eek Does D&D (with Heroforge)

[eek]

I've been getting into D&D with my old gaming group plus some extras, with me DMing. When we started, Heroforge (link) had just gone live. Heroforge is a service that allows you to build a custom character on their website then 3d prints it through Shapeways. My players used the character creator to help visualise their characters, and in fact our most artistically inclined player coloured her preview image to use as her portrait in roll20.

Because we live far from each other, we play remotely through roll20, but we're having a meetup over the summer so I decided I'd gift them with painted prints of their characters. I figured I'd test the service with my wife's character, because the figures are quite expensive at $25 for a detailed figure at 30mm size and I'm not the kind of person to drop $150 at once on unknown figures! Turnaround was about a month. Here's the painted result (still on the phone camera, I'm afraid):







(Link to preview in character creator)

The verdict? Well most importantly, the wife is delighted   Overall I'm satisfied enough with the process and the result that I'll be getting figures for the rest of the party. There was some unfortunate loss of detail, but that's something you have to accept going into 3d printing at its current state. On this figure the chainmail detail was a little shallow, and the studs on the bracers and skirt didn't come out so well.

I've heard reports of the detailed material being a little fragile, and I could see that being the case on more delicate figures. This one was not a problem, in large part because every part is well supported. This should stand up to regular gaming use. There is a stronger (and cheaper) material, but the tradeoff is vastly reduced detail. Personally, I wouldn't want to settle for less detail than what I got here.

I'll be ordering the next figure (or two) at the end of the week, so it'll probably be a little while before the next one appears here!

[Duncan McDane]

It's ok, I guess. And if the wife is happy, who could ask for more?  .
As with all new developments, I'll join after a decade or so, when a: it's affordable and b: the quality is on par with ( or surpassed ) the traditional way of sculpting / viewing ( I still don't have widescreen TV nor digital view  ).