We want to make sure the details are not lost and we will make further 3d tests in the weeks following the KS, making sure the backers see our progress and judge for themselves
Enthusiastically backed. I honestly wish that Kickstarters like this, and the upcoming This is Not a Test, got the attention and large-sums that some of the soul-less, bigger marketed KS'ers were getting.
Games like these exhude passion, or in the case of TNT, shame bigger studios with the quality of their rules. Our hobby needs more of those, and less of... well companies just selling "cheap box o' stuff w/bonus maybe decent game thrown in!".
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: Enthusiastically backed. I honestly wish that Kickstarters like this, and the upcoming This is Not a Test, got the attention and large-sums that some of the soul-less, bigger marketed KS'ers were getting.
Games like these exhude passion, or in the case of TNT, shame bigger studios with the quality of their rules. Our hobby needs more of those, and less of... well companies just selling "cheap box o' stuff w/bonus maybe decent game thrown in!".
You are very kind, and I am glad some people have noticed our utter passion and dedication to this project.
NewTruthNeomaxim wrote: I came to miniature war-gaming as a hobby, and profession, by way of the video-game industry too. I've got to support my people! :-)
Warhammer Quest was of great inspiration to the creation of Darklight.
After 4 years of hard working I can say I am proud of what we have achieved and I realyl hope you guys can see that too
It certainly looks like 4 years well spent. I had a quick skim of the rulebook and it looks very well formed already, so the final box should be really interesting. It is really nice to see you're over half way in less than 6 hours too!
Warhammer Quest was of great inspiration to the creation of Darklight.
After 4 years of hard working I can say I am proud of what we have achieved and I realyl hope you guys can see that too
It certainly looks like 4 years well spent. I had a quick skim of the rulebook and it looks very well formed already, so the final box should be really interesting. It is really nice to see you're over half way in less than 6 hours too!
Thanks a lot!
I am extremely happy about that result too. Now if we could only make it in less than 24?
The Early Bird was only £10 more for all stretch goals but unfortunately they are gone. Still every now and then someone leaves them for the double early bird (DARK ALLAY (if yo notice in the update the actual price now is £140) so you might be like and grab one.
This looks very cool on a first glance. It's a boxed game without thounsands of addons. I always feel lost when this is the case. Pricepoint is pretty good, and I love the design so far.
Hanskrampf wrote: This looks very cool on a first glance. It's a boxed game without thounsands of addons. I always feel lost when this is the case. Pricepoint is pretty good, and I love the design so far.
Have the exact same problem with most modern Kickstarts, I get lost and I am not so sure where to look unless I spend 30 min studying the page
Darklight takes inspiration from Qarhammer Quest, not Descent, the two are very different games except for the miniatures and dungeons.
Darklight can be played 1-4 and its fully coop.
Character's customization is inspired to Dark Souls, so you can make your Witch hold two handed swords or have your Kinght cast spells (depending on their attributes these will heavily influence your character).
Also you receive loot and rare loot from encounters you vanquish and treasure chests (some locked).
You will also be able to travel to settlement, so you will have to deal with decision based Hazards.
Once you are in a settlement (Dependign on its size_ you may start looking for special locations like jousting grounds or the blacksmith/market, or build your own reputation.
Darklight is a hybrid between a boardgame and a RPG.
There is a lot more that can be said on why this game is different but I will let people discover it for themselves on the KS page or once t he game comes out
Warhammer Quest + Dark Souls? Damn... I just spent €400 on an airbrush+accessories AND we're buying an apartment this month... but god damn I want it! Is it possible to pledge $1 and add more in the pledge manager?
Mymearan wrote: Warhammer Quest + Dark Souls? Damn... I just spent €400 on an airbrush+accessories AND we're buying an apartment this month... but god damn I want it! Is it possible to pledge $1 and add more in the pledge manager?
It is something I cannot answer you just now, it might be a possibility but I cannot confirm 100%
Okay, skimmed through the rulebook. I'm kinda dissapointed that monsters can't dodge.
It also seems like there is no final boss, but you keep grinding until you die? Maybe the quest rooms are really challenging, otherwise this could get repetetive fast.
BUT this seems like a very straigthforward ruleset and I imagine it would be very easy to write rules for additional monsters or quests.
Will we see the advanced ruleset before the final product? Maybe you have some nice twists hidden there
Having these doubts, I guess I have to back this regardless. Loved HeroQuest as a child and like I said before, no addons at a decent price.
Hanskrampf wrote: Okay, skimmed through the rulebook. I'm kinda dissapointed that monsters can't dodge.
It also seems like there is no final boss, but you keep grinding until you die? Maybe the quest rooms are really challenging, otherwise this could get repetetive fast.
BUT this seems like a very straigthforward ruleset and I imagine it would be very easy to write rules for additional monsters or quests.
Will we see the advanced ruleset before the final product? Maybe you have some nice twists hidden there
Having these doubts, I guess I have to back this regardless. Loved HeroQuest as a child and like I said before, no addons at a decent price.
Originally Monsters could Dodge and Tumble but it took ages to resolve a round and it added little to the fun. But there will be some unique monsters which can dodge, for instance the Shadow Lurker is a unique boss character small and fast.
Each Dungeon ends with a boss encounter which is usually composed by a unique Monster (like a champion).
There will be the Advanced ruleset with the base game, you will be able to travel to settlement (deal with the traveling Hazards) and the settlements where you can replenish your strength or find interesting locations like the Jousting Grounds (Black Knight only).
Hanskrampf wrote: The stretch goals are really cool stuff. Still waiting for my new credit card, so I can back this. Damn Kickstarter for only taking credit cards.
I keep on hearing this, but I have never once used a credit card for KS. I don't even have one tied to my KS profile, I just use my Debit card.
That Daughter of Libithia looks very creepy! I want a dozen!
[off topic] The protection level also depends on your bank. My account doesn't come with a credit card, but the bank offers brilliant protection for fraud and refunds on the debit card.
Back on topic, I love the concept of the environment deck
I just wish it were moving a bit faster as 140k seems such a long way away for this :(
Those daughter figures look like they'd be quite a popular item outside of the boardgame circles.
It's been a serious trudge to get to the next stretch. While there has been slow and steady chug forward, I can't help but wish it was bringing in CMON style numbers. I want more toys to play with this game!
I agree that the concept of the environment deck is pretty cool.
At least once the courtesan unlocks we'll see what the next boss add on figure is.
Since nobody else posted it, here's a sample of the injury chart from when you get KO'ed.
Yeah.. I was reconsidering my original stance on this.. which got removed if that tells you anything..
The tooth crotch spider ladies however have pulled this clearly in a direction I'm not comfortable playing with my kids.. sooo.. pass. Hope it works out for everyone else.
Yeah that's a bit unfortunate... Dark Souls manages to stay classy while still having the best and most horrifying designs in the business. The lust demon trope wasn't needed IMO.
The pics are all prints/ resin casts I believe. Dark Ice could probably tell you better but I'm online and have time to waste at the moment, so...
The actual figures are going to be board game plastic.
Now if Dark Ice wanted to make a few specialty resin runs to cater to the war gaming crowd (hint hint) I'm sure a few of us wouldn't mind obliging them...
endtransmission wrote: It depends on what they define as boardgame plastic as Black Plague style would be more than adequate. I would prefer resins though
We are looking at some of the best boardgame plastics manufacturer.
Wrath of Demon for example was made by Ludo Games, and those are exceptionally well crafted miniatures.
skarsol wrote: Can we get some commitment to that in an update or similar?
Would love to.
I have contacted them again to see if they can speed up the new quote process so we can make a better choic e and give you a more clear confirmation (even if it is 99% )
To push this thread a bit and hopefully get more people to pledge in the last week:
The email updates are great and provide good insight into the project's development.
There are alternativ versions of the hero characters planned, which will flip the gender. I really like the artwork for the male "Courtesan", the Chevalier. Sadly they won't be available until the later strech goals.
Another email shows the skill progression of the Blood Witch. You choose one skill out of 20 skills for each level (level 10 is max).
Examples for the starter skills:
The first skill frees up your weapon slot for a melee weapon to build a hybrid character. Very cool idea.
This really does seem a lot like Dark Souls - in a good way!
- Main characters are all cursed, and brutal killers.
- Apocalypse has already happened, world is on the wane.
- The strong are obsessed with collecting the souls of the weak.
- Souls are the main form of currency/exp.
- Detailed Gear Grid
- "Estus Flask" Stamina Tokens
- Mime Treasure Chest
- Equip a catalyst to cast magic
- Distinct schools of magic, with each focusing on a particular style of play
And those board sections are about as close as we're ever likely to get to another Warhammer Quest expansion! They look like the GW artists at the absolute top of their mid-90s game.
This isn't to denigrate the game or its lore, I think that its all been very well thought out, and has much that makes it unique! Just that if someone wanted to get a Dark Souls-type fix in tabletop form, Kingdom Death need not be the only option.
Except in Dark Souls I couldn't buy houses and adopt orphans, which Dark Ice has informed us we can in here.
I do hope there are all sorts of pointless luxury items we can waste currency on at the end game. I thought that was one of the funnier, more enjoyable things with WH Quest. Lifestyles of the rich and powerful...
Bioptic: I agree. The tiles are beautiful. And yes, aside from the Skorn, this game is pretty much Dark Souls in boardgame form I hope the final rules have the gameplay to match.
I would love to see the game get more stretchgoals unlocked, though, it is dragging along reaaaaally slow.
This really does seem a lot like Dark Souls - in a good way!
- Main characters are all cursed, and brutal killers.
- Apocalypse has already happened, world is on the wane.
- The strong are obsessed with collecting the souls of the weak.
- Souls are the main form of currency/exp.
- Detailed Gear Grid
- "Estus Flask" Stamina Tokens
- Mime Treasure Chest
- Equip a catalyst to cast magic
- Distinct schools of magic, with each focusing on a particular style of play
And those board sections are about as close as we're ever likely to get to another Warhammer Quest expansion! They look like the GW artists at the absolute top of their mid-90s game.
This isn't to denigrate the game or its lore, I think that its all been very well thought out, and has much that makes it unique! Just that if someone wanted to get a Dark Souls-type fix in tabletop form, Kingdom Death need not be the only option.
You've got it all very close!
The Cursed Heart behaves like an Estus flask, that is the group leader will heal by consuming the uses from it. The amount healed is equal to the current Darkness Roll (which can be a number from 1 to 6 which varies at the start of each round).
The Stamina tokens allows you to Tumble (same as rolling away from monsters in Dark Souls) and Evade, as well as allowing you to do some specific character based skills.
Glad you like it though, I spent countless nights making sure those Dungeon tiles looked good
My only concern with using Ludo for manufacturing, is that the models for Journey were massive! One of the reasons that the detail was preserved so well was that even the humans were about 60-70% larger than standard 28mm scale models. Here's a scale shot with the resins, the plastic versions are a little larger still:
So while I have no doubt that the larger models (including that rather amazing Berserker) will look great, I'm a little more worried about the hero characters. That said, I'm sure that they offer optimal value for money, DIG just might want to keep an eye on the proofs they get before manufacturing! Marrow had the ability to drive down the road to shout at the factory in person when they weren't happy with the original proofs!
I meant to ask - are there plans to include profiles/cards for monsters not in the base game in the pledge levels? One of the great strengths of Warhammer Quest was that the standard box gave you enough content that you almost might never need to fight the same monster twice! I understand that not bundling game rules with models might not be the best long-term financial decision though.
For today's update I am going to explain to you a bit about Events!
Events
Events are all those unexpected or unfortunate circumstances which might affect the Accursed negatively. There are a total of 40 Events within the base game but we will only show you 15 here because we do not want to spoil the fun of encountering something for the first time.
Events are drawn when the Group leader rolls between 4-6 once the Darkness Marker lands on a Dread Space. The Darkness Marker moves on the wheel by 1 every time a new map tile is explored or when the Darkness Roll is of 1.
Events are placed face down in the newly explored room (if this event was caused by the reveal of a new room) or face down by the room of 1 Accursed selected at random (if this event was the result of the Darkness Roll).
Events are dealt with during the Event Phase when they are triggered by the presence of at least 1 Accursed currently present within the map tile with the Event.
Now let's start reading what the Events have to offer!
Galaxy Defenders from Gremlin did a fair amount of that, and to be fair I think the "social stretch goals" here are similar. They're certainly much cheaper to add than new miniatures, but I don't know if they actually result in more people pledging. They might cause more people to pledge for add-ons though!
I often struggle to understand the psychology of Kickstarters, honestly. With Darklight I heard it mentioned on another Kickstarter, gave a quick look at the page and briefly dismissed it at yet another dungeon crawler with lots of CGI renders and not much to distinguish it. I then gave it another look after seeing the thread for it on Dakka, and saw all the elements that appealed to me (as well as gaining confidence that it would actually be made!).
Is it just simple exposure, or is it the relatively high (albeit good value) buy in for an unknown? $150K isn't exactly shabby, it's about half of what Mantic pulls in on their Fantasy Kickstarters, and they had been established for 4 years at the time of their first one!
Yeah at a 150k it is doing decent enough and who knows what the last 48 hours will bring. I do hope that the Nephilim hero and maybe the environment cards get unlocked at least.
Preview for the next addon boss (unlocked when >105.000 GBP): Cultist Overlord
And "update" for the manufacturer of the final plastic game pieces:
Manufacturer
Some people have asked us directly about the involvement of Ludofact in our project, as there has been indication of that in our comments section. To be transparent with our backers, we can say that it is highly likely that we will be working together in making Darklight, although we cannot confirm that Some people have asked us directly about the involvement of Ludofact in our project, as there has been indication of that in our comments section. To be transparent with our backers, we can say that it is highly likely that we will be working together in making Darklight, although we cannot confirm that 100% until it’s all finalised.100% until it’s all finalised.
Ludofact's Frank Jaegar posted in the comments a bit about their standard production process, and how stretch goals interact with this:
Hi everybody,
after reading several comments on stretch goals and value for money in this game, let me chip in from the production side again:
DIG plays it safe here, which is understandable and something I am very happy about. The exact final price of the game can only be determined after the pledge manager phase has ended. The number of miniatures and their ratio will determine how the set up of the moulds will be done. We must try to find the best set up between mould cost and miniature cost (simple: more moulds mean easier production, but moulds are expensive; using fewer moulds with miniatures that we do not require the same number of makes production more difficult and therefore more expensive per miniature). For that purpose we need to know how many of which miniature we need to produce, and how to pack them. Add ons are the variable that cannot be safely estimated until the end of the pledge manager phase. Remember, we have a Dungeon Master Kit with plastic doorways, Skorn Berserker, Skorn Warlord and the stretch goal minis as add ons as well. It makes all the difference if we have 100 Skorn Beserkers or 1000, or if we need 10 Dungeon Master Packs or 500. Also, and that is another big one, we need to work on the poses of the individual figures to make them in as few parts as possible but still transport the artistic vision of DIG. That is going to be a lot of work that also has a considerably impact on the production cost of the game.
Please also note that each stretch goal is not only a miniature but includes cards and/or tokens as well. So those also have to be printed - we need to combine things here, too, because offset printing is a b**ch for small numbers - and sorted and packed. That is another set up which DIG and Ludo Fact have to take into account and which we can only do at the very end of the pledge manager. Before that all is basically an educated guess, not more. 100 sets of cards for the Skorn Berserker or 1000 makes all the difference here, too.
What I can promise you is that we will try to optimize production. If we have space on the moulds, we will add a miniature even if that stretch goal is not reached. The same goes for cards. I will personally make sure that we add all we can, but DIG does not have to pay more for production. But that it will work I cannot guarantee at this time.
Right now each stretch goal has to pay for itself: miniature sculpt, mould cavity, cards being produced extra for it, and a packaging. Plus handling and packing. No way we can really estimate everything before we have all the pledge numbers and the exact poses of each miniature. We will do what we can. DIG and I personally want the game to be as awesome as we can (yes, because the first game that runs off the assembly belt is mine! And I will immediately call DIG and tell them that I have one, and they do not! *That* I can guarantee ;-) ).
His point about the driving need to make sure all tools are full, and that extra models can be added at essentially no cost until said tools are full, I find highly interesting! It does highlight how CMON could fit so much exclusive stuff into e.g. Zombicide Black Plague for $100, because the numbers were very much known as soon as the Kickstarter ended.
And a new Boss miniature add-on, the sort-of-a-Lictor Shadow Lurker:
Someone should tell him that he already has two gigantic knives strapped to his back, he doesn't need to carry more of them.
The boss miniatures are really starting to add up, if you're a completionist. All but the berserker seem like they could be (much less impressively) represented with a lesser version of the same enemy if required, though.
Is going in at the lowest pledge enough to access the pledge-manager and raise said level later?
In a twist of terrible timing, I had a credit card stolen, and had to cancel my pledges as I switch over to a different card... one which I am far less inclined to throw my hobby purchases at. :-p
Mymearan wrote: You mean "a card the wife also has access to" don't you
How'd you guess? :-p
The wife actually loves mini-wargaming too, so it actually isn't a matter of hiding it. We've just got her credit-card which is a tiny limit one, as a backup in just this situation. Mine is our proper one, but it'll end up being a week or two before I am issued a new one. Just gakky timing. It messed up a bunch of my pre-orders too.
I'd ask the creators directly in the comments to be 100% sure, but it sounds like you can upgrade your pledge (so needs to be at least the £5 one) to any 'available' pledge, presumably meaning the non-limited ones. From the FAQ:
There will be a pledge manager starting shortly after the end of the campaign.
This means that you will be able to:
• Select what add-ons you want with the money you have added on top of your base pledge.
• Purchase more add-ons
• Upgrade your pledge (for available base pledges)
For those asking, the creators stated that yes you can increase your pledge level in the manager except to one of the limited quantity levels like BUILDING INTERMUNDIS.
Also a note to those interested in multiple copies that the Dark Ally level is only 140 not 150 as listed, due to typo that they were unable to change once the KS started.
Bioptic wrote: So, this puts the £80 pledge up to a count of 87 miniatures, including 3 large ones and 2 huge ones!
Too bad you have to put up another £40 to get all five bosses..:
Only if you want the boss miniatures. Bosses are still included as tokens in the core game. And even at 110/120 GBP, I think there is more value in this than in a lot of other similiar kickstarters.
Bioptic wrote: So, this puts the £80 pledge up to a count of 87 miniatures, including 3 large ones and 2 huge ones!
Too bad you have to put up another £40 to get all five bosses..:
Only if you want the boss miniatures. Bosses are still included as tokens in the core game. And even at 110/120 GBP, I think there is more value in this than in a lot of other similiar kickstarters.
Plus, its as close to modernized Warhammer Quest as we seem like we're going to get for a bit. I'm happy to be proven wrong by CMoN's upcoming dungeon-crawl... but I don't know what I expect out of that one yet.
Bioptic wrote: So, this puts the £80 pledge up to a count of 87 miniatures, including 3 large ones and 2 huge ones!
Too bad you have to put up another £40 to get all five bosses..:
Only if you want the boss miniatures. Bosses are still included as tokens in the core game. And even at 110/120 GBP, I think there is more value in this than in a lot of other similiar kickstarters.
Plus, its as close to modernized Warhammer Quest as we seem like we're going to get for a bit. I'm happy to be proven wrong by CMoN's upcoming dungeon-crawl... but I don't know what I expect out of that one yet.
Almost forgot about that one... Hmmmmmm do I really want both? On one hand I love Dark Souls, on the other CMON have a track record of great games and I also have Black Plague so I could combine the minis...
I think there's room for both this and whatever CMON has cooking. CMON gonna CMON, no matter what, and you can always pledge a buck or catch the late pledges when the PM opens. That campaign isn't starting for a while anyways- we've got Rum & Bones in April, and I'm guessing the dungeon crawler in July (assuming stuff like Bloodborne and Godfather are straight to retail).
This game is a labor of love- I know I've been following it for a few years now, when I first heard it discussed in the comments of another campaign. With all the current stretches, and more than likely the necromancer and whatever else may show up in these last few hours has really made the dark ally worth it.
Besides more heroes, I'm sure that entire extra deck of loot will be fun to pull from.
Also worth mentioning is that the Necromancer has different types of undead to play with. That makes me happy. I loved playing a Necro with an army of various dead things.
Diablo 2 Necro here for... God... twelve years. Trust me... that was one of the things which tipped me firmly into backing this one. :-p
RPG elements, loads of loot, random dungeon layouts have me thrilled... but man I wish there had been one more $50 add-on for all the gameplay bits beyond minis that would've added meat to the game. Stuff like the environment deck sounds amazing, and a book of event monster stats and events for stuff not in the game itself would've given this game insane legs.
As I type this, there's still 7 hours to go and less than 700 pounds to get there. It will happen.
I wouldn't be surprised to see the Daughters get tossed in before things end either.
You already have 10 basic monster types included- not counting all the Skorn variations, Lurker variations, or bosses. Or the daughters for that matter.
Who knows, maybe we'll see another monster type before this finishes. I certainly wouldn't mind!
Would be great, Highlord. You sound like you have some possible info? I know I have been in touch with Paulo and co. about helping out in my own way, as well.
I know one thing I would be a huge fan of would be a book with even options for archetypal enemy types, tables for additional encounters, etc. God knows I love my D100 tables for infinite variety, plus it would be an outside way of introducing races which don't exist in their lore, like Elves, Dwarves, etc...
All that said though, I am thrilled as is.
I had dinner with Miyazaki-san of Dark-Souls fame, and the irony is he is a HUGE DnD, Warhammer Quest, and board/mini/etc... game fan. So seeing this be Dark-Souls meets Warhammer Quest brings a lot of things full circle.
I went for the boss pack too, although I accept that it is definitely diminishing returns compared to the base pledge! And frankly £8 per model is still not cheap, even at that size. I'd only pledge for it if you like the aesthetics and trust the sculpt quality of all 5 bosses, since the value proposition is borderline. Could get a whole different premium boardgame for £40!
I have to say, the quality here is stunning! Wow! I'm super impressed, obviously LudoFact are some of the best in the business but this looks even better than my Black Plague minis. Very impressed. 30+ pics here:
Some of the boardgames that have been released in recent years have me wishing the miniatures were available as singles ala Bones.. Why anyone would back Bones when stuff like this is being done is beyond me.
Got mine in the states, and am trying to digest the rules. Hopefully we can get a game in this weekend. Liking everything I see so far.
The Colossal Dread Worm is pretty ridiculous in terms of size and weight.
I'm having a horrible time trying to figure out how to store it all now. Core box is gigantic and the flimsy piece of plastic isn't enough to help store the cards.
Might be the first time I think about investing in a 3rd party storage solution, if one ever becomes available.
Mymearan wrote: Very nice quality on those minis! Glad I pledged for the full package including the bosses. Got my tracking number but it seems to be slow going...
btw could someone post an image of the colossal dreadworm boss? For some reason no one has taken a photo of it yet despite numerous unboxings...
I'm at work for the next 9 hours, but I can take some pictures for you tonight.
Mymearan wrote: Very nice quality on those minis! Glad I pledged for the full package including the bosses. Got my tracking number but it seems to be slow going...
btw could someone post an image of the colossal dreadworm boss? For some reason no one has taken a photo of it yet despite numerous unboxings...
I'm at work for the next 9 hours, but I can take some pictures for you tonight.
Mymearan wrote: Thanks a lot! Well that guy is huuuge! Looks like the detail on it is a bit shallow though, especially compared to the rest of the minis?
Yes, the bodies are not really detailed. Neither are they on the smaller worm thing from the core box.
It has a mouth inside the bodies, but that's it. Certainly big, but not one of the miniatures I'm very fond of.
If you want big and cool, the demon boss is a much better miniature imo.
, but didn't 
