Nova Aetas: Renaissance

The Year of Renaissance
about 3 years ago – Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 09:07:23 AM

Update Contents:

• New Year communication
• Minotaur Spotlight

Hello guys!

Welcome to the first update of 2023, and let's start by wishing you all a Happy New Year!

2023 will be an important and busy year for us, with the delivery of our two biggest projects, Nova Aetas Renaissance and Black Rose Wars: Rebirth! As previously announced, the fulfillment of both games is scheduled for the middle of this year, and it will undoubtedly be a very hot summer on your gaming tables!

The production of NAR's Wave 1 is continuing, but the factory is temporarily closed for the Chinese New Year, and as scheduled, work will resume in early February.

As we finished the game's development and worked on all of the files for production, we realized the magnitude that this project had reached.  We had considered producing a Retail version of NAR during the Kickstarter and subsequent months, but the final months of finalization prompted us to ponder. We thought that a "lite" version of NAR, without drastically altering it in order to make it economically viable for distribution (e.g., replace miniatures with standees? Reduce the number of miniatures? Reduce the number of missions? etc.) is extremely tough to accomplish.

So we've decided that NAR will stay an LMS Exclusive product for the foreseeable future, which means that after fulfillment is complete, the only method to obtain it will be through our online shop or any other initiatives we may do in the future. We think this is a piece of important news to share with you because it means your pledge will be even more valuable!!

For the future, however, we anticipate that NAR will not stop with this KS! We already have numerous ideas for expanding the universe of NAR, thanks to many of your suggestions and requests: new expansion boxes, and also "virtual" expansions that will provide additional material on our Web App.

Clearly, one step at a time! For the time being, our priority is to get Wave 1 to your tables as soon as so that you can appreciate all of the hard work that has gone into making NAR a one-of-a-kind experience!

Let's now take a look at another of the expansions you will receive with Wave 1, the mighty Minotaur!

This expansion adds a new Secondary Mission of the Hunt type to your campaign. As we mentioned in Update #65, you can participate in this Hunt by drawing the relevant Event Card during a Travel Phase. If you don't want to wait to draw the Event, this expansion adds the Bounty Rule, which allows you to start the Hunt by visiting the Inn during a Rest Phase. This way, you may track down the Minotaur whenever you feel ready to face this dangerous foe.

Once on the battlefield, the Minotaur will use the Hunt rules we explained in Update #62. You will then have to deal with a powerful enemy who will use its Action Cards to defeat you!

If you defeat it, count the remaining Action Cards in its deck, and depending on how quickly you defeated it, you can draw one of the four Reward Cards from its set at random.

To obtain the whole set, you will most likely need to battle the Minotaur multiple times. Taking all of its loot in a single battle will be a huge task, but if you succeed, you will be able to brag about being the best player in NAR history!

If you're also a fan of BRW/Rebirth, this expansion adds a new Forgotten Spell: "WIld Fury", which you can use to summon the giant Minotaurus into the rooms of the Lodge and unleash its fury on your opponents! Simply add the card included in the box to the Forgotten Spells deck, and you will have this new and exclusive Evocation at your disposal!

That's all for today! See you in the next Update, with new spoilers and news straight from the renaissance!

Fireball!

Holidays Journey
over 3 years ago – Tue, Dec 27, 2022 at 02:48:26 AM

Update Contents:

• Rest Phase
• Travel Phase 
• Happy Holidays!

Hello, guys!

We have made it to the Christmas Update, and today, as promised, we are going to take a look at some of the as-yet unexplored mechanics of Nova Aetas Renaissance: the Rest and Travel Phases!

For both of these Phases, you will need to use an important component of the game, the Travel Map. This large sheet depicts the Map of the section of the Italian peninsula where the Campaign takes place on one side and all the Shops that can be visited during the Rest Phase on the other.

At the end of each Mission, you will normally be instructed to complete a Rest Phase in the Village or Town where the Mission took place (or nearby), and will then direct you to the Town or Village in which the next Mission will take place.

During this phase, each Hero will be able to visit one (and only one) of the Shops, to take advantage of its services. Each Shop has its unique effect, and they range from the Craftsman, which is required for making new equipment, to the Hospital, where you can treat your Injuries, or the Marketplace, where you can acquire Reagents for Crafting.

It will be especially crucial to schedule this Phase carefully because not all Shops will be available at all times. This is determined by the town or village you are in, as well as the Town/Village Cards you unlocked during the Kickstarter campaign.

If the next Mission is set in a different city/town than the one you are in, you must go through a Travel Phase before you may play it, at which point you must use the side with the Map of Italy.

Starting from the town you are in, you will have to choose a route to your destination. Each route will direct you to draw a certain number of Event Cards, which you must resolve before playing the next Mission.

These cards will put you in a variety of situations. You may come across traveling merchants (our favorite is the Wandering Magister, who will sell you priceless Spells), unpleasant Atmospheric Events, and so on.

Some Event Cards may instead grant you the opportunity to complete Secondary Missions or Hunt Missions. These missions interrupt the Main Campaign for a brief while, but they provide a welcome opportunity to obtain special Reagents and Rewards... not without risk, of course!

The Bear Hunt is the only Hunt Mission in the core box, however, the Minotaur, Hyperion, and Draco expansions, as well as the Chimera and Aracne Stretch Goals, will each add their own Event Card to those you can find walking across Italy.

Hyperion and Draco go even further, actually kicking off two Secondary Campaigns, a sort of mini-campaign, consisting of a few missions and culminating in a very dangerous Hunt with a boss-fight flavor!

Because you are unlikely to collect all of the loot from a Hunt Mission on your first try, after you have faced Prey for the first time, note the title of its Hunt on your Campaign Sheet. As a result, every time a Hero visits the Inn during a Rest Phase, you can choose to battle it again and try to take all of its loot.

These are broadly the rules of these important phases of NAR, but believe us when we say that this is only the tip of the iceberg!

We are really eager to let you know every aspect of the game and what your opinions are, so don't hesitate to give us your feedback!

That is all for today, all that is left is to wish you happy holidays and a happy new year, and to thank you as always for the support and affection you have shown for NAR!

See you next year - the year of the renaissance!

Stranger in a foreign land
over 3 years ago – Fri, Nov 25, 2022 at 07:49:17 PM

Update Contents:

• Mass Production Started
• Fatima Spotlight

Hello Guys!

We are back for our regular NAR update appointment. We have delayed publishing this update for a few days in order to bring you a piece of news that will definitely please you.

The mass production of NAR Wave 1 has officially started!

Yes, we know that this news comes much later than expected due to issues that we have repeatedly mentioned and for which we have taken responsibility. However, we also know that the quality of the restyling we applied to NAR made it better than the version presented in the KS in all aspects... and soon you will be able to judge for yourself the quality of the final product!

Returning to mass production, the first stage is focused on miniature printing. All of the models' files and molds have been ready for about a year and a half (it was one of the first steps we completed), but we agreed with the factory to delay the start of printing until the files for the paper material were also in the final stage of pre-production. We did this to avoid having the miniatures ready too early before the paper material and having them sit in storage for too long.

 The miniatures' mass production will end in early 2023 when the paper material files are also nearing completion, and as a result, the storage period will be definitely short, minimizing the risk of damage.

Following this good news, let's get back to business with game spoilers, this time focusing on one of the community's most eagerly anticipated Heroes!

Fatima the Traveler 

Fatima was the last Hero revealed during the campaign, and she led us on a wild hunt that brought the (Dino)Draco into the world of NAR, with an expansion presented at a super-affordable price!

 Fatima was created to introduce a Hero dedicated to range attacks, but who could also assist other Heroes in ways that other Support Heroes could not.

Fatima will begin the campaign as a Wayfarer, relying on a diverse set of skills and equipment to attack from afar, move, and support other Heroes — especially with her exotic musical instrument, the Oud.

 Thanks to the Oud, Fatima can give out to other Heroes a special token called Fate token. A Hero can discard this token during any Test to add a Fate Die to their dice pool. This die has far more advantageous faces and is far more likely to produce Astro Symbols than a standard die. Using this die at the right time will increase your chances of success during an attack or defense, as well as during a feature test, critical for a successful mission.

 The Fate die also has two sides with Musical Note on them. These sides will not provide Test successes but will activate additional effects of some of Fatima's skills and charge her Heroic Points.

Fatima, like all Heroes, must choose between the two Advanced Classes at some point.

The Explorer focuses Fatima in ranged combat through particularly powerful Enhancements. Furthermore, The Explorer makes extensive use of skills that are activated when another Hero obtains the Musical Note through the Fate Die.

 The Bard, on the other hand, will concentrate on support, and in addition to having more skills that are triggered by Fate tokens, she will be able to use the three spells of the Bardic School of Magic; a school that is mainly focused on providing various bonuses to the group of Heroes. "O' Sole Mio," for example, activates a buff to a Hero's attacks if they obtain Sun Astro symbols on one of their Attack tests.

In conclusion, despite the fact that Fatima lacks healing skills, she may prove to be one of the most important support Heroes in your party, and her ranged offensive power distinguishes her gameplay from that of Vincenzo and Gregorio. If you enjoy playing these types of characters, you will have plenty of options and will be able to tackle multiple runs of the campaign without becoming bored with Heroes who are too similar to each other!

That's all for now; we'll see you in the next update when we'll take a break from Heroes spotlights to show you a previously unseen aspect of NAR: the Travel Phase and Events!

We'll leave you with a small spoiler, and see you in the next update!

Back from the Spiel!
over 3 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 02:36:11 AM

Update Contents:

• Spiel '22 Report
• Altair Spotlight

Hello, guys!

The Spiel has passed and we are back very enthusiastic about how the convention went! Our RUNAR-themed booth hosted tons of friends, old and new, who sat down at our demo tables and played our games!

We can proudly tell you that Nova Aetas: Renaissance was certainly among the stars of the party, with a demo table showing the materials in their final look. Many fans have played the campaign prologue, thus experiencing the introductory game of the Core Box, the one that will teach you to play without having to read the manual.

We enjoyed meeting many NAR backers, and we have been happy that those who have had the opportunity to try the game and touch the quality of the materials left the booth super happy, knowing that their support and patience are finally very close to being paid back! Thanks, Thanks Thanks!

At the next Spiel, NAR will no longer be a preview game, but a game finished and delivered!

Let's go back to the Wave 1 spoilers now!

As we told you in the last update, we have decided to include in wave 1 all the Heroes unlocked during the KS campaign, we have 3 brand new Heroes to show you and we could not start with the most famous assassin in history!

Nothing is true, everything is permitted

Altair was the guest of honor on the Kickstarter campaign, courtesy of Ubisoft (we love you Ubisoft!). As huge fans of the Assassin's Creed series, we were honored to be able to bring the first legendary assassin into our game! Yes, we know... Ezio would have been more on the "Renaissance" theme, but he was already too busy killing Magisters in the Lodge of the Black Rose. It was really great to create rules that reflected the skills and character of this fantastic character!

Altair will be your melee "DPS"! In addition to having many skills that allow him to move quickly on the field and evade the Enemies, once he arrives adjacent to an Enemy, he will have many ways of inflicting wounds, starting of course with his famous Hidden Blade.

Those of you who are fans of the video game will find many quotes about his abilities, such as the Eagle Vision and the spectacular Leap of Faith.

Creating his two Advanced Classes has been the most challenging part. How to make such a cool character evolve while respecting his background? We then created the Mentor and Master.

The Mentor will change Altair's role towards a Support character. He will use his abilities to teach the principles and fighting techniques of the Creed to other Heroes, providing numerous bonuses and Positive Statuses. However, he will remain a lethal character in melee.

The Master will increase Altair's chances of doing damage and moving quickly on the battlefield, thanks to the large use of his Reaction Skills.

These abilities allow heroes to interrupt enemy actions to take a quick Action out of their activation. These are very useful skills if used at the right time, but they have a limit: when a Hero uses a Reaction Skill he gets a Reaction token, which will be discarded at the beginning of his activation, by spending Action Points. It is also not possible to perform a Reaction as long as you have one of these tokens.

The Master uses many of these skills and also has the ability to discard the Reaction token in alternative ways, so that he can use more Reactions than other Heroes can.

Finally, Altair's Destiny Cards will make you discover the reason for his presence in the world of NAR, with a surprise ending! Don't worry, we'll talk more about Destiny Cards in one of the next updates!

We have come to an end for today! As always, let us know if you liked these spoilers and... who is your favorite assassin from the Assassin's Creed Series!

We post again the actual timeline, confirming that things are moving forward as indicated.

See you at the next update!

Fireball!

The Spiel is coming!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Oct 04, 2022 at 03:14:02 AM

• Update Contents:
• Wave 1 timeline
• Road to the Spiel 2022
• Ashes Special Issue
• Chimera preview (NAR/BRW)

Hello, Guys!

This update came out a little later than expected, because we waited for more certain information and a better level of detail, in order to give you a complete timeline for the delivery of Wave 1.

Let's start with a surprise: in the original plan, we announced that in wave 1 we would only send the "crossover" Stretch Goals between Nova Aetas: Renaissance and Black Rose Wars, which means those included within the Magister pledge. After analyzing the working plan and actual status, we decided to expand the announced content of Wave 1, including all the Stretch Goals unlocked during the Campaign. In the last few months of development, we realized that a lot of the Stretch Goals material had already been developed and tested and that we would be able to get it all done in a relatively short extra time. Including all the Stretch Goals in Wave 1 means being able to deliver the complete Kickstarter version to all of you, thus giving you the complete gaming experience right away. The amount of material you will receive with Wave 1 will keep you busy for a long time!

So let's re-list what Wave 1 will contain:

• Nova Aetas Renaissance Core box
• Hyperion Expansion
• Draco Expansion
• Mediceo Expansion
• Minotaur Expansion

All Unlocked Stretch Goals

• 4 Additional Heroes
• 4 Bonus Mission
• 2 Additional Hunt encounter
• 20 Event cards
• 20 Random Encounter cards
• 12 Zodiac cards
• 9 City cards
• 10 Nightmare cards
• 10 Divine cards
• 5&6th Players components
• 2 additional Map tiles
• A lot of other stuff but this list is becoming too long!
• Ok, ok, ok, of course in this list you have to add all the material for the crossover stretch goals with BRW.

We are dedicating a lot of energy to editing and translations since the narrative part of NAR is a fundamental element of the game and we want it to be carried out in the best way for all 5 languages. The quantity of text to be translated, combined with the quality that we want to achieve for the final product, does not allow us great room for maneuver to try to speed up this phase.

With a work team that has involved more than 20 people, with more than 2 years spent on this project, certainly underestimated by us at the time of the Kickstarter campaign, Nova Aetas: Renaissance is an unprecedented productive effort for us, far beyond all previous and actual projects! Know that our ambition is to make NAR a new benchmark in our industry!

In the image, we have indicated the whole timeline with the various phases of the project, as you can see the fulfillment operations will begin in April 2023. Wave 2 will contain only 3 expansions: Catacombs, Vesuvio, and Under Siege. Wave 2 will be completed and delivered by the end of 2023.

A little more patience and you will enjoy the fruits of all this work... We will continue to keep you updated regularly with our updates!

Essen Spiel '22  (6th-9th Oct)

As usual, LMS will be present again at the most important European Convention of our sector, with a bigger booth and with many demo tables. Obviously, we will bring NAR and dedicate to it a fantastic demo table. We will let you try the prologue mission, with the help of the "Quick Start" booklet that we added to the core box. We invite you all to come and try this new feature, which will let you start to play and enjoy the game without the need to dive deeply into the entire rulebook at the beginning of your experience! 

We will also bring with us lots of the final material: miniatures, cards, the new Hero sheets with the beautiful Hero boards just received from the factory! So you have lots of good reasons to come visit us, we look forward to seeing you at Booth 2E112!

Ashes Special Issue

As per our tradition, we have created a new issue of our magazine Ashes for the Spiel. This year Ashes will include a fantastic new promo miniature, Helblindi, directly from our upcoming project: RUNAR! 

This ice giant shaman with its Promo Miniature can be also played as an Enemy in NAR, with its special Enemy card. It can be also played in BRW and BRW: Rebirth as a new Mage, with its personal spells and its Mage card! You will also find a new promo Mission for D.E.I.!

Here you have all the options to buy the new issue of Ashes with Helblindi:

1 - You can pre-order Ashes at our shop and pick them up directly at our booth during the convention days. Alternatively, you can buy it directly at the booth, but remember the quantities will be limited, so if you are interested we suggest you pre-order it!

2 - You can pre-order Ashes on our shop and have it shipped directly to your home, shipments will start from 6 October.

3 - If you have a Nova Aetas Renaissance pledge or late pledge, you can pre-order Ashes on our shop and have it added to your order, along with all the rest of the NAR's items, without additional shipping costs! Simply enter the "BACKERSNAR" coupon at checkout.

Choose the way that works best for you and get ready to fight this icy Giant!

Chimera Spotlight!

And now we want to present you the Chimera, the protagonist of one of the Hunts present in the main campaign of NAR. These Side Missions can be undertaken in two ways: as random events as you move up and down Italy, activated by the Event Cards; or you can decide to face them by visiting the Inn during a Rest Phase between one Mission of the Campaign and the other.

In both cases, you will find yourself facing a very different mission from those of the Campaign! Well ... considering that every single mission of the Campaign is unique and completely different from the others, it should be already clear to you that in NAR the concept of "different" is practically the norm! This mission will put you in front of a mighty opponent, even quite angry, that you will have to beat to recover Reagent and Formulae (Recipes) to create new and powerful equipment!

As with all Hunts, the Chimera has its own Prey Card (tarot size) which lists all of its stats and special abilities, and a deck of 18 Action Cards that will determine its behavior during the battle. Each Action Card drawn from its deck reveals a move that the Chimera will perform during its activation. Each Chimera Action will have an Action Points cost that will cause its Activation Token to move on the Horologium, just like any other model in the game. Also for the Chimera, the management of the Horologium and the artificial intelligence for the choice of its target will add more tactical elements to a game mechanics well known by lovers of the Dungeon Crawler genre.

The deck of Action Cards can be played keeping the cards in the original order, or you can decide to mix it to add more unpredictability, especially if you want to play again against a Prey to try to recover all its loot ... especially when among its rewards there's a weapon called Flail of the Ages!

The Chimera will use its agility and power to attack the Heroes, with fast and savage attacks. In addition, its 3 heads will be able to inflict specific effects, thanks to the use of the Astra Symbols present in the NAR dice. For example, if a "Star" is added to an attack, you can be sure that Goat's head will deliver a good blow to its target, giving it the "Stunned" status.

Also, the Magisters of the Black Rose will meet this mythical beast in the Lodge, thanks to the new Forgotten Spell included also in the Magister Pledge called Spawn of Echidna!

What do you think of this terrible monster? Let us know what you think of the hunting rules!

We give you an appointment in mid-October for a new update with a complete report of Spiel'22 and new spoilers, but we left to you a (long) gallery of images with the print-proofs of the final paper material of the core box! Enjoy it and give us your feedback!