INDEPENDENT TTRPG MINIATURE CREATOR: Isaiah Tanenbaum - Eldritch Foundry

As a fan of miniatures, I'm always on the look out for something special and unique, after all, if I'm going to play a TTRPG I want my character to be not only unique but epically posed as well,  so finding a character like that used to be nigh impossible unless you modded a standard one yourself and it was pretty difficult to do so.

These days, however things have changed and companies like Eldritch Foundry, have brought out a UI where you can create a character from the ground up where heritage gives you variety of species to pick (and future plans to add more) and you can not only dress them according to your tastes but also pose them epically so that your character will be unique not only physically but facially too.

Here we have been lucky enough to talk to their marketing manager Isaiah Tanenbaum about them and where they hope to be going in the next few years...

Totally Pawsome:  How do you work out which themes to create pieces for?

Isaiah Tanenbaum:  It's a combination, really, of a few factors.

First, what do our users tell us they want? We can't do everything -- we're a small team -- but if they're all speaking with one voice that a certain kind of weapon or ancestry needs expanding, we want to be receptive to that. For instance, a LOT of folks have been asking for additional animal ancestries, so we plan to add more animal kin later this year.

Second, each December we look to the year ahead for major releases and events: movies, RPG supplements, holidays, even gaming conventions, and try to match those with thematic releases. For instance, we released a number of class-themed backpacks a few weeks ago, our riff on the "adventuring pack" that is a staple of many Level 1 builds, since we think a lot of folks will be inspired by the D&D movie to kick off new campaigns. There are a number of high-profile TTRPGs coming out in the next few months, and we're working with several of them to line up matching ancestries and equipment to match. And the upcoming triple-hit of a new Fast & Furious movie, The Mandalorian, and Guardians of the Galaxy 3 led us to our upcoming "Space and Speed" pack, which expands on our sci-fi and space offerings with a bit of flair.

Thirdly, our team has their our own priorities and desires! Our modelers are real artists, and we want to let them follow their passions where they lead. If they make something that inspires them, we figure it will inspire our users as well. We have an awesome set of dwarven-inspired armor that our modeler Yuda has been working on for a little while, and I can't wait to share that with folks.

Finally, there are times when nobody in particular is demanding something, but we have an instinct that it's needed in the space. That's how we ended up with our elemental pack, for instance. When these hit, they really hit, because it expands folks' idea of what's even possible with our system.

TP:  What would you say sells your miniatures to people?

IT:  When I came on, I would have said it's our ultra-high-resolution printing (30 microns!), our resin's amazing durability, or our level of design detail, all of which we offer at a much more attractive price point versus our competitors. And that's all true, but what I've come to learn is that ultimately people choose us because of how our minis make them FEEL. When you hold an Eldritch Foundry miniature, the care and detail we took to provide it is immediately evident, and the art style, custom body morphology for different ancestries, and fully-adjustable faces and posing says "this is an epic, mature character that looks like a custom head-to-toe sculpt by an artist, not the result of interchangeable, cookie-cutter parts being pushed against one another and stretched to fit." We believe, and hold ourselves to, the North Star that every miniature someone makes on our site is beautiful, and each design should feel like it's really your own and nobody else's, just like your character is. Otherwise, what's the point?

TP:  What is the turn around time from designing a concept to having it ready for printing?

IT:  It depends on the complexity. A new ancestry, lineage, or pose might take MONTHS, as our team tweaks and prints real-world prototypes and tests and iterates. In the case of our diverse human lineages and amputee options, we also build in time to hear back from consultants from the groups we're representing, on everything from design choices to messaging. On the other hand, a new item might be ready to go in as little as a few weeks. Even then, because of that different morphology, each "soft" item (which adjusts to the underlying figure's form; think clothing, hair, or a new pose) is actually several dozen releases: two each (male and female) for Humans, Elves, Undead, and similarly-proportioned bodies, another pair to cover Dwarves and Halflings, another pair to cover Goliaths, Ogres, and Half-Orcs, and so on. Swords, shields, bases, and other "hard" items (which don't change depending on who you put them on) are a little faster, but still need testing and iterating before we're ready to release them.

Bit of trivia related to the above: as far as our system is concerned, we actually have over half a million individual "things" to choose from. That's on the backend, though; what the user actually sees when creating a character is more like dozens of ancestries and starting poses, and hundreds of items.

TP:  What is your favourite piece that you've created and why?

IT:  The next one! I'm joking of course, but also not. I always want to be looking forward, and thinking about what people could create with our newest release (and they always surprise me, in the best ways).

If you had to ask me what I'm most proud of that's already out, I'd say that our dynamic chain weapons are real show-stoppers. Seeing peoples' faces light up when I demonstrate a flail or nun-chuck that actually swings around in real life is so fulfilling. I feel like a magician pulling off a trick. I also think the "flying books" base effect is just super cool.

TP:  Coming up with a piece is often an idea that gets written into a journal to come back to. How often do you find yourself working on one piece and another comes to mind and can you give an example?

IT:  I'm not a modeler myself, I'm just the guy asking the team "hey, wouldn't it be cool if we could do X"? And then they tell me why I'm an idiot and that can't happen, or what it would take to do it. Or, every now and then, they say "yeah sure, we can do that."

One thing that's been a big lift for us, much requested, has been creating poses with one or more feet off the base. We've wanted to do it for a while, but it took some significant work behind the scenes to make it possible -- everything from changing how we store bone data to creating soles for every. single. shoe and boot to testing the poses to see whether the figures would even print -- and only then could we even consider creating and releasing the poses. As I write this, we are nearly ready to release the first batch of these, which we're calling "epic poses", but it's been the better part of a year with us chipping away at it while also releasing other new features that upend our system a little bit less.

TP:  What do you think is most inspiring about your miniatures and why?

IT:  The care that we take. I'm constantly amazed by the work our team puts in making sure each release is not only epic and cool, but looks good (and holds up) in the real world. Yes, it means our pipeline is a little slower than it otherwise might be, but ultimately every single thing we put out is the result of hours, days, weeks, and months of intense care by real artists. I think you can feel that when you hold one of our miniatures in your hand.

TP:  Where do you see your business taking you in 5 years?

IT:  There are certainly a number of features we want to tick off: pre-colored miniatures, additional ancestries and lineages, better body diversity, more female clothing options, native VTT support, and so on. But in general, the most important thing about our five-year plan is increased market awareness. We don't need to be the biggest kid on the block -- there's actually a certain freedom to being the Pepsi instead of the Coke of the custom miniatures game -- but I would like more folks to know about our product and make a fully informed choice about who to go with. Hopefully, this interview helps! 🙂

TP:  If you were given the time and opportunity to create anything you wanted what would it be and why?

IT:  I mean, I have a toddler and another one on the way. I'm pretty excited about creating THOSE, but after that, if I had infinite time I'd say I'd just like to be able to get an in-person game going. I miss making stories with my friends! But, see above re: one, soon two kids under the age of three. Not exactly prime time to make a regular game night happen!

TP:  Who do you admire in the fantasy community and why?

IT:  I admire anyone and everyone who is putting original work out there into the world. I come from a theater background myself, and so I know full well that the act of making yourself vulnerable by creating is really hard, but also the most human and necessary thing any of us can do. I'm also in utter awe of people like Kobold Press (our partners in Tales of the Valiant) who saw an issue in the TTRPG community and are moving mountains to provide a product that will probably not bring them a whole lot of income, but is super needed.

TP:  What got you all into TTRPG's in the first place?

IT:  I think my first game was a GURPS campaign in sleepaway summer camp in between eighth and ninth grade. The idea that you could just make up a story that was also a game was so thrilling. We spent every free moment (and more than a few meals) smashing goblins and having a ball of a time. I've never looked back.