Jeronimus

Boris' sculpts are among my favorites, for sure. There's something special about them. The hand-sculpted detail at that scale is so wonderful to look at. I quite like these as well, though I'm the least sure about 'Boromira' (I think she's the busty human, at least?). I appreciate the distinction between the two, but she maybe stands out a bit too much. The rest feels a bit more conservative/realistic, which I really like about them, and makes them useable in a different context as well. It distracts a bit from how good the other figures really are. I love the Frodo, I think Sam's curls have gorgeous texture. The Gibson girl bun on Gimli is great -- and she has sideburns!!! Lego-lass feels more like your standard elf lady, but then again, all of these characters have become archetypes, and I like how she looks practically dressed. There's a lot of character, same with the undead side of the campaign. Very expressive stuff. They had a big delay with the Virus & True Monsters campaigns, that's definitely true, but they finally ended up shipping those recently. That sort of timespan seemed like an outlier, though. I had a bit of an issue with one mini swapped out for another, which they quickly responded to and quickly found a way to settle it. All good in my book.

As we reach the end, I really feel like Reaper would've been better off explicitly making this a campaign for Bones USA or Bones Black - replacing basic sculpts for common monsters, some of which have been around since the early bendy low-fidelity bones material - with a newer sturdy material. I think a lot of us were just a bit bewildered and unsure of the direction of this one, even if what's on display isn't bad at all! I think more focus would have done it well. That could've spoken to novice DMs more than it did now - although there hasn't really been a lack of 'arsenal of monsters for novice DMs!' Kickstarters around. Maybe that's also just made it feel a bit weird. In the long run it's more important for Reaper to have a healthy amount of gnolls, and orcs, and goblins in their catalog that'll be readily available, the kind of thing that'll make a DM come to your actual web store to buy it. Which may be why so many said "i'll wait for retail" - it's where some of these certainly will perform better.

In terms of game material, the most interesting thing seems to me like it would be be stat blocks and encounters that line up to the figures - that is to say, exactly what Steamforged has already been doing with the Epic Encounters line, by making a box full of figures, and including a little booklet with a short dungeon/adventure that uses all of those figures. I know they published a few .PDFs of adventure modules last year, and listed some suggestions for miniatures at the end. I feel, though, if you're going to suggest miniatures from your collection, you need to have enough different miniatures for that - does that make sense? If your adventure features five wererats, don't have a single wererat in your catalog, because then you're saying "buy this five times". Now that you're setting five bugbears, write something with five bugbears! Write something with up to three salamanders! You have the ability to cater entirely to your own collection.

I think the terrain in the Bones 5 encounters certainly seemed more versatile; the troll bridge could just as well be any bridge - and there are bridges all over the place. The Ruins of Ravenhome could be any set of ruined walls - and there are ruins all over every campaign setting. The charnel pit of the ghoul queen was a set of stones leading up to a pit - I didn't get it, but I believe the pit came with a piece you could insert or not, so that also increased versality as a piece to actually hit the gaming table. Gallowgard had that drawbridge. Overall, the scenery pieces were very commanding - and even if you don't actually use them for a game, they make for an excellent display piece for those and other miniatures as well. The owlbear nest is nice though, and I think you can stage those figures around it rather well. The salamanders are lacking in a 'bigger' set piece, but the minis are large to make up for it! Maybe some piles of gold/treasure as versatile scatter terrain could have made it feel more like a complete "scene" that lines up with the story blurb.

Well, I would expect to see at least a mummy in an Egyptian expansion, if only because it's so obvious, and it would make sense to add a sarcophagus as well. I'd probably go with an undead pharaoh and some undead tomb guards - but I do think there should be more to "Egyptian" settings and adventures than raiding tombs! Then again, they did call the expansion "lost tombs"... I also expect to see a sphynx, that's the other creature you can think of without having to actually look into Egyptian myths. Scarabs, I really hope to see a big one and/or swarms of them. In terms of humanoids, YES to adventurers with different cultural garb. Think of the fighter in the D&D 5E player's handbook - that illustration really got people thinking out of the box. Get guys with turbans and headscarves who aren't bandits - though some desert raiders aren't a bad idea either. Get some camels, get a flying carpet! Maybe some ideas will begin to lean a bit more Arabian than Egyptian, but hey, I would certainly not say no to a "1001 Nights" expansion, either.

Yes! I was really impressed with that one. They get it right with a lot of the bigger sculpts, a round base with slots for the feet. I think of the five big dragons from the last Kickstarter, only Aganzarax has part of his tail actually sculpted into the tower he's sitting on, but the others are all separate from the base. But even then, it's a nice round base that perfectly fits them. Base size isn't the most important thing - the reaper Bugbears don't fit on a "medium" base, so they go on bigger bases for me. But I do generally prefer round bases over the cobblestone ovals. Cobblestones, to me at least, are harder to build out into a full base than old abstract broccoli bases. Granted, the texture might be better, but a figure standing on a rock, that's easy to blend into a base and have it look a bit organic. An oval cobblestone... what do I do, snip the bases off of all of those? That's far more work, now. Do I slap a cobblestone oval onto a round base and build up the rest of the cobblestone? A lot more work. So, I would just leave it as a cobblestone oval. I've been reading complaints about the way Reaper's figures are based for a long time, so it's not new. I think Julie Guthrie still tends to put miniatures on rocky bases. Those tend to be my favorites, but that's also because they're so obviously hand-sculpted and it's just lovely. Though ultimately, I can see how it's nice to not have to base your minis when you have hundreds of them to go through, and truthfully it really isn't that big of a deal. Basically, I feel like a lot of people would say they don't mind, but certainly don't prefer them over round bases or anything.

I also feel, and this probably depends in how you approach the game, that far more people will be making their own unique player characters. Probably the result of Actual Plays like Critical Role where roleplay takes such a strong focus, that generic figures won't be the greatest representation of your player's characters. Of course, if you're introducing people to the game, or if they haven't quite decided on an "appearance" until they see a miniature that captures their attention... generic adventurers can still be useful, but characters are obviously more than "dwarf fighter". I definitely enjoy hunting for miniatures that could look right for characters, but I think that's where figure finders* come in. The success of Hero Forge goes to show that people do care to have customized, unique figures for their character - it's a different kind of feeling. But I don't know. A big box of grey toys to spark imagination also kinda works. *EDIT: obviously, these kickstarters also supplement the adventurers that can be found in the figure finder. The more diverse the offerings, the better, but I also understand you don't want your character concepts to be too esotheric, and it doesn't hurt to have multiple options for the same concept.

It does make me wonder; how many owlbears are too many owlbears? In D&D encounters, they strike me as a monster to use in isolation for a low level party. Like, bears are solitary hunters, which is probably where the "mama bear and her cubs" idea comes in as an excuse to have more... It's not an encounter I'd be likely to run (I don't want to force my players to orphan these poor cubs), but an added benefit of the encounter sets is that they're ready made for dioramas. I did get the Bones Black Owlbear, and then got it again in the Dungeon Dwellers set. I think there's another owlbear in one of my orders somewhere. Same for the Ogre, had that as a promo figure and also in Dungeon Dwellers. But beyond that, there's an ogre in the Bardsung set, there's an ogre in the Next Level Miniatures kickstarter... all with similar features but slightly different design. Ogres do seem like they could form a small society, so they seem more likely to show up together in games.

Someone in the Kickstarter comments brought up Ashardalon. Fiendish influence makes sense for a dragon who tried to bind a Balor to his chest. Though in that case, maybe he'd be even bigger.

The backturned horns give me red vibes, but I do like the idea of making that a deep, bruised purple, reddish shade. Ultimately, it is whatever color you paint it as. The 5 big dragons from last time were quite obviously meant to be one of each color, but for some of the dragon sculpts that came with the Bones 5 core, or the smaller dragon from the Dragonslayers, I still haven't quite decided what color I'd want to give them.

Yes.... ha ha ha .... YEEEESSS!!!!

I agree, but I do think that if this is their niche, they could build for it much better. Look at common monsters that somehow aren't abundantly available. Quality animal sculpts are appealing, which I think explains why the ants are a breakout success. Provide more than one sculpt, an RPG encounter rarely features one of an enemy and the painting DM likes variety on the table - you're better off looking at board games, otherwise. Those briarlings from the last kickstarter were great, but two sculpts isn't enough for a monster that usually comes up in large groups. (Yes, at that point I should go to the catalog if I want it and look for those figures to buy, absolutely, that should probably be Reaper's primary model and the result of these kickstars, a good and expansive, searchable catalog of quality figures) Another reason the encounters worked so well. Kind of a light version of what Steamforged has been doing with their Epic Encounters line; you get a box full of figures, which in their case comes with a booklet of maps and a small 5e adventure with stat blocks. They'll have multiples of the same sculpt, but I still think it's a pretty good concept.

No, no, you're right. We'll have to fix that. Other than a bog encounter, we're going to need a marsh encounter, and a swamp encounter, and a bayou encounter, and a fen encounter, and a carr encounter, and a mire, and, uhh... a coastal wetlands encounter, and uhh, a river encounter.... lots of water.

Sure, but come on... you want them to perform a ritual to actually summon that demon lord, don't you...?

"The Unholy Sanctum of the Demon Prince" is definitely interesting as well. That title makes me assume the central figure will be be loosely based on one of the actual D&D "demon princes", rather than being a generic pit fiend kind of demon - the Demonic Legion covered that nicely last time, and I got a massive, insane demon figure in the Bardsung box that I think goes surprisingly well with those, so I'm certainly good on winged gargoyle demons. Demogorgon was covered in the "Fan Favorites" last time. Graz'zt is... not that interesting? I mean... he's just kind of a tall guy, isn't he? Kostchtchie is just an even taller guy! Well, no, he's basically a gigantic ogre, which might also appeal to those who were clamoring for BIGGER GIANTS. Fraz-Urb'lu is the closest to the 'generic winged demon' that they could get. I feel they probably won't go for the gargoyle look again, but I could be wrong. The "Agramon, Duke of Hell" from Bones 4 is a perfect sculpt for this, but from a glance, it looks like he never made it retail yet? Malcanthet is really just a succubus. Sophie's right there, if anyone needs a succubus! And I'm pretty sure there was a succubus in Dungeon Dwellers AND a succubus add-on last time. That's a niche that's plenty served. Orcus is a classic. They already have an appropriate sculpt for him (https://www.reapermini.com/search/figurefinder+demon/latest/77316), but I think it's in Early Bones, so an updae would probably be a good decision. With the wand's ability to summon undead, I could also imagine this being ripe for an encounter. "Unholy" also sounds right for the lord of undeath, though I suppose any demon would be considered unholy... I backed Next Level Miniatures' kickstarter, so I do already have an Orcus on the horizon, but hey... Baphomet is basically a big minotaur... but didn't someone mention there'd be minotaurs in this campaign again? Juiblex would certainly be nasty. A big huge slimy thing with hundreds of eyes... for lack of a Lovecraftian monster in this campaign, this might satisfy some people! Yeenoghu would definitely be cool, though I'm wondering if they wouldn't have paired him up with the gnolls if this were the one... Zuggtmoy would be interesting as well. I don't think the Fungal Queen quite works as a Zuggtmoy proxy (too pretty!), but I've seen that in the comments, so it doesn't seem likely to me.

If the Rotstump Bog means bullywugs, my interest would definitely be piqued... Combine that with the gatormen from Bones 5's Fan Favorites, and add in the giant crawdad... and we've got ourselves a few sessions of a swamp campaign ready to go. Don't want to get the core just for a shambling mound, but it's a perfect swamp thing as well.

Also, now we've reached a stretch goal, but there's nothing new to reveal/tease/entice backers, because the expansions have already been fully revealed at this point. Put titles on the map, then reveal the next goalpost whenever a goal is met. It's such a simple concept that has worked so well in the past? It's fine, it's not a big deal, but it just is so weird to seem this chaotic on your sixth go around.

It's nice to hear something about the encounters, but it's still so weird to me to hear "they're not done" about so many of them. It genuinely makes it feel like someone is forcing them to push out Bones 6 right now, because why bother if there's so much stuff that apparently just... isn't done yet? No one has to know any of that, right? Maybe the transparency here isn't really such a good thing.

Yup, yup, yup! Mostly because I get the urge to batch paint identical sculpts because I think it'll "go faster", and then I end up taking an annoyingly long time just working on the same sculpt, doing the same thing over and over. I backed Bardsung because I really liked the Hobgoblin sculpts, but now I have a lot of duplicate minis in a (frankly, far too big) box, and I'm not looking forward to that very much, though I'm still happy with them and definitely with some of the individual sculpts. That's why "Sullenhall" still could tempt me, if only because it comes with a variety of skeletons and ghosts all in the same style, that would look good on the table together. I just really have to think if I prefer those to just getting an actual wargaming kit from another manufacturer when the time comes to actually have ghosts and skeletons, because that's the thing, there's plenty of alternatives out there. When you get a weird sculpt that you don't see very often (like hobgoblins, which now I have a bunch of; or kuo-toa or troglodytes, or bullywugs, or, or, or...), and there's enough variety, that's really really exciting.

I can be positive when I want to be, I really, really do love the Pig Butchers. Right up my alley. My first thought might be to use them in a horror situation, a little story about our excessive consumption of meat, seeing how we feel when you bring the humans into the slaughterhouse and the pigs take revenge. Now you know what's in those longpig sausages that have been so popular around town! Perhaps this is a Ravenloftian curse that befell the workers of a cannibal slaughterhouse...? Beyond whatever story I could come up with for these, they also seem very, very paintable. Bloody leather aprons over burlap tunics, ruddy/muddy pink skin, rusty iron chains and butcher's knives... I immediately want to paint them. The fact that it's three is also very good. Enough to begin building a D&D encounter out of these! That's what I loved about the Gatormen that came with the Fan Favorites in B5, or the Slithe in Dark Depths. You want some diverse sculpts on the table! (On a similar, mildly related note, I had kind of hoped to see the twig blights from B5's core chosen as the mob sculpt for this Kickstarter instead of the zombies, because the 5e D&D modules keep having encounters just chock-full of blights, but now I have... three.) Anyway - I remain very curious to see how and when these will come up in the campaign. I guess they'll be an add-on all by themselves, though I think it's definitely much more "out there" as a concept than the orcs and gnolls we have seen so far. Which is not to say they won't versatile in use - these could be a race of pig-men, they could be werepigs, they could be pig demons, or they could be pig-faced orcs, as suggested before. Honestly, I wouldn't mind having some non-butcher pig men (a noble pig king?), but I wouldn't mind these as the centerpiece to a 'slaughterhouse' kind of encounter either...

Much as I also find myself somewhat disappointed at this point, you have made your point very well and I agree to a certain extent. I am also in for a small amount at this point. Firstly because I do want to spend less than I did before - so really, I should be happy that certain things don't quite seem worth it for me. That certainly doesn't mean this Kickstarter is going to be an absolute failure, and I wouldn't want it to fail - but I'm not being deliberately contrarian when I say I haven't felt much grab me in a way where I feel I'd be foolish to miss out. The strategy in presentation has changed, though, and psychologically it has obviously had a different effect on myself and others than what was intended.

I will add that I think the expansions also still feel lacking in value a little bit, but that's in part because I have several Bones 5 expansion boxes still sitting beside me and those were great. With no real mystery left for what's going to be the next unlock for the first three expansions (they've been completely revealed, even though none have been fully unlocked); that's also killed the possible excitement and momentum. I now know what all five unlocks are, which now means it's going to take much longer for new stuff to be added... except so much of the new stuff now also seems to be randomly shown off. I understand changing the approach, but it does feel a bit chaotic that the best stuff we're seeing has nothing to do with unlocks or money going up.

Oooohhhh, those Pig Butchers - NOW we're talking!!! That's definitely got me more excited than anything so far.

Is this new dragon about the same size as the red dragon from last time, or is this an attempt to make a chunkier/more mature version? The one from B5 was probably the slimmest of the five chromatic dragons in the Kickstarter, and this one does look a bit thicker, though it's also on a 3 inch base. A Forscale would do wonders here - I find dragon sizes are always really hard to gauge.

At least the half-helmet is true to the usual portrayal of Athena that it's inspired by. I like the sculpt, I really like the idea of the 'cloud hair' making her look very unique, but I do think people have valid criticism that could be tweaked. I think that was kept in mind when it was first posted as a work-in-progress.