Custom miniatures studio Hero Forge adds option to create wheelchair users

In celebration of International Wheelchair Day, Hero Forge has announced the option to create miniatures of wheelchair users.

The company, which produces custom-made miniatures, has introduced three different styles of wheelchair for people to choose from when designing their own figures for use in tabletop games such as Dungeons & Dragons. These include a Modern Wheelchair design, a Fantasy Town style and a Fantasy Battle Wheelchair. Each wheelchair user miniature also includes options for customising their wheels and handles, as well as select poses such as sitting upright or charging into battle.

Originally launched in 2014, the Hero Forge website provides an online application that enables users to customise a digital version of a miniature that can then be 3D-printed and sent to the creator. There is no official game for Hero Forge; instead the models can be used in a variety of tabletop games such as RPGs, miniatures games or other board games that implement miniatures.

International Wheelchair Day is an event designed to raise awareness of the lives of wheelchair users and the need to improve accessibility across the globe. Taking place on March 1st, the day sees people highlighting the positive impact of having access to a wheelchair and the work of those organisations that provide wheelchairs to people who need them.

The announcement from Hero Forge follows the reveal of four different miniatures based on the combat wheelchair rules created by designer Sara Thompson for Dungeons & Dragons 5E. Co-created by Russ Charles, miniature sculptor for titles such as Dark Souls: The Board Game and the Animal Adventures supplement for D&D 5E, alongside Thompson, the combat wheelchair miniatures are available to download as digital files or order from Strata Miniatures.

Thompson was also involved in the creation of a ruleset for a Rocklin Augmentics Spider Cyberchair designed to be used in the Cyberpunk Red RPG. The rules were created in partnership with R. Talsorian Games and are free to download from the publisher’s website as a complete PDF, as well as being included in a second printing of Cyberpunk Red.

Last month, publisher Pazio revealed rules for a battle wheelchair and other assistive items designed to be used with its fantasy roleplaying game, Pathfinder 2E. The official rules will be included in an upcoming sourcebook called Lost Omens: Grand Bazaar, which is set to be released this June.

Plastic miniatures from Hero Forge start at a retail price of $19.99 (£14), not including shipping and packaging costs.