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Post by sammo on Jan 4, 2012 15:22:22 GMT -9
As some of you may (or may not) know, I have been working on a print and play fantasy skirmish game for a while now and it on its way to fruition. I’ll be posting some pictures and previews over the next few weeks building up to a February 1st release. So here it goes… Into the Fray (ITF), is a complete print and play game, including rules, background and setting info, paper miniatures, stat cards, counters, and templates. All you need to add is dice, a tape measure and a few players. The initial releases will be the core rules (offered for free), faction starter packs for 2 distinct factions, and two faction booster packs. I’m still working on the exact pricing, but I will be offering all of these items as a bundle for somewhere around eight or nine bucks. Faction starter packs include 7 unique units (including 2 heroes) and each booster pack adds 5 more units (bringing the total up to 12 units for each faction). Units include a paper miniature (with front and back art, and a thick black boarder) and unit stat card. The game itself is designed so that each player will field 15 or 20 figures (for a standard battle) and can be played in about 2 hours with experienced players. The system includes rules for movement, melee and ranged combat, morale, special skills and magic. I'll post more info and pictures as the release gets closer.
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Post by Vermin King on Jan 4, 2012 15:48:18 GMT -9
It all looks very good
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Post by kiladecus on Jan 5, 2012 4:11:49 GMT -9
I am excited, and I have PLAYED it!! I have tried to give you tips and pointers over the last year or so, and I have one last suggestion... I love your wall templates, but have you ever considered making them 3D? Basically have 4 panels that fold into a box with ends on them. I know that they serve MANY purposes... but I just thought I would throw that out there. Looks amazing! I wish you all the best with this. ;D
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Post by sammo on Jan 8, 2012 22:18:41 GMT -9
I like the 3D wall idea, I’ll keep that in mind for later (it won’t work in all instances, but definitely appropriate for spells that generate a wall as a terrain).
I actually have drafts for all kinds of specialized spell counters. Like Rotting Fog or Thickening Mist, but I shelved them in order to get Into the Fray out there and ready to play. I’ll get to work on them again once ITF is complete, probably offer them as a free download.
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Post by Vermin King on Jan 9, 2012 11:51:51 GMT -9
Hmmm, can't seem to get to your website today.
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Post by sammo on Jan 11, 2012 13:43:46 GMT -9
I’m sorry you had troubles on the website. I’ve been there a few times in the last few days without any trouble, so please let me know if the problem persists so I can figure out what’s going on...
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Post by Vermin King on Jan 11, 2012 16:00:07 GMT -9
working now
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Post by sammo on Jan 12, 2012 8:08:19 GMT -9
Thanks Vermin King. Into the Fray is still moving right along… I figure I’ll give people a little insight into the rules and game-play right now. It’s probably a little dry (and there’s no cool pictures) but I’m not quite ready to start plugging the starting factions right now, and I think that this give people a decent idea of how the game is going to go… The Core MechanicITF uses six sided dice, roll the number of dice equal to the stat you are using (for example, a unit with a Strike value of 6 would roll six dice for a melee attack). Dice that come up on a 4 or 5 generate one “hit,” dice that come up 6 generate 2 “hits.” 1s, 2s, and 3s don’t help at all. The hits for a given roll are tallied and compared to a target number (such as a unit’s Parry score if it is the target of a melee attack). Hits above and beyond the target number generate an effect (most often it is points of damage). Set UpITF uses a pretty standard point buy system. Standard battles are 2,000 points and limit a player to no more than 2 heroes. The other units consist of either troops (single figures that pack a bit of a punch themselves) or squads (groups of 3, 5 or 7 miniatures). Each unit has its own stat card to be used during game-play. One extra feature in ITF is the use of special dice pools. Each faction has a beginning value for the four dice pools (Guile, Resolve, Arcane, and Fate). The units added to the player’s forces increase the values of certain dice pools. Additionally, some excess points can be used to purchase an extra die or two to add to these pools, helping players use as much of their points as possible. During the battle players can spend dice from certain pools on certain kinds of rolls to boost results. Another feature of ITF setup is the guile rolls. Players secretly bid dice from their Guile pool before the battle to allocate to checks that determine the starting features of the battle. So players will have to decide which is more important to them, choice of table side, extra deployment depth or order of initiative? It’s a fairly simple process, but it adds a little bit of excitement and strategy to the game before the miniatures ever hit the table. Fighting BattlesOnce the combat gets started a player will choose two cards to activate (conduct movement and take actions). Much of the time this means that two miniatures will be acting at a time, but a squad of miniatures activates all at once when their card is chosen, so there is an opportunity to get quite a few miniatures into action at once if a player so desires. Once the player has completed the activation for those units the next player activates two cards and play alternates until all the units in play have had a chance to activate and then there is a short upkeep round (for spell durations and status effects). ActionsAfter movement units are each allotted one action. These are primarily used for making melee or ranged attacks, but units have other choices, such as taking defense, charging, or taking a second opportunity to move. All units have some special skills (called collectively talents) that may allow them to make a different action, or alter the way that they conduct a standard action. AttacksAttacks are made using the core mechanic described above; take dice equal to a basic stat (e.g. strike or aim) add or subtract dice if there are any modifiers (e.g. high ground, range, cover, etc.). Roll the dice and tally the hits. If more hits are rolled than the targets defense (e.g. parry or dodge) then the excess hits are applied as damage. There are talents that might alter the flow a little bit (such as the armor or shield talents) but that is the basic model for attack resolution in ITF. MettleThe mettle system will determine if injured soldiers are able to stay in the fight. Each unit has a damage track and when a certain point is reached the unit must make a special mettle check to see if they begin to quail in fear. Some talents and spells may also force units in combat to make a mettle check to stay resolute in the face of a terrible foe. MagicSome units are mages and have the ability to cast spells. Spellcasters have a set mana total that they can spend over the course of a battle to cast spells. There are three spells that all mages have in common (a simple range, melee and defense spell) and then each caster has a list of spells that are unique to them. There are a total of four casters included with the initial set of releases and each has a unique set of spells to use. Okay, just because pictures make posts look better, here are a couple of units from ITF. The guy in black on the right is Jal-Halad, a spellcasting hero from the Farlands of Zor. On the left is a Boskan Piercer, a sinewy spear thrower that has received the gift of the Eras seed. More on the factions as time goes on…
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Post by paladin on Jan 12, 2012 9:03:41 GMT -9
... neat stuff, sammo, from what I can tell (you could post more close-ups of all those tiny gaming markers), I dig especially the game cards. Eye-pleasing and calm layout even for me, who do not know the rules. This must have been a hell of alot of work ... . Your rule introduction is easy to pick up and follow. Good stuff. I guess, some West End Games inspiration? Or am I far off the mark?
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Post by Parduz on Jan 12, 2012 14:16:18 GMT -9
I'm so afraid that i still have to try the new rules...... my gaming group is buried in plastic, from Gears of War, StarCraft, the ones i converted to Heroscape and my last game, Battle of Westeros. More, a group is now devoted to Eclipse and plays only it (a great game indeed) so i'm strugglin finding someone that wants to play ITF.
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Post by sammo on Jan 13, 2012 7:00:46 GMT -9
No worries Parduz, time at the game table is always scarce (more games than time is how I have always felt). I think you will like the changes that were made, so let me know what you think when you do get a game in. I do feel like I took the two slowest most cumbersome parts of the game (the turn order and the mettle system) and made them much faster.
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Post by sammo on Jan 16, 2012 21:22:49 GMT -9
Here's a look at the art for the "box" style counters and a few faces for the flat counters (they are actually two sided in the finished version).
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Post by paladin on Jan 17, 2012 8:25:09 GMT -9
That's, what I wanna see, sammo ... . Yip, works. Simple, but working. Only complaint: lighten up the reddish fill color of the 'Poison' marker - like the other light text colors ... it's a bit hard to read otherwise. Working with different grades of sharpness and focus is great (unsharp green poison splatter - sharp text) - cool depth effect ... .
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Post by sammo on Jan 19, 2012 12:51:31 GMT -9
I admit the counters are pretty basic, but easy enough to see on the gaming table. I’m not sure that this picture is the best, it looks a bit fuzzy.
Thanks for the advice on the Poison counters, I have to dig out my printed copies because I remember them being more striking “in person” but I want to double check.
Getting very close now (less than two weeks) and I’m almost done, just some bits of layout to polish up…
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Post by sammo on Jan 19, 2012 13:12:15 GMT -9
So here is a look at the first of the two introductory factions for Into the Fray… The Woodwold BoskersThese stalwart folk hail from the world of Bosk. Bosk is a harsh unforgiving world that has a deep chasm running across it. The chasm shelters a thriving woodland (known as the Woodwold) that provides a home for the Boskers. The Boskers are characterized by their green skin and thick unruly hair. Many who fight in defense of the Woodwold have participated in a ritual where they consume a magical Eras Seed that offers them increased physically prowess or grants the gifts of the arcane. The seeds form a bond between plant and man that makes for a formidable fighting force. The Core units for this faction are… Woodwold Sentry: a squad of seven spear wielding soldiers. Boskan Marksman: a squad of five well trained archers. Seedborn Brawlers: a squad of three sword wielding brutes that have gained strength and ferocity from the Eras Seeds. Brawler Sergeant: a Seedborn Brawlers that has proven to be exceptionally effective on the field of battle. Boskan Piercer: Lanky soldiers trained in the use of a long spear that is as deadly at range as it is in melee. Thell-Ell: A staff wielding priestess that is not only an effective warrior but also an accomplished spell caster. Jerron Grom: A mighty fusion of man and plant, Jerron Grom is a powerful warrior that knows no fear. And the family photo…. In addition five more units are included in the expansion Daughters of the Woodwold. 2 additional heroes (one of which is a spell caster), 2 more troops and one additional squad. This will bring the total number of units available for the Woodwold Boskers at the release of ITF to 12 (4 Heroes, 4 Troops and 4 Squads). Next time... The Hammer of Zor
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Post by uptrainfan89 on Jan 19, 2012 15:29:53 GMT -9
Wow I must say, I just got to looking at this and it looks really good! I'm definitly going to have to try this when it's released. I play GunCrawl at the moment but it's Sci-Fi based and I've been looking for that perfect Fantasy based game to fill my other interest as well. This looks like it may just do that. I also enjoy the art style of your figures! ;D The figures looks excelent! Do you have plans to do lots more figure add-ons after the base set is released? Also maybe other add-ons such as terrain, game aids, or extra spells and such? Also can this game be played with any terrain or figures? Again Nice Work! ;D
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Post by sammo on Jan 19, 2012 20:10:05 GMT -9
Thanks for the interest (also it’s always nice to get some compliments on the minis) You could use just about any 25-30mm miniatures to stand in for the paper figures that are used for the game. However, as of now there is no custom unit building feature in Into the Fray (meaning you can use any miniature you want, but it would have to have the statistics from one of the current unit cards). I may make the unit building process public in the future but not just yet. As for terrain, you can use any terrain that you want. One of the features of ITF is that you can essentially assign stats to your existing terrain models. It should give players loads of options for the battlefield as well as allowing them to get all that terrain off the shelf and into play. I have tons of ideas for add-ons. New factions, mercenaries, an artifacts/items expansion, new rules for mounted and large units, a dungeon crawl version of ITF, a booklet of scenarios, etc. The first thing I am going to do after this initial release is get a third (and possibly a fourth) faction ready to go. I actually have ideas for some 10 factions but there are at least three of them that I really want to do to flesh the game out properly. As long as it is generating interest I will be working on content. I hope the wait is not too terribly long but like many people here I have a day job that needs my attention I probably won’t do much in the way of terrain, at least at first, there are already so many people that make great paper terrain. Though a sort of basic terrain starter pack has crossed my mind.
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Post by Parduz on Jan 19, 2012 22:14:17 GMT -9
Yeah, new factions are always a good thing!
If i could, i'd ask for scenarios. Paper miniatures brings a lot of newcomers (hopefully) in the world of "3D skirmish" (me as first person, being a longtime boardgame and "skirmish in grid" player) and some pre-written, well tested and balanced scenarios will help ppl like me to jump over the new degree of freedom ("what to do with all this terrain? i put this here, that there.... " ending up with an umbalanced, clogged battlefield).
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Post by sammo on Jan 20, 2012 8:52:37 GMT -9
I have had a few others suggest that some starter scenarios, 3 or 4 of increasing size/complexity, would be helpful. I think I will attempt to get something like this together as a free release in the near future. It would probably just be a few pages long PDF with sample terrain layouts and pre-made army lists, but I think that will be what people are looking for.
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Post by Parduz on Jan 20, 2012 10:28:01 GMT -9
I have had a few others suggest that some starter scenarios, 3 or 4 of increasing size/complexity, would be helpful. I think I will attempt to get something like this together as a free release in the near future. It would probably just be a few pages long PDF with sample terrain layouts and pre-made army lists, but I think that will be what people are looking for. Exactly. Also some variation from the "Kill them all" would be nice.... something like "keep that position for X turns" or "A faction have to escape from the other side". Anyway, something that put the players straight to roll dice is good
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Post by sammo on Jan 23, 2012 14:16:35 GMT -9
I have had a few others suggest that some starter scenarios, 3 or 4 of increasing size/complexity, would be helpful. I think I will attempt to get something like this together as a free release in the near future. It would probably just be a few pages long PDF with sample terrain layouts and pre-made army lists, but I think that will be what people are looking for. Exactly. Also some variation from the "Kill them all" would be nice.... something like "keep that position for X turns" or "A faction have to escape from the other side". Anyway, something that put the players straight to roll dice is good This is a good idea Parduz. Just for all the people who might be contemplating picking up Into the Fray on Feb 1, there are a bunch of alternate battle types in the first appendix, including timed battles, capture the flag, kick the can, holding strategic points, holding territory and being the first to retrieve an item (also included are special tokens to play these battles with). Of course Parduz makes an excellent point about these battle types being overlooked, so as I design scenarios I will certainly be including more battle types than the simple death-match…
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Post by Rhannon on Jan 23, 2012 14:30:28 GMT -9
Hi sammo,
do you have any previews ( pics ) for "The Hammer of Zor" faction?
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Post by sammo on Jan 24, 2012 7:40:40 GMT -9
As requested (thanks Rhannon for the gentle prodding to keep me on track ) The second of the introductory factions… The Hammer of ZorThe world of Zor is an arid place, banded by deserts with a vast expanse of wooded savannahs in its southern regions. The Zorians themselves are a tall athletic folk know for their keen vision. The men are bald form birth and the women sport thick luxurious hair that favors the darker shades. The Zorians are a devoted, militant people that believe that it is their destiny to rule all the worlds of the cosmos. Indeed, for nearly two hundred years the Zorian Empire stretched across some eighty worlds and united them under the banner of the Emperor Jerreckt. But times have changed. The Second Worlds’ War has seen the great Zorian Empire shattered and the Guild rising to take its place. Now, as all worlds do, the Zorians are forced to live under the thumb of the Guild. The Zorians have not forgotten their lust for conquest however, and have been preparing for the day when they can pour out into the cosmos and once again claim it in the name of the Empire of Zor. The Hammer of Zor is an elite fighting force that serves the Zorian Emperor. The core units for this faction are: Zorian Jawan: a squad of seven soldiers that sport a sword and shield. Zorian Naiks: a squad of five armored soldiers that wield a shield and a wicked mace. Zorian Arbalist: a squad of three marksmen armed with the infamous Zorian crossbow. Zorian Lancer: an armored warrior trained to use a deadly long broad bladed spear. The Standard of Zor: Baring the colors of Zor, this standard bearer boost morale and provides routed troops with a rally point. The Vizier: A powerful spellcaster, the Vizier has deadly spells, but lack the endurance to cast too many in one battle. The Anvil of Zor: Champion of the Emperor, the Anvil of Zor is a broad shouldered man in full Zorian armor that wields a long hafted two handed war hammer to great effect. And the picture….. Once again there is an expansion (that will also be released on Feb1st) that adds five more units (2 heroes (one of which is a caster), 2 more troops, and additional squad), bringing the total units available to 12 (4 heroes, 4 troops, 4 squads).
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Post by sammo on Jan 24, 2012 7:48:33 GMT -9
Just a little shameless plug…
That means that buying the Into the Fray initial release bundle will net you 24 different units, each with its own unique miniature. That means that if nothing else, you’ll get 24 different miniatures (more if you count minor variations in pose and color).
But there is plenty more, you get rules (30+ pages), stat cards, counters, templates and well over 30 pages of setting information (the “fluff” if you will), more than enough to get some top notch battles going….
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Post by Rhannon on Jan 24, 2012 8:09:44 GMT -9
Just a little shameless plug… That means that buying the Into the Fray initial release bundle will net you 24 different units, each with its own unique miniature. That means that if nothing else, you’ll get 24 different miniatures (more if count minor variations in pose and color). But there is plenty more, you get rules (30+ pages), stat cards, counters, templates and well over 30 pages of setting information (the “fluff” if you will), more than enough to get some top notch battles going…. Thanks Sammo. Sometimes I had seen their images but I was not a beta-tester so ... I have not yet them for now In my memory ( not a good memory ) someone is missing ( I remember a jumping figure ;D ) but I think that this is into expansion. However Feb. 1 I'm one. Thanks. Ciao
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Post by sammo on Jan 24, 2012 8:13:03 GMT -9
Your are correct, there is a leaping figure in the expansion for the Hammer of Zor.
I'll be posting previews of the two expansions later tonight or (more likely) tomorrow, when I have a bit more time.
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Post by sammo on Jan 25, 2012 10:21:12 GMT -9
The expansion pack for the Hammer of Zor: The Farland Marauders…Rugged folk from the mountains of Zor that answer the call of the Emperor. Highpeaks Dervish: A squad of 5 knife wielding soldiers. Jaltian Dancer: Women trained in tumbling and leaping style of combat. Highpeaks Mauler: Grim warriors that make use of a huge cleaver. The Cirean Bedlamite: a huge mindless brute that can tear enemies apart with his bare hands. Jal-Halad: a crippled spellcaster that floats across the battlefield and can unleash terrible arcane distruction. Next time, Daughters of the Woodwold.
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Post by Rhannon on Jan 25, 2012 10:42:16 GMT -9
Good!!!
Thanks.
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Post by sammo on Jan 27, 2012 14:18:52 GMT -9
Alright, the last preview… Daughter of the Woodwold,
The mage Ara, after declining membership in the Temple of the Woodwold, has gathered to herself those loyal warriors that desire to uncover the lost secrets of Gateway. Ara’s Shieldmaidens: A squad of 5, these fierce women fight with a bladed buckler on each arm. Votary of the Woodwold: These women do not have the true gift of spellcasting, but they can summon up arcane force to strike foes at a great distance. Blade Singers: Intense training and the power of the Eras seeds has fashioned some of the finest sword fighters in the cosmos. Serrah: Good friend to Ara, Serrah uses the thorny Eras vines as whips to deadly effect. Ara: A powerful mage, Ara seeks to remind the Hundred Worlds of the long forgotten strength of the Boskan people.
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Post by sammo on Jan 27, 2012 14:25:14 GMT -9
I suppose that’s about it for now…
I’ll be hard at work this weekend putting the finishing touches on Into the Fray and updating the website.
Unless there is some kind of major meltdown in the next few days (knock on wood), all of this will be ready and available on Wednesday. I’m submitting by Monday morning to make sure there is plenty of time to get through RPGNow’s first time publisher approval delay, so these may even hit shelves a day (or two) early.
I’ll certainly post an announcement when it is ready to go…
Thanks for reading everyone!!!!
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