Why bother with a tortle miniature?
Tortles are great- everyone loves a tortle. They are not only Humanoid creatures, but are also a playable race for PC’s, so having a tortle or two on hand is never a bad idea. They are fun to play and fun to use as NPC’s. This particular tortle miniature is one which is currently being used as a race for one of my players, and not as a creature NPC- it is her tortle cleric, but tortles come in every class, as do their minis. I have a decent collection of tortle minis because 1) I like them a lot, and 2) so do my players. I would suspect that is because me and most of my players are biologists of some type or another, but I also see people online playing tortles, so I know it is not just us, with our extremely pro-turtle biases.
What about this mini?
This unpainted mini came from Krakenships Miniatures, the Chellon Cleric. Krakenships Miniatures specialise in selling PC’s minis for hard to find races and classes. They have nice sculpts, as you can see from this miniature, and they are really detailed so they are fun to paint. When my players are choosing minis for their characters, Krakenships minis are very popular choices. This miniature also has a medium sized base, which is the right size, so that’s good as well. I painted this miniature to look like an Eastern musk turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) because as a child, the first turtle that I ever met was an Eastern musk turtle, and I learned to love and respect them as a result of that little fella, ever so long ago.
How useful is this mini, really?
Tortles (as creatures) are included in 2 published Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition books:
Two books is not a lot. I find it surprising how much I hear about people playing tortles, given how little attention Wizards of the Coast pays to them. People love tortles despite the lack of love which they get in the official publications. I personally scatter them throughout my games as well.
But why are you doing this?
As usual for these videos, my point is to provide good views of the miniatures featured and sizing information about them. As I already pointed out, the tortle miniature is on a medium size base and that’s the correct size. I would like to also thank the wildlife artist Sherrie York, an incredible reduction linocut artist, for kindly allowing me to use one of her reduction linocuts, Shivano Sunset, as the backdrop for my minis in the video.