When I’m not actively playing tabletop roleplaying games, you’ll often find me daydreaming about tabletop roleplaying games. That’s especially true when it comes to thinking up character concepts and ideas for the next time I sit at the table. So, when I saw the Adventures & Academia: First Class Kickstarter from Steamforged Games, my wheels began turning!
Steamforged Games is well-known for producing high-quality miniatures, and that’s just a portion of what you’ll find in the Kickstarter campaign. The creators of Animal Adventures and Epic Encounters bring us 12 magical college characters that will easily slide right into any game, but are particularly compatible with 5E roleplaying adventures.
What’s great about miniature collections like this is that they can be used anywhere. I mean, I’ll be first to admit that I’ve used my Marvel United miniatures to try out the Crisis Protocol ruleset and the Marvel Super Heroes RPG. The miniatures from Adventures & Academia: First Class have their own character folios, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t reinvent their backstories to fit your dreams.
After all, I want to be using these beautiful minis as much as possible!
Adventures & Academia: First Class – What’s Included?
As with any Kickstarter, it’s important to know what’s included when you’re a backer. One really nice thing about this campaign is that Adventures & Academia: First Class only has one Pledge level. You don’t need to worry about missing out on Ultra Deluxe Super Tricked Out Editions; everyone gets everything they see.
This includes:
- 12 Student Miniatures
- 1 Kickstarter-Exclusive Professor Dog Miniature
- 13 Kickstarter-Exclusive Fold-Out Character Folios
- PDF One-Shot Adventure at the Grand Academy
- PDF Battle Maps
- PDF Character Sheet
- Special items and abilities tailored to the magical school setting
In today’s age, it’s important that roleplaying content can be used, even in a digital setting. In fact, the majority of the tabletop games that I play in are digital. Now, that doesn’t necessarily help when I want to use ALL THE MINIS, but I appreciate that there are plenty of digital PDFs that come with the campaign. That way, I’m covered no matter how I play!
It’s also important to note that even though the pictures below are painted minis, the ones that you’ll receive as a part of the campaign come unpainted. But feel free to use the images as reference shots if you really like the style! Check them out at the bottom of this article!
Adventures & Academia: First Class – The Houses and Characters
All of the characters in the campaign belong to one of the four Houses of the Grand Academy. As you might expect, each House has different traits that they hold in highest regard, and the characters reflect their ideals.
- House Might – Focus on finding the strength within oneself, and bettering the physical body to house the gifts held inside.
- House Cunning – Emphasis on creative problem-solving and unraveling secrets to understand the proper application of magic.
- House Arcane – Magic is powerful and is capable of fixing any situation, so we should study to expand our limitations.
- House Divine – Balance resides in everything, and only through contemplation can we comprehend both sides of the coin.
Each of the characters also has an extended backstory to help get you into the character’s shoes. You’ll get a short vignette story that helps describe the origins of their abilities, as well as an insight into what they’ve been up to since joining the Grand Academy. These stories offer wide-ranging, inclusive narratives that still leave plenty of room for you to fill in the gaps.
And the miniatures! There is such a wide variety of personalities and representation in the sculpts, and they’re impressive to look at. Who knew that so much detail could be packed into a plastic miniature? Steamforged knew ?
Adventures & Academia: First Class – Campaign Ends December 7th!
The Adventures & Academia First Class Kickstarter campaign ends December 7th! That’s right; it only lasts a week! You don’t want to caught sleeping in class on this one, that’s for sure!
Once again, you can find the link to the Kickstarter right here. And be sure to check out the painted minis below – they’re gorgeous! I’m really looking forward to bringing these miniatures to the table, and to try out the adventure included in a campaign. Magical schools are still all the rage, and this is your chance to enroll some top students to your games!
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