Greetings fellow wargamers,
I'm starting this thread to provide updates and information on Metalbox Games upcoming release, Godskar.
Introduction & Who we are
First thing that makes this project special is that it's designed and managed by a team of ten lifelong friends, who all share a passion for gaming. Gaming has had a huge impact on us keeping in touch over the years and we set out to try to create that bond for other folks. With that being said, we're serious about our game and our setting, but we're all about having fun and creating a silly atmosphere to make people smile (as anyone that had checked out our Youtube page knows). When we first decided to entertain the idea of creating our own game we sat down together and discussed "What do we like and what do we not like?" about the games that we play and set out to make the perfect wargame for us. Keeping a balance of easy to learn, yet interesting for continuous play and eliminating "feel bad" moments as much as possible. With all of this is mind, Godskar was born.
System and Setting
Godskar takes place in the distant future, where almost all of the factions are forced into nomadic societies due to the ever present threat of Godskars. Godskars are the result of a cataclysmic event known as "The Gathering", where the three gods of the setting destroyed each other in a violent power struggle. The result is massive cosmic storms that travels through space, blinking in and out of reality. To get caught in the path of one of these destructive forces could result in many uncertain outcomes. A world could be completely destroyed, leaving just a barren rock, or completely blink out of existence only to reappear in the wake of the Godskar several millennia later. The only constant of these storms is that they leave a material known as Skarnite in their wake. This is where out setting takes place.
Factions in our setting are generally not a war with one another outside of the passing of a Godskar, in which all bets are off. Skarnite is a priceless resource that each faction needs to harness for its survival. The godlike properties of the resource allows the factions of our setting to use it in many different ways. Just believing that Skarnite will perform a certain way, makes its effect tailored to that belief and this is what makes it so sought after.
There will be three factions at launch. Hominum Caravans (nomadic refugees of earth), The Host of Luminor (The firstborn of the galaxy and most technologically advanced), and the Mulwarp Corporation (The youngest and most destructive of the three). When designing the aesthetic of the factions we wanted them to be as unique as we could, setting them apart from each other as much as other IPs.
First hard decision we faced when designing rules, was what sized die to use? Our first thought was
D6, but we wanted the "swing" to be a little larger. So we started we looked to other games that we've played and decided we really liked Warmachines swing of
2D6, so we decided to simplify it a bit with a
D12, with a natural 12 being a critical hit. This offers the complexity of the roll that we desired, while allowing for a reasonably low chance to roll critical. We also didn't want to make critical hits to be too game changing, so they deal damage upon a failed defense save.
There are no "Ignore" effects, so everyone gets to use defensive and reactive abilities without another mechanic ignoring them.
There is no pregame list building in Godskar. You simply pick the hero that you'd like to field, and start playing. Instead, players build their lists as they play with the resources gathered on the battlefield. This escalation style play means that players don't have to worry about losing a lot of their units in the first turn. It also allows new players to get a handle on the units as they come out instead of being overwhelmed with abilities right from the start.
Each battle will have "Skarnite Stores" located on the battlefield. Players use these stores to collect resources and use those resources to spawn/respawn units, heroes or structures. Once a store is depleted, the store is destroyed and no further resources can be gathered from it. Players also have the option to "Overcharge" their rolls, allowing them rerolls at the cost of resources. This gets expensive quickly, so players need to be wary of how many resources they expend.
Skarnite generates an otherworldly haze that blankets the area around it, creating a mist that interferes with electronics and mapping devices. So each players forces are essentially "fighting blind" as they set up a base of operations on the battlefield. To represent this, there is a Fog of War/Sight mechanic that plays a huge role when targeting units. Essentially units are not targetable unit their within sight range of a friendly model. This makes placement and having units support each other a crucial part of the game. Pair this with a "Optimal Effect" range bands for weapons, players must really pay attention where they're placing their units. With all of this pre measuring is allowed in Godskar.
Much like real time strategy video games, players have the ability to build structure units that are a part of their army. Structures have several different roles, but the main purpose is to spawn units and grow your forces. Each player has a "Command Structure" that is where all of their resources are tracked. If a players command structure is destroyed, they lose the game.
Hero units are an integral part of a players force. They are one of the few units that a player starts with and can completely change the feel of an army. Heroes also have their own objectives that can score points in a addition to the main scenario. These are rolled for randomly at the beginning of the game and offer a few more victory points to turn the tide of battle.
Launch Date & Models
At launch we will offer presupported STL files for players to print and play. These will be available through crowdfunding with a soft date of mid 2023. Our goal is to raise enough funds for 3D printing to invest in a SioCast machine to offer both physical and 3D printable miniatures. Godskar will be a hybrid game, allowing folks to 3D print their miniatures at a massive discount or buy the plastic cast models. Our goal is to try to make our game accessible to everyone, even those on a budget. We currently have an entire range of models that we will be posting updates about on our various social media platforms. For more updates and plans for launch you can check out our website at
https://www.metalboxgames.com/ to register for our newsletter that will be available at the start of the year (2023). If your interested in following us on social media our linktree is linktr.ee/metalboxgamesofficial.
We appreciate all of the support we've received so far and look forward to the road ahead. Keep an eye out as we bring this passion project to life!
-Nick
