3D Printed Tabletop Miniatures for D&D, Pathfinder, & TTRPGs
- Posted on
- By IRL Games
- Posted in 3D Printing, D&D, Pathfinder, TTRPG
IRL Games can print your 3D TTRPG minis that you design on Hero Forge, Eldritch Foundry, that you found online, or that you commissioned through a 3D artist.
One of the most amazing and exciting things about playing Tabletop Role Playing Games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Pathfinder is the ability to create and play as a character that you develop. Developing a character whose class, race(s), gender(s), abilities are as unique as you decide makes the game play fun and interesting.
Although on paper and in play your character can be (almost) anything you would like, the challenge has always been that if you want a tabletop miniature for your character, you might be limited. D&D, Pathfinder and many other companies throughout the years have released hundreds of pre-painted and unpainted miniature figures (aka minis) and premium figures that fit the bill for many traditional characters. Pre-made minis are fantastic in quality and the choices are astounding. At IRL Game Shop we carry hundreds of them, and new ones are always arriving. Most players will find what they need.
Unfortunately, when your character goes beyond the norm or you want something more, the pre-made figures won’t cut it. That was the case for Matan Gilat, founder of Eldritch Foundry. According to his blog, in 2017 when he created a gunslinging dwarf, his inability to find a mini version of it led him to create Eldritch Foundry. Eldritch Foundry allows you to create digital TTRPG characters that you can 3D Print. Gilat was not alone, and the internet has spurned numerous online character design platforms that will allow you to create custom 3D Characters for your D&D and TTRPG adventures.
Perhaps, the most popular character design platform is Hero Forge. Hero Forge was launched via Kickstarter about 2014. With the prevalence of 3D Printing, the rise in popularity of D&D and Tabletop Role Playing Games in general the time was right for a crowd sourced and supported platform for character creation. Thus, Hero Forge was born.
Hero Forge and Eldritch Foundry are both easy to use and work very similar. Log in, design your character, and then have it 3D Printed. Both platforms allow you to choose to whether you want to download the STL files for your character and print it on your own machine or with a 3d printing provider such as IRL Games.
While Hero Forge and Eldritch both print figures for you. Many players opt to save some money and self-print or print through a third party. Third parties and self-printing offer more choices on the color, size, details, and number of prints you would like. If you are using the prints for personal non-commercial use, you are within the license of both platforms.
Self-printing through IRL Games or other providers allows you to save money and print multiple copies and sizes so that you can practice painting or paint different variations of your character, such as painting different outfits for different adventures. Some players like to have a traditional mini size for playing in their campaign and then a larger, statuette size of their character for display.
3D Printing and all the techs may not be your thing – we get it. You (and us) want to spend more time playing. Let us help you and take care of all the tech bits. We can print everything from single minis to whole armies. We have small and large high-resolution printers that produce stunning results. Give us a call or drop us an email at we will be glad to help you get your custom minis in your ha ds as quickly as possible, so they are ready for your next adventure.