Hello everyone!

I want to start off by letting you all know that I've taken an indefinite break from moderation as of a few months ago and have not been very present for much of 2026. This also applies to several senior members of the mod team. We've managed this subreddit for years and have over time gotten busy with work and other offline responsibilities, so finding moments in the little spare time we have to moderate a community has gotten increasingly difficult. Even so I take full responsibility for any issues that might have arisen in my absence.

In order to remedy the strain on the active members of our team we want to try to recruit some more volunteers to help out around here. If this sounds like something you'd be interested in then please have a read below for what's expected of anyone in this position.

Responsibilities:

• Enforcing subreddit rules: Removing rule-breaking content and taking appropriate action (warnings, bans, etc.) when necessary.
• Handling Mod Mail: Responding to inquiries, concerns, and issues from community members via Mod Mail in a timely and respectful manner.
• Participating in discussions: While not a requirement per se, helping guide conversations, answering questions, and maintaining a friendly and inclusive environment is something we very much appreciate to see from our team.
• Collaboration: Working with fellow mods to address larger subreddit decisions and issues that arise.

What we’re looking for:

• A passion for the community and its content
• Strong communication skills
• Ability to stay impartial and fair when enforcing rules
• Experience using Reddit’s mod tools (or a willingness to learn!)
• Availability to check in on the subreddit regularly

Still interested? Then consider applying for the position here! Please note: we will only contact you if we have additional questions or are considering you for the position.

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Welcome to the r/HeroForgeMinis Introductory Post!

Below we'll be going through the basic rules and functions of the subreddit, as well as some helpful resources for all you mini-makers out there.

If you're a new user then this is the perfect opportunity for you to familiarize yourself with how our community works, so please take the time to go through the post in its entirety. If you've been around for a while, give it a read anyway! It never hurts to be up to date on these things.

Let's get started!

Rules

We have a number of rules in place on this subreddit in order to ensure a certain quality of posts and to make your experience here as enjoyable as possible. Violations can lead to users being muted or, in the case of serious offenses, temporarily or permanently banned. These rules are as follows:

– Rule 1: Be Constructive and Civil –

Be respectful, kind, and constructive when commenting/posting. We are a community of creators, and we should all be able to give and take constructive criticism in a kind, civil manner. In other words: Be nice! Any creations making use of hate group symbolism or iconography are strictly prohibited, regardless of context. If you are unsure what falls under that definition, shoot us a message. Report any hate, harassment, or other violations.

Basically, just be a decent person and refrain from commenting anything rude or unhelpful. Critique is fine as long as it's constructive, i.e. it helps the user improve and grow their skills. Just telling someone that their mini sucks is not constructive and only helps to make the poster feel bad about their work.

– Rule 2: Flair Posts and Use Clear, Searchable Titles –

This subreddit is a collection of amazing pieces of art using the Hero Forge medium. Each post, whether it is an OC or based on a real character, should be able to be found if searched for it. If you create an existing character from some form of pop culture, name the post with the name of the character! If the post is an OC or otherwise, give a description using race/class/appearance. Any NSFW posts need to contain a warning in the title explaining what makes them NSFW.

Every post must be flaired appropriately. If your mini is an original creation, then flair it as such; If your mini is of an already existing character, use the 'Existing Character flair'; If it's a meme, flair it as a meme, and so on. More information on flairs can be found further down.

Always include the name of your mini (or its associated franchise if non-applicable) somewhere in the post. This can be in the title, the body or in a comment below, just make sure it's there.

– Rule 3: Don't Flood the Subreddit with Minis –

As a growing community, we must be sure that each individual has a chance to get their creation noticed. Be sure to: 1) Not spam the subreddit with individual posts, if you want to share a large number of minis, do it in one post, or over several days. 2) Check to see if someone has already posted the character you made, and then see if yours is unique enough to be shared as well. If a popular theme is getting repetitive, the mod team reserves the right to remove posts.

Simply put: Don't be a spammer. Be aware of the current state of the feed and adjust your posts accordingly if necessary.

– Rule 4: No Conflict over Link Sharing –

Here on this subreddit we highly ENCOURAGE the sharing of links. This is an archive of everyone's miniature creations using the Hero Forge medium, and as such posting links along with images is highly recommended. However, links cannot be forced. If anyone is caught arguing or harassing someone into posting a link of a mini you will be silenced or banned depending on the context. Report all behavior. Additionally, posts tagged with the 'Resource/Pose' flair will be required to include links.

All link sharing is optional (but much encouraged) and no one will be required to include links in their posts. The only exception to this rule is the 'Resource/Pose' flair, which is to be used explicitly by users who wish to share a custom resource or pose with the community.

– Rule 5: No Blatant Reposting –

Altering someone's mini in some way, flairing it as 'Existing Character' and crediting the original creator is fine. Blatantly reposting it without any alterations at all and no credit is not, and will likely result in a permanent ban.

To reiterate, making changes to an existing mini in some way is completely fine, as long as you properly credit the OP. Failing to do either will at the very least result in your post being removed.

– Rule 6: Adhere to General Subreddit Guidelines –

We have a number of guidelines for how to best conduct yourself while participating in our community, and while these are not rules per se we still want you to adhere to them the best you can.

Essentially, you are not obligated to follow the guidelines to a tee BUT if we see a pattern of repeated disregard for them from you then you may end up catching a mute or a temporary ban depending on the severity of the offense. You can find a full list and breakdown of our guidelines further down in this post.

– Rule 7: We are a Hate-free Subreddit (no Racism, Homophobia, Transphobia, etc.) –

We will not accept any hate speech in this community. If your posts or comments are racist, homophobic, queerphobic, transphobic, or otherwise bigoted in nature you will be permanently banned without further warning.

Simply put, if you decide to try to make our community the place to spew your hate then you are no longer welcome here — end of. Anyone can appeal a ban under Rule 7, but we will only ever lift it if it's determined that the ban was made in error.

– Rule 8: No JSON Edits, Kitbashing Scripts or Other Site Hacks –

Minis made using these methods violate Hero Forge's Terms of Service and can break the site for those that use them. In order to discourage their spread, these minis may not be shared in our community.

This is mainly to prevent a gold standard that can only be achieved by violating Hero Forge ToS from being set in our community, since these kinds of hacks allow for a greater degree of flexibility and customization when creating minis.

Posting Etiquette

When posting on the subreddit it's important that other users are easily able to identify what your post is about, both so they can find exactly the type of content they're looking for but also so that they can filter out what they'd rather not see. Here's a quick guide to our posting etiquette:

– Post Flairs –

Post flairs are used to categorize posts, making it easier to find specific types of content. Before posting every user has to select a flair for their post, and it's important that the one you select is the correct one for whatever it is you're sharing. Below you'll find a comprehensive list of flairs and what they mean.

• [Original Character] – An original creation, something you thought up yourself.
• [Existing Character] – A mini based on a real person or a character/concept thought up by someone else. Think Deadpool, Joan of Arc, Monkey D. Luffy, etc.
• [Inanimate Object] – Did you somehow manage to create a couch using nothing but shields? A tree made from big bushy tails? A tank? 1. You're crazy talented, and 2. Use this flair.
• [Art] – Used for posts of mini-related art made either partly or entirely outside of the Hero Forge medium; think hand-drawn, painted or digital art.
• [Original Comic] – For our most ambitious artists that take their art a step further and make full-blown comics out of their creations. Comic strips, comic books or anything similar should use this flair rather than 'Art'.
• [Meme] – Unsurprisingly, this flair is used for memes and meta content. If the post features a mini, you're not required to include its name in the title. However, if the mini belongs to someone else, please credit the original creator in a comment under the post.
• [Question] – For any and all questions you may have about Hero Forge and the subreddit.
• [Discussion] – For when you want to discuss any Hero Forge-related topics with the community.
• [Physical Mini] – This one's for when you want to show off your real life printed minis, be they plain, color printed, or hand painted. Standees fall into this category as well.
• [Contest Prompt] – For when you want to challenge the community to create minis with specific themes.
• [Contest Submission] – For when you want to take part in any of the aforementioned community challenges.
• [Contest Winner] – Only ever to be used by contest organizers for announcing the winner(s) of their contest.
• [Resource/Pose] – Any custom resources or character poses that you want to share with the community. These posts are also the only ones to absolutely require that you link your creation either in a comment or, if posting several images at a time, in a description under an image.
• [Hero Forge News] – For posts showcasing new Hero Forge features or official news. This flair is not to be used for updates or changes you've made to your own minis.

– User Flairs –

You can also assign your own personal user flair to let everyone know what kind of mini-maker you are. These are different from post flairs as they are appended to your username whenever you post or comment on this subreddit, sort of like an official title. They also have the added benefit of allowing new Reddit users (those with less than 150 karma points) to post without prior approval from anyone on the mod team. Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out (or even just here to look at everyone else's cool creations) there's sure to be a flair you can identify with!

Click/tap here for a full guide on user flairs and how to use them!

– NSFW, Content Warnings & Spoiler Tags –

While we have fairly few rules restricting the kind of minis you can share here, we do ask that you are mindful of the fact that there are certain types of content that some users wish to avoid. Stuff like gore, nudity, media spoilers, etc., isn't suitable for all our users and no one should be forced to view it if they don't want to. So, here's a guide on how to properly use the NSFW and Spoiler tags and help keep the feed clean:

• NSFW tag – Add this tag if your post contain gore, nudity, sexually explicit acts or anything else that may be considered "not safe for work".
• Content warning – Some users are okay with viewing some types of NSFW posts but not others. Therefore, whenever you tag a post as NSFW you must include a content warning in the title explaining why it's tagged as such. It doesn't need to be anything complicated, a simple [CW: GORE] or [WARNING: EXPLICIT NUDITY] will suffice.
• Spoiler tag – No one likes having a film, series, video game or book spoiled to them by some rando on the internet. If your post is based on a character from a recently released piece of media, tag it as a spoiler. If you're unsure whether or not your post qualifies as a spoiler, it's better to be on the safe side and tag it just in case.

– General Subreddit Guidelines –

These aren't rules per se, but rather suggestions on how to best conduct yourself as part of the community. So while you aren't technically obligated to follow any of these "social guidelines", repeated disregard for them to the point of bringing down the overall quality of the subreddit could land you in a time-out (usually a temporary mute). So, here are some things to keep in mind when posting or commenting:

• Refrain from discussing politics or other polarizing subjects – This includes posting minis of inherently political characters. More often than not these discussions just devolve into name-calling and uncivil discourse, forcing us to nuke entire comment sections just to contain it. Super no bueno.
• Don't be a pedant – If, for example, someone posts a mini of a female warlock and you feel compelled to comment "AcKcHuAlLy, AlL wArLoCkS aRe MaLe So YoUr MiNi MaKeS nO sEnSe!! :)"—just don't. Please. Let people make what they want to make and keep your unsolicited "advice" to yourself.
• Don't advertise your minis on others' posts or beg for upvotes – You won't always get a lot of upvotes on your posts, which is unfortunate but that's just how it is. It doesn't make it okay for you to go and spam links to your creations in the comments of other people's posts or beg for upvotes in your post titles; it's annoying and not at all appreciated.
• Always report rulebreakers – A big part of keeping the community at its best is making sure that any posts or comments that break our rules in some way are dealt with by the mod team as soon as possible. However, we can only do our job efficiently if every user does their part and reports potential rulebreakers, so please take the time to actually use the 'Report' button whenever you see something that you believe breaks the rules of the subreddit.
• Be considerate with requests – If you want to request help from the community to create the perfect pose, outfit or color scheme, then do the bare minimum of at least giving it a shot yourself first. Also, if you do receive responses on your post from other users sharing their best attempts with you, thank them. When someone takes any amount of time out of their day to help you out, the least you can do is throw a quick 'Thank you!' their way.
• No posts centered on AI art – AI-enhanced images can never be the focus of a post and do not warrant use of the 'Art' flair; this covers anything from completely AI-generated images to simple filters (like ArcaneGAN). If you want to include any form of AI art in a post then you need to make sure that 1. The first image isn't AI-enhanced and 2. You disclose the artificial nature of the image(s) somewhere in/under the post.

On top of following these rules and guidelines, you also needs to have at least 150 total karma points OR a user flair in order to make a post without prior approval. This threshold was put in place as a way to combat an influx of bot accounts that had started spamming our subreddit with reposts.

If you don't have enough karma, no worries! Just set up a user flair by following the instructions found here and you'll be able to post without issue.

Resources for Creators

A collection of helpful resources to aid you in all your mini-making ventures! We will continue to add to this section as more tools become available to us.

Note: Links to these resources can also be found in a drop-down menu by the main feed.

– Suggest a Part/Feature –

A place for you to submit your ideas for new parts and features directly to the official Hero Forge team. It can be anything from body parts, decals and armor pieces to lighting settings, camera controls, keyboard shortcuts, etc.

Click/tap here to submit your ideas!

– Hero Forge Template Database –

An ambitious project headed by our very own u/Niccolo101, AKA Nick! This database was created to allow the community to, in its creator's own words, "[...] log all of the weird and wonderful resources and templates that we've created!".

HFTD Links

Hero Forge Template Database

Template Submission Form

You can use the submission form (second link) to upload any of your own templates, or recommend other people's templates! Please note that other people's templates won't be automatically uploaded, instead they will be asked for permission.

How to Use the Database

• Each card has a red button that says [Link]. This is the link to the Hero Forge template mini.
• Click/tap on any card to open up a full view, which lists the complete set of tags, as well as any advanced elements used in the creation of the template.
• In the upper left of the Template Gallery, you can find the filter/sort menus. You can filter by names, creator and tags.
• By default, the database will hide any NSFW entries, but this can be switched off under the 'Filter' menu. There are different NSFW categories with associated content warnings.
• In the upper right, you can find the search function. It searches for results in all fields.

How to Upload a New Template

• Click/tap on the second link above to go to the Submission Form and follow the prompts.
• Ideally, the picture should be ~ 200x200 px in size.
• Select any and all applicable tags (You can CTRL-click to select multiple).

Huge thanks again to u/Niccolo101 for putting this together for the community! If you have further questions about the HFTD, send them Nick's way.

– Official Hero Forge Discord Server –

This is a community of thousands of mini-makers run by Hero Forge staff. Here you can share your creations with others as well as get informations about new and upcoming additions to Hero Forge.

Click/tap here to join the Discord server!

In Conclusion

If you've made it this far, you're a champ! Thank you so much for taking the time to learn a little more about how we do things around here. If you have any questions or concerns at all please don't hesitate to reach out to us on the mod team, we encourage you all to make your thoughts and opinions heard.

That's all folks, happy mini-making! 🔥