If You Need a Hero

If you play RPGs like I do then you probably prefer to have a custom figure for your character.

The best is finding the perfect miniature and getting it painted up just right.

This is assuming that you are lucky enough to find an appropriate figure and have the skill needed to (possibly) customize the figure and then paint it.  The last time I did this it took me a few days to get the mini to look just right.....and then he was killed in the next session.

It happens.

Balen Lionsbane

While I like the hunt for the perfect mini and if I have the time, or more importantly the motivation, this is a great way to go.  Odds are I'll just get a mini that is close enough and then just use it unpainted.  That kind of takes the coolness out of having a custom fig.

Lately I've been using paper miniatures.  What I'll do is hop on to Hero Machine and work my way through the program.  Hero Machine is all online.....and free, so really you are just out your time.  Make sure you save the file to your local machine before trying to print it off.  There have been times I'm having issues with the printing and just maximize the size of the figure on my screen and take a screen shot.

The way I tend to use Hero Machine is to make the fig there and then import it to Photoshop and play with it there.  I like to swap out the colors with colored textures to add a little something extra to the fig.  Sometimes the program doesn't have a feature I want but if I can find a picture of it elsewhere then I can add it in Photoshop.  I also try to size the figure to the same size that my PC is using a scale of 1" equals 5'.  When everything is done I create a solid black filled outline "shadow" of the character and make it such that I can print off the file, cut it out, and have a definite front and back.  For printing I usually just slap a couple figs into a 4x6 template and have the local Fred Meyers print it in Home Electronic.  This generally runs twenty cents.

About an hour's worth of work....only because I'm feeling fancy, and twenty cents and I have a PC fig.  If I'm feeling frisky I'll get the card laminated.  Since I can get several printed up for that twenty cents I usually have spares.