Nova Aetas: Renaissance

Designer Diary - Mission Design and Work Progress
over 4 years ago – Sat, Mar 19, 2022 at 06:52:19 PM

Hello Guys!

Here we are at the March Update, which as we had anticipated will be dedicated to the development status!

First of all, we will let you take a look at the Missions design.

The system we have developed for the missions will allow you to have a deep gaming experience and very high replayability!

Mission cards allow you to prepare and manage missions in a simple and fun way.

During a mission, you will find yourself passing from the cards to the Plotbook, where you will find narrative passages that will illustrate what is happening and will put you in front of choices or tests of skill to overcome particularly challenging situations.

The location system will allow you to explore the mission maps in a way never seen before, when you enter a house or a dormitory of the guards, you will have many choices to make, such as looking for objects important for the success of the mission (Achievement) or talk to the many NPCs you will meet and who will give you useful information and insights.

As you know the heart of each mission is the deep and solid tactical combat system, where you need to use your skills to try to get out of challenging encounters with enemies and bosses alive.

We are sure that you will like the system, we are having a lot of fun creating and testing each mission, even if the development and the correct balance of each of them, of each character, each enemy, and each object is very challenging and inevitably long.

Here is an outline of the creative process behind each mission. 

As you can see, this process involves a series of steps that end with the External Playtest, in many cases, they are repeated cyclically until each mission reaches the quality level we want.

Considering that this process must be applied for as many as 27 Missions for the core box only, you can understand how the development of the core box and all the expansions is taking a great amount of time.

Following the delay accumulated in 2021 due to the impossibility of carrying out live playtests, given the anti-covid restrictions applied in Italy, we have increased our staff, added new people to the development team, the Illustrators team, and the Graphic designers team; this restructure is giving positive results and fruit and accelerating the development processes.

This table shows the current status of the work on the Missions. We have not included any other game material such as miniatures and punchboards, simply because these are completed and ready for the mass production.

Currently, there are only few external playtests left to consider the Core box completed and begin the translations of cards and plot book. The Rulebook is currently in translation and we will soon share it on our web app (app.ludusmagnusstudio.com) to allow you to read it in advance and be ready to play as soon as you receive your pledge.

In the meantime, we have started work on the missions of the Expansions that inculde new campaigns (Vesuvius and Under Siege); to make the work of the translators more fluid, we will leave the development of the expansions that add secondary missions (Hyperion, Catacomb, Minotaur and Draco) for last. 

The Mediceo is completely finished and he is already sowing panic on our Battlefields! We will show you its rules in one of the next updates.

Based on our estimates of the work done and what remains to be done, and the time it will take to translate all the huge amount of material into 5 languages, we aim to start mass production by summer 2022 and start shipments by the end of the year.

Before concluding this update, we are happy to inform you that tomorrow we will be guests of the Twitch channel JocoGameStudio to play one of the Core Game Missions live! (spoiler alert)

The live broadcast will start at 04:00 PM (CET) and will be in Italian, but we will also answer questions in English. We hope to see many of you, answer your questions, and show you a lot of preview material.

That's all for today! See you tomorrow on Twitch and in a couple of weeks for a new update!

Designer Diary - Factions: Venice
over 4 years ago – Wed, Mar 02, 2022 at 01:54:02 PM

Hello, guys!

The last appointment with the Designer Diary, dedicated to the NAR Core Box enemies factions, today is finally La Serenissima's turn.

The antagonist of the Papal state during the war of the League of Cambrai, Venice will be a formidable opponent for our Heroes. 

Its mercenary troops will count on a high versatility and their skills will put the Heroes in front of many different situations.

A small historical clarification. Despite making extensive use of it, Venice not only had mercenary troops on its service but also a regular army of its own. However, we decided to give a more exotic and diversified look to this faction, taking advantage that historically, among their ranks, there were many mercenaries very often coming from Eastern Europe, where Venice exercised its strong influence. 

Among its units, you will find Gypsies, Moldavians, and other Mercenaries hardened by a life of bloody contracts led by Venetian Patricians eager to show off their skills.

But let's take a look at some of these dangerous mercenaries!

The Moldavan Guards are the heavy troops of this Faction. With excellent Defense and Mental Physical values​​, and the Shield ability, they are very tough, but also their attack is not to be underestimated. Few Heroes will be able to avoid it in, with the bad prospect of receiving a Poison token.

It will be better than the heroes with the best defenses be sent to fight them... or hope that Vincenzo and Gregorio are ready to use precious Action Point to cure the annoying negative status!

The Gunners are the perfect skirmishers of this faction. They are able to be dangerous both at range and in melee thanks to their Eclectic ability, they can inflict a considerable amount of Wounds, and they have the bad habit of poisoning their daggers.

As for a little reminder for you, a Hero with a Poison token on their sheet will always roll one less die (up to a minimum of 1 die) for any test they must take. A harmful effect for the Heroes that also has the bad characteristic of being able to be discarded only thanks to the use of specific equipment or skills.

Finally, we conclude this brief rundown with the iconic Gipsy! 

This fascinating enemy also presents in the first version of Nova Aetas, is the Mage of this Faction and will oppress the Heroes with terrible mental area attacks that will also inflict Fire on those who have the misfortune to be in the area of ​​effect. Also, thanks to the Shooter's skill, this nice girl can target the Heroes ignoring any obstacles between her and them ... it will be really difficult to escape her burning gaze!

These are only three lethal units available to La Serenissima, but enough to make you understand that you must be very careful when facing this faction. 

But you know, Venetians are good negotiators, maybe you will succeed in an agreement, or maybe you will be made an offer that you cannot refuse!

Who knows? The paths of destiny for the heroes of NAR are many and you decide which one to take!

That's all for today! Yes, this update is a little shorter than usual but for March, instead of the usual update at the end of the month, we have planned 2 of them, in which, in the one of mid-March we will also take stock of the state of work and the NAR production.

We know that many of you are concerned about the delay and we want to keep you as informed as possible, reassuring you that we are working at full speed and expanding our development team to make up for the time lost due to the pandemic last year.

Apart from this, in the next Designer Diary, now that we have finished with the Core Box Enemies, we will start to show you the (new) Heroes of NAR, who, following the development and the playtest to which they have been subjected, they have undergone many changes and adjustments to be all balanced and fun to play!

That's all for today! See you in mid-March!

Fireball!

Designer Diary - Factions: Primaevi
over 4 years ago – Wed, Jan 26, 2022 at 10:33:00 PM

Hello, guys!

Welcome to the first update of 2022 that continues the series dedicated to the Enemy Factions of the Core box. As winners of the survey launched in the latest update, it will discover the secrets of the mysterious Primaevi!

This People, closely related to Gaea, are made up of various races: Fauns, Spriggans, Centaurs, and the fearsome Bully.

In the world of NAR the Primaevi are organized into tribes that include mixed elements of these races, and to escape the eyes of men they have chosen to live in the depths of the thickest woods of the Italian peninsula.

They generally try to keep themselves out of the disputes of the more "civilized" kingdoms, but the events of the main campaign will take them to the field to protect their most precious of artifacts, the Blood of Gaea; the object of desire for both Rome and Venice... and our heroes will find themselves in the middle of this dispute!

As you know,  NAR main campaign may lead to very different events depending on the result of the missions you play, and therefore your Free Company will be able to clash or ally with the Primaevi, based on the progress of the main plot.

But let's take a look at some of the models in this Faction!

Among the troops, we find the small but deadly Slingers, who will give support from a distance to their companions.

While they may seem less threatening than their larger mates, these little Primaevi are not to be underestimated. With Horde 3, they will always arrive en masse and their ranged weapons inflict Poison, an annoying negative status that will always make the heroes who suffer it roll one less die, and only a potion or the intervention of Vincenzo and Gregorio can get rid of it!

The stoic Marauders stand out among the Primaevi elites. 

These shock-troops are formidable adversaries for any mercenary, able to weaken the attacks against them thanks to the Shield ability. Also with Phalanx, their attacks will be much more effective when made against heroes adjacent to other Primaevi. You will therefore have to be very careful not to get crisscrossed in order not to meet an inevitable and premature end!

The Primaevi are the only faction of the core box to have a model from the Monster category, the massive and decidedly lethal Bully.

Longtime fans of LMS games know our passion for minotaurs, and this new version of the Bully keeps our tradition high!

Undoubtedly the deadliest "generic" Enemy of the campaign, this colossus will be difficult to kill with physical attacks, and his ax will take victims upon victims if you don't find the right strategy to stem his fury.

With Charge, he will be able to move and attack heroes within 4 squares of him, and his attack in addition to Stun the unfortunate hero will push him back one square. This effect may seem secondary to you, but in NAR missions time is of the essence and even a square could be crucial in determining victory or defeat at the end of a Mission!

We conclude this roundup with another Elite unit of the Primaevi, the mystical Witch!

In the Primaevi society, only women may have magical powers (well apart from a few rare exceptions, such as a mysterious puppy cared by a Florentine mercenary ...), probably because they are the closest to the spirit of their patron Gaea.

Witches are rarely seen in the Primaeval ranks, but when they appear, the minds of humans are put to the test. Their mind attack won't do much damage but will inflict Curse, a powerful debuff that will increase the difficulty of all your tests by 1. In addition, with her ability Heal 4, at the beginning of each activation, all Primaevi within 4 squares from her will recover 1 wound. If you don't want to go to a bad end you will have to find a way to eliminate it quickly or there will be serious trouble!

What do you think? Do you feel ready to face the primordial force of nature? Or do the woods still scare you?

Before saying goodbye, let's also take a look at the progress of the development work of NAR!

The work is progressing at a rapid pace between playtesting sessions and writing the texts of the narrative part of each mission. 

We are paying a lot of attention to this part of the project, we want the stories you will live playing NAR to give you the same feeling that would let you see a good movie or read a great book .. and why not! Play an epic video game. 

We will cover this aspect in more detail in the next updates, but we can tell you that we are excited by the material we are making, and we can't wait for you to immerse yourself in the world of NAR, with a level of depth never seen before in our games!

Regarding the artistic development, to speed up the times, even more, we are happy to inform you that we have added a new concept artist to our team. The talented Eleonora immediately set to work on the production of the dozens of props and environments that will enrich NAR cards and rulebooks.

We show you some of her works to make you understand the level of artistic quality we are aiming for!

We hope you like them, but don't hesitate to leave us your feedback!

That's all for today! See you in February with a new update dedicated to the last faction in play on the chessboard of the Renaissance: Venice the Serenissima!

Fireball!

Christmas in the Renaissance!
over 4 years ago – Fri, Dec 24, 2021 at 02:12:22 AM

Hello guys!

So we have arrived at the Christmas holidays and we could not miss the opportunity to wish you a Merry Christmas and thank you for the precious and fantastic support you are giving us!

We also take this opportunity to inform you that we have released our Web App, where you will find all the updated rulebooks, faqs, and other material for our games.

At the moment, the NAR section is empty, but soon (very soon), we will start uploading the material of our beloved game and implementing the features we have unlocked during the KS campaign! 

Meanwhile, you can save the link or download it directly to your favorite device!

From the next update, we will continue the Designer Diary series to analyze the Core Game Enemies factions, but you will choose which one!

Respond to this Update by voting for the Fauns or for Venice, and the winning faction will be the protagonist of the next Designer Diary!

That's all for today! The LMS team wishes you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

See you next year... the year of the Renaissance!

Designer Diary - Factions: Rome
over 4 years ago – Tue, Dec 07, 2021 at 03:16:19 AM

Hello, guys!

As promised, we are restarting our updates dedicated to NAR design, with a series of episodes dedicated to the Enemies Factions that you will meet during your adventures!

We obviously start with the 3 Factions of the Core Game, and in particular today we will talk about the Rome Faction!

As happened throughout the Middle Ages, even in the Renaissance, the Eternal City was governed by the powerful Papal State, which united temporal and spiritual power in the figure of the Pope.

In the period in which NAR is set, Pope Julius II holds this role. 

Known to history as "the Warrior Pope", Julius II was a great protagonist of the Renaissance, not only for the many wars fought to increase the territory of the papal state but also as a patron for the greatest artists of the time.

And it is precisely to diminish the power of Rome's greatest rival, that he unleashed against Venice, the so-called "War of the League of Cambrai", and this moment our Heroes come into the game.

Julius II's most trusted advisor and expert in arcane matters, Egidio da Viterbo will entrust you with a delicate task to search for an ancient and mysterious artifact that could turn the war outcome in favor of Rome.

Of the three Core box Enemy Factions, Rome is the most resilient, and thanks to various support units, it will play friction against the Heroes trying not only to knock them out but also to make them waste time leading them to a slow defeat. The high Mental Defense values ​​of all Roman units will make them tough opponents for the Mages of our group... Rebecca and Agorix, be warned!

But let's take a look at some of their units!

Among the units of Troop rank, we find the Swiss Guards, who, with their flashy uniforms, will make good use of their Eclectic ability. With this skill, the Swiss Guards will quickly switch from targeting you from a distance with their pistol to attacking you in melee without losing effectiveness. With Physical and Mental defense values ​​of 6, they are among the most difficult Troops in the game to eliminate!

In the Elite rank, the imposing Sacred Guard are the bastions of the Roman army. Protection cancels the dice that got the "star" symbol during an attack, greatly limiting the offensive capabilities of the Heroes. Their attack may seem sluggish, but it's hard to parry, and with Pierce, the Shield will be useless!

Another Elite, but more support unit, is the Nun. This "harmless" old lady has no attacks, but with her two skills, she will be able to heal other nearby papal units and protect them even better from the Heroes evil spells!

We close this brief overview with the Cardinal, one of the leaders of this Faction. He also looks like a rather tough unit, but unlike the Sacred Guard, his attack is really insidious. Thanks to the power of his faith he will be able to set fire to and stun the Heroes who dare to face him!

This is a brief rundown of some of this Faction's units, and others are waiting to be shown, but fear not! Everything will be revealed to you! In the meantime, tell us what you think and which one you fear the most!

That's all for today! We meet you at the "Update before Christmas" to show you a new Faction, and give you updates on the progress of your beloved game!

Fireball!