The Flame Burns Bright!
Update #72 · Aug 5, 2013 · 44 comments

We are a week out from GENCON and are full speed ahead. ,First off, Myth will be at GENCON, so if you are attending swing by booth #1831. We will be having 1 standard game demo and 1 Slaughterfield demo (in addition to some MERCS demos and other non-Myth related surprises).

Now for an update on our progress.

Myth Base Game:

Miniatures - Done; In production
Hero Board - Done; End of August production
Darkness Board - Done; End of August production
Realm Tiles - 95% Done; End of August production
Punchboard (counters and tokens) - 75%
Hero Decks - Done; Beginning production
Darkness Deck - Done; Beginning production
Monster Cards - Done; Beginning production
Item Cards - Done; Beginning production
Quest Cards - 95% Done; End of August production
Rulebook - 95% Done; End of August production

The Realm, Quest, and Rulebook pieces are held up for the same reason: icons. The icons used to populate the Realms are also used on the Quest cards. These are close to done, but aren't. When they are, the tiles and quests can be finished (which in turn allows me to finish the realm setup chapter). These will be done by the end of August.

French translation is completely caught up with us (and pushing us for the final pieces). German has 70% of the stuff. Italian and Spanish, because they are only translating the rulebook, are in good shape.

We are as little concerned that that die-cut creation process for the punchboards and Hero boards will push us out of November. Like, I have said, it is an internal goal. We are pushing hard towards delivering early, but we won't sacrifice quality or a complete review process of the materials.

Myth Stretch Goals:

Miniatures - 70% done with sculpting; 20% molds; 10% production
Realm Tiles - In art
Hero Decks - In art (this is where Keith is spending his time right now)
Darkness Decks - Done
Monster Cards - Done
Item Cards - Done
Quest Cards - In writing (I have about 15 quests left to write.)
Card Sleeves - Getting samples
T-shirts - Done (with a surprise, see below)
Slaughterfield Supplement Pack - In art
Metal coins - Getting samples

We feel very comfortable with where the Stretch goals are. There are a couple pitfalls we are staring at way down the road, but we have identified them and are working to get solutions now.

Miscellaneous:

Our biggest issues at this point is warehousing. We are looking at a warehouse on Wednesday. Hopefully, this one is more like what we need.

Show & Tell:

We start this S&T with a couple cards from the Soldier deck: Impenetrable and Everyone Behind Me. There is a lot we can learn from just these two cards. Let's start at the top.

The icon for each Hero appears in the upper left. This icon remains the same throughout the various stages of the Hero's "level". Next to the icon is the name of the ability the card represents. Right away, you'll realize we have changed/updated the names to be more thematic. This was always planned. It is much more easy to use Cleave to communicate something to backers then it is to use Harvest of Bones.

Below the icon is the movement column. The open circle means the Hero is stationary. The half-circle means the Hero moved cautiously. The filled circle means the Hero moved normally. The circle with crescents means the Hero moved aggressively. Any bonuses associated with these moves are highlighted underneath the circle.

Underneath the name is the wonderful illustration Keith has interpreted from my text, hand waving, and unintelligent sound effects.

Below the illustration is the text that explains to the player what the ability does. I chose these cards because they have a lot of interesting tidbits. Card-types are bolded. Names of other abilities are italicized. Rage is a type of Hero card. Furthermore, on the Everyone Behind Me Hero card, there is a parenthetical: (Optional - Impenetrable). This means that this card may be played after Impenetrable if the player wants to. More importantly, it always means that the two cards have a synergy and can be used in combination to provide the Heroes with something "more". Everyone Behind Me can be played on its own to pass shield bonuses onto other adjacent Heroes. However, when played after Impenetrable, the adjacent Heroes receive the +1TN buff and any extra Rage played by the Soldier improves that benefit.

Each Hero has multiple card pairings that provide synergies. They are often associated with how a player wants to play their character. More often than not, these synergies appear in the level up cards. This means players are going to have to make decisions on how they want to play their characters, and use the card replacement reward at the end of an Act to mold the character they want to be.

Below the description are two icons: Action/Reaction and Action Points. The Action Points icon is in the bottom right corner. If there is one line colored red (as they are in both the cards), the 1 point is added to the Darkness Meter when each card is used. The AP icon is on a Darkness-type background so that they are reminded, through the graphic design that those points are added to the Darkness Meter.

The Action/Reaction is a circular arrow icon. The top arrow represents an Action. The bottom arrow, a Reaction. If both arrows are colored then it can be either an Action or a Reaction. What we have here is a combat reaction card. These Reactions are played during the Darkness Cycle only.

GENCON Surprise:

We will have a special GENCON Slaughterfield t-shirt. These shirts will also be available after Myth launches when the website goes up. We just thought it would be fun. It is certainly inspired by the absolute craziness that you, our backers, posted when Slaughterfield was announced.

I realize this is a GIANT update. I will cut the monster card section and post it on Wednesday. We'll also have pictures of the miniatures real (in-hand) and updated pics of sculpts on Monday of next week. We'll also post pictures of Myth at GENCON after the con is over.

Something Wicked This Way Comes
Update #73 · Aug 7, 2013 · 129 comments

Here is an example of the Monster cards.

The image associated with miniatures in the Realm is top-center. Underneath the art is the name of the Monster. Like the Hero abilities, we've went ahead and renamed the Monsters so they are bit more unique to Myth.

Arachnids = Crawlers
Arachnid Captains = Stalkers
Arachnid Boss = Terror with 1000 Legs

Orcs = Grubbers
Orc Captains = Muckers
Orc Boss = Orcneas, Master of Masters

Skeletons = Shamblers
Skeleton Captains = Soulless
Skeleton Boss = Bones

Rats = Tailless
Rat Captains = Rath
Rat Boss = The Rat King

Elementals = Iathi
Elemental Captains = Iao
Elemental Boss = Ia, the Foundation

Cyclops = Sycleech
Cyclops Captain = Sycline
Cyclops Boss = Syclopt

In the upper left hand corner is the target number the Heroes need to hit the Monster, below that the Vitality, or hit points, per figure.

The upper right houses the movement points of the Monster, then the Courage stat. The Courage icon is replicated on the Hero tokens. Like all games, we use icons to quickly identify stats players will need to reference.

The red box on the right of the card is used during Darkness Activation. It contains the target priorities for that Monster-type. It also contains the Threat Range. We group information according to when you need it. Information you'll need together is grouped together and isolated graphically.

The lower portion of the card is used for Spawns: Normal and Heavy specifically.

The center left box contains all the information the players need to know when the Monsters attack the Heroes. The number by the sword icon is TN the Monster needs to hit the Hero. This TN is modified by the Heroes armor, shield, and abilities played. Underneath the Attack header are the details associated with the attack:

1x1, 1d10, 1 damage per hit = each Shambler gets 1 attack on 1 target using 1d10 that does 1 damage per successful hit.

Captains, and Boss-types are much more formidable, but the information is presented the same.

Any Monster that has a special ability is listed below the attack. In this case, if a Soulless is out on the tile, then a Shambler when it is killed rolls 1 Fate Dice. If the result is a Darkness symbol, then they resurrect. Sometimes these special abilities are extra damage, or another activation. Captains and Bosses have multiple Fate Dice abilities.

The Heroes and the Horde
Update #74 · Aug 13, 2013 · 62 comments

A bit of the now and future in this update.

Those coming to GENCON will touch and feel all the minis in the base game and some of the stretch goals. They are amazing. These minis are metal, but they are made from the plastics. The sculpts are the same. They look identical. We simply needed to create the metal molds per the add-ons (which are more than half done now) and we do that locally. In turn, this allows us to create the minis that we are bringing to the show.

I can't wait for people to see them. My lame picture taking just doesn't do them justice.

The WIP progress sculpts are approved.

The last pictures is an example of Minions and their Captain.

Long Live the Players
Update #75 · Aug 20, 2013 · 148 comments

We had a fantastic GENCON. The Myth tables were never empty.

Basically, the demo consisted of an extended hall set piece with the falling ceiling trap and a hunting pack. Heroes need to engage and kill the three Minions and hurry through the hall. Opening with this setup in the demo is quite important (we have found) because it teaches players how to use Move cards in conjunction with attack cards. It also allows the players to become more familiar with the Hero decks.

As the demo giver, you can quickly tell who has watched the videos and who didn't. Kenny and I both gave demos of Myth. We pretty much spent every hour for four days at a table doing a Myth demo. The majority of the players were KS backers. I am sure they were hoping to see if their investment in Myth was a mistake. I told each and every one after the demo to post comments and reviews in all the usual places so that you not able to play yet can feel a little relief in your purchase.

Players seemed to enjoy themselves a great deal. I am being purposefully cautious here. In truth, I didn't have a single person leave the table disappointed in their experience, with many being very straight forward in their praise of the experience. I think many were surprised at how good the game actually is. Kenny and I spoke afterwards how you could see it on the players faces light up as they began to understand how the game worked and how different each game could be.

The second set in the demo was a small room. It was communicated how the players control how each experience is customized and how realm tile setup works. We touched on the "realm legends" used to populate the tiles and how these icons are replicated in the quest cards. Players were forced to do a quest in this 6x6, so they could see how quests worked. We also populated the tile with a Lair (if the quest didn't call for one) and in some cases a Hunting Pack. We tried to incorporate every Monster-type we had available in the demo and in most cases we were successful.

More than a few Heroes died. For the most part, the players quickly learned how much table talk and communication was necessary to not just thrive, but to survive. In fact, in most of our demos, after the players got through their decks once, we could just sit back and answer questions. Many players stayed and watched other demos and remarked how each group seemed to tackle the same challenges differently.

I hope all those that demoed use this update as a chance to share their experience, good or bad. I know a few planned on doing BGG write-ups.

Anyway, here are some photos.

Incursion
Update #76 · Aug 27, 2013 · 47 comments

Hey all, Keith here. I'd like to call your attention to a KS project entering its final days called Incursion.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1440310529/incursion

I worked for Jim Bailey and the Grindhouse team as a freelancer off and on from 2008 through 2011. My role was to do finished illustrations for the 1st edition game and expansion.

Ok the trip down memory lane is over! Now Incursion is being re-launched on KS. This time the game and expansion come packed with all the plastic miniatures (originally you had to get them separately in metal), as well as all the components done in a higher quality. Additionally they've got some great new add-on models coming out with this campaign.

I hope you'll take moment and check it out. If you like what you see, show them some support!

The Big and the Small
Update #77 · Aug 29, 2013 · 76 comments

From the beginning we wanted Myth to look cool on the table. We wanted there to be various sizes of miniatures, as well as detailed interesting places to adventure.

The first image is the almost-completed Bones boss. He is soooo cool. He also happens to be gigantic. His blade-arms are about 5 inches wide. For perspective, he would be 5 squares on the 6 x 6 tiles attached below.

I have pretty much fallen in love with this figure.

Most of the 2nd round of sculpts are in this stage. They aren't final, but very close. Keith has sent back minor corrections on the majority of them. Small tweaks, then they will finalize the lines and the textures.

I have also attached the final renders of the base game tiles (three that flow together and the campfire). We'll get together tomorrow and finalize these. Those not at GENCON can get a good look at the icons used in the legends. We have to make final adjustments to the opacity of the legend and add the outlines for LoS and movement blockers.

Hopefully, you can see all small detail in these (I'll post higher res versions to BGG this morning). These tiles are alive and interesting. The lights radiate and cause shadows. This is just a small sample, but you get the idea. These files have the bleed showing, so it might look like they have two edges.

Next up for Keith is rulebook layout (next week) and box. Basically the last two things; everything else will be at the printer and in production.

Man have WE been busy, hehe.

What do you want first, the good news or the good news?

We have our warehouse. We become tenants October 1. This was a big one. Basically, we needed a location that we could afford (and made sense beyond just Myth), that would hold 190 pallets. Yeah, it's like that.

We found exactly what we need and were in negotiations for about 3 weeks. Whatta ya gonna do, lawyers need to eat, too. I hear they are struggling.

This was a very large hurdle in receiving the product and delivering it early.

The second hurdle would be production. I am happy to say, we seem to be doing very well on this front as well. Of course, anything can happen in production (or in shipping), but I feel very good about where we are.

We won't know if we can deliver early until mid-October. There is a specific date we have given all the people in production, and we know they are trying to hit it. If they do, then success. If they don't, then you'll just have to receive the game on time.

I don't like to do an update without a little show with my tell, so here are the production models. The models will all be pre-assembled. I am showing you some pics of the cuts because I want you to see that we are very experienced with miniatures and have (with the help of the production facility) tried to hide as many of the glue seams as possible. Experienced miniatures players will understand the importance of this. For the uninitiated, it means you won't see the line where the parts are put together.

These are the plastics you will be receiving. This isn't bending plastic. These miniatures won't fall over or be warped. These are good hobby game plastic miniatures.

I know some of you have wondered. We are doing all the models in two shades of gray. The Heroes are lighter. The Darkness miniatures will be a darker shade of gray.

Allies and Agents
Update #79 · Sep 24, 2013 · 50 comments

Early in the design process, before the Kickstarter had began, a friend and I were talking about role-playing games and board games that try to simulate an RPG feel. Chris Hausermann is a pretty smart guy and can cut to the core of an issue quicker than most. One of his more salient points was the lack of good fortune. It is really quite simple, good things do happen and to have a game where only bad things happens makes it feel a little too ridiculous, and somehow more fake.

Many weeks later, that conversation bore fruit. I started playing with a system that allows Heroes to experience a bit of good fortune in Myth. We call it Serendipity. There are four levels of rewards that can be purchased with Serendipity ranging from a simple bonus to a powerful boon, like the assistance of an Ally. Players earn Serendipity through the completion of quests and through overcoming traps. Serendipity works outside of Myth's defined boundaries. It can be used at any time. It is a resource for the players to neutralize bad luck. When Serendipity is spent, it is gone.

With the Allies, we wanted the world to feel alive. We wanted there to be a reason they are helping you. In this case, you have earned their trust. Quests intersect and you will get to know the people that populate this part of the world. They aren't here and gone, but often have involved chain quests that have in the end can earn that person as an Ally. They become your friends and will help you when you need it.

And help you will need...

Not exactly the opposite of an Ally, but a subset of Mini-bosses are Agents. Agents are individuals that willfully or unconsciously are doing the Darkness' bidding. In some cases, they have entire quest chains that tell their story, like our own Duncan's Trickster-level avatar, Doncaldah. Agents are not killed, but escape to harass the Heroes again and again. More importantly, defeating an Agent awards the group of players a single unique Agent ability card. This card can be added to a Hero deck, much like the advanced Hero cards.

I should have stated that like the Twilight Knight, everyone who backed at Captain or higher is getting 1 Doncaldah for free, care of Duncan who purchased the first Trickster level.

Finally, we have Urulók, the fire drake. He is barely an adolescent, but his wingspan is wider than Bones' blades. I wish I could make the image bigger. It is amazing.

Production update

The entire base game is in production. When we get the production sample, we'll make a video and post the unboxing (it will still be a few weeks).

Of the 45 unique stretch goal/KS miniatures only 19 have not been approved. Of the 19 remaining, 9 received last adjustments last week and we expect to approve them soon. That leaves only 10 sculpts in various stages of development. Urulok and Doncaldah are just beginning the process.

Card Sleeves are in production sample process.

Metal coins and tokens are in molding.

Translations are going very well. French and German continue to plow forward and do a fantastic job. Their level of communication in taking care of possible issues has been extraordinary. Really, great stuff. They are translating all the extra stuff, too. We need to provide final rulebook files to Italian and Spanish, but those languages are just pdfs, so production time doesn't have to be built into the schedule.

We will be at Essen. We will be doing Myth demos with German translated and English cards. It is a replica of the demo we did at GENCON. We'll be in the Ulisses Spiele booth. When I know the exact hall location and booth number, I'll let you know.

For our European friends, we can't wait to meet you.

For those wondering, we'll be giving EVERYONE a chance to update their address in the PM as we move closer to shipping. It is simply too early. I have had several people already move twice, HA!

On a personal note, I was telling the guys how proud I am of this game. I CAN'T wait for you guys to get it. It is going to blow you away.

Update #80

Oct 2, 2013
The Value of Good Advice


Shall we cut to the quick? We won't deliver the game early (even if we could), but for a much different reason than expected. It has nothing to do with production or shipping or customs...it has to do with taxes.

We met with our CPA last Friday for about 3 hours. In non-accounting speak, if we receive the shipment too early in the year, the value of the inventory is added to the value of the business and is taxed. We were clever with the comings and goings of the actual KS cash, we just didn't quite understand the significance of the actual shipment. After going through all the tricks and wizardry the CPAs could do to speed up or delay reporting specific elements, if we receive the shipment early we would owe somewhere in the vicinity of 200k to the taxman. This is something we wish to avoid.

However, because we had that goal internally, we worked very hard to finish writing, art and sculpts. In the end, it will be the reason the game is on time, but still...I wish it was going to be early.

I am very sorry. I am sure many of you are as disappointed as I am. I'll cheer us up next week with a miniatures update and some new art.

Update #81

Oct 17, 2013
Like a Chicken With His Head Cut Off...
43 comments
50 likes

I apologize from the beginning. I try to keep updates fairly cohesive in theme--not this one. This update is going to be all over the place (hence the title).

Essen Spiele

We will be in the Ulisses Spiele booth. The hall is number 2, booth 2-B116. It will have a very green carpet. We will have one of the German translators on hand to help with questions on the demo. We'll be running the demos. It will be identical to the demo at Gencon (though we may use a couple different quests). There will be both English, German, and French translated hero decks available for use.

We'll do an update after Essen with pictures of the show and the reception of Myth by the mob.



Softproofs

We looked at and approved softproofs for the printed materials this last Monday (Oct 14th). Although it is of no consolation at this point, we in fact did meet our internal deadline.

Hardproofs

We will receive physical samples of all printed materials while we are gone to Essen. Cautiously Optimistic is the term we are looking for. We find out if the materials received in samples hold up under ink and carry the colors the way we hoped they would. This is also the earliest possible warning indicator on board warping (something we have stressed with the printer).

We'll do some pictures and a video.

Sculpts

I had hoped to have some pictures of the finished second wave, but fate it would seem did not smile on me today (they are finished and approved, but the pictures haven't appeared on Dropbox yet). Regardless, we should have samples of those figures in our hands 1st week of November.

I do have one figure I can show. The final sculpt of Marcus the Ready. We should have resins of him today. He is pretty awesome. He stands Hero height. I'll provide resin pics with size comparisons to the Heroes in the post Essen update with the other finished second wave sculpts.





Hobby Miniatures

Though Myth be a board game, it is a miniatures game as well. To this end, we expect a lot of painting and modded Myth miniatures as the game enters the marketplace. If people wanted to paint Myth figures they could and the figures would be of such quality that they would hold paint well and allow the true details in the figures to be revealed.

Elizabeth Beckley did us a solid and put some paint on the Heroes. We'll have the figures in hand shortly, but she was kind enough to send some pictures...of which only the Acolyte appeared. Weird. I can see them . Too bad for you.



Post Script

They must have updated. We can now put images in the text. Commence rejoicing. I feel like I have too much power now...

Update #84

Nov 6, 2013
What a Difference One Day Makes
67 comments
58 likes

I was stopped at an intersection in town yesterday and a dump truck decided he needed to use my lane. Long story short, yesterday was an arduous day. I was not harmed, thankfully.



Ouch

I got home and there was a FedEx slip on the door. Immediately, hoped filled my formally unfriendly frame. Today, that hope was realized in the delivery of our printer proofs.

I will begin with an explanation of what you will be seeing. There are three things involved with printer proofs, also called hard proofs: the final full color printed pieces on paper (not cut out, or glued onto cards and boxes), the unprinted (white) version of the game with real materials and treatments, and a completely put together version with poor printing and materials to check front and back printing.


For those familiar with Space Hulk, the Myth box is slightly taller.


For those familiar with Amerigo, Myth is the same size.

We received the hard proofs this morning at 10:00. We began looking at them for art quality, print clarity, missing components, and overall excitement.




All pieces laid out, organized, and counted.

One of the most important pieces to us, as I have told you are the boards. The boards are nice. Very sturdy, and no warping thus far. Nothing in the real sample components feels cheap. Very high quality stuff. We were very pleased.





The guts are organized with a two section partition, which also provides stability for the middle of the box.



All the card proofs held Keith's art spectacularly. Really good color. Nice and bright.


Quests.


Baddies.


Items and Merchants.

Images of the minis coming next, then a Slaughterfield video per your requests.

Project Update #85: Second Helpings, with a Side of Lore.
Posted by MERCS Miniatures ♥ Like

Here is that minis update I have been promising you. Some of these you have seen before, but they had minor tweaks or I am telling you a little bit about them now and didn't want you to have to hunt through all the updates.

Spoiler:

Air Iathi


Fire Iathi


Earth Iathi


Iao

We wanted all the names of the elemental Monster-type to share the name of their mother "Ia, the Foundation". All Iathi are created from within Ia.

The Darkness' grip on its armies is tenuous at best. Many of these creatures have a history with each other: the Iathi and Sycline hate each other. Sycline use weapons made from slain Iathi.


Sycline


Sycline


Sycleech

The Sycline are not Cyclops. They are a plant. They begin as an "eye-stalk" that detaches from the Lair (see below) and attaches to a host's spine. It slowly takes over, eventually growing over the host's head forming a large eye-ball and changing them. The locals call them Syclops because the final product reminds people of the mythical Cyclops.


Syclopt

Eventually, if enough time passes, an eye-stalk can become one of these. Unlike some of the other creatures, this Boss isn't unique.


Tailless


Tailless


Rath

The rats are very much an intelligent species. They have a hierarchy. They have a King (who won't be revealed quite yet...hehehe). Through many of the quests, the Heroes notion of "evil" is challenged. The Tailless are an important step in learning this lesson. The rats are very much an unfortunate species. They are taken advantage of by their King, by the Darkness, and by other creatures...even ones much smaller.


Keesi & Og

Keesi is the Grubber on the back of the less intelligent Og.


Orcneas, Master of Masters

A mighty foe, Orcneas, Master of Masters commands his forces with a supreme hand. And yes, Master of Masters must be added as an honorific when addressing Orcneas, Master of Masters...every time.


Bones

Bones is held up by the skeletons of the last four heroes that tried to defeat him.


The Twilight Knight

Some of the sculpted Traps and Lairs. There are more of both.



Avatar of Winter

There will be Dragon heads on the little outcroppings along the pillar.There will be Dragon heads on the little outcroppings along the pillar.

Things are going along well. Production has started on the second wave. That leaves only a few sculpts unapproved: Etrus/Minotaur, the Rat King, the Dragon/Urulok, and Duncan's Trickster level mini/Donnchadh.

 Alpharius wrote:
It all looks so good...

When is this due to ship again?

Update #86 - For backers only

Nov 20, 2013
The Pledge Manager Always Rings Twice