Dark Rituals: Malleus Maleficarum

Our Briefest Update
about 5 years ago – Tue, Feb 12, 2019 at 01:08:55 AM

Hello Heroes!  

We have had more comments today than any of the first three days, but I have time to give you a brief description of the latest SGs that have been unlocked. 

And stay until the end of the update! The best part is always after the credits roll. 

The Bufo Maledictus and Toad Spawn are linked, a Creature and 2 Minions, like Lindorm and the Wormlings. However, the Cursed Toad works the other way around. While it is at full Health, it has an Action to Summon the Toad Spawn. This is a Free Action, meaning it does not count towards the 1 or 2 Action Limit per Turn.

Pestrotters are summoned like normal Creatures but the Summoning cost is variable. It costs less Stamina to Summon them for each Plague that is Active.

More Spells for the Witches!

The Serf Upgrade adds a second type of Serf to the Core Game. Instead of having 6 Farmers, there are now 3 Farmers and 3 Militia. The Militia come with a new ID Card and are more aggressive than the Farmers.

The Chest Mimic is a creature whose special power relates to how it comes into play: it is not summoned as an Action on the Witch Master’s turn. It is summoned as a Reaction to a Hero Searching for Loot. The Search Action still costs the Hero the Stamina, but no Loot Cards are drawn.  The Chest Token is swapped for the Mimic. Surprise!

More Loot! Woot!

It is an Action to summon the Bug Patch, by transforming normal bugs into this horrific swarm. Hence, it can be summoned to any outdoor Area, not just an Area with a Summoning Circle.

 Something for the mini painters. There will be 2 poses for the Mortus in the core box. 

 There are still Stretch Goals for you to unlock. Here is a familiar face. 

Another pose for the Condemned Minions.

And this is the big one! Golus, the Demon Mount! An ancient Demon whose mind has been rotted by the corrupting magic of Neemoss, Golus has no will of its own. The Witches summon it knowing that it can easily be controlled while riding his back. However, they do not realize that the Heroes may have also mastered magic! A Hero with strong enough Alchemy can also ride this Demon Mount, if the Witch can be unseated.

Golus comes with a platform for any rider. Just jump on and take him for a spin.

This is a work in progress, but there is already plenty of detail.

Golus might not be the tallest Demon, but it is very solid.

Pick a side!

Dark Rituals Road Map
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 01:06:41 AM

Welcome Witch Masters!  

The 48 hour reminder has been sent out! This is an aid for potential new backers and will help you find the information you are looking for.

Please ask questions in the comments. Our backers are helpful and friendly.

Front Page

The front page is full of information! 

The contents of our two pledges, Lone Defender and Attacking Hordes has grown and been upgraded now that we have unlocked more than 45 stretch goals. The Attacking Hordes Pledge has over 90 minis and more than 50 unique sculpts. You can see the contents in the two “What’s in the Box” images near the top of the front page. 

If you want rules, there’s a rule book, 4 rules videos by us and a play-though by Lance Hinkel. The rules section is near the bottom.  There's a game play summary, too.

If you like minis we have many pictures in the middle.

If you are interested in the lore of the game, there is a lore section just below minis.

If you are looking for a foreign language version, see the translations section near the bottom of the front page. You can get the game in French, German and Spanish at no extra charge!

There is also a FAQ where many common questions are answered.

Updates

With 34 Updates, there is little chance you will read them all. Here are the highlights.

Click here to see the Demons!  We revealed how the biggest monsters play about half way through the campaign. It might surprise you!

The Cursed Fjord Expansion can be found here.  It extends the rules a little and has some wonderful sculpts. This may help you decide between the two pledges.

The Witches’ Sabbath is our most recent expansion.  It brings a huge change to game play and some huge miniatures too.

We showed many details of our Minis in this update.  Sizes, renders, prototypes and pro-painted examples. We even talk about manufacturing details.

Encounters and Campaigns are described here.  This update also shows our customization kit, which was surprisingly popular and generated many interesting home brewed ideas.

Solo mode is described in two updates.  Start with this one and look at the next one when you are done. 

More information about our translation plans can be seen here. 

Using Kickstarter

New backers often struggle with Add-Ons. These are additional items, which are not part of the pledges, that you pay extra for. If you have never taken an Add-on before, it’s simple. Basically, in Kickstarter, you change your pledge total to be the total for all the rewards you want. Much later, in a Pledge Manager, you choose the individual products. 

Have a Lone Defender Pledge and want to add the Spider’s Brood? Start by clicking the blue “Manage your pledge” button. You will need to scroll down the front page a little to make this appear at the top.

Next, you click the “Change your pledge” button.

Finally, you can type in the new total. In this example, we started with a $100 pledge, so the total is $120. Then hit Continue.

The Pledge Manager can seem complex too. A short while after this Project closes, we add all the reward items to the Pledge Manager. We’ll create an account for each one of you, credit it with the full amount you pledged and send you a link. Then you can say exactly what Items you want to take. It’s a bit like an online store, just for Dark Rituals.   

Pick a side!

The Witches’ Sabbath!
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 11, 2019 at 12:29:13 AM

Hello Heroes! 

The Witches’ Sabbath is a great milestone, our last Add-On, our second large expansion and our first retail expansion. We have to admit that some of the material we’re presenting here is work in progress, but we are still very happy with what we can show you. It’s a game changer. 

Let’s start with the contents and then explain how each part affects the game.

Let’s start with the Campaign and Encounters. All these Encounters are linked into a Campaign, and as normal, each Encounter can be played stand alone. The first 4 Encounters in the Campaign follow the same format as before. The Campaign Map tells you the order to play them, there is a narrative story guiding you through them and if you are playing in Campaign Mode, you carry all your upgrades forwards with you.

The difference comes in the final Encounter, which we are saying has 4 Acts. If you start by thinking of this as 4 Encounters, you will have a good idea of what is happening. Each Act is described just like an Encounter, with its own Mini-Map and setup instructions, etc. The difference is that these Acts follow each other immediately, without a complete tear down and reset of the game. When the end of the first Act is triggered, you remove some Map Tiles, add new Map Tiles, new Minis and Tokens, but the game components and the Tiles that remain do not change. Think of it like a side scrolling arcade game and you will see the picture. 

We will give stand alone instructions for the Act 1 setup, but after that, you have to play the 4 Acts in sequence. If you want to do this in multiple play sessions, just take a photo of the board setup for when you come back.

So, this is like a Campaign of 9 Encounters. Since the Heroes level up across a normal 5 Encounter Campaign, you might be thinking that they will max out part way through this longer Campaign. They will! Introducing Champions!

This retail expansion is closely linked to the retail core game, and so we have included 4 new sculpts of the core Heroes in a suitably impressive form.

In the Witches’ Sabbath, Heroes can advance their attributes past 4, changing from Heroes to Champions. This is done with the Champion Attribute Card.

When you max out the 3 Physical Attributes, a Hero becomes a Champion. Take the Champion Attribute Card and place it under your regular Attribute Board: the Champion Attribute Card indicates that Agility, Strength, and Resistance get a +4 bonus to the current cube position. There’s more, you also gain a new ability that is immediately active. 

When the Heroes level up, you can show this on the game board by swapping the regular Hero for the Champion Version.

Of course, you can play The Witches’ Sabbath expansion with any of the Heroes that you have. You will use the Champion Attribute Card normally, and you will use the normal miniature throughout the whole game.

If the Champions are more powerful, how can the Witch Master compete?  There are many ways this expansion boosts the Legion of Darkness. Keep reading, we have saved the best for last!

At the end of the Campaign, the Heroes will find a giant Summoning Circle with four Corner Stones.

These pillars are also scattered though the other encounters too, in smaller numbers. Created by the Witches from a conglomeration of graveyard artifacts, the pillars summon Ghosts. Ghosts are Creatures (which are stronger than Minions) and there will be many of them in play. You have up to 6 Ghosts to contend with (1 in the core game and 5 additional here).

You can see the card say’s “Free Action”. Free Actions do not count towards the 1 or 2 Action limit per Turn. The Witch Master may be able to flood the board with Ghosts, but this will burn up a lot of Stamina. Decisions, Decisions.

The Witches’ Sabbath Expansion includes a new Witch, Madra, actually a Demon Witch. You have never seen a Demon Witch before!

Minions, Creatures, Witches, and Demons are just English words that mean little on Neemoss. On Neemoss power is all. If a Creature grows in strength, it will become a Witch. A Witch may become a Demon if it can gather enough energy. Madra is a Witch on the verge of becoming a Demon! She is by far the most powerful Witch on Earth.  

Madra stared at Kakhard’s slack face, checking she was fully immobilized. Casting spells on other Witches was always tricky, it was best to be sure. Stepping back, she began the incantation to flay Kakhard alive. As her tough hide was peeled back, the monstrous energies sealed and twisted the bleeding flesh, making sure that Kakhard would live. Keeping her around as a pet would be a fitting reminder of the awesome power Madra controlled.

It was done! Now she had five Witches’ skins in her possession. Plenty enough to impress Voskor and make him deify her. If not, with this power coursing through her body, she would do the same to him as she did to the five Witches and simply steal her Demonhood.

Perhaps the time to ascend had come. Yes, better to summon Voskor here and now, and let him see Kakhard doting on her, as she adjusted to the agony of her skinless form. Madra arranged herself on her palanquin and tried to look both relaxed and commanding. Best to get it over with. More muttered words of power and she summoned the Demon to her lair, straining her powers to the limit to drag such a powerful entity through the aether.

“Voskor! See what I have stolen for you!” she shouted, as she tossed the skins on the floor at the Demon’s feet. “You can feast on their hides. I have their power. But first give me what I want! Raise me to Demonhood!”

Voskor stared at her, no expression possible on his bone face. He gestured with one hand as he scratched at the skins with the other. Consumed by her lust for power and the energy flowing through the room, Madra failed to see her imminent danger and gave herself to the rapture of Voskor’s transformation. Instead, Voskor was teaching her a lesson for her presumption. Her body devolved to a feeble worm-like form.

As she finally realized the trick that had been played on her, she reached for her power to attack. But looking at Voskor, all she could see was the Conjunction transporting her away.

Here is Madra, riding her living palanquin, being tended to by Kakhard. Physically, she is very weak, but with the power she stole from Kakhard, her physique is unimportant.

Not only is Madra a powerful Witch, but she intends to complete her transformation. She will summon Voskor a second time and try to bend him to her will again. To do this she needs to gather a powerful coven for the Witches’ Sabbath. 

The Champions’ troubles do not end there. Voskor is among the most power Demons on Neemoss. Defeating this monster will be impossible if the Champions do not learn arcane secrets during this confrontation. To say more now would give away too much of the story! We’ll leave you with Voskor’s frightening visage.

There are 4 new Map Tiles in the box. They are double sided with a total of 8 new locations. Here is a taste of what you might see.

Finally there are new Weapon Upgrades and Item cards for the Loot deck. Some of these cards will have high Attribute restrictions to provide awesome abilities to the Champions. But today we’ll share some with art we love.

 The Witches’ Sabbath takes the game to the next level. We hope you join us there! 

                                                              ******

Okay! We have shown you all our Add-Ons. Now it’s Stretch Goals all the way down!

It’s time to announce the Almost All In Add-On. If you want to get one of almost everything, this is a good place to start. The banner shows the content, one of everything except for the Swordsman.

Let us explain why it does not include the Swordsman. The Swordsman is already included in the Early Bird Pledges. If you took an EB Pledge in the first 48 hours, you are already getting the Swordsman (even if you switched to another pledge later). If you take the Almost All In Bundle, you will get one of all the Add-Ons.

If you did not have an Early Bird Pledge, and you want literally all the Add-Ons, you will need to add the Swordsman manually. 

Some people like lots of dice on the table. You can add more Marbled Dice packs, but don’t forget the Almost All In Add-On includes one pack of dice. That might be enough.

You can add the Almost All In Add-On to either the Lone Defender or Attacking Hordes Pledge. 

Pick a side!

Grab Some Popcorn
about 5 years ago – Sat, Feb 09, 2019 at 11:20:19 PM

Welcome Heroes!

Here’s a multiple turn play-through video from Lance Hinkel at Learn to Play Games .  Pull up a chair, grab some popcorn and watch him play. Mature Content Advisory: Lance rolls his dice right next to his resin minis. It’s terrifying! 

Wow! $500K. 1,000% funding. What awesome figures! I am more impressed with the number of backers, more than 3,500, including over 160 first time Kickstarter users. We would love to hear what it is about Dark Rituals: Malleus Maleficarum that made you join and back us. To all our backers, thanks so much for giving us your support.

The half million Stretch Goal was a big one, six new Minion miniatures. These Minions can be substituted into any game! We are sure they will see plenty of table time.

The Loot Deck got a little boost at $510K.  Loot cards give Heroes Equipment and Weapon Upgrades.

There are some slimy Stretch Goals waiting to be unlocked: 

We will reveal our last expansion tomorrow afternoon, together with our Add-On Bundle. Then the Final 48 Hours starts at 10PM EST tomorrow. If you are new to Kickstarter, everyone that used the “Remind Me” button gets an e-mail 48 hours before the end of the project. We hope you will all join us sometime during those last two days. We are sure it will be wild.

Pick a side!

Witch Master’s Bling
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 08, 2019 at 07:05:57 PM

Welcome Witch Masters!

Here’s a Stretch Goal round up and a small Add-On requested by backers.

With the Solo Mode updates flooding the airwaves, we have not had much bandwidth to talk about Stretch Goals. We don’t expect all the backers to check in daily, so here is a summary. 

Accalia in her wolf-form was unlocked at $460K. This is our first Attacking Hordes pledge specific SG. Accalia can enter the game a Wolf or as a Werewolf and she can switch between sides.   Click here, to check out the Cursed Fjord expansion for more details.

Next a component upgrade for everyone. The Witch Master’s Stamina Pool will be made from 2mm thick card, the same kind of material as the token punchboards. Some backers asked if this could be recessed, but our mock-ups showed that it was easier to slide the stamina crystals off a flat surface. 

A new Hero, the Warrior Monk was an incredibly popular sculpt when it was revealed. The feedback was really gratifying, thanks so much. Like the Cutthroat, this wandering holy man has journeyed from his native land to join you in your fight. He is drawn by the growing evil he can sense, rather than being on a mission of revenge. If you pick the Heroes’ side, you can help him rid the world of the Witches’ scourge.

The final unlocked Stretch Goal is two more cards for the core game, Demon Activation Cards. Demons are unpredictable and definitely not servants of the Witches. If they get angry, they are just as happy to take it out on the Witches as the Heroes. These cards switch Demon control from the Witch Master to the Hero players on occasion. Summoning Demons rarely goes as smoothly as you would like.   Click here to read more in this update.

You are doing well with the Facebook SSG. In a period of about 5 days, you made 500 shares, unlocking the 3 Witchcraft Cards. You now have 8 of the 10 cards.   Click here to see the post we want you to share. 

We are very close to $500K now. Here are the Stretch Goals that are waiting for you!

We all know Witches like a little luxury. Those creature comforts that make life worth living. A sharp stone to put in your shoe. Some chewy slugs for breakfast. Some splinters to slip under your fingernails. Witch Masters are just the same! Here’s an unplanned Add-On we made because so many backers requested it: a horrifically sculpted 3d Stamina Pool Cauldron, 8cm/4” in diameter.

We saw many suggestions for making a new Stamina holder for the Witch Master, including folded neoprene options, like a dice tray. When our sculptors showed us this option, we knew we had to look no further!

This is the last small Add-On. We have one more Add-On to reveal this weekend, a bigger expansion along the lines of The Cursed Fjord. We will describe the All In option in that update.

Pick a side!