!

I think they all look great! I really like the elven wizard. My only gripe is the ears seem a bit too high on the head :o/

I really like the Mwangi. SHe looks awesome, and has a lot of versatility as a mini.

I don't really care for the rogue. I have enoguh of that style. But I can always use more assassins to send at my players.

The elf I will probably do something with the hand. It needs to be wreathed in flame or something. I would love a little trim accross the bottom too.

I have mixed feelings about this batch, although I'm still impressed at the overall quality of what we're seeing.

- I think the Human Druid is really interesting. The colors are great and the detail is amazing. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very "action-oriented" to me. The pose just doesn't say "Pathfinder Battles" to me.

- I like the idea of the Human Rogue...classic pose that's easy to use in a number of settings. But the hat bothers me just a bit, there's something cartoonish about that extended point. Just personal preference, though, I think.

- The Elf Wizard has a great pose, I like the color and the details of the face are nice. But I do find the ears very distracting. They look more like donkey ears than elf ears. I think they need to be more pointed.

(Maybe I'm being too critical. I haven't minded the "extra long" ears that PFRPG elves got, but I just don't think they came out right on this sculpt.)

Still, I do love the detail and care that are going into these minis. I look forward to seeing more...and then holding them in my greedy little fingers. Mwahahaha! ;-)

EDIT: I just realized what it is that bothers me about the human rogue: For some reason, the pose and scaling make me think of hobbits, rather than humans.

I have mixed feelings about this batch, although I'm still impressed at the overall quality of what we're seeing.

- I think the Human Druid is really interesting. The colors are great and the detail is amazing. Unfortunately, it doesn't feel very "action-oriented" to me. The pose just doesn't say "Pathfinder Battles" to me.

- I like the idea of the Human Rogue...classic pose that's easy to use in a number of settings. But the hat bothers me just a bit, there's something cartoonish about that extended point. Just personal preference, though, I think.

- The Elf Wizard has a great pose, I like the color and the details of the face are nice. But I do find the ears very distracting. They look more like donkey ears than elf ears. I think they need to be more pointed.

(Maybe I'm being too critical. I haven't minded the "extra long" ears that PFRPG elves got, but I just don't think they came out right on this sculpt.)

Still, I do love the detail and care that are going into these minis. I look forward to seeing more...and then holding them in my greedy little fingers. Mwahahaha! ;-)

EDIT: I just realized what it is that bothers me about the human rogue: For some reason, the pose and scaling make me think of hobbits, rather than humans.

Keep in mind that you are seeing these images blown up. So I doubt the elf ears will bother you in the actual product.

As for the rogue hat, that is actually a very common european style historically. Yes, they do look cartoony in real life, but a long trail was very popular in some time periods. I have one.

The druid mini, on the other hand, doesn't scream "druid!!!". She doesn't scream at all. She kinda just mutters in a monotone, "I'm taking some groceries to grandma and dropping off the rug at the cleaners. Want me to get you a latte on the way back?" Great color scheme, and nice details, just not druid-y enough for me.

+1

It's also worth pointing out that for this first set, WizKids kind of made the list of what they wanted, and we did our best to find images that worked for those choices based on art we already had.

For Rise of the Runelords, we actually chose all of the miniatures, and even commissioned a bunch of new art specifically with miniatures in mind. I think it's fair to expect slightly more action-oriented poses in future sets, though there really are quite a lot of them in this set as well.

It's also worth pointing out that for this first set, WizKids kind of made the list of what they wanted, and we did our best to find images that worked for those choices based on art we already had.

For Rise of the Runelords, we actually chose all of the miniatures, and even commissioned a bunch of new art specifically with miniatures in mind. I think it's fair to expect slightly more action-oriented poses in future sets, though there really are quite a lot of them in this set as well.

I, for one, really like having some non-action poses present.

For some reason that wizard reminds me of Jeff Dee's artwork.

I know this wasn't explicitly stated as how the sets will break down, but I like that the monsters we saw last week were commons and the PC-oriented figures here are uncommon. If a player uses a prepainted plastic mini, I would rather he use a miniature I don't have by the dozens.

I like that sneaky looking rogue. :)

The rouge reminds me of the Dark Creeper and Dark Stalker from the 1st Ed Fiend Folio, or even an npc from 'The Assassins Knot' - that's a big plus!!

The Druid for some odd reason reminds me of a certain Herbalist* from Falcon's Hollow. I have to argee with Pygon. WHERE are her eyebows ?

I loved the Wizards pose but I am not a big fan of how tall her ears are, and yes I know she's a Golarion Elf. And maybe a little more facial detail? Maybe a headband (of intellect)? Or maybe a bonded item (say a wand) on the right clenched hand.

And I can't wait for 2013 to see the scuplt of the Venedaemon from yesterday's bolg.

*

I have mixed feelings about this batch, although I'm still impressed at the overall quality of what we're seeing.

(Maybe I'm being too critical. I haven't minded the "extra long" ears that PFRPG elves got, but I just don't think they came out right on this sculpt.)

Agreed. I was kind of thinking 'Advance Race Guide: Catfolk' - and I am one of the few who is very meh about Catfolk.

EDIT: I just realized what it is that bothers me about the human rogue: For some reason, the pose and scaling make me think of hobbits, rather than humans.

The scale is what made me think of Dark Creepers as well!

For Rise of the Runelords, we actually chose all of the miniatures, and even commissioned a bunch of new art specifically with miniatures in mind.

That's actually very impressive and amazing to hear!

Keep rocking the Gaming World!

Noel

I just realized what it is that bothers me about the human rogue: For some reason, the pose and scaling make me think of hobbits, rather than humans.

I thought it was a hobbit at first too. I thought - "that's a hobbit, not a halfling!" and then read the blog to find out I was quite wrong.

The elf looks more like a weird bunny/bat-eared furry than the elves I imagine. I would tone down the ears just a bit—perhaps have them just peak out of the hair instead of looking like they're glued on over the hair...

The rogue is classic and very versatile. Good work.

The Mwangi woman is great too. I hope you'll be producing a healthy amount of brown-skinned humanoid figures, representing a variety of roles. Especially as you *hint, hint* start publishing more stuff about even more of Golarion's, er, global south and east. Vudra, please!

Hmm...see, the rogue mini, to me, screams "rogue!!!".

The elf wizard mini screams "Caster!!!" and then hastily adds "or haughty elven noblewoman!".

The druid mini, on the other hand, doesn't scream "druid!!!". She doesn't scream at all. She kinda just mutters in a monotone, "I'm taking some groceries to grandma and dropping off the rug at the cleaners. Want me to get you a latte on the way back?" Great color scheme, and nice details, just not druid-y enough for me.

I cracked up a little reading your post, my first thought with that mini is "Why is she carrying a rug?"

Now I see she has a sack full of lettuce too!

I like the mini, but it really makes me think farmer more than druid.

I cracked up a little reading your post, my first thought with that mini is "Why is she carrying a rug?"

When I looked at the mini, I asked Erik, "Why is this woman carrying her bedroll around? Is she just about to settle down around the campfire? Oh, a scroll you say? That would be some sight to see her unfurling that scroll during combat. "

:)

-Lisa

It`s obviously NOT a `rug`, that`s a YOGA MAT she`s carrying.
Can`t you people spot `deep spiritual mysticism` when you see it!??? ;-P

Okay - I really like the elf and look forward to seeing the gradient colors in her paint job. So that's a big thumbs up there.

I'm a little iffy on the rogue, tbh. But if it is a common or uncommon, I can see a half-dozen of these getting used as thugs, so okay. I'm game on this one as a service piece.

The Druid though... *man*.

There was so much going well with this model and then it seems the sculptor over-reaches. The shoulder patch, or whatever it is, just isn't working. At all.

The hair is very good. That element is working well.

The "scroll"... I'm being kind now ... looks a lot more like a yoga mat. The big pouches on the back go a bit farther than was necessary, too. The leafy stuff on the top? I dunno.

It's a shame really, as the pose looks very natural and the belt -- especially the clasp beneath the waist -- is really well done. (The clasp thing outright *rocks*, actually) The bling hanging off the lower belt totally works for me as does the coloring of her skirt.

Problem is, once you go to red and green as adjacent colors -- those normally clash. The only reason those clashing colors don't scream "Noooooooooo" when they are next to one another is because people in North America associate red+green with Xmas, so we are used to seeing them next to one another. But I don't think I really need Santa-Mae, Mwangi Mistress of Yoga on my tabletop.

Still, this could have been the witch at the bridge in the last encounter of Bloodcove Disguise and I suppose it could have worked. So ... *maybe*.

All that said, I'd change the belt color to something other than red in a hurry.

Looking at the mini "in real life" at the moment, the belts look more brown than red.

Looking at the mini "in real life" at the moment, the belts look more brown than red.

Good enough then.

Dude check out this Torah. Them scrolls are big.

I think she's obviously Druidish.

Oh, a scroll you say? That would be some sight to see her unfurling that scroll during combat. "

-Lisa

That's a scroll of a unique 10th Level Spell yet to be revealed in the future Mythic Level Guide.

I cracked up a little reading your post, my first thought with that mini is "Why is she carrying a rug?"

Maybe she has her Animal Companion tucked in there ala Cleopatra.

To be honest the 'Druid' will make a great stand in for any caster class given that she isn't obviously wearing armour.I like figures with a bit of utility like that

Like them all.

The Rogue's hat gives this thief a unique look from any other PPMs out there.

The Elf Wizard has a great pose. The ears are typical of the donkey-eared Elf races of Golarion. It is about as long as the ears on my Shaleu Reaper mini.

The Druid is different. But it has great utility as also a Shaman or a bystander. It is good to have some figurines in non-agressive poses.

Look foward to seeing them on bases.

Later,

Mazra

I'm not sure where the ridiculous ears suddenly came from with elves. I think it might have been the Poison Elves comic. I like the elves of Golarion, I just ignore the long ears, and envision them more as Tolkein Elves.

The mini would be great, but the ears for the Elf wizard are very distracting.

I like the distinct ears on the Golarion elves.

I like the distinct ears on the Golarion elves.

and that is why when I capture you I shall have your ears clipped! As an example for elven purity!

It's also worth pointing out that for this first set, WizKids kind of made the list of what they wanted, and we did our best to find images that worked for those choices based on art we already had.

For Rise of the Runelords, we actually chose all of the miniatures, and even commissioned a bunch of new art specifically with miniatures in mind. I think it's fair to expect slightly more action-oriented poses in future sets, though there really are quite a lot of them in this set as well.

I think my favorite PATHFINDER artist(besides Wayne Reynolds) is an artist from the deviantart.com community with the username El Grimlock.

Heres a link to his stuff:

http://el-grimlock.deviantart.com/gallery/

.
.
.
If they made a mini for this Frost Giant I'd buy it in a heartbeat:

http://el-grimlock.deviantart.com/gallery/?offset=48#/d325zmm

.
.
.
.
This dwarf too:

http://el-grimlock.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d3e2iep

.
.
.
.
He just has a phenominal style of art.

I like the distinct ears on the Golarion elves.

Me too! At first I was *really* skeptical, but they've really grown on me. (No pun intended). I think it is a nice way to distinguish Pathfinder Elves from the multitude of generic fantasy settings.

I do wish some of the minis were more Wayne Reynolds and less cartoony.

I like the Rogue just fine, but from one angle (the first pic) it looks like he has a big honking nose. I hope that's not the case...

The other two are just fine.

I have several thought trails.

1) At first glance I'm not overly impressed with the paint jobs, but take that with a grain of salt. I stare at professionally done paint jobs on metal minis on a daily basis, and I pain stakingly paint my own minis.

2) My next thought is, "Yay, I don't have to have a mini painted for every creature my players may run into if there's a halfway decent looking mini for them." I may not be impressed with the paint job, but they're still better than a starburst (IMO), and I'll probably invest in one form or another and phase them out with metals as time permits.

3) I'm glad someone is helping all the poor untalented people when it comes to minis. Hooray for Paizo! (Seriously, no sarcasm) I really don't like using wooden tokens if I don't have to or GM's using Driders etc. in the place of horses etc. Ruins my suspension of disbelief and makes a serious session comical on the latter instance.

Maybe it's just me but I think I'd prefer the figs sans bases. I dunno, just seem cooler that way, though I suspect manufacturing requirements and all make that not an option. I can always cut the bases off lol

I have several thought trails.

1) At first glance I'm not overly impressed with the paint jobs, but take that with a grain of salt. I stare at professionally done paint jobs on metal minis on a daily basis, and I pain stakingly paint my own minis.

2) My next thought is, "Yay, I don't have to have a mini painted for every creature my players may run into if there's a halfway decent looking mini for them." I may not be impressed with the paint job, but they're still better than a starburst (IMO), and I'll probably invest in one form or another and phase them out with metals as time permits.

3) I'm glad someone is helping all the poor untalented people when it comes to minis. Hooray for Paizo! (Seriously, no sarcasm) I really don't like using wooden tokens if I don't have to or GM's using Driders etc. in the place of horses etc. Ruins my suspension of disbelief and makes a serious session comical on the latter instance.

Yeah I use some Star Wars minis when I have to. Every time I use Admiral Ackbar some A-Hole yells out "ITS A TRAP!"

ThornDJL7 wrote:

I have several thought trails.

1) At first glance I'm not overly impressed with the paint jobs, but take that with a grain of salt. I stare at professionally done paint jobs on metal minis on a daily basis, and I pain stakingly paint my own minis.

2) My next thought is, "Yay, I don't have to have a mini painted for every creature my players may run into if there's a halfway decent looking mini for them." I may not be impressed with the paint job, but they're still better than a starburst (IMO), and I'll probably invest in one form or another and phase them out with metals as time permits.

3) I'm glad someone is helping all the poor untalented people when it comes to minis. Hooray for Paizo! (Seriously, no sarcasm) I really don't like using wooden tokens if I don't have to or GM's using Driders etc. in the place of horses etc. Ruins my suspension of disbelief and makes a serious session comical on the latter instance.

Yeah I use some Star Wars minis when I have to. Every time I use Admiral Ackbar some A-Hole yells out "ITS A TRAP!"

Maybe they're one of those "trap feat" folks and they think Ackbar took Powerful Sneak or something :)