Middle of the Month Update for November

Hey Everyone! Already more then halfway through November - how the hell did that happen? - and I wanted to get a mid-ish month update out.

Quick note - all of the miniature links go to the PrintableHeroes catalog website and Patrons may need to log in to be able to access the Patron versions of the files.

Released thus Far this Month

Quick summary and thoughts for what's been released thus far in November.

I needed a barkeeper to represent Durnan in the Dragon Heist campaign I've been running and then thought it'd be fun to do a version with a great sword in case he ever need to fight off trolls or something.

Barkeeper is available here.

Retired Adventurer is available here for Tier 2+ Patrons.

For those of you running Dragon Heist I made the color version I was using for Durnan* available for free here (under the Barkeep entry) 

*Durnan is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC. 

After reviewing WotC's Fan Art policy I realized I could make the Lady of Pain* available for free outside of the DMsGuild. I took the opportunity to clean up the art a bit and add studio cutfiles.

Her Serenity, the Lady of Pain is available here.

*Her Serenity, the Lady of Pain is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.  

Another pair of minis inspired by my need to for a paper mini to represent Volo Geddarm in my Dragon Heist campaign. 

Chronicler is available here.

Wizard is available here for Tier 2+ Patrons.

For anyone running Dragon Heist (or Tomb of Annihilation) I've made the color version I was using for Volo* available for free here (same entry as the Chronicler).

*Volo Geddarm is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.   

This Dryad as been a long time coming. It was created as a special, "Thank you" to  @AkeishaRoberts who very kindly made it a point to spread the word and recommend my work when I first got on Twitter. 

Additionally, my good friend Mike from MapHammer and I hadn't done a collaboration/cross promotion in quite a while so we decided to pair up his wonderful Mystical Grove battle map and my Dryad mini and make them both available to our Patrons.

Dryad is available here, with special versions and the Mystical Grove battle map available to Patrons.

A friend of mine wanted to play a Sciurian Inquisitive in the Dragon Heist campaign I'm running so I decided to modify the Gnome Inquisitive to create a mini for his character. I thought other people may get a kick out of him so I went ahead and released it.

Sciurian Inquisitive is available here.

We hit another major goal milestone this month so to celebrate I made a mini to represent Strahd von Zarovich mounted on a fiery nightmare.

Strahd von Zarovich* is available free here.

*Strahd von Zarovich is unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.  

In the Works

Little preview of what is in the works. Everything maybe subject to change and winds of whimsy. 

With Strahd released, the next Goal Reward we're closing in on is this set of three Intellect Devourers.

I wanted to make a mini that could represent Renaer Neverember in the Dragon Heist campaign I am running which lead to this dashing Swashbuckler. I saw an opportunity to make a traditional bard variation, and then yet another opportunity to make a college of the blade variant, so we should be getting three minis out of this one :D

Like Durnan and Volo, I plan to make a free version of the color option I used for Renaer Neverember available for free.

Expecting to finish up and release these two fine Half-Orc Warlocks after the Swashbuckler.

Updating this older kobold mini to better mesh with D&D's 5th edition expectations for the little fellas. Experimenting with designing the heads and arms/hands to be a bit more modular/swappable

The Kraken design was selected for the community choice Goal Reward so I'll be moving forward with that. Been awhile since I've done such a large mini so I'm excited to see how it turns out :D

For a more complete overview of what miniatures I have in the works please feel free to check out the Trello Board. 

The Council

The Council Voting for Tier 5+ Patrons for November's mini is still open until 11/23. 

Currently the Drow Priestess is beating out the Tortles and the Remorhaz by about 6 votes.

Seasonal Minis

Just a quick reminder that the Fall themed Seasonal Minis got extend to be available till December 1st. So if you haven't grabbed them make sure you do soon, otherwise they won't be back until next fall.

The vote for Winter's themed Seasonal Minis is currently underway and still open to Patrons until 11/23.

Currently Krampus, a Blizzard Elemental, and an Awakened/Holiday Tree are leading the polls. 

Website Update

The latest news on the Website Catalog. 

Alex is finishing up the new filters and sorting and has been not-so-subtly encouraging me to make an Owlbear. We're expecting to have these upgrades implemented by next week. 

News

News and/or recommendations from around the tabletop/RPG community that I find interesting

I'm excited to share the Geek Tank Games latest Kickstarter for tabletop tokens is live! This was the last freelance job I worked on before switching over to PrintableHeroes full time and it was an absolute pleasure to work with Kane from GTG. I'm really excited about the token sets (especially the pit trap and tavern interior). If it's the kind of thing you might be interested in please check it out :)

By happens stance @TrashMobMinis,  @Kevslounge, and myself all did Dryads this last week and Trashie tossed them all in a line-up. Thought it was fun to see the styles comparison and figured I'd share in case anyone was looking out for more paper miniature creators.

Quick Thoughts on Two New D&D Books

Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica is out and I'm enthralled by it. En World has a more in depth review of it up here, but I've include a few of my own thoughts below,

Pros:

• While it perfectly captures the vibe of the Magic the Gathering setting, it's unquestionably written as a D&D book. You wouldn't know it was originally a MtG setting unless you already played MtG and there isn't even a hint of "corporate cross promotion" between the two brands, which I appreciated. 
• More in depth character background options which should be the gold standard moving forward for D&D regardless of setting.
• Continues the more modular location stories/maps approach that was present in Dragon Heist. Very easy to string together and/or re-purpose for your own adventures. 
• More amazing maps by @DysonLogos 
• Domain of Order (Cleric) and Cycle of Spore (Druid) subclasses both look like a lot of fun (first time I've wanted to play either class).
• Gorgeous Artwork throughout the Book

Cons:

• Almost all of the artwork (while gorgeous) is recycled from Magic the Gathering cards, so if you're a Magic player you've probably seen all of this before and there isn't much new in the way of art to inspire/grow the lore of the world.
• The brief sample adventure was a bit uninspired as written, which was a shame since the book is absolutely filled with clever suggestions on how to interweave conflict and intrigue between all of the factions. 

Dungeon of the Mad Mage is also out and I am a bit less enthralled, but still cool. En World also has a more in depth review, but here are a few of my thoughts,

Pros:

• Absolutely dense. This thing is a weighty brick of powder keg dungeons ready to go off. There is enough engaging material to keep any dungeon delving party/DM busy for damn near forever (otherwise known as lvl 5-20).
• Lots of variety in the dungeon inhabitants and their environments. There is a lot for the players to influence as they delve deeper and lots of elements for the DM to play with to keep things interesting.

Cons:

• While the maps were toned down from some of the earlier editions of Undermountain, they're still absolutely massive (and at 1" = 10' scale) so they maybe a challenge to adapt to tabletop game play with miniatures. It's a hurdle that may put me off from ever running these adventures with minis.
• I was a bit disappointed by the lack of detail in the black and white dungeon maps. I wish they'd have had their map artist(s) shoot for a rendering style more consistent with the high bar @DysonLogos has set in Dragon Heist and Ravnica.
• Each dungeon level gets a header illustration, but there is very little art elsewhere in the book. With so many unique and interesting environments, npcs, and situations it is a shame we didn't get to see more art for it.

Alright, I think that's it for this mid-ish month update. Thanks everyone! 

-Marshall