We interrupt our regularly scheduled Red Rover terrain programming to joyfully bring you a long-awaited pre-painted miniatures review. Our monthly character sacrifices to the RPG Gods apparently worked because for the first time in 16 painful months, we have new boxes of finely made miniatures to unwrap. Hazah! Join Ben as he shares his take on Pathfinder’s inaugural set.

Editor’s note: this post will unavoidably draw comparisons to the Wizards of the Coast’s own miniature line. It’s not done with any negative intent. Ben is a super fan of WotC’s work and has collected every darn mini they’ve ever created. However, for the first time, we have choice and that my friends, is a wonderful, wonderful thing.

Let’s start with where to buy these little bundles of happiness. Pretty much every website is selling cases ($189.99) and bricks ($49.99) for the same price. Certain singles are hard to find right now with a few full sets dropping in and out on eBay for about $163-ish.

Packaging is quite robust so environmentalists of any sort may want to skip this paragraph. Each random mini is firmly packed in its own box – creating a mountain of garbage. It’s incredibly rare to get a bent Pathfinder miniature – yet often a frustration of the old days. However, gamers with little ones of their own will cringe at the sheer amount of waste from the opening of one brick.

Now let’s talk about the actual material. Pathfinder minis definitely seem to be made out of a slightly different substance and consequently, feel a little lighter – certainly in an attempt to keep their production cost down. They feel good in your hand and so far, are holding up well to being stuffed in a box for storage (but a weapon snap can still happen). The bases on some of the small to medium figs are unique in that it’s not a direct connect to the circular base. Instead, the feet are actually on their own plastic circles which in turn, are glued to the final bases. This assembly method is probably a wise attempt to stop that dreaded slump. Sure, it looks different but worth the minor sacrifice if it truly keeps Ben’s monsters upright.

While the set is a tad small for a debut (Harbinger opened with 80 minis in 2003), 40 is still a decent number and is actually 45 if you count the starter set and the dragon promo fig. It took Ben 5 bricks to get a full set but that didn’t bother him at all since the monster types and commonality were well planned. Ben actually bought six bricks in all – more than enough for a full set but he was eager to get doubles in all of these categories:

• Goblins and Orcs
• Skeletons, Mummies and Zombies
• Town Guards
• Lizard Men
• Spiders, Snakes and Rats
• Wolves
• Spectres and Gargoyles

The quality and attention to detail in the set is immediately apparent, particularly in the faces. Really tiny hands or amazing technology has produced amazing facial detail. Gone are many of the common blotches or dot splotch effects. The quality bar has definitely been raised. You also will be quick to admire their new spin on old monsters like the Troll, Orcs or Goblins. They got a tad Cartoon Network with the Ogre and Manticore there could be some staying true to the brand intent there (at least we hope that’s the excuse).

Ben also applauds the innovation of interchangeable weapons as shown in the Frost Giant’s mighty ax or huge sword. This will only get more interesting in future sets.

So here we go with our traditional miniature set top and bottom five. Drum roll, please.

Ben’s RPG Pile Top Five:

• Giant Caveweaver Spider (the red back design is primo)
• Human Ranger (great pose and face)
• Spectre (best all-round mini)
• Human Rogue (no denying the cape sculpt)
• Goblin Warrior (The teeth say it all)

Ben’s RPG Pile Bottomfeeder Five:

• Vampire (more like master butler)
• Manticore (Wizard of Oz cowardly lion face)
• Gnome Fighter (dear god)
• Lizardfolk Champion (more like king of the losers)
• Ogre (your Greant Aunt Ruth wearing a moving vest)

There it is. The bar has been raised! More so, Pathfinder might get one more set in (a heck of a head start) before Wizards even re-enters the miniature arena in July with Dungeon Command: Heart of Cormyr. Its first set since September 21, 2010. We’re entering the renaissance miniature days. Good times…good times.

Let’s take the very last blog entry of this wonderful year and share with you all the things Ben’s thankful for in 2011. Hopefully you’ll unwrap a few more D&D items, bookmarks and Twitter followers to add your own RPG Pile.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week “N” stands for Non Player Characters. That’s right – it’s time to finally step up and recognize the little guys! Your NPCs really do have names, ya know. They have feelings. But yeah, they can die too. Let’s see how Ben invites them into his game.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s certainly true that picking one’s next set of D&D dice has always been a science of sorts (psychologically speaking) but who knew manufacturing ‘em could be the same way?

Ben snagged a Paizo GameMastery Invisible Character Pack at Gen Con but isn’t sure the game accessory matters since he can’t figure out how Blind exactly works in 4E. So, let’s use this product review to try and uncover “the truth.”

First off, the Invisible character mini concept is a great idea – why not have a fun and interesting way to initially represent your character on the board in all its stealthy glory? The pack comes with a mix of 10 different character races (like the Dwarf) and classes (like the Human Wizard). It’s a shame there aren’t any medium or large versions though – maybe as a future expansion pack though.

While the invisible silhouettes are well done, the quality sorta stops at the bases. They’re a tad flimsy and slightly oversized for d20 squares (a huge pet peeve of Ben’s). Gale Force Nine offers a similar product in their Player Character Token Sets but you have to buy them individually instead of a single set.

So, let’s now use this opportunity to try and understand how being blind in combat works. Ben gave it the ol’ college try in a WotC forum thread but he felt the feedback left the rule clarification unresolved. It got really confusing in the comments.

Here’s what the new and very handy D&D 4E Rules Compendium says (pg. 221)

Confusing Rule #1: Targeting What You Can’t See – “Make a Perception Check: On its turn, the attacker can make a perception check as a minor action to try and determine the location of an invisible that is hidden from it.”

Ben’s Q: What is the attacker making a perception check against exactly (another skill, a DM DC, etc.)?

Confusing Rule #2: Close or Area Attacks – There’s no -5 total concealment penalty on a close or area attack.

Ben’s Q: Really? We think of blind as Stevie Wonder/Ray-Charles-duet blind and not post-eye-doctor-exam blind. How in the world would there be no penalty for adjacent attacks or throwing a ranged spell 10 squares? Only no penalty on a blast makes sense to Ben.

Confusing Rule #3: There’s no mention of how a blinded creature moves. Ben uses a yes/no and a scatter die combo to determine what squares you end up in while walking blind on the game board.

Ben might be overcomplicating this one but with no simple answer, his group has turned to a basic house rule on fighting blind. The character always takes a -5 attack penalty. It grants combat advantage and can’t flank. It can throw a range spell up to five squares in any direction (like a grenade) but nothing past that. For movement and ranged spell targeting, first roll a yes/no to determine if you have your bearings and if “no”, a scatter die moves/throws you in a random direction.

Whaddya think?

Questions to Ponder: Do you understand stealth or invisible 4e rules? What resources (book and page numbers) helped you play these rules right? Do you just do a simplified house rule to make it easier? Can you help Ben’s group understand fighting blind in battle?

Get It

We recently had a Twitter gamer ask how we make those nifty card decks for our monthly D&D campaign game. A video tutorial seemed appropriate as our blog entries have only touched on certain pieces. Best of all, you can also download many of the materials right here off The Pile.

A Classic RPG Pile Deck contains the following:

• Stats card
• Basic Attack cards
• Power cards
• Feat cards
• Magic Item cards
• Basic Gear cards
• Quest cards
• Face cards (Paizo or Customized)
• Place cards
• Trait cards

We use the following materials and templates to make our cards:

• A color Wizards DDI Character Sheet Printout
• A good paper cutter
• Ultra Pro Deck Protectors (see-through)
• Slip cards (old Magic or Warlord cards will do)
• Blank PHB Power Cards or Character Sheet version
• 4E Fan Publishing Power Card Builder
• NPC Tracker PSD template
• Magic Items PDF template
• Rubber band
• Deck box

So, why not make a quick player deck for an upcoming game and spice up your D&D life? You’ll be hooked before you know it.

Questions to Ponder: Are you a die-hard-sheet-kinda-guy or would you give the deck a try? Do you play a lot of magic or does the card stuff bore you?

Watch it | NPC Tracker Cards | Customize Your Own Cards | Face Cards

A trained killer always wants to see the face of its future victim. Any and all details are critical – anything to speed up the hunt.

Ben knows this allure well. So much so he created NPC tracker cards for his campaign. Now upstart Paizo, has sweetened the pot with a super handy face deck series including: the Friends and Foes deck and an Enemies deck. They’re a perfect complement to your game accessory hoard.

The decks offer a slew of NPC options. Everything from a grumpy Duergar to a fc_fireb.jpgraging fireball.  Of course, there’s always a couple hokey, cartoony ones in the pile but Ben still applauds the effort.

Ben still favors his custom campaign cards but these babies work great in a sudden NPC pinch. Just pull a name off Chris Perkin’s kick-ass list and grab a corresponding face from the deck – and presto!

At $10.99, these decks are very affordable. And new twists and ideas are on the way. Ben is especially giddy about the upcoming Plot Twist Cards.

Ben is a big Paizo fan simply because they constantly look for new ways to immerse the player into the game. Who doesn’t love their maps and item cards? Remember, it’s the subtle touches that raise a typical game above the bar.

See It | Get It

Stop Ben if you’ve heard this classic exchange: “Blast 5 goes like this, right? No, no – that’s a burst. Wait, stop and pass me the PHB.” For some illogical-Spock-like reason, we just get those two darn terms mixed up. Hence, our desire to make some handy home-brewed blast and burst templates.

Of course you can look up the descriptions (pg. 272) but that’s such a game momentum killer. Better to have a few handy templates to place over the game board.

There are a few options out there. Ben snagged some 4th Edition Blast Templates from Dragonfire Lasercrafts but using them felt like a twisted math experiment gone awry. Paizo had some GameMastery Spell Templates for 3.5 but unfortunately they just don’t translate into 4E.

Our latest home brew D&D experiment involved some plexiglass (found in the windows section of any Home Depot) and some fancy line-drawin’. The stickers were a classy touch.

This RPG game group doesn’t need the templates as much as we used to just because of sheer practice. In our minds, we’ve classified a “burst” as a grenade-effect and a “blast” as simply coming out from your body. Still, these templates are great for the new player to learn the ropes.

Sure, they could use some helpful identifying labels and a quick spray (to protect against scratches) but all in all, we’re just trying to open our minds up to bigger and better things. And it’s those incredible possibilities that keeps us going.

See It