Hero Forge is like an RPG character creation tool. You choose a gender, choose a build, choose some armour and get yourself a reasonably unique character. Only at the end of this one, your character gets made in the real world instead of being trapped inside a video game.
Designed with tabletop gaming in mind, Hero Forge is a Kickstarter campaign with two components. The first is the creation suite, where you design your characters online. The other part is a 3D printing service that actually builds the things.
The detail they’re getting, even on small 30mm pieces, is pretty damn good, though you can also get larger 6-inch pieces that are obviously way cooler.
Sadly, 3D printers aren’t quite magic enough (yet) to paint the models, but what would tabletop gaming be without having to paint stuff yourself?
There are advantages to this that go beyond just the novelty; most miniatures are made using injection moulding, which limits the kinds of designs and poses available. 3D printing doesn’t have those restrictions, so you can get character designs way more out there than you’d get from traditional manufacturers.
Customisable 3D Printed Tabletop Miniatures [Kickstarter, via technabob]
Comments
8 responses to “Building Your RPG Characters In The Real World”
blackmarket for Warhammer 40k anyone? 😛
There’s allready a resin black market for warhammer out of china, the models are very reasonable for a 1/3 of the price
i was wondering how long it would take for someone to release something like this.
if it could bring down the price of minis that would be awesome, they are horribly expensive now
I find Reaper miniatures have a good price point.
i agree with you there reaper minis are generally better priced the GW
pity my painting skills make it look like they were painted by a toddlers fingers
That is SO cool. Wish there was something like that back in my high school D&D games.
My thoughts exactly.
There are 3D printers now that are perfect for miniatures. I saw one at a manufacturing expo that had a z axis resolution of 1micron.
The problem is getting the 3D models. Takes a lot of skill and time to model up something as detailed as warhammer.
However these guys are using Shapeways. I’ve used them before. Their printers arent good enough to make warhammer level detail but are good enough for larger models or something less detailed.