Massive Darkness (CMON) News and Rumors Thread

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**Aeneades**

MLaw wrote:
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote:
@Mlaw, Descent 2.0 couldn't be further from WHQ. I apologize for your financial loss if you invested hoping for as much. :-p Its adversarial play and it has been gutted from Descent 1.0. No, i'm not looking for anything nearly that light. In fact, i'd argue there is a huge space between DnD and games like Descent, or Zombicide, WHQ filled such a space beautifully.

Ah, ok.. I see. There is an expansion though that does convert Descent to Coop.. looks like I'll have to pick that up. The exact itch you're trying to scratch might be more specific than I've experienced because you keep describing what I would associate with the D&D board games minus persistence. Hopefully we'll know more about Massive Darkness soon and won't have to sit here guessing

If you have a tablet then they are releasing a free app in a few weeks that makes the game co-op by taking on the role of the overlord -

https://www.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/3/15/road-to-legend/

It is also compatible with expansions so will use any you have to increase the monster / tile pool.

**cincydooley**

highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Of course I said the same thing for a Hadross or Nasier pirate crew for Rum & Bones, but still...

Curious you'd say that......

Spoiler:

**Alpharius**

Sweet!

I've been converted to Hadross - bigtime!

**Dentry**

I may have a reason to buy Hadross, then. Especially if the Calith Reavers find their way into this. /nudge nudge wink wink

**RiTides**

Could someone make a dedicated Rum & Bones 2 thread? It's a little hard to follow both intermingled here and it sounds like that campaign is first, anyway.

**Nostromodamus**

RiTides wrote:
Should Rum & Bones get a dedicated thread? It's a little hard to follow both here!

It has one.

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/684247.page

**RiTides**

Perfect! Let's take discussion over there then

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/684247.page

Edit: Ninja'ed!

**JohnHwangDD**

If I understand correctly, Massive Darkness is a reskin of Zombicide : Black Plague, except that it's fantasy greenskins and dragons instead of zombies and more zombies?

Yeah, I'm interested. Having Rue Morgue, I sat out Black Plague being yet another zombies game. But a quick and easy dungeon crawler, using quick and easy Zombicide mechanics? That might be a good addition.

**cincydooley**

It isn't a "re-skin."

**-Loki-**

I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the mechanics were reused. The Zombicide mechanics are perfect for a light hack and slash boardgame. However, the Zombie mechanics would need to be dropped and new mechanics for the different monsters, since enemies with the ability to think wouldn't be suitable for the Zombie mechanic of 'head to the noisiest zone'.

**JohnHwangDD**

I expect the vast majority of mechanics to carry over from Black Plague with 100% cross-compatibility. I'm not at all sure the Zombie mechanics of following noises would need to be dropped. After all, monsters traditionally do stay put until you open the door or make a big noise...

I do think that monsters should / would have different mechanics and stats. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to see the walker / runner / fatty / Abom be genericised to fodder / regular / elite / boss so that you could have different units for the various slots by monster theme / family.

**Mutter**

But then, the noise mechanic is really weak in Zombicide.
Does anybody ever bother to place all those fiffly markers on the board? We find they hardly come into play, most games ...

**JohnHwangDD**

How often do you split the party?

**Mutter**

Sometimes, but even then, it's usually easier to just check noise level by calculation, rather than putting the markers on the board EVERY single turn and rarely using them.

Anyway, we digress, I should save that rant for the Z-forum ...

**JohnHwangDD**

Or, one could use dice... A set of "spindown" d6 Noise Dice would be nice.

**Theophony**

JohnHwangDD wrote:
Or, one could use dice... A set of "spindown" d6 Noise Dice would be nice.

Or yellow MODcubes with numbers

**Dark Severance**

Not necessarily utilize noise counters but it could be something similar. Call it "threat counters" and actions generate certain amount of threat. AI chooses priority targets based on a combination of distance, threat and maybe even class types.

In late game with 6 players, split parties in different directions we have used a good portion of counters. Each player counts as a counter so no need to put on then, but we do quite a few multiple actions that start to add up (depending on skills of players).

**JohnHwangDD**

I fully expect to see different AI rules that:
- target loudest (default)
- target quietest (sneaky)
- target closest (opportunistic)
- chase until dead (pursuing)
- target same as other unit (directed)
- target least wounds remaining (finishing)
- avoid loudest (cowardly)
etc.

This would be keyworded on the unit card, and add all sorts of gameplay variety. For example, Skaven general is cowardly, but summons sneaky & opportunistic minions. Orc warboss is pursuing with a directed retinue. And so on.

But we'll see what GG does with it.

Note that Journey and SDE already have some of these mechanics

**MLaw**

This was posted last page before all those pictures.. but I'm not sure everyone read it or maybe doesn't remember everything from it..

Massive Darkness is Coming!

CoolMiniOrNot and Guillotine Games are partnering up again to bring you the ultimate dungeon crawl board game experience with Massive Darkness! Massive Darkness brings the classic fantasy RPG experience to modern board gaming, with an action-packed campaign chock full of gorgeous miniatures and a streamlined system that keeps the focus on the heroes' actions, with no need for a game master to control the enemies.

Using the popular Zombicide system as a starting point, Massive Darkness adds all the richness of a dungeon crawl RPG. Pick your hero, choose a class, decide on what skills to spend your XP, get loot by searching the dungeon or killing special enemies that can use the equipment against you! Face a multitude of different enemy types, coming in all shapes and sizes, whose behavior is resolved automatically. Or you can try to sneak around enemies by taking advantage of dark areas of the map.

Look for the Kickstarter campaign for Massive Darkness, coming in a few months with plenty of surprises for us to uncover!

I highlighted a few things..
I expect noise to remain a factor. I would bet that thieves and rogues and the like probably get some sort of ability to avoid placing noise tokens or otherwise alerting enemies. Since we've heard both that it's not a re-skin but it IS built upon the Zombicide system, I think there might be a few more complexities and if a few noise counters are a turn off, this might go in a direction a few of you aren't going to be happy with :/

**cincydooley**

You could always come to CMON expo and hope it's there to try out, along with a few other in development games like Godfather.

**Alpharius**

Will it be at PAX EAST?

Because I'll be at PAX EAST!

**DaveC**

Per the Rum & Bones update Massive Darkness is the next CMoN KS starting at the end of May

**Theophony**

not enough time to save up for that

**Nostromodamus**

*heavy breathing intensifies*

**Hulksmash**

Yeah.....I'm excited for this....

**Sinful Hero**

As others have said I'm not fond of the art style, but hopefully the miniatures will turn out well.

**Alpharius**

I love the art style, and I'm hoping this is the game that I was hoping Dark Souls would be!

I know the miniatures will turn out great - now just hoping for that persistent world/WHQ look/feel/play!

**NewTruthNeomaxim**

Alpharius wrote:
I love the art style, and I'm hoping this is the game that I was hoping Dark Souls would be!

I know the miniatures will turn out great - now just hoping for that persistent world/WHQ look/feel/play!

Ditto. Dark Souls failed me, but just imagining CMoN doing it right with their propensity for huge volumes of content, has me giddy. That said... if its random dungeon, one-shot, with no rules more complex than Zombicide, i'll be disappointed.

**highlord tamburlaine**

They've *GOT* to know that people want the option for persistent characters and the option for an ongoing campaign. It certainly comes up enough in the comments.

Maybe we can send CincyDooley as an envoy of Dakka to let our demands be known to the powers that be.

Better yet, maybe we can get him to spill more details since he always seems to know what's up!

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

Hopefully it's there aready

(as with CMONs current strategy there's not going to be much time to create anything new as I think most of it will already be ready to go)