Nova Aetas: Renaissance

Designer diary #4 - Rome Under Siege!
almost 5 years ago – Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 01:42:14 AM

Hello Heroes!

In this update, we will take a closer look at another NAR great expansion: Under Siege!

Under Siege is one of the most unique expansions ever created for one of our games.

The plot of this expansion is based on a very famous and well-documented blood-soaked historical event: the Sack of Rome in 1527, at the hands of the imperial troops of Charles V of Habsburg.

Lansquenets, Spaniards, and bands of Italian mercenaries, crossed Italy arriving in Rome,

devastating and oppressing it, halving its population in the course of a year.

For many historians, The Sack of Rome is the event that set the end of the Renaissance.

But the historical period has also given us many important characters, including Giovanni dalle Bande Nere.

Taking inspiration from all these information, we have included 2 main plots in the campaign.

The first is a "what if" with Giovanni dalle Bande Nere who does not die in an attempt to stop the German army, here he helps our heroes to defend Rome (with a twist of fantasy element coming directly from the Black Forest), the second is more linked to the real historical events. Both plots will lead to a total of 4 different endings.

One of the things we had the most fun with was the reconstruction of Rome, you will be able to visit several of its Neighborhoods (aka "Rioni"), highlighted on the map. Given the frenetic sequence of events during the Imperial Siege, the Neighborhoods will work very similarly to the Main Campaign Towns. So, depending on the Neighborhood where you find yourself at the end of a Mission, you can carry out various activities during the Rest Phase, before throwing yourself into the desperate defense of the Eternal City.

In terms of gameplay, you will face Von Frundsberg, the old troop commander, 2 units of Lansquenets, a unit of Spanish Lansquenets and Italian bandits... as well as a mighty Werewolf!

With the help of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere, some missions will bring you through the old districts of Rome, with a spectacular 3D reconstruction of the “Passetto”, a long fortified path that served to take to safety the Pope, linking San Pietro to Castel Santangelo fortress.

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere acts as an Ally, he is a special character with his own special card that can be used in any NAR campaign or mission. Allies will add new tactical options during missions, they are perfect to create a large group of Heroes, especially when playing solo!

Under Siege's last surprise is Brynhildr the Lancer, a warrior from the lands of the North who follows Viking traditions, pervaded by the power of the ancient Norse gods. The young woman chased the imperial army to put an end to an ancient curse.

This new Hero will impress you with her abilities, they combine divine powers with martial skills, she is capable to control the battleground and inflict massive damage to the Enemies. But be careful, she can't count on a great resistance like Valerio and Gregorio.

Are you ready to go through this dark historical event?

Next week we will publish a new update dedicated to the Vesuvius expansion!

Pledge Manager

We are approaching the closure of the Pledge Manager. As we received several requests from you, to allow some more time to the backers who have not yet completed their survey, the closure date will be July 18th.

What will happen after July 18th?

With the start of mass production, we will sign with the factory quantities of the goods to be produced and commit to that production locking the costs of raw materials. Those quantities are based on orders closed on Backerkit, plus an extra quantity to cover some potential additional orders and replacements.

This means that we will have an extra availability for each item, which can be used to cover some late orders that will arrive from now on.

Once this extra quantity is over, orders will be definitively closed.

This means that if you have not yet completed your survey, you can still do it after July 18th, but we invite you to act as soon as possible, to avoid potential stock issues.

We remind you that all NAR orders on Backerkit have been reopened, therefore everyone has the possibility to add items to their orders. The procedure for accessing your orders again was explained in the second part of Update # 40.

To access your order you can use the link that was sent to you by BK via email or use this link:

NAR Pledge Manager

For any problem, as always, please contact our support service at this link:

LMS LITE SUPPORT CENTER

That's all for today! See you next week for a new Update!

Designer Diary #3 plus Pledge Manager Update!
almost 5 years ago – Mon, May 24, 2021 at 01:23:00 AM

Hello Heroes!
  Welcome to a new update full of important news ... a slightly different Designer Diary!
  Let's start immediately by talking about the Pledge Manager, which according to our original plans should have closed at the end of May.
  Following your many requests, we have decided to postpone the closing to July 1st 2021, thus allowing all of you to have more time to complete it!
  But it doesn't stop there! In this, and in future updates, we will analyze in more detail the most important expansions of NAR to give you more details that will be useful for you to decide whether or not to add them to your order.
  For today's Update, we couldn't help but start with the most-awaited and requested of NAR's 3 big expansions, Catacombs!
  Ready to go down into the darkness?

CATACOMBS 

Italy is an ancient land.
Many catacombs have been excavated throughout its history, in the most remote places, and in the most disparate ways.
Visiting a city will often lead you to discover some of these mysterious places.
Welcome to dark and often forgotten tunnels, turned into catacombs and transformed into fantastic dungeons. Yes, because the peculiarity of this expansion is that it will allow you to experience an exciting "Dungeon Crawler" mode within Nova Aetas, allowing you to take a break from the standard Missions of the main Campaign to venture into these forgotten places full of mysteries.
  One of the options that you will have when carrying out the Rest Phase in a city (usually between one main Mission and another) will be to venture into its underground.
  In a section of some City Cards, you will find the CATACOMB Keyword and basic information that will help you decide whether or not to go down through its tunnels.
  Usually, you will find 2 pieces of information: the type of opponents you will face, listed by factions, and if the catacombs in question have special rules, for example by visiting those of Venice you may find yourself facing the encroaching water that will slowly fill the corridors and rooms with the rising tide.
  Other rules related to darkness or poisonous miasmas may hinder you in other areas.

  Enemies within a catacomb will always be represented by the various Undead included in this expansion, and by one or more Factions from the base game. You may encounter groups of marauders who went underground with the same purposes you had, or religious fanatics intent on cleaning up the evil from these places (and who will obviously consider YOU "evil" as well!!!) You may even find enemies that are not from the dead of ancient times … younger than the ancient ones who roam the catacombs, who in this case will be undead versions of normal enemies you often face.

  But the real antagonists of the Catacombs will always be the fearful Undead, the ancient bodies of the Roman era awakened by dark and evil magic (or perhaps technology?). Starting from the Legionaries who will overwhelm you with their numbers, supported by the lethal Centurions, up to the Patricians and the terrible Abomination that will put your skills to the test with his fetid presence.

  Once you have chosen whether to face the catacombs, you can choose – based on the time available –whether you take a quick run or explore the entire catacomb; this will change the number of rooms and corridors you will need to visit and also the difficulty of the dungeon. Generally, the longer catacombs will be the most difficult ones and will require more time and better preparation to deal with their many hazards.

  Each catacomb to be explored will refer to a specific page of the rules, where all the special rules will be explained, and how to build the enemy draft deck and the exploration deck made up of the Catacombs Cards.

The main purpose of these explorations is to recover rare materials and objects, such as formulas or new equipment.   Failing to complete it in time will not result in particular penalties for the purposes of the main campaign, but it could lead to the loss of all or part of your loot.   Each Catacomb is formed, according to the chosen difficulty, by a certain number of Catacomb Cards that will describe its rooms and corridors.

  The corridors will have tables directly on their reference card that will tell you what type of event can take place inside them. The rooms, in addition to random events, will always guarantee you a reward once cleared.

 Some Heroes, especially Luca (the mythical Hero included in the expansion), will have skills that will allow you to better survive in the catacombs and their special rules. For example, our Grave Robber, thanks to the “Underground Explorer” ability, once per dungeon will be able to discard a freshly drawn Catacomb Card and draw a new one; a skill that used at the right time, can greatly help to complete the mission in time.

  Therefore, each group that will leave for exploration will need to be well studied to perform better within a particular catacomb: a group that will need to race against time, perhaps because of the rising tide, should be made up of heroes with better movement skills, while longer missions in dungeons saturated with poisonous miasmas will be easier if faced by a group of hardy heroes or with exceptional healing skills.

Visiting the Catacombs of Rome, you can decide to explore the Domus Aurea, the ancient home of Nero. This will start a mini-campaign of 3 Missions linked to this famous Roman Emperor.
  This mini-campaign will have special rules and will lead you to face many characters of Roman history, culminating in a hunt that will give access to spectacular rewards!

  We really hope we've piqued your curiosity and increased your hype about this expansion!

  In case you have already completed your order, do not worry: even after the many requests received, we have proceeded to reopen all orders that have already been closed, in order to allow you to add new add-ons.
  To do this, just follow these simple steps:
  Once you have clicked on your invite link (or log into your BackerKit account), you will find yourself on the screen shown below. At this point, just click on the "Edit you address" button.

  You will then arrive at this new page where you need to click on the “Edit Add-ons” button! 

  Then you will return to the Survey page that will allow you to add new add-ons to your order!

Easy right? Once the payment methods have been confirmed, all you need to do is wait for your card to be Charged which, for all those who have added items to their order, will take place in the first days of July.
  For any problems you can contact our support service using this link:
 

LMS SUPPORT CENTER

  We hope you enjoyed this long overview of the Catacombs! In the next update, we'll give you more information on NAR's other two big expansions: Vesuvio and Under Siege!

  See you soon!

Designer Diary #2
almost 5 years ago – Fri, Apr 23, 2021 at 12:21:40 AM

Hello everyone,

Welcome to a new appointment with the Design Diary.

First of all, we are happy to announce that Diego Fonseca, Dungeonology game designer, joined as a developer, the 2 game designers Andrea Colletti and Luca Bernardini on this project, we are sure that the final result will have great benefit from this cooperation!

Diego has been working in the Studio for some time now, and he will definitely give an exceptional boost to the project.

Today we will tell you a bit more about the Plot Book.

Reading various comments on social networks, we realized that we have not well explained its use and its importance.

This book of about 100 pages will collect many narrative texts that will help immerse yourself in the world of Nova Aetas.

Thanks to direct links with the Mission cards, the plot book allows us to expand their contents and add numerous images and even mini-games and puzzles. In this way, we will be able to overcome the physical limits of the cards.

In addition, within the plot book, you will also find the tales of the Heroes' Destiny cards. These tales, related to the accomplishment of personal mini-quests, will be able to grant the heroes new skills or special equipment inherited from their past life, before the campaign you will play.

Let's move to some examples, to better explain how cards and books interact with each other.

During the demonstration mission, Sofia entered the old forest house.

Drawing a new mission card reveals her a location, with all of its possible interactions.

One of these catches the thief's attention: an old and dusty trunk between the wardrobe and a gnarled tree that seems to have grown inside the building, breaking through the roof.

The player who controls Sofia reads the paragraph corresponding to the chest indicated on the location card.

“An old, dull-toned chest covered with a thin layer of dust lies almost invisible on one side of the room, half-hidden in the darkness. Approaching it you realize that its workmanship is remarkable and that probably long ago it must have been of great value.

Passing your hand delicately over the metal parts, you realize that the trunk is not much ruined and that a big and sturdy padlock still keeps it closed"

Now the player can decide whether to try to break the padlock or if he wants to try to lock pick it.

Sofia remembers she has with her a Lockpick, so she decides to try the delicate manners.

She takes a test by spending Action Points, as indicated in the paragraph, she passes it and reads the result:

"The lock gives way under your skilled hands and it opens with a click. You open the chest delicately, you are worried that it may hide a trap, but luckily there seem to be no consequences to your action. Inside the chest, everything seems to have stopped in time, there is no trace of dust and everything seems to be exactly as it is supposed to be, in perfect order. You start gently to pull out the contents, in search of something precious. Among all the things, you find two bags with herbs, a roll of leather, and a bag containing a strange powder that seems to shine in the dark"

Take 2 Belladonna resource cards from the Alchemia deck, 1 Leather card from the Elementum deck, and the Achievement card #13.

Now you can go back to the old house Location card.

As you easily get, the possibilities are limitless and add exceptional depth to the stories, giving us the opportunity to give free rein to our imagination.

We are pleased to leave you with one of the most beautiful and particular models that you managed to unlock during the campaign: Nyx!

This character was born from the collaboration between Ludus Magnus and Succubus Publishing, Nyx arrives in the world of Nova Aetas directly from Middara.

During the campaign, many narrative plots will be revealed on her character.

The crossover between the two Companies has brought Circe, one of the most powerful sorceresses of Nova Aetas, into the Middara universe, take a look at this wonderful version of her.

We take the opportunity of Nyx to invite you to visit the new website of the Succubus team.

 Check also their online store!

For this occasion we steal their typical greeting: Stay Sexy!

Easter in the Renaissance!
almost 5 years ago – Sun, Apr 04, 2021 at 09:08:49 PM

Hello Heroes!

A quick update to wish you all a happy Easter!

Within a couple of weeks, we will resume with the updates dedicated to the Designer's Diary. Unfortunately immediately after the Chambers of Wonders Kickstarter closes (by the way, the late pledges will start next week if you missed it) Andrea, co-author of NAR,  contracted Covid 19, fortunately, a fairly mild form but which forced him to the isolation for some weeks, slowing down the game designer phase a bit, but don't worry we will soon make up for a lost time!

But since we can't update without showing you anything new, today we present Colombina's model in detail! A mysterious and lethal unit at the service of the Serenissima!

Enjoy this amazing new model and give us your feedback!

That's all for today! See you in a couple of weeks for a new Designer's Diary!

Happy Easter to all of you!

Designer Diary #1
about 5 years ago – Wed, Mar 10, 2021 at 01:04:34 AM

Hello, Heroes!

It is time for a new NAR update! It has been more time than usual since the last one, and for that, we apologize, we will try to keep a more regular pace from now on by giving you more content-rich updates so that you can stay informed on the progress of the work of your beloved game.

From today we will start a series of Updates where we will tell you about the game design work we are doing on NAR and let you participate in our choices and the rules we are updating.

Rewriting History

The NAR rules department takes what good the original game system had but correcting those aspects that had not fully satisfied us, also taking advantage of the much feedback we have received over the years, but basically, we know we have a very solid base on to work with and therefore at the moment we are concentrating on the Core Game Campaign, which with the new Mission Cards system is undergoing the biggest upheaval.

While we are trying not to overturn the main plot and the setting of the various missions too much, the Mission Cards allow us to greatly improve the narrative and game potential of every single mission, increasing the choices available to the players, implementing the exploratory aspect, and better Events management and storytelling.

In addition to this important aspect, the addition of new miniatures in the core box allows us to have much more variety in the choice of enemies to be included in each mission!

So right now the adaptation of the old missions to the new system is the focus of our work in this phase of game design.

Unfortunately, the playtest phase at this time is very slow due to the restrictions and security procedures currently in place in Italy to combat Covid19, but we hope that in the coming months the situation will improve in order to allow us to have a faster pace.

In the next update, we will be able to show you a more practical example of the work we are doing on the Missions by analyzing (without too many spoilers) how the first mission of the campaign entitled "The Hot Map" has changed, which as the veteran NA players will remember, put highlighting many of the unique mechanics of our first game!

Of course, we can't leave you before we show you one of the newly sculpted miniatures!

You have seen well! it is the beautiful and deadly Aracne! Based on Tanares Adventures original concept, we redesigned her model to fit even more with the NAR vibe, and the result is a sexy and terrifying miniature at the same time!

Let us know if you like it!

We also remind you that the Pledge Manager is still currently active and that it will be until May 2021. If you have not completed it yet, it is there waiting for you! If you have completed it but want to add new things to your order just contact our support service to reopen your order and make new purchases! Contact us even if you haven't received your invitation email yet!

Before saying goodbye, we would like to point out that Chamber of Wonders, the new game of the Ludus Magnus Lite line, is about to enter the last 48 hours of its Kickstarter campaign!

A fast-paced card game with a captivating graphic style, where every player will be an avid collector of Wonders, busy wandering the streets of Victorian London to get hold of the rarest and most original pieces to show in their Chamber of Wonders.

You will have to deal with noble and thugs, all to be named as the most original and wealthy Wonders collector in London!

Take a look at the project page and you will also find lots of easter eggs dedicated to Nova Aetas and it magical mysterious world!

That's all for today! See you in a few weeks!