Kei Lun, First Look.
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Keeping on top of this campaign slowed us a little, but Kei Lun is ready for his début. We have photos, back story, game play info and even a stop motion video! It’s a work in progress, but we are very pleased with the way it looks so far.

Let’s start with Kei Lun emerging from the clay:

PLAY
Ray has the structure of Kei Lun complete, but the textures need to be applied to the whole surface. This would include large scales, fine texture on the skin and hair, and more details around the claws. He has samples of these textures on different parts of the image, so you can see how this will progress.


You can see this is a large miniature, sitting on a base 4 squares in size and over 120mm tall. In the montage below, you can see Kei Lun dominates the Monkey King, who is not your typical 28mm.


Kei Lun is the first Heavenly Creature the Pilgrims will encounter on their journey, a huge mythical beast that even they are surprised actually exists. At first, they do not recognise Kei Lun as the Heavenly Creature from whispered stories. In antiquity, this fantastic animal was known to be wise and generous, able to peer into your soul and judge your nature. Normally gentle, Kei Lun would help the good and only punish the evil when absolutely necessary. But since the seal to the underworld was broken, the Demons have upset the balance both in the world and in Kei Lun, changing him beyond recognition. Quick to anger and fight, Kei Lun’s skin flickers with fire and he can only see the over abundance of malevolence surrounding him. Mistaking everyone as wicked, Kei Lun paces frantically, attacking at random.

In the game Kei Lun is a neutral creature. He moves in a specific region, not chasing the Pilgrims or Demons. If anything moves into his attack range, he lashes out immediately. Pilgrims can try to lure Demons into his grasp, but there are times when they have to fight him themselves, to retrieve items he possesses.

The profile sheet for Heavenly Creatures has a sliding Health Bar, like the Pilgrims. He is not a “One Shot Kill” and the Pilgrims can attack him in a war of attrition. His attack range is large, so it is hard for the Pilgrims to approach him, but easier for them to lure Demons into his range. Damage from his attacks is the total of two Attack Dice and the Pilgrim Die, and if Kei Lun rolls 1 or more on the Pilgrim Die, his assault will also leave the Pilgrims with the Burned Condition, so they will take ongoing damage. Unlike the Bull Demons, Kei Lun has a defense die and will defend against the Pilgrims attacks. It will be a tough fight!

Only a few reward levels include the Kei Lun resin miniature, for example the Resin Master, Deluxe Journey and some of the larger rewards. At the moment, we need to make fewer than 75 copies. The Kei Lun resin miniature will not be offered as an Add-On here but it may be sold at retail later, at normal market prices. However, we do not expect this to be a common miniature in circulation. As part of this Kickstarter fulfillment, Ray and I will inspect each resin Kei Lun and sign a numbered certificate showing where in the batch the resin Kei Lun was produced. This certificate will be included in your package. The numbered and signed certificates will only be created for the resin Kei Lun miniatures that are shipped to KS backers as part of this project. Just to be clear, the resin miniature is not a Kickstarter exclusive, but the numbered and signed certificates will be.

Finally, in Update 63, we said we might reveal more stretch goals and gifts. Since then we have posted two new Boxed Game Upgrades and now it’s time for a gift. With the possibility of two expansions and Qinglong, we know some of you could be making large pledges. We would like to announce a second Warrior Monk gift. All backers whose pledge (including shipping) is over $320, will receive a second free miniature, a plastic Yagara Bone Beast, with game cards. This will boost Yara’s forces if you get the White Bone Demon Expansion, and can be used in all other scenarios to provide some variety.

 Alpharius wrote:
So this heavenly creature is...

...included in the box?

Available to all as an optional plastic and/or resin mini?

Something else?

Bioptic wrote:
There's the 4 jiangshi/hopping vampires and coffin for $15, technically! But they're highly optional and likely to be something easily available at retail.

Update #68 Nov 22, 2013
Journey is More Heavenly
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We are so pleased to unlock Qinglong! We have the best backers!

There were many types of Heavenly Creatures in ancient China, and now we have two. Everyone will get Kei Lun in the core game, and you have the option to get Qinglong as an Add-On.

Qinqlong is a Water Dragon, grown large and powerful over many centuries. At home in water and tuned to nature, Qinqlong can manipulate the weather, bringing torrential rainstorms. Qinqlong guards a magical pearl that can be used to create masterful weapons. But no-one has been able to retrieve the pearl from Qinqlong’s horde of treasure, although many have tried.

In the game, Qinqlong is a second large, powerful neutral creature. He is supplied with quests where the Pilgrims try to gain the Magical Pearl, to create new weapons. So, as well as Qinqlong’s profile sheet, special rules and cards for spawning him in other scenarios, Qinqlong comes with 5 new Weapons Cards, that the Pilgrims can use in these new Quests, once they have the Pearl.

All games manufacturers face an issue with dragons, balancing scale, the difficulty of making large miniatures, and cost. In the distant past of miniature gaming, dragons cast in metal were often tiny or at best smaller than true scale would suggest. Even now, when new materials give manufacturer’s options for larger miniatures, there are still cost issues and dragons are rarely the size gamers imagine. By including Kei Lun in the core game box, we have already set the bar high for large miniatures, and we felt we had no choice other than to make Qinqlong larger still. The concept art gives you an idea of his size, Qinqlong will be larger than Kei Lun and will dwarf the other miniatures. Remember, Monkey is over 50mm tall.


We still have one problem, he cannot take up the whole board! We will re-pose him in a more upright position, so his base is a reasonable size for the game. This pose will also be more dynamic, as it will catch him in mid-attack. We think Qinqlong fits perfectly into our game, but if any gamer is looking for an imposing dragon miniature, we think Qinqlong could easily cross over into other genres.


This magnificent beast cannot be manufactured cheaply. The Qinqlong Add-On is priced at $38 in plastic and $90 in resin. Both packages include all game cards and quests. We expect the resin Qinqlong will be produced in fewer numbers than the resin Kei Lun and we will create signed and numbered certificates for this resin miniature again. As part of this Kickstarter fulfillment, Ray and I will inspect each resin Kei Lun and sign a numbered certificate showing where in the batch each resin Qinglong was produced. This certificate will be included in your package. Just to be clear, the resin miniature is not a Kickstarter exclusive, but the numbered and signed certificates will be.

Next we have another Expansion Upgrade for everyone that gets the White Bone Demon Expansion. We will add two new map tiles to the expansion pack, giving you more of the mountainous territory that the White Bone Demons inhabit. We will change the Quests to use these boards, too.

 spiralingcadaver wrote:
Tempting, but I think my wallet will ultimately win that battle and remain closed against mega dragon attacks.

Update #69 Nov 22, 2013
Spider Demons Teaser and More
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Backers, we would like to share the concept art for the second expansion to Journey: Wrath of Demons. On this stretch of the journey, the Pilgrims stray into the Silk Cave, the Lair of Zige, Queen of the Spider Demons. Can the Pilgrims escape her web with another piece of the Sutras?
Video Link

We have less than 24hrs to go. We really hope we can unlock this expansion, those large eight legged miniatures will be such fun to work on! And you know us by now, if we can pass this goal, we will upgrade the expansion and maybe give a little bit away for free!


To save overloading your mail box, we will include some information on the next two goals here. If they unlock, we will just update the banners on the front page.

At $370K, we will add two Map Tiles to the White Bone Demon expansion, for a total of 3. This will give you more of their rocky scenery to traverse, before you get to Yara’s lair. We will also add to the quests included in this expansion, making great use of the extra Map Tiles. Even Monkey cannot predict the future, but we can see the pledge total moving and we really hope we can make it this far.


The $380K Stretch Goal is a Boxed Game Upgrade that will ensure that everyone has a little scenery. We will add one of the plastic bridges to the rewards for all backers getting Boxed Game Upgrades. But that is not all. We will include a new card Bridge Tile with this upgrade, it has new background art and incorporates Bridge C. This will be especially useful for people creating their own quests and playing with the Nightmare Deck, as you can join another Map Tile on to your playing area and make the game board even larger.

Update #70 Nov 22, 2013
The Spider Demon Expansion
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The Spider Demon Expansion gives the Pilgrims a chance to retrieve the third piece of the sundered Sutras. But before Tripitaka can assemble more of the sacred scroll, his band will have to defeat the Spider Demons. The book describes them as “seductive spider spirits, half beautiful women, half spider”. Take a quick look at the horrifying concept art by Pablo Fernandez.


In the Silk Cave, high in the Silk Mountains, Zige the Spider Demon Queen spins her webs of the toughest silk. Her minions weave traps of sticky cobwebs and wait for unsuspecting prey to become ensnared. Will they feast on our brave travellers?


Once again, we will introduce new game play elements with the Spider Demons. These Demons fight at longer range, spitting poison and throwing spider web nets. Pilgrims will be more likely to suffer on-going conditions, like Poisoned and a new condition Entangled. Webs act as traps that hold the Pilgrims and attract the Demons when the Pilgrims are entangled. Each Demon moves towards the closest entangled Pilgrim, and may get to attack while the Pilgrim is unable to defend: an entangled target cannot use the Defense Dice.


The contents of the Spider Demon Expansion will be similar to the White Bone Demon Expansion when it was first announced. If we can push the pledge total higher in the last few hours of the project, we will add more items to the expansion. The price will be $48, and when first unlocked it will include:

Zige the Spider Demon Queen
2 Ziran Spider Demon Generals
2 Zahe Spider Demon Priests
5 Zigi Spider Demons Warriors
One new Map Tile
New Demon Profile Sheets and Condition Cards
Demon Spawning Cards
New Pilgrims Skill Cards
There will also be resin add-ons. With their distended abdomens and multiple arms, these are large miniatures:

Zige the Spider Demon Queen - $20
Ziran Spider Demon General - $20
Zahe Spider Demon Priest - $15
Zigi Spider Demon Warrior - $15
We have a plastic bundle that you can use to add a few Spider Demons to your core game if you do not want the full expansion right now. Or use them to boost the Spider Queen’s army, but don’t forget the bundle is optional and the Spider Demon expansion has enough minis for normal play. The bundle is $20:

1x Ziran Spider Demon General
1x Zahe Spider Demon Priest
3x Zigi Spider Demon Warriors
As well as revealing this Expansion, we will now show many related stretch goals (banners to come!) We really hope we can enhance this expansion before we deliver it to you.

410K Quest 5-Pack
420K Box Game Upgrade 1 plastic Zigi Spider Demon Warrior
430K Expansion Upgrade +1 Zigi Spider Demon Warrior, +1 Zahe Spider Demon Priest
440K Expansion Upgrade +1 Map Tile (2 in total)
450K Collectors Upgrade resin 1 Ziran Spider Demon General
460K Expansion Upgrade +1 Map Tile (3 in total)
All miniatures come with game cards. These bonus miniatures can be used with the Spider Demon Expansion, or shuffled into the spawn deck of the core game to provide some variety.

We hope most of these are obvious by now, but let us explain the Quest 5-Pack. We want to write a second collection of 5 linked Quests that tell a 5 part story. The extra Bridge Tile from the $380K goal will allow us to write one truly huge Quest. These Quests will be available for download from the Journey Forums.

The Spider Demon Expansion
3 comments
9 likes

The Spider Demon Expansion gives the Pilgrims a chance to retrieve the third piece of the sundered Sutras. But before Tripitaka can assemble more of the sacred scroll, his band will have to defeat the Spider Demons. The book describes them as “seductive spider spirits, half beautiful women, half spider”. Take a quick look at the horrifying concept art by Pablo Fernandez.



In the Silk Cave, high in the Silk Mountains, Zige the Spider Demon Queen spins her webs of the toughest silk. Her minions weave traps of sticky cobwebs and wait for unsuspecting prey to become ensnared. Will they feast on our brave travellers?



Once again, we will introduce new game play elements with the Spider Demons. These Demons fight at longer range, spitting poison and throwing spider web nets. Pilgrims will be more likely to suffer on-going conditions, like Poisoned and a new condition Entangled. Webs act as traps that hold the Pilgrims and attract the Demons when the Pilgrims are entangled. Each Demon moves towards the closest entangled Pilgrim, and may get to attack while the Pilgrim is unable to defend: an entangled target cannot use the Defense Dice.



The contents of the Spider Demon Expansion will be similar to the White Bone Demon Expansion when it was first announced. If we can push the pledge total higher in the last few hours of the project, we will add more items to the expansion. The price will be $48, and when first unlocked it will include:

Zige the Spider Demon Queen
2 Ziran Spider Demon Generals
2 Zahe Spider Demon Priests
5 Zigi Spider Demons Warriors
One new Map Tile
New Demon Profile Sheets and Condition Cards
Demon Spawning Cards
New Pilgrims Skill Cards

There will also be resin add-ons. With their distended abdomens and multiple arms, these are large miniatures:

Zige the Spider Demon Queen - $20
Ziran Spider Demon General - $20
Zahe Spider Demon Priest - $15
Zigi Spider Demon Warrior - $15

We have a plastic bundle that you can use to add a few Spider Demons to your core game if you do not want the full expansion right now. Or use them to boost the Spider Queen’s army, but don’t forget the bundle is optional and the Spider Demon expansion has enough minis for normal play. The bundle is $20:

1x Ziran Spider Demon General
1x Zahe Spider Demon Priest
3x Zigi Spider Demon Warriors

As well as revealing this Expansion, we will now show many related stretch goals (banners to come!) We really hope we can enhance this expansion before we deliver it to you.

410K Quest 5-Pack
420K Box Game Upgrade 1 plastic Zigi Spider Demon Warrior
430K Expansion Upgrade +1 Zigi Spider Demon Warrior, +1 Zahe Spider Demon Priest
440K Expansion Upgrade +1 Map Tile (2 in total)
450K Collectors Upgrade resin 1 Ziran Spider Demon General
460K Expansion Upgrade +1 Map Tile (3 in total)

All miniatures come with game cards. These bonus miniatures can be used with the Spider Demon Expansion, or shuffled into the spawn deck of the core game to provide some variety.

We hope most of these are obvious by now, but let us explain the Quest 5-Pack. We want to write a second collection of 5 linked Quests that tell a 5 part story. The extra Bridge Tile from the $380K goal will allow us to write one truly huge Quest. These Quests will be available for download from the Journey Forums.

Update #71 Nov 22, 2013
Game Play Update #15 – Quests
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We are nearing the end of our rules updates. If you are new to the project, you can skip back through them, starting here.

Quests are our name for a single game you setup and play. You might call them scenarios or just games, but Quest fits our theme. The rule book will specify 10 Quests that are linked in a chain to tell a story. Let’s call them Narrative Quests. As you play them in order, we will increase the complexity of the Demons and scenery items, so they act as a kind of tutorial. And by telling you there is a story and calling them Narrative Quests, we hope you can see that we would spoil some of the fun by revealing everything here.

The first Narrative Quest will be played on just two map tiles and experienced players can play it in 15 minutes, but as your first outing, it may take longer. The longest Narrative Quest is played on 7 map tiles and could take you 2 hours, so there is a lot of variation.

The Narrative Quest description in the rule book tells you everything you need to know to set up and play. There will be pictures of the game board showing where to place the Pilgrims, tokens like gates, doors, wells and mystical boxes. It will have the victory and loss conditions and any special rules.

There are simple victory conditions, like closing the gates and killing all Demons that have been placed on the board or moving to a certain part of the board, sometimes within a time limit. Others are to recover items by searching specific locations. Yet others are more cinematic, with the Quest ending immediately a Boss Demon is defeated, before you kill or cleanse him. The Quest closes with him escaping, ready to fight another day.


So here is a setup diagram from the rule book. Using icons (which we showed you in a much earlier update) it tells you where to place and face the Pilgrims, some Demons who are on the map already, and some card scenery tokens. You can use the scenery miniatures if you have them. Hopefully you recognise the icons, MK – the Monkey King, BW – Bull Warrior, etc. There are special rules for this Quest, the Bull Warrior inside the building does not move until the doors are broken down and similarly, the gate in the room does not activate until the doors are opened. The victory condition is to have one Pilgrim search the Mystical Box when there are no Demons on the map.

Longer Narrative Quests have side quests, optional goals to be completed. If you complete them, you will get a reward that will make the rest of the Quest much easier, but while you are trying to complete the side quest, you might fail overall. For example, if you have to protect villagers from the Demons for a certain number of turns. If you stop to defend the villagers, Demons will be spawning all around you and you will not be advancing towards the victory condition. If you make a mistake and a villager is killed, then with the extra Demons on the map and no reward for the side quest, you will be in trouble.

Special rules override the standard rules. There is a scenario where Tripitaka has been taken captive. He battles to defend himself, while the 3 other pilgrims try to rescue him, but in this scenario, the Demons swarm towards the Monkey King, not Tripitaka. Other special rules include only activating distant Spawn Gates when you finally approach them and make specific Demons stay put until you approach them (the Bull Demon King does not run about like crazy!).

We hope there is some replay value in these Quests. You can control a different Pilgrim, mix different Demons into the spawn deck, play with deliberately different styles like rushing, mainly killing, mainly cleansing, taking all or taking no side quests. Those of you that get the Soul Hunters and Soul Cleansers can use your allies sometimes. But there is more to the game than these Narrative Quests.

While playing the Narrative Quests you will not only learn the rules, but also how Quests are setup and what you enjoy most about the game. We will give you instructions for creating Custom Quests. You will select the Map Tiles, the scenery, the side quests and victory conditions. Through your experience playing and these general instructions, you will have a good idea of how to construct Quests that are fun and have the right degree of difficulty for your gaming group.

We are planning a forum where you can discuss the game, clarify rules and post images of your painted miniatures. But also we want people to post their own Quests here, Quest walkthroughs (you might call them battle reports), and discuss the Quests that are posted. So those of you that make, and even fine tune, Custom Quests can show them to world. There is nothing to stop you creating and sharing linked Custom Quests, just like the Narrative Quests in the box. Your house rules can become special rules for your Quests, you might become famous in the forum for your designs! We will endeavour to do the same, posting our own Quests to this forum, although we will not make promises as to the frequency these will appear.

So we hope you see that this is not simply traversing the board from one side to another. The Quest system makes one game different from the next and even the same Quest can be replayed in many different ways.