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1 - What is your favorite moment fighting a boss
Forge of the Dawn Titan – D&D 4E, Lair Assault season 1

The first time players fell into the lava. The party had 20 rounds to stop the warlock’s ritual from awakening the primordial dormant under the volcano. In the first play through the whole party was dead by round 6. I’ve never seen people wipe a party and have so much fun.

For those of you that aren’t familiar, Lair Assault was an organized play program for 4th Ed D&D. Each 3 month season consisted of ONE fight. These encounters were built hard, to challenge even the most skilled power gamers. No one at our store ever completed a Lair Assault on the first attempt. You went in, you died, you learned, and you tried again next week. To top it all off they included challenges. You beat it once, now can you beat it in only 5 rounds? Can you win without any magical items? It was the one event where I was encouraged to do my best to kill the characters, but in the end loads of fun were had by all.
On the topic of boss fights in general, I think It is one of the hardest aspects of any game to balance. As WhiteRoo ponted out, players in an RPG will throw out every resource they have once they know they are against the BBEG.

2 - What's your most hated boss mechanic
I would have to say… Ultra high damage party wide attacks. Too many bosses (mostly in video games) have that one attack that if it catches you at an unlucky moment will wipe the party. After a long fight the boss drops to 30% hp and unleashes some over the top attack that kills two-thirds of the characters. Many of the final fantasy games and MMOs have these enemies and it feels like survival often comes down to luck.


3 - TempleCon is in a few weeks, will you be attending? If not, what pieces of news from the show are you hoping to hear from a company attending the show (it doesn't have to be OTL, we won't be sad, we promise)?
Alas, Adepticon and Gencon are the only major Cons on my radar this year, and then only if I’m lucky.

I’ll check the Privateer Press forums to see if any new spoilers come out of Adepticon. I try to stay informed about Warmachine/Hordes even though I don’t actively expand my collection, and only play about once a year.

The thing I’m most interested in right now is seeing the models from the new Beastman laborer/engineer kit. Besides that, there are all the rumors about restarted projects and Endless Fantasy Roleplay(?!?) that intrigue me.
..and any Endless pictures/battle reports please


Concerning Visiting Hours, and the downloads from the last two. The Boss battles look like a lot more fun than I would have guessed if you had asked previously. I prefer human opponents for my wargames, but I will definately try it out.

Dungeon Densetsu looks intense. I love seeing the variant monsters. I think it is a great way to get more variety in game play without the need for more sculpts. I hadn't planned to get a second basic Earth Troll since it is a single pose sculpt and a 3C creature, but now I would consider one just to paint up as a Rime Troll. Do you intend for the Dungeon Densestu variants to be used in other game modes? Can I bring Frost Gels in a standard VS. battle? Would you ever consider Print-on-Demand cards for the Dungeon Densetsu variants?

 Galen wrote:

The thing I’m most interested in right now is seeing the models from the new Beastman laborer/engineer kit.

I'm hoping that you'll actually get those before Templecon, I'm trying to get the last bit of stuff needed for the 2nd shipments casted and out the door this and next week.

 Galen wrote:

Besides that, there are all the rumors about restarted projects and Endless Fantasy Roleplay(?!?) that intrigue me.
..and any Endless pictures/battle reports please

It'll be a busy year for us. Matt's working on some 'Tales of Endless' stories, and working on EFR with Tom, who is also working on the Boss AI rules; and I'm working on Dungeon Densetsu and this whenever I get a chance:

 Galen wrote:

Concerning Visiting Hours, and the downloads from the last two. The Boss battles look like a lot more fun than I would have guessed if you had asked previously. I prefer human opponents for my wargames, but I will definately try it out.

Ideally, when we get around to releasing 'Boss' Monsters to retail we will be including their AI Rules in the box, but you won't be required to run them that way and can just have a Big Bad 4/5C monster in your party. This is one of the reasons why the King Gel isn't available outside of the Kickstarter just yet.

 Galen wrote:

Dungeon Densetsu looks intense. I love seeing the variant monsters. I think it is a great way to get more variety in game play without the need for more sculpts. I hadn't planned to get a second basic Earth Troll since it is a single pose sculpt and a 3C creature, but now I would consider one just to paint up as a Rime Troll. Do you intend for the Dungeon Densestu variants to be used in other game modes? Can I bring Frost Gels in a standard VS. battle? Would you ever consider Print-on-Demand cards for the Dungeon Densetsu variants?

The DD Variants are usable outside of their Dungeons, anything that has an Endless: [Blank] Tactics card will be useable. POD cards will be available in the future along with in a DD Box.

I don't know what to make of all that, but you have my attention!

 Galen wrote:
I don't know what to make of all that, but you have my attention!

Thats all we ask...

I'm taking another look at DD: Hoarfrost Peak. You had mentioned on the forum that DD mode would usually be run with 3C of heroes. Is that what I should use? I couldn't find it mentioned in the PDF so I thought I should double check.

 Galen wrote:
I'm taking another look at DD: Hoarfrost Peak. You had mentioned on the forum that DD mode would usually be run with 3C of heroes. Is that what I should use? I couldn't find it mentioned in the PDF so I thought I should double check.

Yes, a 3C Party (generally one model.. you know the one )

 Cyporiean wrote:

 Galen wrote:
I'm taking another look at DD: Hoarfrost Peak. You had mentioned on the forum that DD mode would usually be run with 3C of heroes. Is that what I should use? I couldn't find it mentioned in the PDF so I thought I should double check.

Yes, a 3C Party (generally one model.. you know the one )

Alfindrate?

You beat me to it Alf. That was going to be my line.

Now I really want to play DD, because I can't figure out how I would get through the first two wing rooms without HP/MP recovery,, let alone defeat the Troll. Silly question, but room monsters still each get their ITM value in items, right?

In Frigid End - R2E, are the dungeon turrets the same as the ones the 3C beastman creates? I didn't see any more information on them in the DD packet.

Unless I'm mistaken the beastman laborer (also R2E) can't move out of his corner. Except for a 1 square wide path, everything around him is height 2 and he only has 1 JMP.


Whenever thiings fall into video game talk I feel like the minority here. Alf in particular always makes me feel old when he talks about the games he grew up on. The full extent of my Zelda game play is 6-8 hours on the original game, half of which was off someone elses save. I guess that is likely because I have never owned a Nintendo system. I was already playing D&D and Warhammer by the time I got my Sega Genesis.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
More DD random thoughts, not specific to HFP:

-I really like the way DD makes me rethink command selection. I normally like all MP commands, and Break items, but knowing that more fights will be coming changes priorities.

-It might be helpful to label the grids with letters/numbers (along the edge) so that it is easier to reference. That way you can refer to the gel on C2, or trigger a trap/effect when a model crosses square D5.

-It would be interesting to give limited restrictions on monsters. Something like monster X does not join the battle until the hero kills monster Y, attacks monster X, or comes within 5 squares of monster X.

-Set some of the monster's items and commands ahead of time, leaving less prep for the campaign manager.

-List suggested hero choices for running each DD

When we update/compile the DD book, I'll make sure its noted that monsters do not carry items unless otherwise stated. The ITM value is there for you to be able to use them as normal in regular games.

The Dungeon Turrets are intended to be their own device. The card appears to have not been put into the Packet.

Dungeon Turrets
4 HP
DEF 2
Arrow Trap - Line 15, ATK 2, Weak, Target cannot make Defensive Rolls. This attack Triggers when an Adventurer moves into an eligible position of the Line.

The base height of the dungeon is 1, so adding a 1 JMP to that, means the Laborers can move from Height 1 to Height 2 without issue.

Additionally, The images are swapped. There should be 2 Laborers, and 1 Engineer, for a total of 4 C in that room.

Like the Boss PDF from Last week, the DD mode is still being tested and tweaked, the Idea of numbering/lettering the grid is definitely something we'll incorporate.

We'll also see about adding different event triggers, and pre-designed monster 'loadouts' to help the CM.

Yah. I see now that it says right in the map key that standard squares are height 1.

At first I was sceptical about both dungeon and boss fight modes, but taking a closer look at it today I can see how it opens up some great new play possibilities. I have all kinds of ideas for dungeons and puzzles. Everything from pushing block puzzles to Gauntlet style monster generators. The pits in room Inner Peak are a great example of a fun old-school video game style hazard. Thinking of new maps then gets me thinking about new monsters/characters. If it has my creativity going then it must be doing something right

Awesome, that's great to hear!

Thats really what we want to do, is give players tools and ideas. Not just force particular gameplay styles or rigid scenarios down their throats.

This week we're going to be away at TempleCon, so we're going to be giving you a preview of an upcoming campaign to Endless: Fantasy Tactics. the Miasma War Campaign. The Miasma War spreads across the light and dark continents, throwing the entire world of Terra into Chaos with the breaking of the Deep Crystal, and the release of the dreaded cloud of Miasma. Taking on the role of the fearless adventurers thrust into this unlike of situations, the Miasma War will change the landscape of Terra and the world of Endless forever.

But today we're just going to give you a small taste of one of the missions as it were from the campaign, a "lets play" if you will.

Today I'm going to give you a battle report of the first mission from the Miasma War Campaign, where a group of adventurers will be pitted against a growing horde of Thralls and Risen Warriors. Aided by the Water Priestess, Eirona, the group of adventurers will have to escape if they ever hope to save the world.

I’ll Stay Here, You Go on Ahead! - Temple of Undinite, Outskirts of Highwater City
The time has come. The creatures of the Miasma batter at the gates of the Temple. Eirona finishes her prayers and turns to you. “Undinite promises this is not the end for us. You must head to Plainskeep. The King holds the key to Halleford’s salvation.”

The doors begin to give as splinters fall from the weakened wood. Eirona tosses a crystal to you, smiling weakly. “You must flee, I will hold them here. Fear not, we shall see each other again.” She raises her staff turning her concentration to the Thralls, as the door frame finally gives way, and the Temple hall starts to fill with the monstrous creatures.

Party Size - 5 Crystal party

Setup - The Player deploys at the center of the board.The Campaign Manager places 3 miasma thralls and 1 Risen warrior on the board within 2 squares of any exit and one friendly Eirona, Water Priestess (Cleric model) noted on the map (image). The Campaign Manager controls both enemy and allied models during the turn. The encounter lasts for 6 turns before rolling to end the game.

Rules - At the end of each turn the Campaign Manager replaces one of their slain models at any of the exits, along with an additional 1 Crystal model on any exit, increasing the party size for the Campaign Manager. Once the Campaign Manager has a party size of 6 Crystals, he or she only replaces all slain models.

When one of the Player’s models reaches the exit, they are removed from play at the end of that model’s activation.

Objective - Get to an Exit!.

The first mission of the Miasma War Campaign thrusts our heroes into the middle of adventure as the Temple of Undinite comes under attack by the forces of the Deep Crystal.

So our heroes find themselves in the middle of the temple having just received a sliver of the Deep Crystal to take with them when the temple doors burst open and several Miasma Thralls and a Risen Warrior enter.

Turn 1:
Both paries have deployed and rolled for initiative, with the MIasma Thralls going first. The first Thrall (played by a Gel Warrior) moves forward and catches all of the heroes in a Miasma Cloud. The MAG roll fails to do much to the Gel Wizard (played by Gel Wizard) and a Dark Knight, but the poor Knight takes a hit and suffers poison as the Miasma begins to fill his lungs.


Next, the Dark Knight moves towards the nearest exit. Unable to get to the exit, he takes a swing at the Miasma Thrall and the Thrall, cut off guard, takes three points of damage from the Dark Knight's attack.


Next, the Risen Warrior takes his turn, moves foward and launches a skeletal arrow at the Gel Warrior. The poor little gel may have been able to fend off the poison cloud, but an arrow made of bone punctures it just right and the Gel takes 2 points of damage.


Eager to get away and open up the exit, the Gel Wizard attempts to move off to the side and uses Freeze to get some damage on the Thrall, unfortunately the servants of the Deep Crystal are a little hardier than the Gel's magic and the attack bounces off of the Thrall without so much as chipping the crystal protrusions. (Sadly the Dark Knight should have also been caught in the blast as the Gel moved a few squares too far, and it escaped my notice, durned players! )


The Thrall, spurned by the Deep Crystal, moves behind the Gel Wizard, and uses Siphon, hoping that if he doesn't kill the Gel, he'll take away its valuable MP. The Thrall hits the Gel and siphons away its remaining life, leaving it a withered husk on the ground (kind of like a slug covered in salt, but cuter and with a hat!)


Unfortunately, my camera crapped out and I didn't notice it for a few actions, so we're without pictures. The Knight moves next to the exit now that he has a clear line to it, and does a Heroic Beam against the first Miasma Thrall, but whiffs. The third Thrall moves to its right and tries to Siphon some of the MP away from Eirona. The Thrall rolls terribly and Eirona gets several successes anyways,. Eirona is the last to activate, and she moves forward and Torrents the Risen Warrior and the Miasma Thrall. The Riden Warrior takes the brunt of the hit, taking three points of damage (including some from being pushed into the Thrall). Fortunately for the Thrall, he takes nothing.



Turn 2
The Knight moves up in the Player's Initiative Order, and I move Eirona forward and place a few more Thralls on the board as per the rules of the mission. So I whiff on the roll and the Knight goes first, and leaves.


The Miasma Thrall attempts to use Miasma Cloud one more time on the Dark Knight, but fails to actually get a success. the Dark Knight activates and moves out. Mission complete!

So, that's a quick little batrep to help wet your appetites for more EFT! Now I could have made it harder for the players by requiring them to spend a turn on the exit before they could leave, but we were running late as it was, since I had to teach my player(s) how to play EFT first.

I would have questions, but this i from my phone and it's a pain to type as it is. Matt should be able to sate your discussion needs!

Nice battle report Alf. I like the visual of a bunch of gels on the table, even if in this case many of them were stand-ins.

Did you let the players pick their models, or did you decide it ahead of time?

 Galen wrote:
Nice battle report Alf. I like the visual of a bunch of gels on the table, even if in this case many of them were stand-ins.

Did you let the players pick their models, or did you decide it ahead of time?

I did, which was part of the reason why the mission didn't last more than a turn and a half. I wanted to give the batrep sort of a CES/E3 demo sort of feel where the guys playing the game have better and cooler stuff to entice people into playing it. In the Miasma War Campaign (and EFT Campaigns in general) You'll usually start out with 1C models and work your way up to 3C Characters, etc... But since it was like midnight when I got the game going, I didn't want to restrict my player(s) since I taught them how to play EFT not 15 minutes before we did this.

I'm hoping that I can run Ramos Asura and his brother through the Miasma War. I had a lot of fun writing it, and while it is a full story of missions, any of the individual missions can be taken out and used in a regular EFT game. Also with the AI rules we released two weeks ago, we can even set up the campaign in such a way that you can play against it. Not as fun, but sometimes it might be cool just to try out a particular party build Or just try it out on 'hard mode'

And now for something completely different: A Podcast from OTLG.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/7omsdd97r9vnxmh/OTLG-Podcast_001.mp3

We recorded this last night at Templecon, we hope you enjoy us rambling for 30 minutes about our plans for Endless & Brushfire.

Sweet! listening to it right now!

edit: Whao! lots of cool announcements! Realy cool hearing this announcements in podcast forum! I'm also Super excited for the Americans and Russians in brushfire!

 Lockark wrote:
Sweet! listening to it right now!

edit: Whao! lots of cool announcements! Realy cool hearing this announcements in podcast forum! I'm also Super excited for the Americans and Russians in brushfire!

It was a bit of a last minute idea I had, since we've got Tom sharing our hotel room. Glad you enjoyed it!

I downloaded and listened to the podcast this morning! And here are my disorganized thoughts.

EFT- Hearing that the Miasma War campaign book will have variant monsters/classes is exciting. An example of a monster AI system is in the D&D board games Wrath of Ashardalon/Castle Ravenloft/Legend of Drizzt, or some of the various zombie board games if you ever need a reference when describing your plans.

I personally enjoy the Crusader as a sustitute for either the Knight or Cleric, so I am happy to see its model in the pipeline.

Is the Lunarian kit a single model, or will there be a head/weapon bit swap to differentiate? I figured we would just get a single pose model for all lunarians.

I didn't expect to hear any details about Endless RPG so soon. I'm very curious to see what you've come up with, and read more background about the world in general. Honestly I have always found combat in the old console RPGs (non-tactics style) to be lacking something. That being said you guys will make it enjoyable enough, and I think the biggest test will what the game offers with non-combat rules, such as skills, and healing/recovery. Put me down for some playtesting once you open it up a little.

*grumble* stupid co-workers interupting my lunch *grumble* the rest of my thoughts will have to come later.

Just going to leave this here.

Ack! Such a tease!

I'm interested in the certain Valkyr commander for vandalands.

I'll be happy to see the gecko rider reappearing in the OTLG store. Well, except that then I will be tempted to pick one up, cutting into my EFT budget. It really is a neat loooking piece. I would also like to see more pictures of full armies or game shots where we can see models in squads and next to each other. The new Zabar pics with Lox surrounded by hyenas and hogs look great, and makes me want to see consolidated pics of Scyzantium, and Axony once a few highlanders are done.

Superrainbowspacevikingsquad Tactics sounds interesting. I've always wondered about your avatar, Cyp. It always feels good to have an idea realized, so have fun with it. I can't say I'm familiar with much of the source material. Compatability with Endless is a big selling point, even if it seems a bit incongruous. Transformation rules sound like loads of fun. I also want to see what villains/monsters you come up with, since those costumes are always seem to be the craziest ones. Plus, monsters seem like the easiest transfer between games. I could see a squad of vikingers fighting beastmen or gels, but adding knights or archers to the mix could seem odd.

Don't rush the EFT League/map mode. Take the time to do it right! It has the potential to be amazing.

My only concern with all the different play modes coming to Endless is unit balance. I think campaign and dungeon modes will be harder to balance, and may favor certain models more than standard vs does. I'll have to play a lot more before I come to any conclusions of course.

Overall I am really excited about all the new rules you have coming out. I don't know why, but I didn't expect so many new things so soon after EFT's release.

...oh there wasn't any mention of Endless fiction. Is Matt's writing going to be fluff for the EFT books or will we see some stories released on their own?

Just a litte flavor thing...

How on earth Loxadon, King of Zabar can hide behind a low wall or hedge? I guess it is not stands for trenches, because a trench is simply not wide enough, but... you get the idea. Also why would he be slowed by terrain in general.

It's not a big deal, because that's how the game mechanic says so, but the biggest model until Loxodon was on a 60mm base and those are basically as tall as castle walls as well. However it looks like the Ursa fraction is going to be a bunch of big models, so cover and model size will clash more often from now on.

Loxodon, and all of Zabar have Pathfinder so terrain doesn't affect them for the most part.

As for low walls, just figure no one notices the huge elephant sticking his face into the dirt. Like a housecat 'hiding' under the bed with its butt sticking out.

Bears will be on 50mm bases like Arctos, and are the biggest thing in the faction for the most part.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Galen wrote:
Is the Lunarian kit a single model, or will there be a head/weapon bit swap to differentiate? I figured we would just get a single pose model for all lunarians.

Single kit, but it'll likely have two heads like the Beastmen.

Galen wrote:I'll be happy to see the gecko rider reappearing in the OTLG store. Well, except that then I will be tempted to pick one up, cutting into my EFT budget. It really is a neat loooking piece.

I'm very happy with being able to get them released! The issues we had with casting them should be resolved now, so we'll get them molded and casted up soon, and hand a few over to Ramos for painting.

Galen wrote:I would also like to see more pictures of full armies or game shots where we can see models in squads and next to each other. The new Zabar pics with Lox surrounded by hyenas and hogs look great, and makes me want to see consolidated pics of Scyzantium, and Axony once a few highlanders are done.

This is something that i've wanted to do for some time, but we haven't been able to get many 'full armies' painted up yet. This will be solved over the next couple of months, and you'll start to see more Armies in Action style pictures. Its pretty amazing having 15 painted Legion ready for photography

Galen wrote:Superrainbowspacevikingsquad Tactics sounds interesting. I've always wondered about your avatar, Cyp. It always feels good to have an idea realized, so have fun with it. I can't say I'm familiar with much of the source material. Compatability with Endless is a big selling point, even if it seems a bit incongruous. Transformation rules sound like loads of fun. I also want to see what villains/monsters you come up with, since those costumes are always seem to be the craziest ones. Plus, monsters seem like the easiest transfer between games. I could see a squad of vikingers fighting beastmen or gels, but adding knights or archers to the mix could seem odd.

Take a look at the Disgaea series of games, you get Prism Rangers in their fighting along side demons and gunsmiths

Galen wrote:
Don't rush the EFT League/map mode. Take the time to do it right! It has the potential to be amazing.

No worries, we aren't planning on rushing things too much. The Miasma War is the next thing that will be released, and that's not likely to be out until summer. Map Mode will likely not be until the end of the year, but we might have a playtest/beta version of it available before then.

Galen wrote:
Overall I am really excited about all the new rules you have coming out. I don't know why, but I didn't expect so many new things so soon after EFT's release.

A lot of this has been in the works while we've been working on finishing up Tactics's kickstarter, Tom started writing the Miasma War stuff around December of last year.

Galen wrote:
...oh there wasn't any mention of Endless fiction. Is Matt's writing going to be fluff for the EFT books or will we see some stories released on their own?

Matt 'finished' one short story already, and is working on another longer one now. I'm hoping to get the first one posted by the end of the month.

I imagine the enemy commander goes like: "REALLY?"

But Loxadon still not gets the crown for pulling off this feat, because the crafty Vandalanders can do it with a zeppelin!

The skyhawks can't hide they have the mechanical rule.

Never heard about that one, but apparently so. But Gunships still receive the ES bonus for low walls.

Also, the definition of "Mechanical" should mention this as well, because that's what a player will check first.

The book has this nasty habit of saying things like "all siege weapons are mechanical" or "all Zabar units are pathfinder" then proceeds not to mark the siege weapons with the "mechanical" tag for some reason. Nor the Zabar units with Pathfinder. (Is a merc Shaka War Hog is Pathfinder or not? How about the rest of these can-be-merc units and their army spec. rules?)

I think I know why it is written like this, but it's just super unfriendly to newcomers and I still stumble upon these very often as you see. It's the kind of hidden information you know or forget. Nowhere in the Scyzantium cards the +1 AR is mentioned for example.

Mercs don't get the army bonuses. Just because you merc in a few hamsters this doesn't mean that you can convert all of your wood and gold into food.

I don't think the book is clear enough about it. It says for example: "All Aquitaran Models have the Ambush rule."

Then the merc weasels has ambush when they are enlisted to a Vandalands army? They are Aquitaran, no?
What if I take berserkers to my Aquitaran army? The hamsters gain Ambush?
Merc weasels in an Aquitaran army loose Ambush?

What I want to say that based what is in the book it is highly debatable how this works.