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I got at least one of every miniature in every case... came down to the last small booster... I thought I would miss out on the spectre!
I like them all but one stands out as odd... the Dire Rat. It is boxed with the gnome fighter. It's size appears to be out of proportion. It is taller and bigger than say the human ranger. I am also not a fan of the druid (very plain) and the manitcore (flat faced and cartoonish). I like the ettin, werewolf and lich to name a few.
My view on the minis.
1-4: Goblins are fine. Like I said awhile ago, I'm disappointed with only two molds (given the size problems with some other minis a big headed goblin seems like a small thing), but nothing you can do now.
5-6: They are fine. I personally liked the original mage-knight version of the orc brute better. But I already have that one so a different version is fine. Also, I have same sized shrek miniatures/toys so they will fit right in.
7: Fine. I like the DDM Skeletal Legionary better, but this one is fine.
8-9: Blah. I know they are suppose to be blah, being just scrub guards, but I'll have to put some paint to make them interesting.
10: Looks a little fishy, so I'll probably use it for a sahuagin. Again, I prefer the original mage-knight version.
11: Nothing big going on here.
12: Pretty creepy, but a little small for a medium creature, probably should have been called small and taken the place of the dire rat.
13: Fine wolf. I personally don't mind the leaping pose, but I know it bother some people.
14: I prefer the DDM Deathrattle Viper, but this is fine. A bit cartoony but it is ok.
15: Mummy seemed a bit skinny/small to me, but other than that, much like the zombie, nothing big going here.
16: I would have liked this guy as a small miniature, kind of boring as a human.
17: Fine miniature. I was a little worried about the knife on the boot, but it turned out so small that I don't even notice it.
18: Goofy ears and kind of boring looking. If this is standard for the elves appearances, I doubt I'll be purchasing very many more in future sets.
19: Face is kind of weird and the sword seems puny.
20: Fine, though the cape thing seems kind of super-dwarfy.
21: I actually like this miniature, but I think it works better for an NPC townsfolk/druid/adept.
22: Again, I liked this guy. If I keep my duplicate, I'll probably repaint it just to differentiate it.
23: A bit too big, but I have been using squirrel miniatures/toys in place of dire rats, and they are about the same size.
24: A bit puny and plain, but otherwise fine.
25: Too small and I think that hurt its appearance.
26: Ok I guess.
27: Sword seems kind of puny.
28: A little big, but not as big as the original mage-knight version.
29: I have mixed feelings on this one. I kind of like the pet snake, but on the other hand, I don't want to feel obligated to include a pet snake into the encounter. Its fine otherwise.
30: A little small, but not as bad as the troll. I still prefer minotaur horns to point out more.
31: Probably the best sized large figure. A bit cartoony, but that is PF's version of ogres. I know someone mentioned how this looked less "human" than other companies. I think it looks more human than most I've seen, I think it would work good as a half-ogre.
32: PUNY. (This along with the dire rat have already been discussed as things they will have to do a better job working with WizKids with).
33: I really like the design. It is probably my favorite design. I would have totally loved this guy if he was just a bit smaller.
34: Fine. I actually put it on par with the chimera from Safari Mythical Realms Toob.
35: Yawn. It is ok, just lacks "character".
36: Creepy! (that's a good thing. sadly I'll never get to use it in my group with the arachnophobe player)
37: A little big, not as bad as the ettin though. I just wish they had made a way to have the extra hand/weapon to be stored onto the miniature.
38: Fine, pretty standard.
39: Fine.
40: A bit boring looking. Too much grey tones.
Dragon: I like the design, but think it seems a bit small (mass-wise) for a huge creature.
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Can someone who ordered a case direct from Paizo answer this one for me please - is their any additional branded packaging around the 4 bricks in a case, or are the 4 bricks just in a generic cardboard box?
Just received my order of a case from Leisure Games in the UK, and I have 4 bricks in a cardboard box, although that box does have some WizKids tape on it. I'm just wondering if they may have split some cases to send out orders for individual bricks and then put 4 loose bricks back in a box and shipped it as a case. That would muck up the grouping of bricks.
Edit: Thanks Dream Daemon.
Can someone who ordered a case direct from Paizo answer this one for me please - is their any additional branded packaging around the 4 bricks in a case, or are the 4 bricks just in a generic cardboard box?
Just received my order of a case from Leisure Games in the UK, and I have 4 bricks in a cardboard box, although that box does have some WizKids tape on it. I'm just wondering if they may have split some cases to send out orders for individual bricks and then put 4 loose bricks back in a box and shipped it as a case. That would muck up the grouping of bricks.
Edit: Thanks Dream Daemon.
As Dream Demon said, no additional wrapping, just 4 bricks in a cardboard box :)
Anyone know where to send the broken figures on Wizkids support site. It's easy to fill out the form but there is no info on where to send them after you do!
......Andrew
Hey auggest - please goto wizkidsgames.com/support or wizkidsreplacementsystem.com. Create a new account and then process your return request. The system is pretty straight forward and does not have a lot of bells and whistles. We'll get your request turned around quickly (much faster than the 6-8 weeks indicated )
Best,
Justin Ziran
WizKids Games
Hey auggest - please goto wizkidsgames.com/support or wizkidsreplacementsystem.com. Create a new account and then process your return request. The system is pretty straight forward and does not have a lot of bells and whistles. We'll get your request turned around quickly (much faster than the 6-8 weeks indicated )
Best,
Justin Ziran
WizKids Games
Hi Justin, by any chance could you please tell me how I can get replacements for 2 damaged Lord of the Rings Heroclix. There's no option for them on the replacements site, and sadly I can not find a customer service e-mail address on the Wizkids site.
Damn ettins! I bought two bricks and 3 large boosters and got FOUR ETTINS out of those 9 larges, including two from the half-case. Sheesh!
My question is as a whole was the set good value? Would you buy a full case again or just the best one?My view on the minis.
** spoiler omitted **...
Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask, because I almost never purchase cases. I rarely try to spend more than $1.50 per miniature anymore, preferring to pick up commons/uncommons on the secondary market.
I would say the set is on par with some of the better Mage Knight sets (with the correct base being a definite bonus). I'm just happy to see more fantasy miniatures, having been "forced" to pick up heroclix that I think can work for my games (of course the lord of the rings set was also nice).
So, I will definitely pick up singles in the future sets, but I doubt I'll preorder again for a while.
Hey auggest - please goto wizkidsgames.com/support or wizkidsreplacementsystem.com. Create a new account and then process your return request. The system is pretty straight forward and does not have a lot of bells and whistles. We'll get your request turned around quickly (much faster than the 6-8 weeks indicated )
Best,
Justin Ziran
WizKids GamesHi Justin, by any chance could you please tell me how I can get replacements for 2 damaged Lord of the Rings Heroclix. There's no option for them on the replacements site, and sadly I can not find a customer service e-mail address on the Wizkids site.
Same spot as Pathfinder support requests. However, we bring the replacement request for HeroClix on anywhere from 30-60 days after release (the date when the replacement product hits our warehouse).
www.wizkidsgames.com/support
-Justin
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My question is as a whole was the set good value? Would you buy a full case again or just the best one?My view on the minis.
** spoiler omitted **...Well, I'm probably not the best person to ask, because I almost never purchase cases. I rarely try to spend more than $1.50 per miniature anymore, preferring to pick up commons/uncommons on the secondary market.
I would say the set is on par with some of the better Mage Knight sets (with the correct base being a definite bonus). I'm just happy to see more fantasy miniatures, having been "forced" to pick up heroclix that I think can work for my games (of course the lord of the rings set was also nice).
So, I will definitely pick up singles in the future sets, but I doubt I'll preorder again for a while.
I agree 100%.
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My question is as a whole was the set good value? Would you buy a full case again or just the best one?My view on the minis.
** spoiler omitted **...
At nearly $300US a case it is expensive. The per miniature cost for DDMs with a case purchase were much less, so it is a tough call. It is a tough call mainly because these miniatures are very good. And Heroes and Monsters is a starter set featuring many miniatures that we have previously seen in PPMs. The next Rise of the Runelord set has the potential to be quite different. There likely will be many miniatures in this set we have never before seen in PPMs. For me personally, that makes it an immediate must buy.
Later,
Mazra
Just announced! See the Press Release here! (It has some info on follow-up sets, as well as a FAQ you'll want to check out.)
We will be making the black dragon case premium available to those who order cases from paizo.com, and in other ways as well. Details on that will be announced later.
We are doing a live unboxing tonight(Friday jan20) if anybody wants to watch at Beerandbattle.com!
We have a whole brick and will be doing shots and various drinking games while opening an entire brick!
I just put in my order for the whole set plus dragon (and an extra frost giant) between Paizo and Auggie's, and I am getting that night before Christmas and I still believe in Santa sort of feeling.
Did you order some Dungeon Crawler minis as well? I received my Kraken Tentacles and Plant Vines along with the Pathfinder single I order and was very pleased with all of them.
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My question is as a whole was the set good value? Would you buy a full case again or just the best one?My view on the minis.
** spoiler omitted **...
There are a number of area that could have made this set much better. Personally I feel the creatures selected were poor. For a first set a better range of common monsters would have been better.
Another point I feel needs to be fixed is some of the paint jobs. They are just to light and colorful and really need to be toned down. Worse case give them a wash at least.
A final suggestion going back to miniature selection for sets is please line them up with the current and/or next AP. if we are going to buy your AP's we likely will buy the mini's for them too.
Overall. For me I feel Paizo is a great company and while this product line needs to improve I wil continue to support it. If however things stay similar to this release I will not.
Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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The next set, Rise of the Runelords, is scheduled for release at the same time as the Rise of the Runelords hardcover edition we're releasing this summer.
We haven't released information on what follow-up sets will be. I will say that it is absolutely amazing how many ducks need to line up in a row in order to pull off something like a concurrent prepainted miniatures release at the same time as a current Adventure Path.
It would be _almost_ impossible.
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The next set, Rise of the Runelords, is scheduled for release at the same time as the Rise of the Runelords hardcover edition we're releasing this summer.
We haven't released information on what follow-up sets will be. I will say that it is absolutely amazing how many ducks need to line up in a row in order to pull off something like a concurrent prepainted miniatures release at the same time as a current Adventure Path.
It would be _almost_ impossible.
I do recall reading that and is one of the main reasons I plan to continue supporting this product.
Regarding the difficulty, sure I can understand this to an extent. The AP's must have some lead time before publishing and the general theme should already be understood before they are fully complete correct? So the miniature line that would be out at that time could line up better.
Please understand that my line of thinking does not mean that every single creature should be represented for each AP by these mini's. I just think interest could even be better if they were more in tune with the most recent AP (even if this meant the last, current and next).
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Regarding the difficulty, sure I can understand this to an extent. The AP's must have some lead time before publishing and the general theme should already be understood before they are fully complete correct? So the miniature line that would be out at that time could line up better.
Please understand that my line of thinking does not mean that every single creature should be represented for each AP by these mini's. I just think interest could even be better if they were more in tune with the most recent AP (even if this meant the last, current and next).
The APs seem to have a 2-3 month (possibly 4) lead time between the time they are passed off to the printer and the time they are shipped to subscribers. This means that when you have volume 1 in your hand, Paizo still may not have gotten the final version of volume 6 back from the author yet. Considering that the master paints for the minis comping out in 6 months are already out (and from these blog posts it sounds like they've been working on them for 2-3 months already)
So with this evidence it seems a minis set needs to be started up to 3 months before the last volume of the AP is finalized.
Here is the breakdown of my case that just arrived.
Common
1. Goblin Warrior (Red) – 3
2. Goblin Hero (Red) – 3
3. Goblin Warrior (Blue) – 2
4. Goblin Hero (Blue) – 2
5. Orc Brute – 2
6. Orc Warrior – 3
7. Skeleton -1
8. Watch Guard – 4
9. Watch Officer – 2
10. Lizardfolk Champion – 2
11. Zombie – 4
12. Giant Spider – 2
13. Wolf – 3
Uncommon
14. Venomous Snake – 2
15. Mummy – 2
16. Human Rogue – 2
17. Human Ranger – 2
18. Elf Wizard – 2
19. Half-elf Cleric – 2
20. Dwarf Fighter – 3
21. Human Druid – 2
22. Gnome Fighter – 2
23. Dire Rat – 2
Rare
24. Gargoyle -2
25. Half-orc Barbarian 1
26. Spectre – 3
27. Seelah, Human Paladin – 2
28. Werewolf – 2
29. Medusa – 2
30. Minotayr – 3
31. Ogre – 2
32. Troll – 1
33. Ettin – 2
34. Chimera – 1
35. Manticore – 1
36. Giant Caveweaver Spider – 1
37. Frost Giant (w/2 hands) – 1
38. Succubus – 1
39. Lich – 2
40. Vampire – 1
Black Dragon - 1
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Regarding the difficulty, sure I can understand this to an extent. The AP's must have some lead time before publishing and the general theme should already be understood before they are fully complete correct? So the miniature line that would be out at that time could line up better.
Please understand that my line of thinking does not mean that every single creature should be represented for each AP by these mini's. I just think interest could even be better if they were more in tune with the most recent AP (even if this meant the last, current and next).
The APs seem to have a 2-3 month (possibly 4) lead time between the time they are passed off to the printer and the time they are shipped to subscribers. This means that when you have volume 1 in your hand, Paizo still may not have gotten the final version of volume 6 back from the author yet. Considering that the master paints for the minis comping out in 6 months are already out (and from these blog posts it sounds like they've been working on them for 2-3 months already)
So with this evidence it seems a minis set needs to be started up to 3 months before the last volume of the AP is finalized.
Totally on the same page here with you. But Paizo is not blind sided by the content of AP's even as the author writes it. There is some type of synopsis submited before it is approved to be even written. If the writer intended to write an AP with alot of undead it wouldnt be difficult for Paizo to request a rough break down of what the author intended to have in there. Such as skeletons (armored/unarmored), wraith, shadow and the final boss being a dracolich at the end of AP 6. They could then say ok we know these are some of the intended encounters and we have yet to produce these miniatures.
Granted my experince has been limited to independent scupltors and small spin casting. This scale would be a larger endeavor for sure and prove to be more work at the front. But producing a quality AP and then hitting us with some great mini's that go along with that is good for us and good for them.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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One element you're forgetting is that in order to sculpt a mini, we need art for the sculptor to base it on. It takes about a month from the day we ask an artist to draw something to the point where we have a finished piece.
So take a random villain from, say, the first installment of an Adventure Path that begins in August. Let's say we want to release a concurrent minis set in August, at the same time that the Adventure Path starts.
In order for the adventure to come out in August, we need to have it to the printer in early March (or so). We generally need the finished image for about a month before we ship to the printer, which means we're ordering it from the artist in February, six months before you will see it in the game store.
With all of the tooling and sculpting that needs to go into miniatures, add at least two more months to that, which means we'd really want to order the art for the Adventure Path miniatures EIGHT MONTHS or more prior to the point where that art is seen by the general public. Until recently, that's been before we even have an outline for the AP, and it's WAY before the adventure itself is written.
So what weapons does the guy have? What does he look like? You can't figure that out from the module, which does not exist at this point, so you've got to cull the information from the campaign outline (assuming it's finished, which it probably isn't) and give the artist a fair amount of leeway to decide how to kit out the character, and then force the author to write his adventure with some of the villain decisions already made for him.
This is _almost_ impossible, and until we started working much further ahead about a year ago, it would be 100% impossible.
In order to release a set of miniatures this upcoming August that ties into the Adventure Path we'll be launching in August, artists would already need to be working on the art, and sculptors would need to get started any day now.
It would be an undertaking of Herculean scope, a project coordination task achievable only by the living gods.
It would be awesome, though, wouldn't it?
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This is _almost_ impossible, and until we started working much further ahead about a year ago, it would be 100% impossible.
I'm curious: what changed that permitted you to work farther ahead? Was that a consequence of bringing Rob McReary on as AP developer to permit James Jacobs to do more outlining and get ahead of the production curve -- or was it something else?
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Please dont misunderstand my suggestion as criticism, and yes I do realize that more work is involved in this idea. There was a time when your public requested prepainted miniatures and Paizo was not planning to do so and look where we are now. Perhaps at that time the idea of having this product seemed unrealistic? No one expects you to go from nothing to perfection overnight, but taking these ideas into account in your business plan couldnt hurt.
Regarding needing a specific weapon to a specific character in an AP I would not expect this unless this move could be used as another generic miniature. In a perfect world it would be awesome for me to have every miniature armed and looking the exactly the way it is described that is very unrealistic.
Recently I reran Council of Thieves and took the time to purchase prepaint and convert/paint to have a mini for nearly all the encourters included ones I added. The added value that my group had for nearly every encounter was very rewarding. To be able to recapture this experince easier for myself and other groups is priceless in my opinion.
I'd just been going to toss a couple of packets into an order and noticed that the store seems to be out of large boosters. Nice to see that it's doing well, but any idea when they will be available? Cheers!
I suspect it's a glitch (since you can still sign up for a subscription, so Paizo clearly have some unopened cases remaining).
The same thing happened a few days ago with the large boosters showing as unavailable. After a while they showed up as purchaseable again.
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CEO
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I'd just been going to toss a couple of packets into an order and noticed that the store seems to be out of large boosters. Nice to see that it's doing well, but any idea when they will be available? Cheers!I suspect it's a glitch (since you can still sign up for a subscription, so Paizo clearly have some unopened cases remaining).
The same thing happened a few days ago with the large boosters showing as unavailable. After a while they showed up as purchaseable again.
Nope, we are indeed out of large boosters and they won't be restocked. The only way to get those large boosters now is through bricks and cases, and those are dwindling very fast as well!
-Lisa
We haven't released information on what follow-up sets will be.
It would be _almost_ impossible.
It would be an undertaking of Herculean scope, a project coordination task...
Understood. Thank you. <Grin>
I'd just been going to toss a couple of packets into an order and noticed that the store seems to be out of large boosters. Nice to see that it's doing well, but any idea when they will be available? Cheers!I suspect it's a glitch (since you can still sign up for a subscription, so Paizo clearly have some unopened cases remaining).
The same thing happened a few days ago with the large boosters showing as unavailable. After a while they showed up as purchaseable again.
Nope, we are indeed out of large boosters and they won't be restocked. The only way to get those large boosters now is through bricks and cases, and those are dwindling very fast as well!
-Lisa
Ah. My mistake.
Got one full case and got a complete set so I was happy
Besides the Specter Shattering when it fell off the game table
I'd just been going to toss a couple of packets into an order and noticed that the store seems to be out of large boosters. Nice to see that it's doing well, but any idea when they will be available? Cheers!I suspect it's a glitch (since you can still sign up for a subscription, so Paizo clearly have some unopened cases remaining).
The same thing happened a few days ago with the large boosters showing as unavailable. After a while they showed up as purchaseable again.
Nope, we are indeed out of large boosters and they won't be restocked. The only way to get those large boosters now is through bricks and cases, and those are dwindling very fast as well!
-Lisa
Wow, not even a month and already through the print run for larges? I am glad it's selling well, but did not expect it would start to become that hard to find minis this early on.
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Chief Creative Officer, Publisher
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This is _almost_ impossible, and until we started working much further ahead about a year ago, it would be 100% impossible.
I'm curious: what changed that permitted you to work farther ahead? Was that a consequence of bringing Rob McReary on as AP developer to permit James Jacobs to do more outlining and get ahead of the production curve -- or was it something else?
Good management.
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Nope, we are indeed out of large boosters and they won't be restocked. The only way to get those large boosters now is through bricks and cases, and those are dwindling very fast as well!
-Lisa
Wow! Very cool. Can we say that Heroes & Monsters was a success? This is great news. I truly wished great success for both Wizkids and Paizo in this endeavor, and the end result may mean MORE MINIS! Yeah!!
Later,
Mazra
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Chief Technical Officer
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There was a time when your public requested prepainted miniatures and Paizo was not planning to do so and look where we are now.
Just to get ahead of revising history... when asked that question, we've always replied that we'd *love* to have Pathfinder minis in prepainted plastic, but that we aren't in the business of making minis.
And we still aren't! WizKids makes them for us.
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Chief Technical Officer
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With all of the tooling and sculpting that needs to go into miniatures, add at least two more months to that, which means we'd really want to order the art for the Adventure Path miniatures EIGHT MONTHS or more prior to the point where that art is seen by the general public.
And remember that Erik's example was for a villain from the *first* volume. If you want stuff from volume 6 in that set as well, add five more months!
There's got to be a way to get that far ahead of the game.
What about alternating every month between new release AP's and updated reprints of Curse of the Crimson Throne, Second Darkness, and Legacy of Fire?
Not only would this get you ahead of the game, but for Mini releasing purposes, you already know what those updated paths have.
Seems like win/win to me.
And that took me 5 minutes to think up, so there might be even better ideas out there. :)
Actually, it suddenly occurred to me that there's a down-side to the idea of releasing a set of minis coinciding with an AP:
Spoilers.
It's easy enough to keep players in the dark when the 6th book BBEG isn't clear for the first few books. It also requires them to do deliberate digging to find out what's ahead of them. On the other hand, very casual "what does Paizo sell" browsing will likely reveal more than a GM might wish.
That said... I'll take the risk.
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Actually, it suddenly occurred to me that there's a down-side to the idea of releasing a set of minis coinciding with an AP:
Spoilers.
It's easy enough to keep players in the dark when the 6th book BBEG isn't clear for the first few books. It also requires them to do deliberate digging to find out what's ahead of them. On the other hand, very casual "what does Paizo sell" browsing will likely reveal more than a GM might wish.
That said... I'll take the risk.
Great point but I would also argue cover art of the AP's could do this as well.
All in all if these mini's continue to sell out I hope that this line will only continue to grow. If that turns out to be the case we should see most mini's we will need. Being that paizo has grown to be the most respectable gaming company around at this time in my opinion I think that this is likely to happen.
On another thought is there any thoughts of giving a better incentive to those of us that subscribe to the cases when they come out? I do realize that the black dragon was nice but I could have bought that on eBay a the case from an online store and still saved 50+ bucks.
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Chief Technical Officer
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On another thought is there any thoughts of giving a better incentive to those of us that subscribe to the cases when they come out? I do realize that the black dragon was nice but I could have bought that on eBay a the case from an online store and still saved 50+ bucks.
Because this isn't a Paizo product, we don't have especially huge margins to play with here. That said, case subscribers *do* get more than just guaranteed access to the case premium at a 75% discount—they also get a 20% discount on an Encounter Pack for each case purchased, and 20% off all Pathfinder Battles singles.