Recently, several miniatures in the Hero Forge public library featured an interesting characteristic. A small item hovered in the air above the figure’s hand. These floating assets were orbs, skulls, and even 20-sided dice.
This effect gives the miniature a magical or telekinetic aesthetic, but it comes at a price. Obviously, Hero Forge can’t print a hovering ball above a mini’s hand, so designing these figures render them unprintable. If you’re creating a token for a VTT map, on the other hand, this design is pretty cool.
I recently featured several miniatures employing this particular design feature in a Miniature Masterpiece Countdown, so I wanted to get a rundown on this technique. After all, the number 1 spot for that week went to a miniature with a black hole hovering above his hand.
Getting a small object or “asset” to float in the air requires exploiting a bug within the Hero Forge system. This really doesn’t have any negative consequences for your miniature other than rendering it impossible to print, and once you know the process, a wide variety of interesting designs become available.
The following steps will raise your miniature’s aesthetic…
(Raise the aesthetic. Like, with telekinesis or something…)
1. First, choose a small object that fits in your miniature’s hand. I’m choosing an Apple, but you’ll be able to experiment with a wide variety of assets. After you’ve selected the item, save the miniature.
Save your mini.
2. After saving, swap out the item with a quarterstaff. Other staff assets will work as well.
3. In the pose tab, select the advanced option and then select the quarterstaff.
4. Change the quarterstaff’s position to move up the miniature’s grip.
5. Next, go to the saved heroes menu. Select the miniature you are currently working on. It should still have the original item in hand. Do not press open.
6. Select the arrow next to the open button and find the Import button.
7. After you press Import, another screen opens. Here you’ll find several options or “Elements” you can choose to import. Select the Pose element and press accept.
And that’s it. The item you want hovering will be suspended in the air. Essentially, its center point will match the center point of the quarterstaff. However, the quarterstaff reaches the miniature’s hand while small items, like apples, don’t. That’s why they appear to be hovering.
Depending on the effect you’re trying to render, you’ll want to play around with the hand position. That’s how you’ll change the angle of your floating item.
That’s it! With this technique, you’ll get all types of tiny assets floating through the air. Give your miniature a psionic spin.
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