board-games – Grey Gnome Games

Questing Through UnderQuest

Today we will be discussing the all-new quest system that will be used in UnderQuest. Unlike Iron Helm, in which you simply worked your way through the dungeon deck until you revealed enough eye icons to trigger the boss fight, UnderQuest tackles this task from a more narrative-driven angle. Let’s dive into how exactly this works.

UnderQuest uses a Quest Token system. Quest Tokens are gained in a few ways during play. (1) You can gain one by connecting two dungeon cards together in your dungeon tableau that complete an icon. When you do this, you gain the matching Quest Token. (2) You can also gain a quest token during a random encounter. These Quest Tokens are then spent to progress through the quest deck. Let’s talk about the quest deck.

The quest deck is actually made up of 6 smaller decks. Each of these smaller decks represents a phase of your adventure and are numbered 1-6 on their backside. During game setup you randomly select one card from each of these decks, without looking at them, and then stack them in order with the card from the 6th phase on the bottom. You will then reveal the top card and you are ready to start your adventure.

Each card has an upper narrative portion that sets up the scene. In the middle you will find the three Quest Tokens you must locate and then spend to unlock the lower portion of the card. The lower portion concludes the phase of the adventure and sometimes offers special loot, healing, or perhaps a companion to join your mission.

The core game will come with 3 cards in each of the 6 phases for a total of 18 cards. having a random card pulled for each phase creates a new story every time. In fact, with just 18 cards you manage to have over 700 possible pathways through your quest’s story. This creates a very high replay level for the game. I also plan on releasing Quest Packs in the future, that will add 1 card from each phase. So if we go from 3 cards in each of the 6 decks to 4 cards we increase the possible story paths from 729 combinations, to 4096!!! The plan is to add many of these decks over time, which should translate into almost an endless numbers of unique adventures.

I am pretty excited about this system as it will allow there to be a story that drives the game, and when you combine this with the random encounter deck and other mechanics in the game like the alchemy system, you should have a unique adventure every time you open up the box. I am excited to share more about UnderQuest as it develops. Thanks for stopping by and hanging out!

The Game Crafter’s Back to School Sale: Games to Consider That Are Not Mine.

The Game Crafters annual summer sale just launched today, and I thought it would be nice to showcase a few games that are included in the sale, but are not my own designs. I am going to only included games that I actually own myself. What better way to know that I have confidence in a game then the fact that I bought it, played it, and still love it? These are in no particular order, so let’s get started!

Cursed is light, and very quick playing, solo dungeon delver. It has great artwork and very solid mechanics. Best of all, it is quite inexpensive. Regular Price $14.99 and on sale right now for $12.84 Link to Cursed

Paperbag Dungeon is another light dungeon exploration game that implements tile-laying mechanics. The artwork also is fantastic in this game Regular Price $17.99 and on sale right now for $13.30! Link to Paperback Dungeon

Doom Pilgrim is a fantastic narrative-driven game set in a dark and foreboding world, where you will have to navigate a deck of jumbo cards with absolutely beautiful artwork in a perilous attempt to stay alive. Regular Price $44.99 and on sale now for $34.99 Link to Doom Pilgrim

Jump Gate is the critically acclaimed space exploration game designed by Matt Worden. This a light/medium weight game that is super easy to learn an get to the table. It also has a clean solo mode included. Regular Price $45.99 and on sale now for $37.05 Link to Jump Gate

Buried Beneath is a rather massive experience crammed into a very small package. Something I pride myself on, but this game manages to pack a very solid solo worker placement game into a mint tin. Regular Price $21.99 and on sale now for $16.40 Link to Buried Beneath

Quest for the Lost Pixel is considered by many as one of the best holy grail indie games. It has a steep price tag, but it is packed with a ton of content and Peter Jank has supported the game with many expansions. Regular Price $161.99 and on sale now for $132.55 Link to Quest for the Lost Pixel

Armor Up is a really fun 18 card micro game that has players trying to build the best set of equipment. It plays 2-3 players, but adding a second game allows for up 6 players. It also hosts the amazing artwork of Alisha Volkman! Regular Price $9.99 and on sale now for $7.13 Link to Amor Up

Decayed is designed and illustrated by my very talented daughter Abby and it does deserve to be on this list. It uses some familiar mechanics to Grey Gnome fans, but is set in a hospital after the release of a terrible disease. Regular Price $30.99 and is on sale now for $25.87 Link to Decayed

Polyhedral Perils is a super compact dungeon delver that you could literally keep in your wallet. You only need to supply the dice. There are also a couple of expansions available for this little gem! Regular Price $5.99 and on sale now for $4.69 Link to Polyhedral Perils

Dungeoneering Dolls is a really enjoyable card game that focuses on hand-management and set-collection. It plays 2-4 players and is quick to learn, teach, and play. I also love the watercolor illustrations. Regular Price $23.99 and on sale now for $18.63 Link to Dungeoneering Dolls

So that completes my list of games that I would recommend that are part of this years summer sale. I urge you to take your time and look through all the games offered and see what speaks to you. It means a lot to an indie designer to make a sale, so you could really brighten someone’s day. Here are a list of games that I am looking at right now, that are also included in the sale, that I just might pick up myself. Don’t Let It Die, Sector 18, Auriferous, Legends of Expeditions, Mythical Menagerie, Potioneers, and Pocket Realm Crafter. Well, I hope this list inspired you to potentially pick up an exciting new indie game! Here is a direct link to the sale. >BACK TO SCHOOL SALE LINK<

Abominations (AKA Minibosses)

UnderQuest will include a 10 card Abominations deck. This deck will be used to augment standard enemy cards and make the foe deadlier. In most cases you will only be adding the prefix (left) portion to enemy cards, but in the case of the exalted foe dungeon card, you will have to add both the prefix from one card and the suffix from another card. This essentially creates a miniboss. The prefix side refers to a description of the enemy. Are they physically stronger or faster, or are they undead or have elemental power. The suffix side refers to which spiritual plane they are aligned with. This will boost the enemy in many powerful ways as you can see below. With 18 enemy cards and 10 abomination cards the number of combinations for enemies is virtually endless. Let’s take a look at a couple examples of an Abomination card.

Here we have two examples of Abomination cards. On the left of each card is the prefix portion of the card and this is added to an enemy card often when you get into combat after drawing the second card in the dungeon deck on your turn. In rare occasions you will also have to add the right (suffix) portion of the card as well. You will never be asked to add the suffix portion without the prefix portion. The prefix side always adds a bonus power, but also a weakness to the enemy. Both the prefix and suffix sides add bonus treasure if the enemy is defeated. This feeds into the idea of the greater the risk, the greater the reward. Let’s take a look at an enemy that has had just the prefix added to it.

Here we have a relatively average enemy in the Kafar. This fellow has a chance of hitting you a fire attack at the beginning of combat and can poison you if they successfully hit. He does have some good defense as well. Now add the stout prefix and he becomes a bit more beefy, potentially adding 6 health. Extra health, in combination with a strong defense, make this guy a pretty tough foe. with 18 enemy cards in the base game and 10 Abomination cards, you have a total of 180 potential combos! Now lets look at some minibosses. Muhahahahaha!

Here we have the fairly weak Goblin that has been elevated to a miniboss that is not so weak anymore. He gains the d6 extra health from the stout prefix and gains 1 defense from the suffix side. He will also add 2 fire damage to all successful hits. On the plus side, his 6 initiative drops to 4. Maybe not the scariest miniboss, but definitely puts him up there with some of the stronger base enemies. Now lets use the same two prefixes and suffixes on a stronger base enemy to create a formidable miniboss.

In the example we get a Stout Wraith of Glanoc! This gal is quite terrifying. She already has the ability to heal every time she successfully hits and now she starts out with extra health and defense! Successful hits also deal 2 fire damage! Now this is not something you want to tangle with. Let’s look at another example.

Here we have an Unholy Orc of Norcia! This is an undead orc that is weak to both fire and holy damage, which could prove useful for us. However, you will be gaining a curse token and taking 2 ice damage every time he hits! He is also immune to ice damage, but that likely is not a huge deal. Now lets use the same two Abomination cards and swap out the enemy with one that really becomes an issue.

The Unholy Shade of Norcia is a prime example of how the certain Abomination cards work really well with certain enemy cards to create some boss-level enemies. The absolute scariest part about this guy is that you gain 2 curse tokens every time this foe successfully hits, along with 2 ice damage. Unholy make him weak to holy attacks, but he was already weak to holy attacks, so there is no real gain there for you. He is also now immune to all ice damage. Let us not forget that the shade has an imitative of 8, which means he is likely striking first. Yikes!

Thanks for taking the time to learn about the Abomination deck. I am very excited with how this simple 10 card deck has the ability to take 18 enemies and make hundreds of potential foes out of them. Stay tuned, there is more to come…