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Author Topic: [KICKSTARTER] Shadowsea mini-kicker campaign  (Read 1469 times)

Offline Timbor

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  • Posts: 1404
[KICKSTARTER] Shadowsea mini-kicker campaign
« on: July 09, 2014, 04:33:22 PM »
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/524168246/shadowsea-mini-kicker-the-good-the-bad-and-the-sca

After having finished the delivery of the previous kickstarter, Antimatter games is back at it with this mini-campaign.  The goal here is to fund some more miniatures, and re-write an RPG/dungeon crawl supplement for Shadowsea to match the new rules.

All of their other range is on offer as rewards, so there are some good deals to be had. I have backed several of their previous campaigns, and the delivery times have been very close to the anticipated date, and the service is great.  Awesome product!

This guy looks really cool:

Paint log - leadadventureforum.com/index.php?topic=36840.0

Blog - My life in Millimetres

Offline Timbor

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1404
Re: [KICKSTARTER] Shadowsea mini-kicker campaign
« Reply #1 on: July 14, 2014, 06:39:23 PM »
Just thought I would update to let folks know the campaign is over 50% funded now.  Horray!

Also, Antimatter had added a few bonus goals to increase free stuff:



We are already at 57 backers, so we are well on our way to passing 100 backers and getting a free miniature.

Offline Timbor

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1404
Re: [KICKSTARTER] Shadowsea mini-kicker campaign
« Reply #2 on: July 16, 2014, 04:51:59 PM »
Antimatter posted some more background info about the Stygian Depths and how the game will run:

Quote
The question of what the Stygian Depths actually are has been asked a few times. It would be good to give some background information on the region and how the supplement ties in with the core game of ShadowSea. From the introduction to the game:

The cavern entrance was a pit of eerie blackness, dropping down from the temple into the heart of the earth. Vapors emanated from the depths, foul with the odor of ancient corruption, yet there was to be no retreat, no returning to the ship with our hands empty. The dark places of the world hold nameless horrors but also hold the source of power for the ancient artifacts of the Underlands, crystals pulsing with the energy of the ethers...

Our group was not prepared for the horrors of the Stygian Depths, as we have named the accused lands below. Naught else but the world of the damned did we find, with creatures that defied all laws of nature, and where the very earth seemed to tear at our souls. The catacombs penetrated deep below, twisting and turning until emerging into a nightmare city of demons, a place long forgotten by the civilizations of man and only whispered of by decrepit sages searching through the crumbling ruins of the Underlands...

Journal entry – Johan Kurtz 1680


The Stygian Depths are deep caverns below the main cavern of the Underlands, where ShadowSea is based, far below where the ether fields create light and fresh air greets the lungs of explorers. The main places to access the depths are from temples in ruined cities of the Underlands, or from pits sometimes found in the Wilderness. Players running campaigns can introduce the Stygian Depths randomly as part of the game when these entry points are found or can make them part of the campaign, or simply play the game by itself.


The story behind the Stygian Depths is that the Snakemen, also called Naga of ancient Eastern myth or Xicoatal by the savage empires of the New World, have survived within the darkest places for eons. These beings are the bane of man from time immemorial, stealers of souls, and are able to work the darkest sorcery to cross between the realms of dreams and our waking world. They can bridge vast distances in moments to bring back to their pits innocents from the kingdoms of men, victims that must toil as slaves or serve as sacrifices in gruesome ceremonies to honor demonic gods of the void. The snakemen practice elder forms of magic, bridging the gulfs between ethereal diensions to create underground chambers that are warped beyond reality, with misty views of fields of stars and fiery planets, lands that cannot possibly exist except in the nightmares of madness, and with demons that crawl out of the mists to rend and tear.


It is this realm that foolhardy adventurers choose to enter, searching for artifacts used by the snakemen as well as the vast hoard of treasure to be found in the shadows. Getting down to this treasure is fraught with peril however, as adventurers must traverse caverns filled with vicious wild creatures, some possibly brought to Earth from other realms by the snakemen, until discovering a stairway or pit leading down to the dungeons of the serpents. Adventurers that alert the serpents must flee back out with any treasures they have been able to pilfer.

The game is played like a solo dungeon, with each player having a small warband or single character from their force. Any of the forces may enter. The monsters in the Stygian Depths work like wild creatures from ShadowSea, moving and attacking using prescribed rules so there is no need to have one player as the "overlord" or "dungeon master" unless one wants to be. This is one of the main differences from the 1st edition of the game, which had rule for solo play but focused on the Game Master building the map and controlling the game. The new version will be more random.


When entering a room tile in the current version of the Stygian Depths, players roll on a table to determine if there is a scenic feature (trap, deadly terrain, treasure pile) an ambush creature or a patrol of creatures. The player then rolls on tables to determine the specific feature, treasure, monster, etc. The new version will use cards for most of the room contents, reducing the number of rolls that must be made. Some rooms have entrances to deeper caverns or to the dungeons, which have their own scenic features and creatures. A core part of the game are Quest Chambers and Lairs, larger rooms with specific creatures and scenery. These are a major part of the game, with the Quest Chamber being the ending point for the map holding the final treasure item.

The goal for this new version of the Stygian Depths is to streamline the adventure so it is a quick side quest to the main ShadowSea game that is easy to play. Some of the movement and activation rules will also be simplified so activation and dungeon crawling will be less of a chore. Finally, the quest chambers and lairs tiles will be made more unique with more interesting options for gameplay within them.

Sounds like fun!

Offline Timbor

  • Mastermind
  • Posts: 1404
Re: [KICKSTARTER] Shadowsea mini-kicker campaign
« Reply #3 on: July 25, 2014, 11:16:00 AM »
Only 30 hours to go!  We are still 2.5k from hitting the mark, so here's hoping for a final big push over the top!

 

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