Nova Aetas: Renaissance

Designer Diary #3 - Allies -
over 5 years ago – Tue, Nov 03, 2020 at 12:28:08 AM

Hello Heroes!
In this new designer diary we're going to introduce you to a new type of model that can be used in your NA: R games, the Allies!
In the original edition of NA the Allies were called Paersona, and were in effect special Heroes usable by players, but unlike standard Heroes they could not accumulate experience or change their equipment.
The original system, however, provided that if a player wanted to play a Mission with a Paersona he would have to temporarily abandon his favorite Hero, which was not at all preferable, since the unused Hero would not be able to acquire new Skills.

In NA: R, Allies are effectively additional Heroes that players can use in addition to the 4 standard Heroes. To be used with ease, they have a special card that allows you to manage the Ally more quickly and comfortably, without taking up too much space on the game table.
We can define them as "mini-Heroes".

This system also allows those who play with fewer than 4 players to use the "Allies" version of the Heroes as a substitute for the missing players (yes, we're looking at you, solo players).
So for example, if you want to tackle a solo campaign you can choose your favorite Hero and manage up to 3 other Heroes as Allies (buying them in the City Phase through a cash expense procedure).
We have mentioned up to 3 other Heroes because soon with the new Divine Help cards it will be possible to play even with less than 4 players, as well as with the Nightmare cards it will be possible to play with up to 6 players.
Allies will be considered as real Heroes for the management of these new cards.

The Allies cards are in tarot format and include all the features (at the top of the card), plus 3 Fixed Skills that require a cash cost to use. In example (A), Sofia can be "purchased" at the end of the City Phase at an increasingly higher price based on the Skills you want her to have during the Mission. The cost of the Skills is cumulative so if for example you want Sofia to be able to use 2 Skills you will have to pay a total of 5 popolini before the Mission begins.
The Allies have their own equipment (B) which will normally provide them with one or at most two different attacks.
Finally, in the lower part of the card (C) you will have one or more keywords that can be used during the narrative sessions of the Missions (in a future update we will explain this aspect of the game in detail).

The Allies will not only be Heroes in a simplified version, but also historical or special characters that can only be used as Allies, an example is Giovanni dalle Bande Nere that you will find in Under Siege, but we have many others in store for you! They are just waiting impatiently to be released.

See you tomorrow for the next update!

Welcome in Italy, land of sun, sea and legends... and good food of course!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Nov 03, 2020 at 12:07:06 AM

Traveling through the rough roads of Roman Empire origin that run through the entire peninsula, it is common to come across fallen columns or walls covered with dense, green ivy hiding precious mosaics that once saw the sun.

These roads all depart from Rome and lead to all the major cities and towns of the time.

During the Renaissance there is also a very thorough study of creating the ideal city, with many scholars subsidized by patrons trying to make a better and more modern city, filled with functional and artistic buildings.

In NA: R, these locations are characterized by your City cards.

The City cards will serve to further characterize your trips throughout Italy, differentiating the main places you will visit during the campaign.

Each card has an image of the city, its name and a brief historical description on the front.

On the opposite side you will find all the game information you will need.

Each city in the game will only include the places that you can visit and any special rules that apply to them.

The places within these Renaissance cities that can be visited are:

• Barracks where it will be possible to hire Allies and accept secondary bounty Missions on the most wanted men 
• Cerusico, where the Heroes will be able to go to be treated for their serious wounds.
• Craftsman, through which the Heroes can commission new equipment to be built.
• Inn, where the Heroes will be able to learn about hunting Missions, leading to interesting mini-games.
• Church, to receive a blessing before the next Mission.
• Market, where it is possible to sell and buy equipment, formulas and reagents.
• Brothel, where the heroes can discover information about the city and about many other side Missions.
• Catacombs, ... well we can't reveal any information about this place yet, but there will be a dedicated update soon.

We can't wait to reveal to you the many wonders that cities hide, in fact each city will also be linked to a few paragraphs contained inside the plot book that will help you discover more and more information about the world of NA: R and maybe will allow you to experience unique adventures or to find very special equipment.

We hope you can't wait to visit the many places in Renaissance Italy. See you tomorrow with another great update!

XP!
over 5 years ago – Sat, Oct 31, 2020 at 12:11:08 AM

XP points are the the fundamental element to let players evolve their heroes.

Those point are gained during campaign, depending on the final outcome of each mission; secondary missions will not give XP points.

Completing a mission successfully in most cases will give you more experience points, but not always... like in real life, sometimes you will learn more from your mistakes rather than from successes.

In the first Nova Aetas each mission gave a Skill, once a hero gained 3 Skills, the player could choose to change a class into an advanced class by giving up another extra gained Skill.

In Nova Aetas Renaissance the Skill learning system is more linear, and a Class change is managed more easily just by spending XP points.

In the original system when a hero changed a Class, he had to change die (from D6 to D8) and hero's characteristics. This change was generating two odd situations: some heroes could change class before others, and, having 2 enemy card decks to use (one for D6 level and the other for D8 level), this situation was generating some confusion.

In Nova Aetas Renaissance there is only one level and one die, D8. This makes the game easier to manage and helps to balance better each mission. Each hero still have to learn 3 skills before having the choice to change class, but the only change will be the access to a new set of Skills, and it will not penalize players different choices, heroes characteristics will remain the same.

XP point system will allow to increase all characteristics, highlighting changes with transparent colored cubes on the hero sheet. Each hero will have different limits for the different characteristics.

Today we will also release first cosmetic add-on: Dice!

Of course this add-on it's not needed and doesn't change the game experience, it's for those of you who likes the idea to have a different dice set for each hero, or for those who love to have a set of dice with their favorite color... or for those who just love dice!

See you tomorrow for the next update!

Choose your Destiny
over 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 09:59:07 PM

"Each of us has his own story to tell. A path that has led us to this very moment. Our stories make us what we are but they leave us with scars and demons which we fight against every day. If you want to listen to me ... I'll tell you mine, so you will understand why I can't let you live.”

                                                                                                                                    Gregorio the Scourge

Hello Heroes!

Today we will talk to you about Destiny Cards, one of the new elements of NAR that we like most about this new edition!

Each Hero has a set of 6 Destiny Cards that will tell its own story and introduce you to your Hero’s unique Background. But these cards will also play a role in your games! 

Each Hero will begin their career by drawing the first Destiny card in their deck. The card will give the Hero a task to accomplish in the course of the missions. Once the task is fulfilled, the Hero can discard it, claim the eventual reward and draw the next card, and so on until the sixth Destiny Card is completed! Completing the whole set in addition to making you discover important details about your Hero’s story will also provide you with excellent rewards in the form of extra experience or special items!

Finally, Destiny Cards are perfect for avoiding the "Alpha Player effect", very common in cooperative games. This is because Destiny Cards remain secret to other players and are only revealed when they are resolved!

What do you think? Are you ready to discover your destiny?

Before saying goodbye we present a new video review made by Beasty Geeks, which will explain 8 good reasons to support Nova Aetas Renaissance!

Enjoy it!

Under Siege more in deep
over 5 years ago – Fri, Oct 30, 2020 at 04:57:26 PM

This expansion is born from the desire to visit Rome and learn about one of the darkest episodes in its history.

The focus of the expansion is therefore placed precisely on historical events, even if as is our custom we have colored one of the two branches of the story with fantasy elements such as the presence of the Werewolf or the presence of Giovanni dalle Bande Nere to protect the Papal city (historically, he died before reaching Rome, wounded by an enemy gunshot). But this still tells a good story!

What does this expansion add to your gaming experience?
A new story consisting of 10 missions, new equipment to craft, and a new Hero, but above all it introduces the mechanics of the allies (we plan to unlock more allies with future SGs).
With the new system of Mission cards that develop the story and give the game a new feeling of discovery we have the possibility to redesign Missions to make them even closer to our initial objective. A little bit like when – thanks to new technologies – the special effects of a film are improved, giving them a new life.

Now, for example, the Mission in which the Spanish Landsknechts seek a passage between the walls to penetrate the city defenses has a completely different flavor, the spy will not be present on the board from the beginning as it did in the original NA Mission and the exploration of the walls will provide players with many more pitfalls.

The Lancer, the Valkyrie Brynhildr, is another of the characters that recall a more fantasy world.
This time we have chosen a reference to Norse mythology instead of the classical mythology usually used in NA: R precisely to emphasize its provenance.
This Hero is very strong in attack and has good movement Skills, but Brynhildr lacks in endurance and doesn't give much support to her party.

Giovanni dalle Bande Nere will be used as an NPC during the Missions in the Under Siege campaign but can also be used as an ally in the Missions of the base game.
An ally has its own card that describes its unique characteristics, available Skills and equipment.

For now I will just tell you that the cost next to the Skills on his card is the cost that you must incur to hire this character and that for the purposes of the game he counts as a standard Hero.

In an upcoming update we will go into even more detail on how allies work (will there be more? 😀).

See you tomorrow for a new fantastic update.