Nova Aetas: Renaissance

Necromantic Power!
over 3 years ago – Sat, Aug 27, 2022 at 08:53:55 PM

Update Contents:

• Onamor preview (NAR/BRW)
• Boogeyman preview (NAR/BRW)

Summer is ending, and we return to talk about the Wave 1 content! We continue the overview of the "crossover" materials for the Magister Pledge! Today we will get to know better two disturbing characters who will appear during your adventures in Renaissance Italy.

Onamor is one of the characters from other games that we hosted during the KS campaign.

Directly from the world of Sword & Sorcery, created by Simone Romano and Nunzio Surace, Onamor is a powerful necromancer. It will appear as the protagonist in the Secondary Mission (unlocked during the KS), written for you by his "dad" Simone Romano.

But Onamor miniature is truly wonderful, and we would use it in more than "only" one mission! So we created a new generic enemy who can be encountered in many missions as a random enemy, generated by an Enemy Draft.

Dark Druid is part of the Faun faction, it is in fact a druid that has tightened pacts with the Priamevi to discover the darkest secrets of their magic. In return, he committed to helping them defend their territories from other humans. A truly fearful enemy able to combine the powers of death with those of nature, incorporating it will make a mission much harder than expected!

But Onamor is also a new Mage who can be used in your Black Rose Wars and Rebirth games!

Do you love necromancers, but have you tired of Rebecca or Arianna? Then Onamor will be able to give you a new sprint to guide your undead horde!

His personal spell "Undeath and Fire" definitely keeps faith with its title. The "light" side allows you to summon any Undead with a Health value of 3 or less, and then you can also immediately activate any of your Undead!

The "dark" side has a more direct effect, which inflicts 3 wounds to all models in a Room within range 2 and then places 2 Instability in the same Room.

It is easy to say that this Spell is perfect to enter a deck built with cards from the schools of Necromancy and/or Technomancy!

But Onamor is not the only necromancer in the city. An ancient and terrible figure lives in the damp sewers of Venice, an old enemy of the human race from a far past!

Somehow the Boogeyman managed to follow Genesis's crew on Earth to take revenge after the defeat suffered by him and Andromeda 1.0 on the Silicio planet (you should know this story if you have played the Silicio expansion for Sine Tempore). He remained dormant for millennia, but now he has recovered his strength and has become the master of the underground kingdom under the city of Venice. Using his magical skills (or rather psionics) he has subjugated powerful personalities of the city (perhaps also the Doge!) And took control of the Venetian underworld. 

When the fog rises on Venetian nights, and a masked black-cloaked figure wanders in the canals, many tremble with fear.

Boogeyman (with his faithful Dolls) will appear on a Secondary Mission dedicated to him. Also for Boogeyman, a generic profile has been created for the Venice faction. In this case, his model will represent a Necromancer, a Mage transformed by the Boogeyman into a being similar to him.

For sure, the Boogeyman is the oldest "living" Mage on Earth, and obviously, he has some kind of link with the Black Rose. So he can join the wars of the Black Rose as a Mage!

The "light" side of his personal spell "Necrotic Technology" allows him to summon 3 Dolls in one swoop and immediately activate one of them. The "dark" side allows you to use Dolls not only to inflict damage but also to convert damage to opponents. You can Convert 2 damage on each Mage who is in the same Room as one of your Evocations.

The Dolls are an exclusive Evocation for the Boogeyman, and they can be very dangerous if you mass launch them against an enemy model. Using them individually, their offensive potential is very reduced but they will still allow the Boogeyman to convert 1 damage to the Mage they attacks.

That's all for today! As always let us know what you think of these 2 bad guys!

As you can see from the material that we have been showing you in the updates for about 2 months, the work on wave 1 is proceeding toward its conclusion and we are very happy that each update keeps high your hype!

As always thanks for your support!

See you in 2 weeks with other Magister Pledge-related spoilers!

Fireball!

Born to be Wild
over 3 years ago – Mon, Aug 08, 2022 at 01:26:29 AM

Update contents:

• Hero Spotlight: Agorix
• Agorix in Black Rose Wars & Rebirth

Hello, guys!

A new Spotlight on the NAR Heroes but different from the usual! Today's protagonist is also part of the Magister Pledge, and therefore for the first time, we will show you the material dedicated to BRW and Rebirth!

Agorix is ​​a young Magister of the Black Rose Lodge and has dedicated his life to studying the schools of magic that most depend on the power of nature and on Gaea herself.

He begins his career with the Druid class, a very atypical class which, to use gamer slang, can be defined as "Tank-Caster". Like Rebecca, Agorix will be able to use various Spells depending on his class, but unlike the charming sorceress, he will be able to count on skills that will make him very resistant so as to be able to replace Valerio in the role of protector of the group. As a Druid, he will be able to count on 3 spells from the Transmutation School, which will unleash the fury of nature on the battlefield. Another peculiarity of Agorix is his Familiar Eracleto. This grumpy owl will help its master in various ways, distracting his enemies and interacting with many of Agorix's abilities.

As he progresses through the campaign he can choose to become a Geomancer or an Animist.

The Geomancer will shift his play style towards the role of a real caster. Thanks to the use of the Geomantic Die (his Bond Equipment), he will be able to place up 3 Geopod tokens on the map that can be used as a launch point for his spells, or they can be removed to trigger additional effects to spells and skills.

The Animist, on the other hand, will aim to improve Agorix's "punch" qualities, giving him powerful Physical Attacks and Boosts to his offensive and defensive skills. The Animism school will also aim to fortify and heal Agorix, until his Heroic Skill transforms him into a mighty Owl Bear (merging with Eracleto), a huge arcane beast capable of shattering even the toughest enemies.

If you are wondering what Bond Equipment is, it's easy to say! When a Hero switches to an Advanced Class they will automatically receive one new piece of equipment, which is essential for using the mechanics of the new class. All Advanced Classes have one of these gears that adds an extra layer of depth to each Hero's play style.

But as we said, Agorix can also be used as a new Magister in your BRW and Rebirth games!

The light/straight side of his Personal Spell "Naturalis Invocation" will allow him to summon Eracleto, and to place himself in any Green Room of the Lodge. The dark/reverse side will maintain the link with the Green Rooms. You may place 2 of your Instabilities in a Green Room of your choice, healing a wound for each Instability you fail to place! A truly versatile effect that can be used in different ways depending on whether you need to destroy/build rooms or to take advantage of an emergency cure to prevent an opponent from taking your Trophy!

Eracleto is Agorix's exclusive pet and once summoned, it will follow the classic BRW Pet rules, with the only exception that only Agorix will be able to use it. When in a hunting position, he will be a decent damage dealer (Eracleto has a bad temper!) While in guard position he will prove very useful for removing and placing Instability in the Lodge!

We have come to the end of this spotlight! We are curious to know what you think of this new hero for both NAR and BRW/Rebirth!

That's all for today, see you in about two weeks!

#Fireball!!

A General Overview
over 3 years ago – Sun, Jul 31, 2022 at 02:12:54 PM

Update Contents:

• Global Situation
• LMS Strategy
• LMS Projects status

Hello, guys!

This will be a slightly different update than usual since its content will be shared on our 3 ongoing projects: Nova Aetas: Renaissance, Black Rose Wars: Rebirth, and The Breach.

As we all know by now, it is a difficult moment for boardgame projects on Kickstarter and for those who love to support them, certainly, the most complex period experienced to date.

Many publishers, who operate here on Kickstarter and other crowdfunding platforms, have had and are having problems in the realization and delivery of their projects due to the various global crises that have hit hard, directly or indirectly, the entire boardgame industry in the last two years.

In recent days we have received several messages of concern, many of you have asked us if this situation will also have direct repercussions on the production of our games, possibly leading to further delays in deliveries, or, worse, additional costs due to increases in the prices of raw materials and shipments.

We, therefore, want to give you some more visibility on our current and future strategy, and have a look more in detail at our ongoing projects, to give all of you who support our projects more information and reassure you about the actual situation. 

For our major projects, the risks essentially come from two factors, we will analyze both down here.

1. Projects that do not achieve the desired results during Crowdfunding.

We believe it is strategically too risky to entrust the solidity of our business solely to the results of the Crowdfunding platforms. For this reason, over a year ago we started new commercial policies, aimed at establishing long-term strategic partnerships with various publishers around the world, in order to increasingly reduce the risks dictated by factors beyond our direct control. We will continue to include elements in the campaigns that will not be distributed, in this way we aim to always give an excellent value for money ratio to thank those who support us during the crowdfunding campaign.

2. Conditions that change in the time span between the collection of funds and the delivery of the games.

To reduce the lead time (between the end of the campaign and delivery) we have included new people both in the graphic team and in the game design team, changed internal processes, and enhanced playtesting. However, we want to keep the possibility of interacting with you during the creation phase of projects, so we will aim to share information with you and ask for opinions and suggestions well before the start of the Crowdfunding campaigns, so that the journey together is divided into two parts, before and after the Crowdfunding campaign.

To further reduce the risks, it is our standard procedure to proceed to block costs with the factory, paying an advance on future production, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises when starting mass production. Unfortunately, we are unable to implement the same practice for shipments, and it has already happened with projects that have just been delivered or are in the final phase of delivery (D.E.I. and wave 2 of Dungeonology) that the cost differences are therefore over at our expense, going to significantly reduce project margins, but still allow us to manage the situation by avoiding asking you for extra contributions.

It is possible that extra funds may be needed in the future beyond what was budgeted and collected, as game creators we believe that the best way to remedy this is through the creation of new products to offer our fans.

A brief mention of the status of the individual projects.

Nova Aetas: Renaissance

It is our most ambitious project, a game with many elements and a strong narrative component, which is taking more time than expected to be able to deliver a solid and high-quality product.

From a production standpoint, we are pleased to inform you that the Kickstarter production has already been paid for in full to the factory. We have chosen to divide the project into two waves, the extra costs will be absorbed by us. The production of NAR Wave 1 will be finalized by the end of the year and includes the Core Box, most of the Stretch Goals, and 4 expansions (Hyperion, The Mediceo, Minotaur, Draco) in the 5 languages ​​provided. Wave 2, which includes the 3 expansions Vesuvio, Under Siege, Catacombs, and the remaining SGs, and will be finalized in the first half of 2023.

Black Rose Wars: Rebirth

The second chapter of our most successful game is in development and testing, as announced we are aiming to ship it by the first half of 2023. With more than 15 new Schools of Magic, and many new Mages and Avatars, the tuning and playtesting for a card game like Rebirth is long but necessary to deliver a game that is both fun and well playable. A first advance payment has been made for Rebirth to fix the production price, and we have already paid in full for all steel molds for miniatures.

The Breach

Our latest project, the campaign ended just over a month ago, at the moment we are working on its development. In September the production of the steel molds for the miniatures will start, we are now closing the final agreements on the production costs, in order to block the costs before the end of August. This is one of the first projects to have received much greater processing before the Crowdfunding campaign, also given the more "compact" nature of this project, we aim to respect the delivery times given during the Kickstarter campaign and deliver all the material within the summer of 2023.

Projects in Fulfillment

In addition to the 3 projects we have just talked about, Divide et Impera and Wave 2 of Dungeonology are currently in the final phase of delivery, by August the shipments of Chambers of Wonders, the second game of our Lite line will begin. These 3 projects have suffered significant delays for various causes, both dependent and independent of us, but after so many vicissitudes we are proud and happy to bring them to our backers' tables.

We hope that this information can reassure all our backers of the work we are doing, on the commitment and passion with which we are carrying out our projects!

Next week we will come back to you with our usual NAR update!

As always, thank you for your support and love!

#Fireball! #Firewall!

Hiding in the shadow
over 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 19, 2022 at 12:11:04 AM

Update contents:

• Hero Spotlight: Sofia
• New Hero Sheets

Hello, guys!

In the middle of summer, we continue our roundup about the Heroes of Wave 1. Now there are only two Heroes left to complete this series of updates, and today it's Sofia's turn!

Valerio's sister has always had a rebellious character and a great aversion to respect for the rules. She has shown a great talent for stealth thanks to her agility and dexterity. After saving her from yet another trouble, Valerio realized that the best way to control her was to work with her and that's how your Free Company was born, thanks also to the addition of Rebecca and Vincenzo.

Sofia begins the campaign as Scum, a young criminal. She is surely the most mobile Hero in the Core box, thanks also to the Grappling Hook that allows her to climb buildings without using the stairs. But Sofia is also a great Damage Dealer, and she gives her best when she attacks enemies from a distance with her Throwing Knives. While she may seem physically weak, some of her Defense skills will help her survive by providing great bonuses during Defense Tests. By dealing a lot of damage, her Threat Value will rise quickly, so you'll have to be very careful to unleash her offensive potential and use her field and skills to make very tactical moves to stay away from the most dangerous Enemies.

When her skills are honed enough, Sofia will be contacted by two powerful guilds who offer her to join their ranks: The Guild of Rogues and the Guild of Slayers. Sofia's choice will determine what her Advanced Class will be.

As a Rogue, she will remain an excellent ranged damage dealer and will enhance her movement skills. But beyond that, with a Rogue in the group, it will be much easier for you to retrieve Popolini and Reagents, and therefore the Crafting activities to obtain new and powerful equipment will be much easier.

Becoming a Slayer, Sofia will greatly increase her offensive abilities thanks to the Combo Points mechanics. By moving through the shadows and cunning placements, she can perform spectacular "alpha strikes" against the most dangerous enemies. In addition, you will gain a good knowledge of poisons, which will be useful to all members of the Company.

Do you think that Sofia is conceptually too similar to Altair? Don't worry, we have developed the two Heroes so that their roles do not overlap. They both can inflict a lot of damage, but they will do it so differently and their roles can coexist even within the same party!

In this update, we officially present the final look of the Hero Sheets and Skill Sheets. We have improved the graphic design and readability of these sheets, also creating a new "booklet" case (like the one presented during the KS) to accommodate them. The "Skill Pins" that were used to indicate which Skills are equipped for a Mission have been replaced by transparent acrylic cubes, which will always show the color and therefore the category of a Skill (eg. Red for the Attack Skills).

The same cubes will also be used to mark the increases of the characteristics and for the counting of the Hero Points.

We are very happy with the final result, which we have achieved thanks to the feedback received in recent months. The new sheets are more readable and will help you immerse yourself in the fantastic world of NAR.

But we are curious to know what you think! Leave us your feedback as always!

That's all for today! See you at the end of July for the spotlight of the last Wave 1 Hero, where we will finally show you the first spoilers from the Magister Pledge! So, Black Rose Magisters get ready for a lot of juicy news!!

Fireball!

A Prayer for every occasion
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jun 30, 2022 at 01:13:30 AM

Update Contents:

• Hero Spotlight: Vincenzo the Novice
• 2 new booklets in the Core Box

Hello Guys!

A new update and a new Hero to discover! Today is the turn of the wise and erudite Vincenzo!

This enterprising Novice has one of the most important roles within your Free Company: "Support".

The design of this Hero was certainly the most difficult. In many fantasy boardgames the Support Heroes are often relegated to a role of Healer, fundamental for the group but minority in terms of fun, usually forced to stay focused on maintaining powers and energies only to heal their allies, while the rest of the group enjoys killing tons of enemies. Vincenzo was instead created with the idea of ​​making him a multifaceted character, who always has many different options and things to do.

His supporting role is characterized by the use of Prayers, skills that normally have a low cost in Action Points and that become more powerful based on the successes obtained from a Mind Test.

The Prayers will be of great help to Vincenzo and his companions, providing positive statuses, healing and eliminating negative statuses. Vincenzo is a decent fighter, even if he won't be able to inflict damage like Sofia or Rebecca, he will be able to be effective in combat. 

Vincenzo also has many ways to increase his Threat Value (healing always increases your TV) and can help Valerio keep enemies at bay.

When the time comes to choose his Advanced Class, you can choose between two very different paths:

The Hospitaller will enhance his support and healing skills even more, at the expense of his offensive abilities. This class (one of the most tactical of all) bases its strength on managing your resources to use the right Prayers at the right time, healing and casting powerful buffs that will prove very useful, especially in the last Missions of the Campaign.

The Preacher, on the other hand, is a sort of Priest-Warrior, he will give Vincenzo a more aggressive build. The Preacher is an excellent fighter, able to support Valerio in the front line (especially if Valerio has decided to become a Mercenary). In addition to powerful support Prayers, this Class also features offensive prayers that inflict heavy debuffs on Enemies.

Vincenzo will offer many possibilities during the missions! We are confident that we have created a truly intriguing character to play, which will give you great fun in all its possible variations!

Let us know what you think of Vincenzo and what you think of the support heroes in general! Do you like playing them? In which games did you find Support Heroes that are really fun to play?

The pre-production phase of Wave 1 is proceeding in the times we have announced in this update, a lot of the material is in the finalization phase. Today we are also able to give you a spoiler on the configuration of the core box manuals: in addition to the already announced Rulebook and Plotbook, we have decided to add two additional booklets! 

The first is the Handbook, a handy booklet that will contain all the rules of the skills, legend of all tokens, list of traits and other valuable information. We used an early version of this handbook to facilitate our playtests, all players have found it very useful to be able to access these information quickly and conveniently. We have therefore decided to provide this valuable tool to all players.

The second is the "Start Here" book, which will guide you step by step in the Prologue Mission! This booklet will allow you to play your first game without reading the Rulebook, giving you the opportunity to learn how to play NAR in a simple and fun way!

We are confident that these additions will improve the gaming experience with NAR even more, as always we are eager to receive your feedback!

That's all for today! See you mid July with a new update!