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The Skeletal Knight looks like it was ripped from the classic Dragonlance art "Lord Soth's Charge" by Keith Parkinson. Bought a brick and got zero Knight of Solemnia looking minis but I'm okay with that.
Super Booster Distribution: The minis come in set pairs meaning there are only 4 possibilities. Boilerdrak & Death Dragon Noble Treant & Behir Green & Blue Dragons Ankholox & Black Dragon
I feel that Knight of Solamnia with the epic mustache looks so much like Sturm, it cannot be a coincidence... This set is really sparse on minis that make me go "wow", other than the Huge Rares. Honestly, it is way too full of generic Human/Dwarf/Elf NPCs, and unless you want them to specifically look Dragonlance specific, you can find others like those elsewhere too. I thought about getting a brick but ended up just buying superboosters - lucked out as I got all but the Behir/Elder Treant set, and got a spare Green and Blue Dragon for trade too. I plan to grab a few of the minis like the Sea Elf, all the undead and the Horses and Slaadi, but I would not need most of the NPCs and will skip them.
It`s actually a very good representation of Aran Tallbow (red hair, Sturm is black) from the original TSR artwork, the generic Ansalon human B is also a good match for Maquesta Kar Thon and we have actual minis for Dalamar and Bakaris. A lot of new minis for the original main story characters can be found on the 3D printing market though I suspect that we can't get new "official" ones for licensing reasons. I don`t get why they went for a black dragon and rider though, a red or blue would make more sense though I suppose it could be used as Khisanth.
No excuses on the paint quality, but I think the bending is unavoidable due to temperature variations in shipping and warehousing environments. At least that easily fixable (if annoying to do), whereas the paint... not so much. As for the draconians being the same pose as the Warband versions, I think that comes down to a cost-saving measure from Wizkids, so I don't take them to task for it.
Thanks @valkrist, I was going to mention the same thing. And yeah, Mitch, WizKids uses soft plastic for their minis, but I don't think there's been a noticeable materials change since the line began, at least not one that I've noticed.
This used to be much less of a problem. When even king Hekaton's sword is usually shaped like the letter C, you know there's a serious problem. It mostly comes from not leaving them in the molds to cool long enough. Rushing through production is pointless if it results in issues for set after set. When the lines were FAR less expensive, it wasn't as much if a problem. Pathfinder even experimented with little paper cones to hold small weapons in shape back in those days.
The Anhkolox is from 2E AD&D, it was under the "Undead Beast" moniker in 2E Dragonlance. There was another variety, the hilariously named Shtank, which looks much the same but lacks lower legs.
I've played Dragonlance for decades, using paper minis for draconians. It's about time they did something like this. The prices though! in a normal adventure I needed like 20 draconians, now it would be like 100 dollars for that.
There will probably be some 2D acrylic minis eventually, which will probably help! And hopefully some draconians will be available on the aftermarket as well. Not to mention some unpainted draconians. -Theo
There's also a Draconian Dreadnaught (Sivak) Nolzur's mini out now and a set later this year will have a Foot Soldier (Baaz) and Mage (Bozak) in the same blister to help you round out that army if you don't mind painting them!
These PC/NPC minis are so plain both in sculpt and paint that they look like what we got from the 2014 era only at $20/booster. I like the large minis in the set but we aren't guaranteed to get one in a booster. The super boosters are worthwhile and I would like a few singles from the regular set but the good ones all cost so much.
The dragon army soldiers and warhorses would be invaluable and really enjoy the larger figures of this set. I can definitely see myself picking up a few boxes to at least have some more NPCs to drop down. I have been running the adventure and would recommend it as a beginner DM's first official adventure. The Pros of the book so far that make it very beginner friendly are the bullet points of information that allow the DM to weave what they want to reveal to the players through improved dialogue and not be forced to use a script. The encounters themselves are fairly challenging for my group of four players and the beginning chapter of the adventure does a lot of good work to establish the threat of the dragon army and how strong the draconians are for normal people to fight. It also I think helps lay the foundation of helping players along a path of an adventure and can help a new DM learn the tools to prode characters down a path but not forcing them. I am nearly down with Chapter 4 and soon will be moving the players to the Wastes. The Cons of the book are the lack of lore of the greater world, and not having options for the players to explore within the city so far. I have been DMing for the last decade (young I know) and the player's desire to see more far outstrips what the book can provide. I also love the Dragonlance series so thankfully I have a bit more knowledge to aid me and create new scenarios for the players to engage with that fill in the greater world. The book is very much set on a railroad and leaves room for very little exploration until Chapter 5 when the players start to explore the Wastes. This may turn some people off but I find that it being linear does aid anyone that is new and can easily be disregarded by anyone who has far more experience. In terms of a guidebook to the Dragonlance setting it is sorely lacking for anyone who is newer to the setting to want to create new adventures in the world. Overall I have been enjoying it and is honestly better then some of the other adventure modules I have ran for my players.
I'm putting together a short list of adventures to run for my group very soon and this Dragonlance reboot is on it. Your post is very helpful in planning this and very much aligns with other reviews of read of it online. Thank you. It's a real shame that WoTC missed this opportunity to flesh out such a wonderful and storied setting. I find the omission rather baffling, to be honest, because it's not as if they would have to pay someone to create all of this stuff from scratch. There are no less than three previous versions of the setting to draw from, and dozens upon dozens of novels full of good information. A bit of editing and a minor update here and there to bring some details in line with 5e, and both DMs and players alike could have a complete sourcebook of Krynn to explore. Instead they took the lazy route and apparently give you only the bare minimum in this adventure. Thankfully, I've been a fan of Dragonlance since the original book trilogy, and though I never played the original DL series, I did buy all the campaign setting material for 2nd Edition and read all the novels, so my knowledge is considerable but I can only rely on memory now while DMing since I sold all my old, pre-3rd Edition D&D materials. I really regret doing that now because I always thought that if Wizards ever resurrected abandoned worlds like Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, etc, that they would essentially reprint all of the old lore. Of course it's still early and it could still happen with Dragonlance, but I find it a troubling sign that they relaunched the setting without prefacing it with a major sourcebook that fully fleshes out the world of Krynn (or Ansalon at the very least). Has anyone heard any rumours if something like that is in the works?
Really appreciate your insights! And that jives with my thoughts on it from reading through it. D&D is really suffering from its bare bones approach to lore. This is a really helpful post! Thank you kindly! -Theo
You didn't read the Dragonlance Chronicles didya? LOL. That knight is Sturm, one of the major characters of the first few books. Go resd then. Amazing stuff. Can't speak to the newer stuff but the classic from the actual books are obvious because there is sooo much art for them. Heroes of the Lance ftw!!!
I have not. Good catch! I figured he must be SOMEONE as they're always based on existing art. Didn't occur to me to check the novels. Another good reason for them to just include the names on the bases. I assume if they have a right to the likeness, they have a right to the name, but who knows. I'll go check out the books though! Thanks for the rec! -Theo
A possible reason for not using the name of some NPC figures is not having to pay royalties to the writers? They can make the figure based on the art from a staff artist if WotC owns the rights, but if they put the name in there, depending on the contract, they may need to give them a payment.
Oh, trust me, the writers aren't getting any royalties for creatures and people they created for WotC. It would be nice if they could! It's a good theory though. -Theo
@@TheGallantGoblin There was that big lawsuit that took place about a year ago between WotC and the original Dragonlance authors. I suspect ownership of some aspects of the old TSR content is more than a bit unclear and sorting out who owns what is the sort of thing that just makes lawyers happy.
I’ve picked up quite a few of the possible “pc minis” to use as generic npcs and I’ve found they’ve been a great inclusion to fill out important roles in Ravenloft such as the Abbot. But the cost of the booster boxes now can’t be justified for me, so I picked up the ones I was interested in in the aftermarket. Unless they decrease the price back down to $17 or increase the number of miniatures included, I think I’ll be a bit more cautious in purchasing newer boosters outside of bricks.
I’m hoping that eventually we’ll see prices start coming back down. We’ve started to see some downward movement of the big premium figures. We’ll see if it continues!
I wish, if they had to put more of the same minis on the set, they would have added the Kapak - they are pretty common Draconians and the warband only has 1, and in a sneaky pose. Another in a better combat pose would have been preferable. Btw, not sure if you follow the news on Minisgallery, but I posted a photo that surfaced of the Bigby set - it seems they will put repaints of older minis from the Bugbear, Orc and Hobgoblin warbands as commons into that set, in the exact same poses too.
Imagine if WizKids released generic Superhero, Scifi, and horror sets. Theres such a drought of minis for anything that isn't just fantasy, and getting licences is a pain in the butt.
I bought a few of the super boosters and and got all the minis i wanted. Other then the draconians in this set and the war horse, its a very npc heavy set and not something im looking for
Dude you gotta review the new epic encounters sets with the dinosaur , I saw both of them in my local game store like a week before they were officially supposed to come out
Wizkids should be truly ashamed, turning out minis like this and charging what they do for the sets. I cannot see taking any pride in these products on the side of wizkids. If you are able, 3D print your own. In the long run, it is cheaper, and the quality is leagues better.
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🐲Booster - amzn.to/3YX85bd
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The Skeletal Knight looks like it was ripped from the classic Dragonlance art "Lord Soth's Charge" by Keith Parkinson.
Bought a brick and got zero Knight of Solemnia looking minis but I'm okay with that.
Super Booster Distribution:
The minis come in set pairs meaning there are only 4 possibilities.
Boilerdrak & Death Dragon
Noble Treant & Behir
Green & Blue Dragons
Ankholox & Black Dragon
The Black dragon with the rider reminds me of the old WOTC figure Sorcerer on Black Dragon (War of the Dragon Queen Set)
I feel that Knight of Solamnia with the epic mustache looks so much like Sturm, it cannot be a coincidence...
This set is really sparse on minis that make me go "wow", other than the Huge Rares. Honestly, it is way too full of generic Human/Dwarf/Elf NPCs, and unless you want them to specifically look Dragonlance specific, you can find others like those elsewhere too. I thought about getting a brick but ended up just buying superboosters - lucked out as I got all but the Behir/Elder Treant set, and got a spare Green and Blue Dragon for trade too. I plan to grab a few of the minis like the Sea Elf, all the undead and the Horses and Slaadi, but I would not need most of the NPCs and will skip them.
It`s actually a very good representation of Aran Tallbow (red hair, Sturm is black) from the original TSR artwork, the generic Ansalon human B is also a good match for Maquesta Kar Thon and we have actual minis for Dalamar and Bakaris. A lot of new minis for the original main story characters can be found on the 3D printing market though I suspect that we can't get new "official" ones for licensing reasons. I don`t get why they went for a black dragon and rider though, a red or blue would make more sense though I suppose it could be used as Khisanth.
Honestly, I feel like this is a bit of a quallity declive, the paint job is getting really sloppy and the bending is way too much and way too frequent
No excuses on the paint quality, but I think the bending is unavoidable due to temperature variations in shipping and warehousing environments. At least that easily fixable (if annoying to do), whereas the paint... not so much. As for the draconians being the same pose as the Warband versions, I think that comes down to a cost-saving measure from Wizkids, so I don't take them to task for it.
@valkrist2889 it's the materials used for the minis. Cheap or specific to be bendy so as to not break
Thanks @valkrist, I was going to mention the same thing. And yeah, Mitch, WizKids uses soft plastic for their minis, but I don't think there's been a noticeable materials change since the line began, at least not one that I've noticed.
This used to be much less of a problem. When even king Hekaton's sword is usually shaped like the letter C, you know there's a serious problem. It mostly comes from not leaving them in the molds to cool long enough. Rushing through production is pointless if it results in issues for set after set. When the lines were FAR less expensive, it wasn't as much if a problem. Pathfinder even experimented with little paper cones to hold small weapons in shape back in those days.
$120 for 32 miniatures comes out to $3.75 each. Sloppy paint job and bendy minis.... that's still a steal!!!
Several of these minis would be amazing to have almost all humanoid ones make great pc or npc minis so they can fit just about anything you need
That boilerdrake and black dragon w/ rider look amazing. I got the Trent Lord & Behir. But will def try 1 more time.
The Anhkolox is from 2E AD&D, it was under the "Undead Beast" moniker in 2E Dragonlance. There was another variety, the hilariously named Shtank, which looks much the same but lacks lower legs.
I've played Dragonlance for decades, using paper minis for draconians. It's about time they did something like this. The prices though! in a normal adventure I needed like 20 draconians, now it would be like 100 dollars for that.
There will probably be some 2D acrylic minis eventually, which will probably help! And hopefully some draconians will be available on the aftermarket as well. Not to mention some unpainted draconians. -Theo
@@TheGallantGoblin The future looks promising!
There's also a Draconian Dreadnaught (Sivak) Nolzur's mini out now and a set later this year will have a Foot Soldier (Baaz) and Mage (Bozak) in the same blister to help you round out that army if you don't mind painting them!
@@okuraorca Best news in Kryn!!!! (well for Takhisis armies at least)
18:13 Stormlight Archives reference! *Chef’s kiss*
Happy to see someone picking up on it! 😉
These PC/NPC minis are so plain both in sculpt and paint that they look like what we got from the 2014 era only at $20/booster.
I like the large minis in the set but we aren't guaranteed to get one in a booster. The super boosters are worthwhile and I would like a few singles from the regular set but the good ones all cost so much.
The dragon army soldiers and warhorses would be invaluable and really enjoy the larger figures of this set. I can definitely see myself picking up a few boxes to at least have some more NPCs to drop down. I have been running the adventure and would recommend it as a beginner DM's first official adventure.
The Pros of the book so far that make it very beginner friendly are the bullet points of information that allow the DM to weave what they want to reveal to the players through improved dialogue and not be forced to use a script. The encounters themselves are fairly challenging for my group of four players and the beginning chapter of the adventure does a lot of good work to establish the threat of the dragon army and how strong the draconians are for normal people to fight. It also I think helps lay the foundation of helping players along a path of an adventure and can help a new DM learn the tools to prode characters down a path but not forcing them. I am nearly down with Chapter 4 and soon will be moving the players to the Wastes.
The Cons of the book are the lack of lore of the greater world, and not having options for the players to explore within the city so far. I have been DMing for the last decade (young I know) and the player's desire to see more far outstrips what the book can provide. I also love the Dragonlance series so thankfully I have a bit more knowledge to aid me and create new scenarios for the players to engage with that fill in the greater world. The book is very much set on a railroad and leaves room for very little exploration until Chapter 5 when the players start to explore the Wastes. This may turn some people off but I find that it being linear does aid anyone that is new and can easily be disregarded by anyone who has far more experience.
In terms of a guidebook to the Dragonlance setting it is sorely lacking for anyone who is newer to the setting to want to create new adventures in the world. Overall I have been enjoying it and is honestly better then some of the other adventure modules I have ran for my players.
I'm putting together a short list of adventures to run for my group very soon and this Dragonlance reboot is on it. Your post is very helpful in planning this and very much aligns with other reviews of read of it online. Thank you.
It's a real shame that WoTC missed this opportunity to flesh out such a wonderful and storied setting. I find the omission rather baffling, to be honest, because it's not as if they would have to pay someone to create all of this stuff from scratch. There are no less than three previous versions of the setting to draw from, and dozens upon dozens of novels full of good information. A bit of editing and a minor update here and there to bring some details in line with 5e, and both DMs and players alike could have a complete sourcebook of Krynn to explore. Instead they took the lazy route and apparently give you only the bare minimum in this adventure.
Thankfully, I've been a fan of Dragonlance since the original book trilogy, and though I never played the original DL series, I did buy all the campaign setting material for 2nd Edition and read all the novels, so my knowledge is considerable but I can only rely on memory now while DMing since I sold all my old, pre-3rd Edition D&D materials. I really regret doing that now because I always thought that if Wizards ever resurrected abandoned worlds like Dragonlance, Greyhawk, Dark Sun, etc, that they would essentially reprint all of the old lore. Of course it's still early and it could still happen with Dragonlance, but I find it a troubling sign that they relaunched the setting without prefacing it with a major sourcebook that fully fleshes out the world of Krynn (or Ansalon at the very least). Has anyone heard any rumours if something like that is in the works?
Really appreciate your insights! And that jives with my thoughts on it from reading through it. D&D is really suffering from its bare bones approach to lore. This is a really helpful post! Thank you kindly! -Theo
Not sure why Leedara was listed as a ghost as she is one of three banshees who sing to Soth the song of his deeds that led to his fall
Because the Dragonlance adventure uses a ghost stat block for her. -Theo
You didn't read the Dragonlance Chronicles didya? LOL. That knight is Sturm, one of the major characters of the first few books. Go resd then. Amazing stuff. Can't speak to the newer stuff but the classic from the actual books are obvious because there is sooo much art for them. Heroes of the Lance ftw!!!
I have not. Good catch! I figured he must be SOMEONE as they're always based on existing art. Didn't occur to me to check the novels. Another good reason for them to just include the names on the bases. I assume if they have a right to the likeness, they have a right to the name, but who knows. I'll go check out the books though! Thanks for the rec! -Theo
A possible reason for not using the name of some NPC figures is not having to pay royalties to the writers? They can make the figure based on the art from a staff artist if WotC owns the rights, but if they put the name in there, depending on the contract, they may need to give them a payment.
Oh, trust me, the writers aren't getting any royalties for creatures and people they created for WotC. It would be nice if they could! It's a good theory though. -Theo
@@TheGallantGoblin There was that big lawsuit that took place about a year ago between WotC and the original Dragonlance authors. I suspect ownership of some aspects of the old TSR content is more than a bit unclear and sorting out who owns what is the sort of thing that just makes lawyers happy.
I’ve picked up quite a few of the possible “pc minis” to use as generic npcs and I’ve found they’ve been a great inclusion to fill out important roles in Ravenloft such as the Abbot.
But the cost of the booster boxes now can’t be justified for me, so I picked up the ones I was interested in in the aftermarket. Unless they decrease the price back down to $17 or increase the number of miniatures included, I think I’ll be a bit more cautious in purchasing newer boosters outside of bricks.
I’m hoping that eventually we’ll see prices start coming back down. We’ve started to see some downward movement of the big premium figures. We’ll see if it continues!
Very cool set
Yes a lot of minis can be used for any D&D adventure
I wish, if they had to put more of the same minis on the set, they would have added the Kapak - they are pretty common Draconians and the warband only has 1, and in a sneaky pose. Another in a better combat pose would have been preferable.
Btw, not sure if you follow the news on Minisgallery, but I posted a photo that surfaced of the Bigby set - it seems they will put repaints of older minis from the Bugbear, Orc and Hobgoblin warbands as commons into that set, in the exact same poses too.
David Hasslehoff and Kit WTH Theo??!!?? I actually lol. Too funny.
Was my favorite show as a kiddo! :-D -Theo
The boilerdrak, the various dragons, the noble treant... so many nice beasties.
Wait a second... did you say DINOSAUR THEMED EPIC ENCOUNTER BOXES?
Working on it now!! -Theo
Imagine if WizKids released generic Superhero, Scifi, and horror sets. Theres such a drought of minis for anything that isn't just fantasy, and getting licences is a pain in the butt.
I like this set.
I bought a few of the super boosters and and got all the minis i wanted. Other then the draconians in this set and the war horse, its a very npc heavy set and not something im looking for
Hey, glad you got what you wanted from the set! That's great! -Theo
Dude you gotta review the new epic encounters sets with the dinosaur , I saw both of them in my local game store like a week before they were officially supposed to come out
They're right next to me now! Working on it! :-D. And love your username, by the way. Was one of my dad's favorite words. :-) -Theo
Do you think this set has a collector's edition box?
Spelljammer was the last set with a collectors box. None for Dragonlance or Sand & Stone. -Theo
Sorry, I mean if you know if this set will have...
They‘ve always released them alongside the set, so if there was going to be one, I would have expected it by now. So I doubt we’ll be getting one.
Wizkids should be truly ashamed, turning out minis like this and charging what they do for the sets. I cannot see taking any pride in these products on the side of wizkids.
If you are able, 3D print your own. In the long run, it is cheaper, and the quality is leagues better.
and tacos hahahahaha
🌮 🌮 🌮 👻
The paints are so glossy, shiny and sloppy. Sad day.
Damn, i havent seen any other company produsing so bad quality miniatures for so high price.
This set looks terrible...