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Beta rules are out. Also, pics of the moloch and naiad.

The rules look to be about the same as those I accidentally downloaded last time, obviously cleaned up and edited a bit.

If I have time I might try to get in a practice game one of these weekends.

There will be a second pledge manager period later

Hail Adventurers!

There are just two days left to complete the Dungeon Saga Pledge Manager. Please submit your pledge manager by 11:59pm GMT Sunday 1st March.

Don’t worry if you can’t get everything you want now, because we will be running a second pledge manager soon. If you do miss the deadline – perhaps you’ve not received your invite link yet or are waiting on a response to a support request – don’t panic, you’ll get extra time to get it completed.

Wish they'd told us that earlier...

Not telling us forced our hands on this one. Meaning when we recover later we might want to add even more instead of saying "I'll worry about it later" (which is what I and I'm sure a lot of others would have done). It's a way for them to maximise their sales/money intake.

Yeah, that's clever, but in a GW kind of way. Mantic won this round, so next time I'll think twice before playing their game.

Were they really not making enough? Why get obnoxiously greedy when they were doing such a good job at building a solid community of customers?

It's all in the presentation. They're selling it as "hey guys, don't stress, we'll open another one if you didn't manage this one." Maybe it's just cynical bastards like us who take it this way due to it being announced 2 days before the PM closes...

I actually haven't had any time to go through the manager, due to a busy work/life schedule. So I'm glad it'll be made a "round two" for people like me. It lets me not stress about getting my shinier.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I actually haven't had any time to go through the manager, due to a busy work/life schedule. So I'm glad it'll be made a "round two" for people like me. It lets me not stress about getting my shinier.

Similar for me but more of a 'I think i will sit this one out at my $1 pledge'. So giving more time before a 'round 2' gives mantic more time to prove the ruleset and minis before I throw them any coin.

With Myth and Shadows over Brimstone in my hand I dont really need more and I cant bring myself to think of using the models in KoW or other games either as I hate restic and i still dont have confidence in what will actually be hard plastic sprues, what will be restic and what will even be metal as things have changed in the past for other KS so they might change again.

Nothing in Dungeon Saga is restic. Dungeon Saga is going to be in the other plastic, used in the Dreadball Xtreme minis (as opposed to the restic in Original Dreadball).

This other plastic seems perfectly fine to me. I don't even seem to really want to call it 'boardgame plastic' either, because it seems to have a very different feel to it from the 'boardgame plastic' used in Mars Attacks.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
I actually haven't had any time to go through the manager, due to a busy work/life schedule. So I'm glad it'll be made a "round two" for people like me. It lets me not stress about getting my shinier.

I was actually very similar and basically just made myself go through it the other week, so I can completely see where you're coming from there.

I originally backed this but had to bail due to a huge sudden bill, and resigned myself to missing out. However a friend got us both in on the playtest at mantic HQ last month, and by the end of the day I was sold, absolutely sold. It is a snappy, delightful game that with clear instructions plays extremely well.
The figures blow their previous releases away, which I know had mixed reception.

I got permission to add my original pledge onto my friend's KS account ("please allow me to give you more money" is a tough request) and scraped my sofa cushions to get in on time for Sunday's cut off... only to find out about the second pledge manager. I guess I don't have to worry about it in the future, but I do feel a bit played.

I'll be playtesting again on Saturday if anyone would like to ask a question, or I can pass one on. I'm pretty shy but I'll do my best to get an answer.

We played almost entirely with proxy figures and tiles, and photocopied rules, so I'm afraid I took no pictures.

That's very interesting Buttery. Could you give a few more details about the game and why you liked it so much? Might convince me to up my $1 pledge

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
I originally backed this but had to bail due to a huge sudden bill, and resigned myself to missing out. However a friend got us both in on the playtest at mantic HQ last month, and by the end of the day I was sold, absolutely sold. It is a snappy, delightful game that with clear instructions plays extremely well.
The figures blow their previous releases away, which I know had mixed reception.

Good to hear!

Mymearan wrote:
That's very interesting Buttery. Could you give a few more details about the game and why you liked it so much? Might convince me to up my $1 pledge

Haha! So far as your pledge, I am certainly not here to sell the game, though I do have an interest in justifying my own purchase (to myself if nobody else). Do bear in mind I'm not the most eloquent or experienced of gamers, but I'll try to expand.

When I say it is "snappy", I mean that you can learn the mechanics inside the first few turns, and after that it becomes relatively seamless. I don't mean that is becomes a thoughtless "throw dice; win game", I mean the mechanics do not get in the way of enjoying anything. We rarely needed to check or open the rulebook after grasping it, at most consulting the cards for potions or skills to make sure we could get the most bang for their use.

Each scenario provided thus far is remarkably well balanced, it can be down to the last turn who wins - can your heroes take out the troll with their final strike before the game ends? There are three foes between you and the gate, but you only have two actions. Time to push those Heroic abilities. Twice I found myself furiously scraping strategy out of the back of my brain to take the game on the final dice roll. Wins feel deserved, earned and not fluked. Despite the heroes getting lavished with cool things they can do, you don't feel under appreciated as the villain - you can set traps, ruin their strategies, and you know what's behind the next door.

Playing co-operatively vs the Dungeonmaster and playing 1 on 1 are beautifully different experiences. It becomes testing without being too frustrating.
Multiplayer can either become an exercise in RPG style team coordination, or hilariously chaotic very quickly. Especially when you figure in that the games are timed, you must consider heroics versus the end goal. This is when it becomes a symbiote of RPG and board game, especially with progressive characters and scenarios. It's immersive, and whilst it wouldn't replace a combat mechanic section for an RPG, it could certainly allow you to experiment.

Cinematic type play comes in when you gain more skills. For example when we played the levelled up heroes, my barbarian had a (single use?) skill that allowed him to move on and attack again after each successful kill. We were down to the wire on time, with one turn remaining, and there were a batch of nasties blocking the exit. Only one person needed to get to the door, but you cannot pass through adjacent tiles around enemies without stopping. I took the gamble of using the skill, needing to chain 4-5 kills to clear the room enough for the party to get clear. We were cheering on the tiny barbarian to sweep up... He succeeded! And then we just had to hope the fething door wasn't going to keep us locked in when the next player got there.

So far as accessibility, there were parents there who agreed they could easily teach their children to play, but the handbook and character progression can add enough crunch to give your play pieces depth enough to care about them. I am satisfied that I could teach my non gaming parents to play, but also have weeks and weeks of campaign on a Monday with my friends.

I will say there is something extremely cool and extremely special that only Kickstarter Backers will be given. As I understand it, there will be no way for someone buying later in store or online to receive this. If there's any left over I imagine they will be scarce.
We were specifically asked not to reveal what it is. Mantic will reveal in time. I can tell you what it isn't - it's not a spare figure, a PDF or something as forgettable as an exclusive character card.

If I'm unclear, or didn't cover what you were curious about, please let me know.

 Buttery Commissar wrote:
We were specifically asked not to reveal what it is. Mantic will reveal in time. I can tell you what it isn't - it's not a spare figure, a PDF or something as forgettable as an exclusive character card.

A free pet ferret for all backers? Finally a KS that gets it!

Extremely cool and extremely special, huh? And not a figure, pdf or character card? Weird... I cant really think of much that isnt one of those things... kind of sucks that people who can just go to Nottingham on a whim get to know while the rest of us are stuck with vague hints... :/

Maybe it's the halls of Mantic Manor, which you can storm to release Ronnie the bard from the shackles of packing Kickstarter pakcages?

I could get behind this Ferret train, I kind of always wanted one...

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I tend to forget I backed this one but I think I'll be quite glad when it shows up down the road.

Is it a girlfriend?

Have you guys seen the figure for the dragon expansion? Bar in mind I don't get the KS emails, They had one out and painted, and I have to say that it was so impressive that one of my mates pledged to just get the figure. I'm sure the paintjob sold it, but hot-damn it makes my insides happy.

 Tyr13 wrote:
Extremely cool and extremely special, huh? And not a figure, pdf or character card? Weird... I cant really think of much that isnt one of those things... kind of sucks that people who can just go to Nottingham on a whim get to know while the rest of us are stuck with vague hints... :/

Aye, it is a bummer. There were people who'd come from abroad, though. I am not exactly local to the area (different county). Though I don't think it's unfair to reward a sneak peek to folks driving over and putting in 10am to 6pm.
Yes it was playing games, but it was also about having to keep half a mind on the task at hand, stop playing, annotate, critically look at things. We all know that brain no likey full-day tournaments!

I will say that the lack of updates and clarity over when you'd all receive the beta rules was a disappointing move on their part. They had people coming back from playtest to growls of "It's been Saturday for 18 hours, where are the rules?"
For the record we didn't keep any of the rules on the day, they weren't policed but they were annotated and handed back in. I would assume (because I've not seen them) the PDF rules are not full of huge panels of:

Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member)
Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member)
Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member)
Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member) Put some text about positioning here (Staff member)

Regarding the surprise, I think it was a canny little hype-builder if nothing else. Could even have been if we'd been a few days earlier they couldn't have shown us, it's still definitely in the works.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Is it a girlfriend?

???

^he said it was a super secret surprise that only kickstarted backers would get. People asked with their ideas, I asked with mine. Also, it happened before coffee kicked in at work.

Haha, I understood that part! I'm just not sure what possible use you think I'd have for one. Certainly can't fit one in my mini cabinet.

Besides, I rather implied the secret was a reward. :p



...

*Flees*

Thanks buttery! Damn it, I need money for Fallen Frontiers... But this is actually a game you can play and not just pretty models...

Well... regarding the text panels full of editing stuff... they did mess up and copy and paste one of the two scenarios twice (that is, the text from scenario two is exactly te same as the text for scenario one.)
Which is a pretty major [MOD EDIT - Language, please! - Alpharius], considering.

Well, here today to do a thing. As I said, any questions and I can try and be brave enough to ask for you. Nobody's scary, I'm just timid.

So, apparently they tested the expansions today... any insights? How do they play? How do they differ from the coregame?

Replies to this topic seem to be invisible today? I'm confused. Last one I see was last week, despite knowing there's a couple made today.

We did indeed play the expansions today! There were only 8 of us doing that, and each pair has a different expansion. My friends played the Tyrant (dragon) expansion and I played the sequel to the main game, the continuation of the Necromancer story.
The scenarios and stories are very varied, with clever situations like boss monsters that are lurking around each "chapter" but don't fight you fully until the end scene. The conditions for winning each chapter vary, with some requiring an escape, some requiring you to survive in a room until the end, and some hunting down the exit.
The rules become more advanced without becoming crunchy - the necromancer gains more tricks, some monsters have AoE attacks, or can affect terrain.

I also asked, and I can tell you what the surprise is! There hasn't been an official announcement, but I double checked in person with Luke @ Mantic if it was okay to tell anyone. He said yes. I will remove this info if anyone objects, because I was previously told it was super secret squirrel.

This thread certainly seems to have gone weird - I can see new posts in my subscribed threads, but not in the thread itself.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I can see all replies again now...

The book thing seems neat, hopefully it turns out as well as it can.