You know it, we know it and, most important of all, tabletop gamers know it: tailor-made 3D printed miniatures are the future of RPG and strategy tabletop gaming, whether Games Workshop and other big players in the industry care to admit it or not.
So far a few different offers have come (and gone), the strongest of which, by far, is that proposed by HeroForge through a ridiculously successful Kickstarter campaign that I had the opportunity to cover for 3DPI.
Hero Forge showed it had a very clear idea of how a custom made miniatures business model should be set up, and much of the gaming community seemed to agree. Now, however, a new model has been put forth by 3Distributed, a company specializing in many different and innovative products that can be manufactured and sold through and for 3D printing (some of which we have also covered in the past).
Created by Andy Shepherd-Waring, who is one of the three co-founders at 3Distributed, as well as an avid Dungeons & Dragons player (with Dungeon Master credentials for version 3.5), Stormbeard’s Emporium takes a hyper-personalized approach.
This means that while Hero Forge might be a bit like going to the Armani shop to get your suit, with all the options that a high level clothing brand can offer, Stormbeard’s Emporium is like going to your own private tailor. You may end up paying even more but you are going to get exactly what you want, down to the last stitch — or stroke of paint in this case.
Only time will tell which business model is the best fit for tabletop gaming enthusiasts (probably both will co-exist) but while at first I was a bit sceptical about the 3Distributed approach, I have changed my mind after viewing the full scope of what they intend to offer.
“Essentially, I don’t believe the products of the imagination of RPG players can ever be adequately described in a list of options,” Andy told us when presenting the new service, “however long the lists get, people will always want to customise further.”
“I really believe the open-ended ‘Tell us about your character…’ approach utilises the full customisable nature of 3D printing”, he added. “This was confirmed when someone asked: ‘So, if I gave you a photo of me, could you put my face on the barbarian?’ and I was delighted to laugh and say: ‘Yes, of course!’”
With Stormbeard’s Emporium (which, by the way, was named after Andy’s oldest D&D character), customers are asked to describe their character down to the smallest detail (including sketches, pictures, personality traits, weapons, stance, clothing, colour scheme and height) for 3Distributed’s hired 3D sculptors, printers and painters to then give it digital and then physical form.
Normal prices, based on a 28 mm scale, range from £119 for a single character to £87 for more than 9 characters. That includes painting, which is going to run £20 (basic) to £35 (premium). However, although full customization is what 3Distributed is offering its customers, it is not the only thing. For £200 customers can choose to become “Master of forms” and make their character truly unique by owning the rights to the sculpture and receiving the .stl files.
If they see a gap in the character catalogue and think there is widespread demand for a character such as theirs, they can also “Call Forth 2”: this means that they will pay £149 for their miniature but they will earn £2.50 in store credit any time someone “Summons” their character (i.e. buys it from the Stormbeard’s Emporium’s catalogue at prices ranging from £20 to £25 per miniature).
Considering the time and passion many D&D and RPG players in general dedicate to this activity, a £100 to £200 investment is not at all inconceivable. Especially considering that all paying methods, including credit cards, Paypal and Bitcoins are accepted.
