The Final Hours
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 10, 2017 at 01:25:00 AM

Greetings founders of Gloomhaven!

We're going into the final stretch here, and we're also closing in on that final stretch goal. I'm excited to sit back and witness the last 12 hours of the project. Can we hit $500,000? It would be pretty cool if we did! It is a nice, round number after all.

1000% of the funding goal. Ten times. That's pretty outrageous.

Whether we hit that goal or not, around 10,000 backers for a heavy Euro game project is mind-blowing, and I am truly grateful you are here, giving this game a chance.

Once the project is officially over, I will go into where we go from here - update schedules, what to expect for the time line, pledge managers, etc. - but for now, I just want to thank you for making this project great, and also send out one final call to help make these last 12 hours memorable.

Also, I promised you some lore on the Aesthers, so let's get to that, complete with preliminary art for them, just because I want to show it off.

First thing to note here is that this, again, is preliminary. We're working on getting some more clothes on the Aesther women.

And you may be wondering, "Wait, if you already have the artwork, is that stretch goal really in question?" And, well, what happened was that we were preparing for stretch goals, and Alexandr sort of got inspired and made this piece over the weekend ahead of schedule.

It's all good though. If we don't hit the stretch goal, the art is so awesome, I'll just use it for something else.

Anyway,

Aesthers

Very little is know about the Aesthers, a race of vaguely human, ageless beings. They live simultaneously on multiple planes of existence, exemplified by their translucent figures that fade in and out of sight. They do not speak of their past or origins, but they seem to have a vested interest in seeing that Gloomhaven is built.

With all of the in-fighting and posturing for influence that developed when all of the races came together, the Aesthers changed from passive observers to taking a more active role in making sure the city was successfully completed. Using their powers of inter-planar travel, they can bring forth whichever resource they want in an effort to bring harmony and progress to this region of the world.

All right, time to bring this project home!

One Final Stretch Goal
over 6 years ago – Wed, Aug 09, 2017 at 01:15:09 AM

Hello founders of Gloomhaven!

Well, we have hit the last 48 hours of this project, and we appear to once again be rocketing up in funding! Welcome to the new backers! If you have questions about anything, you can always check out the FAQ, or ask them in the comments.

We are likely going to hit the last posted stretch goal at $450,000 (the cardboard resource tracker) pretty soon, and that is after already blowing through the double-sided board stretch goal.

The question on everyone's mind then naturally becomes, "What's next?"

Well, I've got one big thing left up my sleeve.

Sure, we could probably add in more than just this one big thing, but I am concerned about adding weight to the game box for things that would only minimal improve the experience. Basically, I don't want to bloat the game with unnecessary additions, so we're just going to go with the one big thing.

What is it? Well, a ninth race: the Aesthers.

And you might be asking, "But Isaac, you said the Aesthers weren't around for the Founding of Gloomhaven. Plus, there are only eight resources, so how can there be a ninth race?"

And those are reasonable questions, for sure. While history shows no record of the Aesthers being present for the founding of Gloomhaven, the Aesthers certainly had an interest in pushing the project forward and having the city built. They just participated behind the scenes, in secret.

And as for the resource, they are essentially wild. When you pick them as your race, you can pick whichever resource you want to control. And their racial power also mirrors their secretive nature. Instead of having their own power, they can use the power of any prestige building on the board, even if they haven't delivered to it and without blocking it for other people. This makes their racial power a little weak in the early game, but gives them a lot of versatility by the end.

And for those of you who have no idea what an Aesther is, that's reasonable too. I will write up a spotlight on them tomorrow, but first we've got to get through the last two starting races, Orchids and Valraths. Which includes new artwork from Alexandr!

Orchids

Orchids are a methodical, slow-acting race, sometimes spending years meditating on the correct course of action. They live across the Misty Sea, and are an incredibly rare sight. When they do appear, people take heed, because they are there for a reason.

Even before being invited to aid in building Gloomhaven, a group of Orchids showed up on the eastern shores, their boats laden with gems. They knew already that construct the city was the correct course of action. This earned them great respect among the other races, though they did not covet that respect. Instead, they worked within Gloomhaven to arrive at the best possible future for everyone.

Valraths

Though once aggressive and ruthless, the Valraths have become more peaceful and controlled since the Demon War. Their desire for strict rigidity is no long applied to military conquests, but instead to building their own society in the southern deserts through commerce and government.

Eager to show themselves as cooperative and helpful, the Valraths were glad to be invited to participate in founding Gloomhaven. With them, they brought ore from their iron mines and a keen interest in accumulating power and wealth. They may no longer be a military force, but they still like to be in control.

I just want to thank you all again for making this such an amazing project. I'm excited to add in a ninth race, plus all the other great stuff we've unlocked. This game is gonna be great!

Completion Token Results
over 6 years ago – Tue, Aug 08, 2017 at 01:17:48 AM

Hey there founders of Gloomhaven!

So about a week ago I asked you head over to BoardGameGeek and vote on your favorite completion tokens. We had thirteen of them designed, but we only needed six in the game.

Now, officially, the results are that options 1, 2, 3, 9, 12, and 13 received the most votes. There was some concern, though, that the buildings at the top would all be similar looking because people liked that style rather than that specific building, and I shared those concerns. So I hope nobody gets bent out of shape if I tweak the results a bit.

For reference, here are all the buildings:

First of all, I feel like 2 and 3 look a bit similar in their triangular nature, so I'm cutting out the one with the fewest votes (2), and adding in the next runner-up (7) in its place.

Second of all, I also felt 12 and 13 were kinda similar, with similar coloring and the gear motif, so again, fewest votes (13) gets cut, and another runner-up (11) is added.

So the final selection is 1, 3, 7, 9, 11, and 12.

We have also more-or-less hit that $400,000 stretch goal, which means that eight Gloomhaven event cards will get added to the game box. I know there are some people whom that doesn't really effect, but there are plenty of others, including myself, thrilled about the prospect!

With that said, let's move on to some more lore!

Harrowers

Harrowers are a mysterious and terrifying race of sentient insect swarms. They live in the dark, damp places of the world, adopting a vaguely human form to interact with other races. Nothing can hide their nature, however, and most races avoid these unnerving creatures.

Still, in the spirit of harmony, they were invited to help found Gloomhaven, though no one expected the Harrowers to accept. When they showed up with a bountiful harvest of crops, they were hestitantly welcomed into the city. No one knows why they came. Their intent may have been benign or friendly, but most people feared the worst.

Humans

Humans are prolific and populous, always looking to expand their influence and power. Though the average human is usually considered to be unremarkable or inconsequential by the other races, there is an unrivaled ingenuity and creativity to be found among rare individuals. Given the right circumstances, humans can achieve great things.

For instance, constructing Gloomhaven was an initiative set forth by the humans, apparently inspired by an ancient legend. Building a trade hub on the bones of a forgotten civilization, the humans decided to invite the other races to participate, giving them just enough incentive so that the humans could exploit their resources and remain in control due to their overwhelming numbers.

We are approaching the 48 hour mark! I'm going to go through the main Kickstarter page and rearrange/add some things. Please let me know if you see anything that should be corrected, and stay tuned tomorrow for the final installment of lore!

Also check out the review of Founders of Gloomhaven Josh McGuire just posted on his channel!

Solo Play Through and More Race Descriptions
over 6 years ago – Sat, Aug 05, 2017 at 01:00:49 AM

Greetings founders of Gloomhaven!

Less than one week left in the campaign, and I hope you are doing well! I just wanted to let you know that Adam Smith from Rolling Solo has started his play through series for Founders, so if you are interested in seeing how the solo game plays out in more detail, please check that out.

As of this writing, the play through isn't quite finished. He's made it through four of seven rounds so far, but I'm sure the final parts are coming soon. He's also made some mistakes in the rules, but you can find his corrections for those in the YouTube comments.

In other news, you have all overwhelmingly expressed an interest in an resource tracker board for the $450,000 goal, so I'm going to go ahead and make that official. Let's get out there and spread the word to make sure we reach it!

Savvas

The Savvas are a proud and reclusive race, living deep under mountains of the world, constantly strengthening their mastery over the elements. This singular focus makes the Savvas a powerful ally - and a terrifying foe.

Though the Savvas have no interest in expanding their domain, when invited to assist in the construction of Gloomhaven, they sent forth a small delegation - a force skilled in the shaping and moving of stone. It was time to show the world what the Savvas were capable of, so that they would be respected and feared.

Vermlings

The Vermling race is composed of numerous chaotic tribes, constantly fighting against anything and everything around them. They are small, furry creatures, but what they lack in size, they make up for in ferocity and numbers.

One of the more intelligent and peaceful tribes of Vermlings received a hesitant invite to help found Gloomhaven in the hopes that their presence would help in some way to stave off other Vermling attacks. This tribe, however, sees it as an opportunity to prove to the other races that Vermlings aren't all bad. If they can prove their worth, perhaps they can stop being shunned by the civilizations around them.

Have a great weekend!

Racial Spotlight: Inox and Quatryls
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Aug 03, 2017 at 12:40:39 AM

Hello founders of Gloomhaven!

Today I wanted to give you all a little thematic run-down on some of the races, so we will certainly get to that, but I also want to address in detail a concern that has been brewing in the comments.

So the end of the game is very player-driven. It is up to the players to build and connect all the necessary resources to complete six of the prestige buildings. This works very well, I think, but the balance can get precarious when one person simply refuses to put down one of their basic resources necessary to complete the city.

Now, the strategy on when to place your second resource on the board is complex one, and a very interesting part of the game to me. The earlier you put it down, the more income you will receive and the more access you will have to adviser cards, which are hugely important, but you also have less control over what other players do with that resource, which could cost you points. If you wait to place your resource, you could get more points out of it, but your overall engine will be much slower.

There definitely comes a point in the game where, due to the built systems, it no longer makes sense to not play that basic resource. You are just not gaining more than you are losing by holding off any longer. But what if a player doesn't realize that or doesn't care and just continues to stall the game out by not playing it? Well, that guy is probably a jerk, but, "Don't play with jerks," isn't really an effective rule to put in the rule book.

After thinking about it for a couple days and doing more testing, I've decided that the game does indeed need a way to prevent this stalling out that is more aggressive than these other incentives. After thinking about many, many options, I've decided to implement a rule where:

As soon as the second prestige building is complete (timing that synergizes with the achievements), if any player owns a resource that is not yet out on the board, that player loses some number of points (probably five), and the player to their left takes that resource and places it somewhere on the board that is adjacent to a network of at least four roads.

That last bit is to prevent the other player from continuing to stall out the game by placing it off in some inaccessible corner. And the point loss is to prevent the holdout player from just using the rule as a free trade action.

This rule allows players to still hold onto their second resource for a while, keeping the important strategy of when to place it. It just prevents them from holding onto it for too long. I will also be looking at the resources required by the prestige buildings and rebalancing some things so that not too many buildings require the same resource (for instance, 16 of the 21 prestige buildings require metal in one form or another, which is too many). This will make it easier to complete two buildings even if an important resource is being withheld.

And now that that long discussion is over, let's talk about some races!

Inox

The Inox are a primitive race of disparate warring tribes. They are fiercely proud and competitive. and this manifests itself the most in the territories they control. The Inox will fight to the death over their land, and, given their immense size and strength, this usually means the death of their opponents.

When a nearby tribe of Inox, known for their animal husbandry, was invited to participate in the founding of Gloomhaven, there was no hesitation to seize the opportunity to acquire more land. There was no thought of loss. Using their herds of livestock and their imposing presence, they were focused on gaining the most influence over the city and coming out on top.

Quatryls

The Quatryls are an inquisitive race from across the Misty sea. Their desire to unravel the mysteries of all things, however, has led them to all corners of the world. Though they are small in size, a Quatryl's inventiveness more than makes up for it. It is a rare sight to see a Quatryl without some sort of gadget or machine to assist them in whatever task lies ahead.

When the Quatryls were invited to participate in the founding of Gloomhaven, they were certainly intrigued. Ever helpful in their endeavors, the Quatryls saw no reason not to join the cause and use their knowledge to make the city as efficiently as they could. If they managed to take control of the city by the end, all the better. It would be a foothold in the Western continent from which they could continue their research.

I hope you enjoy the new Inox art and these bits of lore. Though I haven't discussed this before, some amount of this text, possibly edited or pared down, will appear on the backs of each of the race player mats, similar to player mats in Gloomhaven.

Expect the rest of the races to come in the week ahead. Until next time!