The Story Behind the Map Tiles
7 months ago – Thu, Feb 01, 2024 at 12:07:00 AM

Mortals!

In today's Into the Godsgrave update, we'd like to elaborate a little bit about the lore of the world and tell the story of the fallen Kingdom of Barkis and how the Triarchy appeared on the continent where the Base Game campaign story takes place.

War with the Triarchy and the Fall of Barkis

The Kingdom of Barkis was once a land of wealth and prosperity. Located on the coast of the Great Sea with its vast merchant fleet and naval ships to protect it, the Barkisian had all they needed to become one of the major political powers on the continent. The young and ambitious king was able to consolidate power and tighten his grip on unruly lords. It made the treasury full of coin, that was generously used to invest in changing the kingdom into a modern nation. It seemed like the future of Barkisians, for the first time in history, was looking bright.

In just a couple of decades however all of those achievements have been lost. It all started with plague outbreaks in large coastal cities that quickly spread across the land. Then a few years of extremely bad harvest brought hunger to every doorstep of the kingdom. Finally, a massive typhoon destroyed the royal fleet, cracking the spine of the nation's defenses. Soon afterward, black sails appeared on the horizon, the Triarchy Invasion had started.

The war with the Triarchy was quick and brutal. The followers of New Gods quickly conquered most of the kingdom with little resistance from the weakened opponent. Soon the prosperous Kingdom of Barkis was no more, and the Triarchan forces were stationed dangerously close to the borders of other nations of the continent. But the invaders stopped their victorious march, as if they were waiting for the right moment to make another move. The war is not over, everyone knows that. It's just a matter of time.

Artwork That Tells the Story

Plenty of cards will feature artwork that illustrates the events in the game, frequently depicting the story of the game. And the Kingdom of Barkis is no exception here. Take a sneak peek at cards’ artwork related to the rise and fall of Barkis.

That's it for this month's update, fellow Infiltrators. 

If you have any questions, please add a comment below or if you need specific help with your pledge, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected].

Take care,

Michał @ Lucky Duck Games

Closer Look at the Noble Class
9 months ago – Thu, Dec 21, 2023 at 06:18:14 AM

Mortals!

Be welcomed to our second update focused on the additional classes. In this update we focus on the proud Noble. You can play as one if you have the “Noble” add-on in your pledge.

Who is the Noble?

Relics, the remains of the war between mortals and gods, are an extremely valuable and desirable commodity. Relictors study them and learn how to manipulate the Essence, but they are not the only ones interested in relics. For nobles, possessing an unusual artifact is an important sign of status, determining the position in the social hierarchy. Family heirlooms, passed down from generation to generation, help to build prestige and have often become the foundation on which both wealth and the noble family's position were built.

Nobles do not often join mercenary companies, and when they do, it is for very different reasons. In these cases, most often, they serve as the team's leader or spokesman. They are charismatic and self-confident, but also trained in combat. Mechanically, the Noble class is based on Nobility Tokens, the number of which determines the level of Renown - the higher the Renown, the more powerful cards effects may be activated. Many Noble cards are also focused on helping other nearby heroes - this is why this character works great in larger teams.

World Building through artwork

I got new art pieces ready to share with you, straight from our game writer Grzegorz Nowak and Mateusz Komada, our Art Director. Most of the stories about our world are told thought the cards’ artwork. Take a look.

Testing in Real Life

Of course, under the hood, plenty of work is being done as well. We are continuing our internal playtesting sessions to iron out not only extra classes but also additional rules and events. The story is being written with each session.

That's it for today's update, we'll see soon in 2024 with some not-yet-seen previews of the Executor!

If you have any questions, please add a comment below or if you need specific help with your pledge, please let us know by sending an email to [email protected].

Take care,

Michał @ Lucky Duck Games

Closer Look at Trickster Class
10 months ago – Wed, Nov 29, 2023 at 06:05:01 AM

Mortals!

Be welcomed in our update focused on the Trickster Class, the most tricky (pun intended) one to design so far. While working on the scenarios is one element of the game, at the same time we need to have additional classes ready to play to make sure they fit the story well gameplay-wise.

Tough Luck to Live This Way

Surviving on the streets is not an easy task. It requires a lot of cunning and common sense. Tricksters are truly children of the city, preferring to use their sharp tongues and skillful fingers instead of brute force. They earn coin by playing dice and cards, cheating the gullible people, and, occasionally, stealing. Their innate cleverness, however, earns them a rank amongst mercenary groups, where the Trickster plays a supporting role as a flexible jack of all trades. 

Dice Are a Tool of Yours

Despite being capable of many tasks, Tricksters depend a lot on their luck. This is resembled by the gamble mechanic, which may often result in very high rewards at a low cost. However, gambling is always risky, and slipping up is always something that Tricksters must take into account. Gambling involves rolling some dice and hoping for a certain result to achieve the desired outcome. Of course, what is important for Tricksters is to minimize the risk, so some of their cards allow them to enhance their chances while gambling. 

 In the Trickster expansion, players will also receive Luck tokens, which will allow them to reroll any dice when it is really needed. Overall, the Trickster is a character for players who don't mind taking risks to take advantage of their versatility.

We're writing and testing scenarios constantly now as we're thick in the development of the game. Tabletop Simulator gives us a fantastic platform to digitally test while involving our remote team members but we also come together regularly in person too.

Pledge Manager Is Still Open

If you still don't have your copy of "Trickster Class Pack" in your pledge, head into Pledge Manager now and make sure you got it! It's a Lucky Duck Exclusive, meaning it's not coming to the stores.

If you have any questions, please add a comment below or if you wish to modify your pledge in any way, please let us know by sending an email [email protected].

Take care,

Michał @ Lucky Duck Games

Designer's Talk: Looking at Two Classes and Attending a Polish Designer Camp
10 months ago – Tue, Oct 31, 2023 at 08:29:55 AM

Mortals!

This is our second Designer's Talk - this time it's dedicated to recent open testing we had with Core Game, and another two classes. Let's give the pen and paper, or I should say - the keyboard to Grzegorz Szczepański. 

Designer Camp 2023

One week ago I've been attending Designer Camp - the big meeting of board game designers and publishers. 

I've playtested and discussed very interesting prototypes of all genres, but I was also on business there. While representing Lucky Duck Games, for the first time I've also brought Into the Godsgrave prototype for external tests. While the playtesters were only able to catch a glimpse of what the game is offering due to limited time, we have received quite positive and very valuable feedback. 

They have praised how the app can manage the adventure component of the game and also serves as a reminder for the round structure - but on the other hand is just a supporting tool, while the main decision-wise gameplay takes part on the table. 

As for now, we are polishing the first scenarios and making amendments to players' decks to simplify the wording - creating good UI is a very important task at this point. What is more, we want to share some new illustrations made by our amazing artists!

Infiltrator

In the vast political landscape of the Godsgrave world after the Triarchy invasion, spy games between rival countries are on a daily basis. Infiltrators are masters of espionage, used to unwittingly sneak in anywhere they want and gather crucial information. Their flexibility, mobility, and cleverness are also very useful for all mercenary groups, where most often infiltrators serve as scouts and vanguard.

Speaking mechanic-wise, Infiltrators have a unique Stealth ability, which allows them to exchange their movement for powerful effects. Combined with the cards and effects that allow them to move faster and more relentlessly than other characters, they can either perform as a main scout/runner for the team, but also use their flexibility to directly eliminate foes. Not as straightforward fighters as Wardens, they are often supporting distance warriors.

Relictor

The last main class of Into the Godsgrave is the Relictors. A group of wisdom seekers that explore the secrets of fallen Gods and the Essence itself. Due to their studies, they learned how to manipulate Essence-infused objects and use the ancient relics for their own purposes. They often use the services of wardens, whom they hire to scavenge the relics from a Godsgrave and study them thoroughly.

Relictors are able to manipulate their discard pile, especially by reusing the cards with the Retrieve keyword. What is more, a lot of their cards’ effects depend on the cards they have already discarded. Relictors depend less on their abilities (compared to other classes), but they can reuse their items and use the Essence to perform tricks unimaginable for other companions.

Thank you Grzegorz for your diary!

If you have any questions, please add a comment below or if you need specific help with your pledge, please let us know by sending an email [email protected].

Take care,

Michał @ Lucky Duck Games

Designer's Talk: Core Game Classes
12 months ago – Wed, Sep 27, 2023 at 03:59:36 AM

Mortals!

Be welcomed to our first Designer’s Talk. I will share with you the latest developments of the game from both an artistic and a gameplay point of view.

Let’s Talk About New Classes

The demo version of Into the Godsgrave featured two of four classes available in the core game. The Infiltrator and Relictor. In the add-ons, you can get an extra two classes - the Trickster and the Noble.

But what about the other two from the base game? We'll now hand over to Grzegorz Szczepański, the game designer of “Into the Godsgrave” to introduce them.

The Smuggler Class

In the world of Into the Godsgrave righteousness and honesty are rare commodities. The complicated political landscape of the continent leads to a lot of trade restrictions, especially when dealing with the Triarchy. Therefore, there are a lot of smuggling operations happening nowadays and smugglers have become more present than ever before. Having a good sense of business, but also knowing how to persuade, corrupt, and trick the government forces, smugglers can gather huge fortunes, but they are always risking it all.

Being the main "economical" support of the team, Smuggler uses the Invest keyword to put resources on cards, enhancing their effects.  While this investment has to be performed right after playing the card, the smuggler has a lot of tricks to move resources between cards and the resource pool and keep them active. Less oriented on combat than other classes, smuggler excels in other tasks.

The Warden Class

Wardens are most tightly connected with the titular Godsgrave. This ancient order of serious and focused warriors was devoted to guarding remnants of the Dead Gods, keeping gravediggers and thieves away. As the memory of the great war gradually faded, they became a group of mercenaries for hire, though they still kept wandering through Godsgrave as a certain rite of passage. They are often loners, spending most of their time in the wilderness and avoiding big cities. As experts in searching for treasures hidden in the Godsgrave, they often provide Essence-imbued artifacts to the relictors.

Warden's main keyword is Focus, which allows you to play enhanced versions of a card effect depending on your environment. For example, focus (forest) would mean that by playing your card while in the forest area, you gain an additional advantage, which you may use for various effects. Most warden cards involve gaining and abusing Advantage Tokens as well as searching through the deck to find the most fitting card for the current moment.

State of the Art

To help you visualize the complex world of the game, our Art Director, Mateusz Komada, has a set of fresh new artwork that is going into the game right now related to Warden and Smuggler classes.

We'd love to know what you think of the artwork in the comments!

Late Pledges Are Open

For those of you who have been on the fence during the campaign - we got Pledge Manager up and running. It’s on Backerkit, click here to visit the Pledge Manager now. You won’t miss any Lucky Duck Exclusives or Kickstarter discounts.

If you have any questions, please add a comment below or if you need specific help with your pledge, please let us know by sending an email [email protected].

Take care,

Michał @ Lucky Duck Games