An epic fantasy game pitting 1-4 heroes against an intelligent, malevolent tower.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Big update this time. Lots to talk about. Our continued thanks to you all for this impressive showing. Let's start things off with our Chief Restoration Officer, Rob Daviau, who penned this design diary about the how and why behind the Alliances expansion. Take it away, Rob:
More. Return to Dark Tower had a lot more at one point. A lot of game design starts that way. You often want a game to be everything. Return to Dark Tower was no different. We had more currencies, more things to build, more things to keep track of.
Like most games, it doesn’t all work. At some point we had to reluctantly cut out a few systems. This brought down complexity and play time. We wanted something that was closer to the original out of the box. (Note: it’s still meatier than the one that inspired it.)
But there was a lot of cool stuff lying on the cutting room floor. That’s where the Alliances expansion came to be. We wanted something that gave you a few more options. More complex treasures. Two new characters whose powers aren’t as straightforward. New challenges. New opportunities.
The two characters, the Archwright and the Haunted Recluse, can be used with either the main game or with the Alliances expansion. They let you bring new virtues and powers to the game to tackle quests in new ways.
The Alliance expansion adds a third currency, called influence. Whereas spirit is used to improve your hero, influence is used to improve the world around you. You use it in three main ways:
What does this add up to? With the Alliances expansion you can get that little bit more. The game is a bit more challenge but more rewarding when you win. There are more combinations of powers, treasures, guilds, companions, and abilities to find new ways to solve what the tower is throwing at you.
It’s more. In all the best ways.
We'll continue to show off some of the Alliances components as we move through the campaign.
Speaking of which, we've been doing a lot of moving. I think it's time for a little stretch goal round up:
Let's start off with the Ashstrider, a creature of flame and ash, hide like basalt, blood like lava. This is a new adversary, not just a foe. So, along with their card and token (and mini for the Dark Horder pack), it also brings thousands of new play scenarios. We'll be doing an update with more info on how the quest/event system works and just why a single adversary can bring so much to the table. Meanwhile, just sit back and admire ... from a safe distance.
We've also unlocked a couple of new corruptions for when you don't quite hit the mark.
And of course a couple of new items as well.
The handy Hekyth the Sorceress makes her appearance. An ally you can recruit as a companion, or who works against you if you fail to entice her.
And, finally, we've unlocked some component upgrades and an add-on. We'll be doing an second sculpt on the skulls. Tongue twister! This is purely bling, but it makes the pile of skulls look cool and organic. We'll also be applying a wash to the heroes, buildings, Dark Horde minis, and skulls. This wash is similar to what we've used in one of our other games, Unmatched. It really makes the details pop. If you want to paint your figures, no worries, you can paint right over the wash without issue.
The neoprene board is our first new add-on. Let's talk for a second about the mat. For starters, it's HUGE. 800mm diameter or roughly 32 inches. If you're thinking about it, make sure it will fit on your table. I will say the neoprene is nice for slide tokens around the board, and the larger size is more accommodating if you're planning on using the minis. (Especially when the Titan hits the table.)
For those of you new to Kickstarter, an "add-on" is something that's not included with a regular pledge. If you're interested in getting the neoprene board or any other add-on we might add to the campaign, it's really simple. You have two options:
One final postscript: We just added a Tower "sizzle reel" that the Brothers Murph put together for us from our PAX Unplugged demos. It's on the main page in the Tower section. Make sure you stay for the stinger. And keep charging the Tower!
When you launch a Kickstarter campaign, you're hopefully pretty confident you'll hit your goal. A lot of times, you might set that goal on the low side, so hitting it is fun but not really a cause for major celebration. For this campaign, we couldn't afford to do that. We had to set a "real" funding goal, because the nature of this game is such that we literally could not make this game without Kickstarter and, specifically, a pretty big number. Honestly, we were anxious about $850,000. Well, you all did not disappoint. So, first things first:
If you'll give me just a moment, I also want to thank the amazing team who helped make this project a reality and also helped make this campaign the best it can be. You'll find most of them in that team listing at the bottom of the campaign page. They're the greatest.
That said, no campaign survives contact with the backers. Being able to communicate with you over the next three weeks to help improve and shape the game is something I greatly look forward to. I encourage you to participate in the comments. Tell us what you like and what changes you want to see. I can't promise we'll do it all, but I do promise we'll consider it all carefully.
In fact, I really messed up one thing already, and that's the shipping setup on the reward tiers. Completely my fault, and I was just getting on the Dice Tower live stream when we figured it out. So thanks again to the team for scrambling to put that fire out. I am going to go back over everything and make sure it's correct so that it is automating the standard shipping charge per tier. IMPORTANT: The text on the campaign was and is correct. So, even if it showed up oddly for you when you backed, it will work as stated on the page. To clarify:
Like it says in my bio: If there's a problem, it's my fault, but I can fix it. Rest assured, we'll get it all sorted out, so please be patient.
And in the time it took me to drive back home from Dice Tower HQ, we broke through our first stretch goal. (BTW, if you're curious about game play, go check out the Dice Tower live stream of a full game with me, Tom, and Zee. I won't tell you how it ended, but I blame Tom.) Let me introduce you to Gleb the Outlaw King.
You'll see he's a potent companion if you can swing him to your side. As an ally, he will also occasionally serve as the main NPC in a game, providing the objective to access the Tower. In conjunction with the adversary and suite of foes, adding him creates a bunch of new game scenarios, increasing the game's already sky-high replayability.
Alas, on the one hand we giveth, and on the other hand we giveth ... you a striga:
This new foe is not your Witcher's striga. Level 4, undead and magic, she makes a formidable duo with the mormo. Better hope you played with the Orphaned Scion that game, or you'll have your work cut out for you. (NOTE: This stretch goal also adds the striga miniature to the Dark Horde pack. We'll post the sculpt as soon as we get it.)
So now we're feeling bad about throwing a striga at you. Let's give you a little firepower to fight back:
That should help do the trick!
Well, I better wrap this up. At this rate, you'll keep unlocking stretch goals before I can post. You all are doing great. Keep charging the Tower!