1-4 Heroes battle the Witch Master in this miniatures based board game set in a magic infused Middle Ages realm.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Village Attacks
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Jan 29, 2019 at 07:10:01 PM
Welcome Witch Masters!
You have seen the Heroes defending their village, now it is time for the village to attack!
No, this is not a new game mode, it’s our crossover with Grimlord Games’ great tower defense board game, Village Attacks. Their game has loads of character, many that would feel right at home in Dark Rituals. We talked to Mike and Adam at Grimlord Games and came up with quite a different idea for the collaboration, creating a mini expansion from a new miniature and 3 of their existing miniatures.
This Add-On contains one Miniature and several cards. We gave the art for Grimlord Games’ Banshee to our sculptors and told them to go wild. Here is what they came up with:
This is our sculpt, it’s only a work in progress but we love it already! The Banshee is a wind Witch in Dark Rituals. She comes with her Witch ID Sheet, a new Grimoire for her six attack and defense spells and 3 new Witchcraft Cards with one time use spells. Everything you need to add a new Witch to your games.
We have mocked up the Banshee ID Card. We only have the Village Attacks art at the moment, because we are doing this backwards – we made the sculpt first and we’ll create our image after.
Here is how this Add-On is different, there is a bonus! We have included 3 Creature ID Cards and 3 Creature Summoning Witchcraft Cards for free!
We are using the Village Attacks art, and we’ve even based these characters’ powers on the VA equivalent. We hope Village Attacks players recognize the abilities: Leshy’s Growth, Succubus’s Seduction and Wendigo’s Mutilate.
To be clear, there are no Creature miniatures in this pack. Instead, we are expecting players to find proxies. That’s why we are adding these cards for free. Of course, if you have Village Attacks, you have perfect miniatures to use! But we think many of you will be able to find miniatures in your collection that you would to add to a Dark Rituals game. This is a great way to get four new Characters on the table for the price of a single miniature Add-On.
The Banshee, Leshy, Succubus, and Wendigo artwork and concepts and Village Attacks are the property of Grimlord Games and have been used with their permission.
Tell us in the comments which of your existing minis you would like to use as these three Characters.
Pick a side!
Round Play Through
over 5 years ago
– Mon, Jan 28, 2019 at 12:59:03 AM
Hello Heroes!
This is just a short update, because even the wicked have to rest.
We have posted our final rules video. It is a play through of a full Round, taken from the middle of a game. As usual, it’s on the front page near the bottom. If there are questions on the game play, think about posting them on BGG, where many people will see the answers.
The King of Average created a great preview video for our Kickstarter and he’s had a lot of views. Thanks for helping get the word out! His video is on the front page too, but take a look at his channel. He has some great content. I hope we see him painting our minis sometime in the future.
There’s a chance the Morts Ensemble will unlock overnight, so here’s a little something to keep you going. I am sure you recognize these, ID rings to color code your Hero.
We’ll find suitably muted colors that match the color scheme for the game later. But we are free to choose any colors as the Hero ID Sheets are not color coded. My wife and I always play blue and red, so we want some shade of those two colors. If you have a color that you always play, shout it out the comments.
Pick a side!
Customization and Encounters
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 09:03:10 PM
Welcome Witch Masters!
You have unlocked the Digital Customization Kit and we are using that to introduce another rules update. There is a long description of this Stretch Goal below. We also have a surprise free gift. Don’t get too excited, it’s small!
If one SG unlocks, another must be added. Here’s your next goal, our twisted version of a classic undead monster.
The Digital Customization Kit was a popular Stretch Goal in the Order of Vampire Hunters and we are pleased to do it again. The first part of the kit is a set of PNG and other files that are “empty” templates for all our cards, our icons, font names and anything else we can supply that allows you to create all the cards in the game.
Many of you have suggested crossovers with other games or adding more minions. These files let you do that for yourselves. This is a real bonus for players that have painted minis – get your Dark Rituals games filled with painted minis quickly! Or those of you that have crazy ideas. A Conjunction that transports heroes through time? Cool! Get your sci-fi minis in the game. Your imagination and graphics skill is the only limit. A Conjunction that spews Mythos creatures into the world? Tentacley awesomeness!
We give you full permission to print and share the cards you create! So even if you are not great with graphics tools, someone in the community might be willing to work with you to bring your ideas to fruition.
[Be careful with the art you add to the cards. We’re giving you free use of the card templates, but the art you insert may be copyrighted.]
The second part of the Kit is a set of files to add to the shareware Board Game Map Editor, so you can create mini-maps like ours. This will help you make your own encounters and campaigns even. Again, your creations belong to you, feel free to share them with other players. We honestly believe that by the time you have played all our Encounters, you will be able to write your own. Note that other kits are available for the Board Game Map Editor, you can go nuts and make an encounter on another game’s map!
So here is the gift, the Thrall Minion Card. We will create the first Order of Vampire Hunters crossover card for Dark Rituals for you. It will be printed like our other cards and included in the Stretch Goal box. This example shows how you can even make a Dark Rituals special ability that is related to the original Character’s abilities. The Thrall re-rolled attack dice in OVH. We created this card in the last few days, due to the enthusiasm of many backers. We will play test and balance this new Character, over the next few weeks.
It will be a Thrall Minion ID card, so if you have the Order of Vampire Hunters, you have another minion that can appear in the game. We understand that not all backers here have OVH, our first game, so this is why the card is a surprise gift not a Stretch Goal. Even if you do not have our Thralls, you may be able to proxy another humanoid monster into the game
This seems like a good time to summarize our Encounters, our name for missions or scenarios. There are 10 Encounters in the core box and 5 in the Cursed Fjord. This information applies to them all.
As expected, Encounters start with a mini-map showing the setup for all Characters, Tokens, etc. An Encounter from a specific product will focus on the Characters from that product (and the core game, if it is an expansion). A common question has been about Character substitution. Although the setup should specify Characters, substitution is allowed freely. We will provide any balancing information if it is required (normally by changing the stamina totals). If there are limits on how many Characters or the types of Characters allowed, they will also be explained in the setup.
Each Encounter has different objectives for the Heroes and the Witch Master. We have had many questions about combat and fights to the death or skirmish modes. Of course, wiping out the opponent often wins an Encounter, but this is typically harder than pursuing your objectives. (Table wipes are banned when we set you a tough objective.) We do not want to spoil the surprise of playing the game, but here are a few examples. We have selected simple to explain Objectives that are from different Encounters, not the same one. They have been edited a little so they are clear, you may see extra details when you play them:
* The Witch Master must kill 4 Serfs, and transport their remains from the area where they are killed to an Altar to begin a Ritual.
* The Heroes must activate the Farmers and move the Farmers off the map (of course, the Legion of Darkness is in the way).
* The game starts with the Altar of Souls loaded and the Ritual is about to begin. The Heroes must destroy the Altar before the Witch Master completes the Ritual.
Here is far more detail for one Objective.
The Heroes have captured a Witch and have to drag it off the map at the location marked on the Mini Map to Win the Encounter. The Scenario starts with Heroes in an Area with a “Captured Witch”. Officially, that’s a Burning Witch Token (now upgraded to the mini!) but we like to play it with a Witch on her side. There are two other Witches on the map.
Drag, Reaction: 1 Stamina. When a Hero Moves, exhaust 1 more Stamina to drag the Captured Witch in their starting Area to their Destination Area. Note: All other Heroes must be in the starting Area and all must Push.
Push, Reaction: 1+ Stamina. When a Hero Drags a Defeated Witch, exhaust 1 Stamina + the Stamina required to Move. Pushing Heroes must move to the same Area as the Dragging Hero.
Ignore all Evade requirements while Dragging/Pushing.
As normal, a Witch can use the Save Witch Action to convert the Captured Witch back to a normal Witch, but we add restrictions on when that action can be used in this Encounter. Releasing the Captured Witch would be a win for the Witch Master.
Encounters can be played in two ways, Stand Alone or as a short Campaign. As a Stand Alone Encounter, you set it up as described, start with your base attributes and no extra cards (unless otherwise instructed). The Encounter is then played with the rules in the beta rule book. You can play any of the Encounters, in any order, although it probably makes sense to play them in the order we give them.
An alternative mode is the Campaign. Typically, you will play 5 Encounters from start to finish in each Campaign. The way the individual Encounters fit together is shown on the Campaign Map. (Don’t worry, the real map will be done by the Art Department, not me!) There is some branching, so you will not play every Encounter on the Campaign Map. Sometimes the branch you take will be dictated by the outcome of the previous encounter, sometimes it will be a free choice.
There are two important and natural changes for Campaign play. First, you do not reset your Attributes and Cards. The Campaign is more than a story that encompasses the set of encounters, you keep your previous Attribute levels and Cards from one Encounter to the next.
The second is related to this. Advancement follows slightly different rules and is slower in Campaign play. So for a Hero, you no longer get +1 Attribute for every kill. The change will make both sides level up more slowly across the Campaign, rather than during a single game.
Pick a side!
The Third Dimension
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 12:54:23 PM
Hello Heroes!
We have a short update this evening, with a quick stretch goal review, as well as new Add-Ons and a fancy competition on Board Game Revolution!
Yesterday we had a surge in pledges and unlocked two regular stretch goals. Player aids will be created for the Witch Master and four Hero Players, to help remind them of the rules. Very handy, we would like the rule book to be off the table when you play.
Then in the small hours of the morning, the Explotar burst on to the scene. As you might guess, his special ability is to explode messily, causing damage to all the Heroes in the Area. As a backer pointed out in the comments, get your ranged weapons ready!
The BGG Social Stretch Goal is done! The Heroes completed their goal and we have 320 fans on BGG. Yesterday, we had some lively rules discussion on the site and we posted more images there too, so don’t stop visiting.
The Facebook SSG is continuing nicely. Share the post pinned to the top of our Facebook Page, or any of the translated language posts just below. The French, German and Spanish posts would be good to share on native language game pages. We will total the shares of all the posts, it does not really matter which one you share. Remember you can share more than once. If one third of our backers share once a week for the next three weeks, all cards will be unlocked.
The Kickstarter front page now shows our latest Add-On, our first 3D Token Pack.
This is an optional Add-On containing 3D plastic tokens that can be used instead of the punchboard tokens from the core game. They bring your world to life, especially if you paint them. Let’s review the rules for these tokens.
The Witches summon Minions, Creatures and even other Witches to the game. Summoning Circles mark weak areas in the veil that separates Earth from Neemoss during the Conjunction and the summoned monster will appear at a Summoning Circle of the Witch Master’s choice. It’s always good to have more Characters fighting your fight, but this allows you to make the Legion appear at useful locations around the board, a flanking move as it were. More than that, the Summoning Circles are places of power for the Witches. Witches gain +1 to their Strength, Resistance and Agility Attributes while they are in the Area with a Summoning Circle.
The Botanical Tokens and Chests mark where the Heroes can find useful resources. They can Pick Up Botanical Tokens and Search Chests to draw cards from the Botanical and Loot decks. The number of Botanical Cards is under the Token (1-3) and you always draw one Loot Card. The token is discarded in both cases.
Finally the Soul Tokens are not used on the game board, they are placed on the Witch Master’s Misery board. The Witch Master takes Soul Tokens when Heroes and Serfs are defeated and places them on the Soul Track, a ring on the Misery Board. If the Witch Master collects enough Souls, they can cast Stamina draining Plagues!
We are really proud of the art in Dark Rituals. This sounds like a perfect time to show these tokens as they appear in the core box.
Want to win a game? Yes, a copy of Dark Rituals! Our friends at Board Game Revolution are holding a competition to give away an Attacking Hordes pledge, including the shipping. Sounds like a deal! You can find all the details here:
BGR is really pulling out the stops with their support for Dark Rituals. They will be hosting a live play through on Friday 25th January and you can get details here:
Roll with it!
over 5 years ago
– Sat, Jan 26, 2019 at 08:29:24 AM
Hello Heroes!
This update continues our rules summaries and announces our Marbled Dice Set Add-On.
Yesterday, we showed the Heroes’ Weapon Cards without talking about Combat, dice rolls, or the little colored symbols.
Combat is covered in the first rules video, but here is a quick summary showing how the Heroes Attack. Other Attacks are very similar. At the highest level, Combat is simple. The Attacker generates an Attack Value, the target generates a Defense Value. If the Attack Value is greater, the Target takes one Wound. What could be simpler?
A Hero’s Attack Action starts with information on the Weapon Card. Some weapons have Melee and Ranged statistics, some just have Melee. Melee is against Targets in the Area, Ranged is against Targets in the adjacent Area, with Line of Sight being blocked by walls.
The Attack starts with the Hero exhausting the Stamina shown on the card. Next, the player rolls the custom dice. Those colored symbols show the number of dice and the color of the dice to use. In the case of the Assassin’s Melee Attack, she rolls 2 yellow dice. For Ranged Attacks, she would roll 1 blue and 2 yellow dice. The Attack Value is the total shown on the dice, plus her current Strength Attribute value. Heroes’ Attributes are tracked on their Attribute Boards.
The diagram shows the Assassin attacking a Condemned for 3 Stamina. Her Strength Attribute is currently 1 on her Attribute Board and the Dice roll totals 4. Her Attack Value is 5.
Characters may react by Defending when Attacked. Here, the Condemned exhausts 2 Stamina to Defend and rolls 2 green dice. Defense uses Resistance as the base Attribute, 2 for the Condemned, so its Defense Value is 6. Oh no! The Assassin’s bolt went wide of the mark.
The combat rules build from this simple base. Weapon Upgrades can be found in the Loot Deck. Spells, in Alchemical Books, Grimoires, and various cards provide further buffs, debuffs and re-rolls. Finally, those base attributes are not fixed. The Heroes’ Attributes improve step by step as they kill their enemies and the Legion of Darkness cards are flipped to reveal stronger Characters as the Aura of Evil increases across the land. All these options are shown in our Rules Videos and in the rule book.
We were asked in the comments how the faces of the dice are arranged. Your wish is our command!
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The core game contains a set of 10 custom engraved dice, which are sufficient for any game. However, passing dice around the table can be a chore, and let’s face it, gamers like dice.
We are announcing our Marble Dice Add-On!
Just to be clear, the dice in the image are renders as we have not manufactured them yet. We have blank samples and the marbling is drop dead gorgeous. Whether you get them to save reaching across the table or because you collect dice, we are sure you will be really happy with them.
