Damnation - Working on a new game (Update Jan. 9)

[Malebolgia]

Hey people,

I've been working on a new game for some time now and lately I've been painting quite some miniatures to fit in with it. Basically, I wanted a game that feels a bit like playing Dark souls or Elden Ring but as a miniatures game. And I've tried a lot of different generic games but they didn't scratch that itch I have for several years now. So it made sense for me to create something myself. I have been working on several iterations of the game, but it never felt right and cool. But last summer I had a new idea and I liked it a lot, so I started writing and writing...and writing. So by now I have a playable version and we played some test games and it played well!

I settled for a coop game, where the players go head on against the game in a campaign. The whole idea revolves around a world abandoned by the Gods, but not before unleashing their Angels to destroy the place to punish all Mortals for their sins. But after centuries the Angels found out they were stuck in this Godforsaken place. Some went insane, others became even more fanatic and some fell to corruption. So the world went to shit and the remaining mortals try to survive. The players each control a hero who have some connection to the Angels and who can absorb the Angelic immortality by defeating it. So your quest is to work your way to an Angel, kick their ass and become immortal yourself! The campaign consists of 10 scenarios, including four boss fights.
During your turns activation is determined with a deck of playing cards, with one suit for the enemies and another for the heroes. So initiative is not set and changes each turn. The heroes do have the option to choose who gets what initiatieve, to stimulate cooperation. Once a hero activates they have several dice they roll. They can use these dice to activate weapons, gear, skills, etc. by placing them on a dice box. These dice boxes have values on them, so the placed dice must be at least of that value and if it equals the value it gets a stronger effect. The Heroes generally have more dice boxes than dice, so you need to choose how to use them. In addition, the dice are also used to dash extra inches and dodge enemy attacks. So you are always lacking dice . But the heroes also share a dice pool, also to stimulate cooperation. Who gets what dice and how many? It's up to the players.
Enemies that activate do so based on the initiative card. So their behaviour depends on the card. They may do a regular attack, but they can also frenzy and do crazy stuff! Also to spice it up and make enemies more unpredictable. For the bosses they work somewhat similar to monsters in Kingdom Death. They use a deck of AI cards and get to activate multiple times in a turn. Their AI deck is linked to their traits which you choose before the game. You have an armoured knight with wings? You give him the "Armoured" and "Flying" traits. These add some special rules to the boss and come with their own AI cards. This makes each boss different and you can match the traits with your models so it behaves more like how it looks.

Of course there is a lot more to say about the game, but I've been rambling enough. Time for some miniatures!
For the game I have painted a lot of Bestiarium miniatures, so 3D printed models. I absolutely love Bestiarium, they have that typical Soulsborne look I adore so much. And they are great to paint too. Here's what I have painted so far:

Heroes

Lancer



Magus



Priest



Hunter



Knight



Tier 1 enemies: Cultists









Tier 1 enemies: Starved Hounds (these are from the Bloodborne board game)


Tier 1 enemies: Orator of Justice


Tier 1 enemies: Soldiers


Tier 2 enemies: Executioners


Tier 2 enemies: Bastions


Tier 2 enemies: Meatgrinders


Tier 3 enemy: Justiciar Censer



Tier 3 enemy: Justiciar Punisher



Tier 1 Boss (Traits: Armoured & Great Weapon), miniature from Mierce Miniatures



Tier 2 Boss (Traits: Armoured, Weapon Master, Chain weapon), miniature from King Death



Size of the bosses:


And a lot more to come! I'm having a blast so far and I really like where this is going

[OSHIROmodels]

Cracking work 

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Amazing stuff! I’ve not played DS but with its mention instantly understood the vibe and think your chosen miniatures really fit that aesthetic beautifully - I really love the Justicar models (I’ve never heard of the maker before). Your palette and style tie them together perfectly. Interested to see some AAR’s.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Elbows]

Love stuff like this.  Love the grim.  Love the forboding.  Love the darkness.  Big fan.

[syrinx0]

Brilliant work.  Your painting and these miniatures really nail the Dark Souls vibe.

[FramFramson]

Damn, they're looking good. Lovely work combining different techniques for the armour versus the cloth/leather elements.

[DeafNala]

I don't know how good the game is, but the miniatures are OUTSRANDING, IMAGINATIVE, AND BEAUTIFULLY PAINTED!

[Freddy]

Great models, I really like the concept of AI cards and customizable action structure.

[Malebolgia]

Thanks lads! Like I said, I'm having a lot of fun with these miniatures and I find my current painting style allows me to paint them the way I want them quite fast. So I can have fully painted games and I can do some beauty shots for the rules and such.
Here's some shots from the games in progress:

[BeneathALeadMountain]

Looks great  love the terrain density.

Andrew
BeneathALeadMountain

[Malebolgia]

Cheers! And six more models done!

Wracks





These models are so insane, especially the last two. They really show the power of 3D printing. With traditional metal or resin it would have been a total pain to assemble. Now it's one piece! Sure, its super fragile, but the detail is fantastic and they are so dynamic. In the game of Damnation they are linked to the theme you pick for your campaign. These are linked to the "Church" theme. With it you place a number of Wracks on the table that hinder the heroes and strengthen the enemies' resolve.

Kirk Prowler





I found out my mate printed two of these for me. Not a problem as you can repose them with boiling water. So I changed the arms and now I don't have two clones anymore. And as the name implies (kirk is Scottish for church), these are linked to the church and are their sneaky ranged experts. So basically, they shoot at the heroes, while staying in cover and keeping their distance.

And a shot with all of them:

[syrinx0]

Damned indeed. Those are magnificently painted models with a strong horror vibe. 

[Malebolgia]

Thanks syrinx0! Soulsborne often has some good horror vibes indeed and that's what I'm aiming for

And another update, the third Boss for the campaign. The official name of the model is "Repentor Primus", but I need to think of something cool that fits in with my collection. The boss will have the traits Leader, Polearm and Mounted. This lets him summon enemies to the fight, he fights at longer ranges with stronger attacks after moving and he will move a lot while the mount also attacks the heroes. Can't wait to test him.

[Malebolgia]

And more done, two more heroes: a Revenger and Assassin. Once again awesome models by Bestiarium Miniatures. But after painting him I saw the Revenger actually doesn't have a face but is wearing a mask...haha oops. It explains why it was so odd to paint. Oh well!

Revenger



Assassin



And I also got a Bambu A1 Mini 3D printer and have been printing (and painting!) a lot of scenery too:


(this was my first scenery piece before I used the smaller nozzle and tweaked the settings...so a bit heavy on the print lines)















And during the holidays I also played two more games of Damnation with mates...it was awesome! Tight games where had to work together well in order to complete the objective.











So the game is going well! It's getting more and more in the direction of semi-finished.

[mikedemana]

The miniatures and scenery look amazing! Glad you and your friends are having fun - that’s the number one goal!

Mike Demana