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. 

Oriental Adventures into 5th Edition: Korobokuru

     Oriental Adventures came in 1985 at the tail end of the 1st edition/AD&D era. Released as a hardcover, it introduced many concepts such as skill proficiency, comeliness, and honor. Of course, the real draw was new classes such ninja, samurai and wu jen. Other classes, such as barbarian and monk were repurposed to better fit the new setting. To an 11 or 12 year old who grew up on Kung Fu Theater every Saturday afternoon, this was a prize. From the classic cover to an Asian bestiary, this is an AD&D collector's essential..
       The setting of Kaan-Tur was initially meant to be the Oriental end of a generic European medieval world, probably Greyhawk. In 1987, it was specifically stated to be in the Forgotten Realms. A later edition of Oriental Adventures (for 3E) would place the story in Rokugon, of Legend of the Five Rings Fame. A good book, but one that was at cross purposes with itself. Many of the races and classes it contained were not a part of the setting the book described, and so the book never worked to a coherent whole.
The original Oriental Adventures contained only three non-human player character races, all of which I will adapt in the coming weeks.  First, the dwarves of Kara-tur:

KOROBOKURU

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The Korobukuru are a race of eastern dwarves who make their home deep in the jungle, on snowy mountains or in remote forests.  They rarely venture outside of their villages, and avoid contact with humans and other intelligent races.

Dwarf monk from Reaper Miniatures

Standing about 4 feet tall, the Korobokuru are nonetheless stout and powerful. Their long, hairy arms and slightly bowed legs and sparse beards give them a comical appearance to many humans. Nonetheless, they are extremely strong and hardy
Korobokuru live in small settlements where they farm, hunt and work at simple crafts. They are often considered primitive by settled and more advanced peoples, though the korobokuru’s pugnacious and boastful nature will not tolerate insults. Korobokuru adventurers who travel outside of their villages are most often barbarians, but might also include rangers and druids.  

KOROBOKURU NAMES

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Names are very important in Korobokuru culture. In addition to the clan name, parents give children a name or nickname at an early age. Upon reaching adulthood, another name is taken, which is mostly kept secret. Only very close family members or companions are told this secret name.

Male Names. Akihi, Horohoro, Isonash, Koshaman, Menkakush, Mici, Nupur, Pasekur, Resak, Takhaka,

Female Names. Api, Hotene, Katekemat, Kateyui, Mina, Oki, Opere, Nupeki, Pirka, Saki, Toitoi, Umoshmatek,

Clan Names. Hakket, Jomo, Kapo, Karafuto, Niputay, Ponape, Yezo,

KOROBOKURU TRAITS

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Your Korobokuru character has a variety of characteristics in common with all other Korobokuru.

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution Score increases by 2 and your Strength increases by 1.

Age. Korobokuru mature at the same rate as humans, but they are considered young until they are 50 years of age. On average, they live about 350 years, although rare ascetics among them may live much longer.

Size. Korobokuru stand between 3 ½ to 4 ½ feet tall and average about 125 lbs. Your size is Small.

Alignment. The majority of Korobokuru are chaotic or neutral, especially in their relations with outsiders.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Type. You are of the humanoid type.

Darkvision. Accustomed to the dark forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in the dark. You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if you were in bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You cannot identify color in the darkness, only shades of grey.

Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison and you have resistance to poison damage.

Hardy. You have advantage on all Strength and Constitution saves against magic.

Toughness. Your hit point maximum increases by 1, and it increases by 1 every time you gain a level.  

Languages. You can speak Korobokuru, Trade and Hengeyokai.

Close to the Wild. You have proficiency in the Nature skill. If attempting to identify plants and animals of your clan's native area, you have Advantage on skill checks.

Oriental Adventures for AD & D at rpgnow.com

Conversion notes: This is basically a 5th edition hill dwarf with a few changes. They have the nature proficiency instead of a tool proficiency. A couple of gnomish traits (small size and magical resistance) replace the armor and weapon proficiencies and bonuses. The names are borrowed and adapted from Ainu names. Korobokuru are a part of Ainu folklore and the Ainu thought the dwarves were the previous inhabitants of their northern islands. 

Goblin Villagers

My painting project for the week were these goblins from Rebel Minis from their Dark Hold line. They are 20mm to the top of the head. The sculptor is Bobby Jackson, and as you can see, the poses, character and expression is excellent. The casting is also top quality. Very little clean up required, and all are single piece figures.

I will possibly make use of them in a Frostgrave warband. They would certainly be very good low level minions for an unscrupulous wizard.

Order Rebel Minis

As the Crow Flies - Stonehaven Miniatures' Tengu

This week brings me to three more completed figures from Stonehaven's Half-Orc Kickstarter. Obviously, these are not Half-Orcs, but Stonehaven always adds extra character types to its themed Kickstarters. In some cases, they are the most interesting of the figures. 

The Tengu, bird people from Japanese mythology, can be found as a PC race in a number of RPGs. On a recent D&D poll, they were listed on a ballot as a possible race in 5E. Here's my vote for an Unearthed Arcana bringing back some of the old school Oriental Adventures. Wait, can we still say Oriental? 

From the left, a mage, samurai and harrier. If I was doing 5E characters, I would play them as a sorcerer, fighter battlemaster and rogue thief respectively. As it stands, I will probably put together a Tengu warband for Open Combat. 

Stonehaven Miniatures make great characters and their is definitely a unique aesthetic to their figures. One can see a trace of humor and playfulness in the sculpts without making an ironic joke - which is what I perceive to be behind the whole Chibi style movement. The production quality is excellent. Mold lines are minimal and easily cleaned.

These figures, especially the larger two, have a lateral flatness common to many of Stonehaven's miniatures, no doubt to ease in the casting process. It is a minor detriment to an otherwise excellent and growing line of figures.

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.  

Holy Vindicator

Here's a mini from a friend of mine that got the collecting bug recently. He painted up a neat color scheme (Superman, right?) and I added some washes and highlights.

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. 

Stonehaven Half Orcs

It's raining Kickstarters around here lately. In addition to my Oathsworn Miniatures, here are my Stonehaven Miniature Half-Orcs. I went for the choice of 10, rather than the complete set.

Here are the first three finished figures.  From left, the Paladin, Barbarian and Bard.

Half Orc Barbarians are cliched, but Stonehaven captures something unique in her.  Not a savage brute as would be typical, but a wild spirit, one who is curious and joyful. I am tired of grim-dark barbarians.  The Paladin begs to be generated as a Ronin and the drummer girl is appropriately Sgt. Peppers meets Punk rock.

Stonehaven has some of the most interesting fantasy sculpts on the market.  The faces ooze personality, clothing and armor is superbly detailed and the casting quality is top notch. Minimal shaving or filing is needed to get these ready to paint.  Any negatives? A strong tendency to sculpt miniatures that are "flat" in cross section. I am sure this is mainly a desire to keep the casting and spinning process simple and avoid multi-part models. Despite this, the poses are dynamic and natural.