[Kickstarter] Dragon’s Hoard Miniatures

[Grumpy Gnome]

Another “large collection of miniatures” kickstarters, reminiscent of the recent Blacklist Games Fantasy kickstarters.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nextlevelminiatures/next-level-miniatures-dragons-hoard-miniatures-vol-1/

I am tempted, even though it covers a lot of things we already have.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Another “large collection of miniatures” kickstarters, reminiscent of the recent Blacklist Games Fantasy kickstarters.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nextlevelminiatures/next-level-miniatures-dragons-hoard-miniatures-vol-1/

I am tempted, even though it covers a lot of things we already have.

The resin looks as bendy as Bones white, even if it takes detail better.  Also an awful lot of rather generic "seen this many times before" sculpts, although there are some standouts - rather like their take on the hellhound, for ex.  Maybe when they show off some actual physically painted figs so we can see the detailing instead of the digitally painted stuff they'll appeal more.

Isn't Rappan Athuk old enough to be served alcohol at this point?  I know they've redone it semi-recently but it was originally one of the first megadungeons under the d20 system OGL back when D&D was still called 3rd edition, not 3.0.

[robh]

Isn't Rappan Athuk old enough to be served alcohol at this point?  I know they've redone it semi-recently but it was originally one of the first megadungeons under the d20 system OGL back when D&D was still called 3rd edition, not 3.0.

Indeed it is a venerable piece of work.  But even at the age it is now you would still not have finished it if you had started playing the day it was first released. It is a "Mega"dungeon in the truest sense of the name. I have the S&W version but will likely never play more than a few sections of it pulled out to use elsewhere.

Sadly for Dragons Hoard I think they have missed the boat with this figure set, Blacklist and Reaper Bones have already done to death generic fantasy at the cheap end of the scale and despite the "Rappan Athuk" tie in there do not seem to be any of the special monsters from that setting included. No Mordnaissant, Ravager or Tangtal so I can't see what it brings to the collection.

[ced1106]

It's a First Created, so I'm glad they're sculpting the same-old same-old. Hopefully, the fulfillment runs smoothly so we can see the production quality and back their next KS with more confidence. I certainly hope NLM will have more uncommon sculpts that appeal to the generic fantasy miniature who's backed everything. 

Anyway, on Dakka and Dwarven Forge, we're already discussing the "flexible resin" material, aka. "thermoplastic resin" NLM is using. Speculation is that it's SioCast, which other companies have been using for awhile. I'm waiting (a long time of course) for the production miniatures, because just because you use a new technology (thermoplastic resin allows more undercuts) doesn't automagically mean your sculpts are better. The price is lower than resin, but higher than plastic.

DF: http://forum.dwarvenforge.com/viewtopic.php?f=22&t=12364
Dakka: https://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/800707.page

[bandit86]

I went in on it seem a great price and they look good.  I was told that they take paint well but we will see.

[Grumpy Gnome]

There are pictures of four of the figures painted on the campaign page. Prototypes?

[ced1106]

Probably. Digital renders are printed out as 3D models. Professional painters paint the miniatures. The 3D models (and resin masters, in the the old hours) have better detail than production product, and, of course, professional painters paint far better than you and I (they also don't paint an entire pledge worth of miniatures!). I've learned from Cryptozoic (and others from the first Project ELITE KS) not to pay much attention to the prototype miniatures. However, this is a Catch-22 situation for anything made with metal molds, particularly in First Created projects from new companies with no retail track record. The molds are too expensive to make before the KS (which is why they use KS in the first place) so they have no production miniatures to show.

Still, offering sculpts of miniatures most hobbyists already have may be the right move. More backers and more SG's can mean more problems for a new company that a smaller KS would not have. After fulfilling their first KS, they will have gained experience that will make their second KS less of a risk. Sure, there's always FOMO, but there are plenty of unpainted miniatures in the painting queue.

[Chief Lackey Rich]

Indeed it is a venerable piece of work.  But even at the age it is now you would still not have finished it if you had started playing the day it was first released. It is a "Mega"dungeon in the truest sense of the name. I have the S&W version but will likely never play more than a few sections of it pulled out to use elsewhere.

Indeed.  I recall spending about six months on it with one of my old groups and we'd barely scratched the (sub)surface before the GM decided to move on to other things in the campaign.  So much stuff coming out for d20 at that point it was hard to stay focused on anything for long.

Think he later used a few sections of it as indie delves but I can't swear to it.  Sort-of-modular megadungeons do seem like the best way to go for utility, that way a GM can just yank sections out as desired - or add ones in if there somehow isn't enough already.

Think Eyes of the Stone thief for 13th Age might be the most cohesive megadungeon I've seen in terms of having an interesting metaplot, although it's relatively small in terms of number of rooms/encounters compared to Rappan Athuk and some of the more ambitious OSR efforts out there.

[Grumpy Gnome]

Just under 24 hours to go and some new, reassuring photos of their machine and test samples.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nextlevelminiatures/next-level-miniatures-dragons-hoard-miniatures-vol-1/posts/3309278

Looks like I have convinced Mrs. GG that we should back this.

[Sunjester]

They look very nice and it's a useful mix. But having recently taken delivery of the first Blacklist Games Fantasy figure KS (and with the second one plus the Horror KS pending) I shall probably pass.