Frostgrave Characters - Potion Master and Alchemist

I love the adaptability of Frostgrave. Like many of my favorite rules sets of late - SAGA, Lion Rampant and Dragon Rampant, nothing ties you into a specific figure manufacturer's line. Of course, Northstar's dedicated line of Frostgrave plastics are excellent, but what about the metal characters?

In all honesty, I wish they were a bit larger. It is fine that the plastic sprues fit in with historicals, but I would like it if the metals stood out as bit more heroic. The potion master below is actually a bit smaller than the plastics. Which probably fits with the way it would work, but I like a little more heft out of my metal fantasy figs.

I bought the pack pretty much for the potion master. He's a really unique character and tough to find a suitable stand in among my collection. The marksman is not terribly interesting - any Crusader Miniature crossbowman could stand-in for that roster slot.

Here's some treasure markers I made up using Hirst Arts casts - barrels, treasure chests, a stack of books and some sacks. 

Finally, my last minis of the week are not Frostgrave related directly, but I suppose one could make them work. Both are Reapers, one is a half orc and the other is an ogre, although I painted them with the idea that the smaller guy is a half-ogre - a father/son pairing, perhaps. 

Oberon Half-Orc and Ogre Chieftain

Female Adventurers from Reaper

A small party of female adventurers from Reaper, a warm-up for my soon to be posted Oathsworn female adventurers. 

The first on the right is in Bones plastic and the other two are metals. As it is from the first bones, it suffers a bit from a lack of details. It is also a bit tall for a figure that should be a halfing...or is it a dwarf? I have detailed my problem before with Reaper's "not small enough" halflings - but it is a nice figure. 

Bailey Silverbell

Liriel Silverlocks, Elf Bard

Magda Mintsilver

The dwarf above will probably end up as an NPC in a dwarven village, although I don't suppose there are too many dual wielding blacksmiths. Maybe it is a 3rd edition feat.

Dragoth Undead King

I had this miniature finished a few weeks ago - for Halloween, in fact. My son, who is a big Nightmare Before Christmas fan, nicknamed him Jack and it stuck. He's been the big baddy in a couple of Open Combat games.

The mummies were painted mostly by son, who is six. As I have stated before, the real appeal of the Bones kickstarter's is cheap miniatures for my son and daughter to paint at a low entry price. And for a mummy, it was a good basic lesson. Paint it skeleton white, sepia wash and drybrush the highlights.

Female Adventurers

Here is a quartet of female adventurers from Reaper Bones plastic. Below, a female paladin and wizard, both ready for some Frostgrave action.

The caster is from Bones I, and the problem with indistinct facial details are particularly noticeable on that figure. The severity may vary from figure to figure, but it has improved on the most recent Bones release.

Below, the two female adventurers from the Dragons Don't Share set. Fine details on the face and clothing are noticeably better here. 

The two face off against a Warg, also from Reaper Bones. The terrain tiles are by Acheson Creations. Cast in a hard plastic, they paint up very nicely and will work in a variety of situations. Check for updates later.

Fire & Ice: Reaper minis for Frostgrave

This week I worked on my Reaper I backlog, in part due to some Frostgrave inspiration.

First, the fire elemental which is cast in red translucent plastic. I held back on this mini because I had some plan of drilling out the bottom and installing an LED. No shortage of examples are out there on the web, but I pretty much decided that after two years that was a project that would never get off the backburner.

So, here it is, ready for summoning by an elemental wizard. I quickly applied some basic yellow highlights with hot ash and coal on the base. 

I really like this Frostgiant Princess, although it looks more like a shaman than a noble. Some of the design elements have an Inuit influence, or possibly Saami. 

Frostgrave

Frostgrave is the mini hit of the summer, and I have certainly fell under its spell. Part of its appeal was that, like Open Combat, any miniatures could be used. With plenty of Reaper Bones on hand, I bought the rulebook, and passed on the official wizard and soldier minis.

That was the plan, but the book was illustrated with so many beautifully painted miniatures that I gave in and ordered the box of plastic figures from Brigade Games.

The sprues are well stocked with so many options that one could assemble all 20 with no noticeable repetition. The two handed weapons (great sword, battle axe) will be in my next batch.

Here is my planned warband - a Sigilist wizard and his apprentice, both from Reaper. The plastic miniatures are closer to the 28mm standard used by historical manufacturers. In fact, many of their arms and weapons will fit with Gripping Beast's plastic figures. I'll post some examples next week. But as you can see below, many fantasy manufacturers tend towards the taller side of 28mm (really 32mm). The two don't necessarily look out of place together, but there is a noticeable differential. 

I have also been busy assembling some Frostgrave terrain from my Hirst Art blocks. One of the nice things about building ruined terrain is that I don't have to use clamp and guides to line up the blocks straight and true. Buckled walls, gaps and other irregularities are the desired outcome in this case.  

Minotaurs

Now that the Minotaur is a semi-official PC race for D&D from the online Unearthed Arcana, I thought I should paint up my Reaper Minotaurs in case any of my players wants to try one.  I am generally not opposed to creature races and I generally like "kitchen sink" campaign settings, but...the Minotaur is way out there. 

The is the Minotaur from the first Reaper Bones. Very Greek, looks like something Kratos would fight.

From the second Reaper Bones are these two Minotaurs. On the left, is a failed experiment.  I wanted a white bull as a Minotaur, but I struggled with the armor. I probably should have gone with an iron black look, but a did a blue glaze over chainmail silver and arrived at a neat way to do metallic colors. It still doesn't look right for the bull, but on another figure it would work. On the right is a basic gladiator type, pefect for a PC barbarian or fighter.

And from the back...

Other beastmen types:

The goatmen might make a good substitute for smaller, PC sized Minotaurs. Keeping them as goatmen, you could replace the Goring Rush feature with a Climb feat - move up rocky and sheer surfaces at normal speed.  Less practical than the Minotaur, but a cool companion for a mountain dwarf. 

Into the Woods

One of the many things I like about Reaper's variety is its focus on a variety of "worlds" within typical RPG fantasy, such as aquatic, subterranean and of course, the forest.

From the first Reaper Bones is this Not-Ent, officially titled Spirit of the Forest. It is a large figure, but it could stand to be a bit bigger; another 2 cm and I could picture a couple of halflings riding on its shoulders. Maybe in Bones III we can get some proper giant tree men.

From Reaper II, are these centaurs.  The sculpts are very nice, but the female centaur's spear shows one of the primary weakensses of the Bones line: thin weapons or extensions. Despite several treatments in boiling water and cold water, the spear returned a warped form. Oh well, maybe it is a spear made from a naturally crooked branch. 

The sylph and dryad below are also from Reaper II.

 My daughter so liked the Sylph mini that she wanted to play one in our D&D 5E game. She's 10, and not likely to abuse or exploit the flying rules, so we went with it.  Using the DM Guide, I created this race using the Aaracokra as template.  Their flying has been reduced to fluttering basically, but that is to justify their numerous other abilities from Fey ancestry.

SYLPH

The Sylph are spirits of the air from the fae world. They are happiest soaring on the wind above mountains and hills.

APPEARANCE

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As winged beings, slyphs resemble fairies and pixies, however they approach the size of small humans. Both males and females average about five feet tall, without much extreme variation. They are much more slender than humans or even elves, weighing about 80 to 110 pounds. Their gossamer wings are thin and graceful, and are capable of carrying the sylphs aloft over short distances. Slyphs skin coloration spans the same range as humans, but also includes tones with a copperish or silverish sheen. Hair coloration is also similar to humans in addition to bright reds, greens and blues.

ATTITUDE

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Sylphs make their homes at high altitudes where they can be close to the wind. Nonetheless, they are also curious about the world below them and will periodically travel far from their home. They are most wary of humans, for it is greedy humans who often try to capture and rip them their wings from them. Though they do not understand why Dwarves so prefer the subterranean world, they recognize the natural goodness of their society. Orcs and other goblinoids are even more distrusted but rarely sought out by the sylphs.  But as individualists themselves, the sylphs know that all people are unique and not bound by their racial tendencies.

CREATURES OF THE WIND

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Sylphs live atop mountains and remote highlands where they can soar on the winds. Contact with settled races is rare, but they will find companions among woodland creatures and air elementals especially elves, eladrin and aarakocra.

SYLPH TRAITS

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The sylph has a number of natural abilities as a fey born creature.

Ability Score Increases. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Charisma increases by 1.

Age. While not quite as long lived as elves, sylvans can live for several centuries.

Alignment.  As an isolated nature loving race, sylphs favor neutral alignments, and evil slyphs are rare but not unheard of.

Size. Sylphs are usually about 4 ½ to a little over five feet tall, and weigh around 80 to 100 pounds.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Flight. You have a flying speed of 30 feet, and can fly for a maximum of 3 rounds before alighting. They can glide at a rate of 20 feet horizontal and 5 feet on the vertical as long as distance and air currents can provide. Sylph cannot fly is wearing Medium or Heavy armor.

Languages. You can speak, read and write Common and Sylvan.

Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Fey born. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.

Collection of Reaper Bones II Bad Guys

This past week's work on Bones II was a few of the common enemies low level players generally encounter. Reaper's Bugbears are especially fun to paint. On many smaller character figures, the Bones plastic is indistinct on detail.  On the very large creatures, there is a tendency to distort under its own weight. However, there is a definite sweet spot on the large to giant-ish size creatures for the Bones line.  The cost saving over metal is significant and the loss of detail is minimal.

Two Gnolls with morning stars. This again plays well to Bones' strengths. On a metal figure, a long metal extension would bend and eventually break off.  In Bones material, the morning star is flexible and if it bends in shipping (as swords and spears often do), that matters not. 

Dark Sun

I am always on the lookout for minis that I can fit into a Dark Sun campaign.  As I have said before, the world of Athas is one of my favorite fantasy settings, for it is a rich blend of John Carter's Mars, Frank Herbert's Dune, Robert E. Howard's Conan along with some pre-WOTC TSR weirdness.

The barbarian below is from the first Reaper Bones.  While the over the top sword and armor would be out of place in a traditional Forgotten Realms style fantasy, it is perfect for Dark sun.  The weapons and armor have a bit of the bone and chitin look for the metal-impoverished Athas.  

The barbarian below is from the first Reaper Bones.  While the over the top sword and armor would be out of place in a traditional Forgotten Realms style fantasy, it is perfect for Dark sun.  The weapons and armor have a bit of the bone and chitin look for the metal-impoverished Athas.  

The recent Elemental Evil Player's Companion inspired this levitating Genasi. While the four new races (Aaracokra, Deep Gnomes, Genasi and Goliath) are intended for the Forgotten Realms, a text box refers to Genasi in Dark Sun.  Hopefully, this is a sign of something in the works for new campaign settings.

The source is Reaper Bones II, a Pathfinder figure, but painted as a desert dwelling Air Genasi Wizard, using his Levitate cantrip.

Bugbears

I need some Bugbears as I run some kids through the Lost Mine of Phandelver D&D 5E adventure. Luckily, I got a small horde of them from Reaper Bones II.

Bones from Bones II

For the foreseeable future, this will probably turn into a Reaper Bones II blog, as most of my fantasy painting will come from the just delivered load of plastic sitting beside my painting table.

However, this first offering is from my new painting partner, my 5 year old son.  He wants to play and undead army in our new favorite skirmish game, Open Combat, so he is claiming most of the skeletons and zombies as his.  He did the block painting and the washes, while I did the touch ups and basing. 

I am a proud Dad, and what's better, is that he is ready to paint even more.  This is probably the real strength of the Bones Kickstarters - lots of cheap but good miniatures for young painters and novices. 

The Griffin

This week's work was on a Griffin from Reaper's Bones line.  The sculpt is fantastic - detailed and dynamic; the production quality is also excellent.

I am not overly proud of my paint job, but it looks fine on the table.  A mini of this quality should have received more attention but with a pile of Reaper II in the Hobby Room, this will have to do. Actually, the only real shortcut is on the basing.  The Griffin really needed a higher built up base, like a cliff edge from which to attack.

As a DM, I can't recall ever using a Griffin in a game.  I picked this up mainly because a) it looks fantastic and b) it will work great in the Of Gods and Mortals miniature game.

For comparison purposes, here is the Griffin beside a Reaper player figure. I don't think the Assassin has much of a chance.

Short People got...

A gnome mage and a dwarf monk.  Both are from Reaper, but the mage is from the Bones line and the monk is metal.  

Excellent sculpting on both of them, and whoever heard of dwarf monks?  I had to have it and roll up a character just for it.

Mice and Mystics Heroes

Here are some mouselings from Plaid Hat's Mice and Mystics boardgame.  It is great fun and an excellent way to get your 5+ year old children into fantasy board games.  The miniatures are made of plastic or a resin-plastic and are well detailed for board game pieces.

With the Reaper Bones II Kickstarter close to delivery, I am hoping the Mouselings in that set will be compatible with these guys for some expanded off-board adventures

Dark Sun Mul

Googling a bit will show that I am not the first person to turn this Reaper figure into a Dark Sun Mul Gladiator - but I would like to state that I had the idea before I saw those previous versions.

The Dark Sun campaign world included a wonderful race that rarely appears in fantasy or gaming literature - the half dwarf.  It combines the best of both worlds - as tall as a human, but as stocky as a dwarf.  Sterile and hairless, "muls" are favored as gladiators in the arenas of Athas' city states. 

The figure below is a Reaper Bones barbarian whose conversion to a Mul requires only a specific skin tone and a bone blade in place of metal.   

Goblins and Kobolds

The release of the new D&D starter set with included adventure runs an encounter - spoiler - with goblins early in the module. Of course it does - how can an adventure for 1st to 5th level characters not have goblins?...Only if it has kobolds instead.

Here are small force of kobolds and goblins in honor of D&D obviousness.

My goblins are always blue, by the way, because of this guy: 

If you haven't read the Goblin series by Jim Hines, then you must not like laughing. Funny, but not ridiculous, and a nice subversion of your usual fantasy tropes. 

Norse Legends

Since I bought the Greek legends for the Of God's and Mortals ruleset, I needed some opponents - hopefully at a cheaper price.  The book lists stats for many gods and creatures, aside from those officially released as miniatures.  On the right is a Reaper Bones Valkyrie.  It is a great sculpt, richly detailed but it suffers from the "bendy" sword issue that plagues some (many) of the Reaper Bones. It tried the boiling water dip, which has worked in the past, but with the size of the sword and its thinness, nothing seemed to work.  I open to suggestions.

In the center, is a cheap 54mm Viking from a bagged set.  I think he will be Balder, Thor's doomed brother - who sadly never made an appearance in the Marvel movies.

A Gripping Beast 28mm Viking is on the left to give a scale perspective.

Dark Sun Elf

One of my favorite D&D settings is Dark Sun, although I have seldom had the opportunity to play a long campaign in that game world.  For those not familiar, imagine a typical D&D world of wizards, elves, dwarfs, humans and other monsters.  Then imagine a magical event on the order of a nuclear holocaust that has upended the usual fantasy tropes.  Halfings?  Happy but shy farmers and villagers have now become savage cannibals.  Dwarves?  Still industrious but now hairless surface dwellers.  And elves are no longer mystical and coolly serene but are wandering merchants and raiders not to be trusted.

Ral Partha miniatures made for Dark Sun pop up on ebay and other used dealer from time to time and are becoming fairly expensive.  Furthermore, their "true" 25mm scale doesn't match up well with the 28mm heroic style of modern miniatures.  Luckily, it is not to hard to adapt current minis into the Dark Sun world.  Athas is hot, arid and metal is very rare.  So lightly dressed character in leather or fabric, and weapons should appear to be bone or stone.  High ranking character would have metal weapons, but they are rarer than a +2 sword in a typical campaign world.

This figure instantly screamed Dark Sun to me. Athasian elves were speedy runners and the none too smooth finish on the weapons could pass for bone.  As part of the Reaper Bones line, I found some of the facial detail a little less distinct than on the original metal figure.  However, the weapons were well molded and straight, and did not require the boiling water dip to reset them.

Reaper Bones Iconic Elf Merisiel 

RPR89009

Reading Recommendation

Troy Denning's five book series about the world of Athas is a minor classic of world-building.  The Verdant Passage, The Crimson Legion, The Amber Enchantress, The Obsidian Oracle and The Cerulean Storm can be found on kindle or in used book stores where I found most of mine.

Also worth getting from a few years ago is the IDW graphic novel Ianto's Tomb.  It's less epic than the five book series but the artist does a great job in capturing the look of Athas as many imagined it.