August Update - it's a big one!
over 6 years ago – Thu, Aug 17, 2017 at 01:42:01 AM

Hi guys, I'm excited to give you this update, it is a lengthy one and there is a lot to communicate. It is worth noting that when we talk about the cards we have revised the card decks from the pre-final decks used at the Expo.  

IMPORTANT CAVEAT - the revised cards have been made with section cut outs and so forth to expedite the testing process. Everything will be made beautiful by Scott before it reaches you - please do not worry about graphic design glitches on the cards shown in the update.  

Blind Testing, feedback and improvements

The blind testing was completed at Manorcon in Leicester in the UK. Please note IG were not present at this event. The game was tested blind from the box with the testers reading the rules from the start and then playing the game. This exercise was undertaken on an 'observed only' basis by Paul Grogan (our 3rd party Editor). Paul took extensive notes and only intervened where it was clear there was a misunderstanding of a rule and that would have led to the testers playing the entire game incorrectly.

The blind testing was followed up with subsequent testing so that Paul (on our behalf) could try out a few alternative mechanics. We have now incorporated our design modifications based on our experience at the Expo, a few final light bulb moments we have had and also some ideas Paul had come up with during the blind testing experience. The most important changes to the game you need to be aware of are detailed below.

However let us first introduce you to your new Party Token, whom I affectionately refer to as Gandlin: 

 We spent a lot of time trying out different combinations and in the end settled on just using the Scout rather than trying to show the whole party. It really makes a lot more sense on the Location card and keeps everything in a sense of scale. The darker picture is the obverse side of the token used to mark where the Party is on the map and also to show that it does not have a light source. In this case we have used a small wisp (the Sax are good friends with the Fey in Mor Nadar) to give a tiny light source, otherwise it would have been a black token! If the Party gains a light source then simply flip the Party marker over to the reverse side which will remind you that you have light and also improve the feel of your adventure in the Locations.

1 - Improved Mapping

Previously you joined up a Location card to the next Location card based on lighting levels. The idea being that if you drew an Obstacle card as you entered into the new Location then that Obstacle occurred in the space between the cards and therefore you were not building an exact map but one that implied there was a gap between locations. The testing feedback was quite clear that the testers did not find this intuitive and that players would rather build a physical map with one exit on the old card matching exactly with the new opening on the next card. We have therefore adopted a new exact mapping system where you build the map with touching exits making the entire map look like a single tunnel system. Under the new exact matching system it is possible to overlap one card over another (except where it is mid edge to mid edge, where it is pretty obvious anyway) to build a continuous tunnel system. If you look at the diagram below you will see that the Party is exiting an Ambient Exit and draws the Skybridge card. You are no longer required to match lighting levels you simply find the exit with the footsteps on it (on the newly drawn card) and match or overlap the exits to make the tunnel. You will see that the footsteps are only used for an instant and are then replaced with the one unifying lighting condition (in this case Ambient). The Party Token is then moved forward and is immediately confronted with an Obstacle icon (which may be a trial or a trap).

 Benefits:
• Simpler to understand
• Better looking map
• Single lighting value joining both exit and entrance
 
2 - Streamlining of Turn Order

An issue the testers had with the cards was where you had a location with a Barrier blocking the Exit of one corridor. Depending on map orientation this could mean you could have:
1. A clear exit which maps onto a clear entrance.
2. An exit with a barrier over it which would have to be cleared first, followed by an entrance which could either be clear or have another barrier in the way also.
3. You could potentially defeat the first barrier then have an obstacle card (which happens between the cards), and then in that short space before the Barrier you would have a Foe, then a Discovery before you even had to deal with the Barrier.

 If you look at the diagram above you can see the problem, there is a Barrier in the way the moment you walk into that card via that entrance, or there is a barrier in your way if you choose to exit the the card via that exit. Whenever we explained this at a Demo it was fine as we would explain how a Barrier worked in each of the situations, however feedback from the testers was pretty clear - the system worked but it made the rules extremely cumbersome to explain to account for all the variations. With this in mind we have dropped Barriers between Exits. Barriers remain an impediment to progress and are placed over tunnels which lead into internal rooms on an existing Location card.

3 – Obstacles and Adventures

We received feedback that the Adventure deck felt too random. The Adventure deck previously contained Obstacles, Foes, Discoveries and Loot items. This enabled us to mix in the cards and when you had to draw a Foe, you would also get any Loot items that you found while drawing from the Adventure deck. However the feedback was that you burned through a lot of cards looking for the one you wanted and this felt too random to the players. So, looking at the changes to the mapping system, we decided to move the Obstacles to their own deck and have the Adventure deck contain Foes, Discoveries and Loot. 

Obstacles are now placed as an icon directly on the Location card itself as the testers felt it easier to follow that they entered the new corridor and the Obstacle icon (immediately after the footsteps) was in front of them telling them to deal with it. The Obstacle cards include Traps, placing them into their own deck meant they would no longer show up in the Adventure deck, a compromise which improved the draw card mechanic but reduced the 'what is coming next?' factor in the Adventure deck. With this in mind we decided that we would keep large fixed Traps in the Obstacle deck (like the Ancient Skeleton jaw trap, as voted for by you guys) and we would include a new category of smaller traps for the Adventure deck.

 If you look at the prefinal card (top) and the new one you will see several key differences:
 A - The Lighting figures have been tweaked and reversed (covered in point 5).
B - The footsteps show you which Exit to link up with.
C - The Barrier on the way in has been moved to a side room and now has an Adventure icon (the Pentagon with a ?) behind it to remind you to draw an Adventure card if you resolve the Barrier.
D - An Obstacle has been placed after the footsteps (covered here in point 3).
E - The icons have been recoloured (covered in point 12). 

4 - Booby Traps

We took some of the concepts behind a Trap card but looked at making them small and really quick. Something that no matter what you were doing in the game you could (if required) draw from the Adventure deck and you had to deal with it there and then - a Booby Trap.

 Booby Traps in one sense are like the opposite of a Loot card. If you draw a Loot card from the Adventure deck you receive the Loot provided you defeat any Foe etc. which is guarding it. With a Booby Trap you draw it and you must deal with it right there and then. Indeed you may even have Booby Trapped Loot to deal with! 

We are very pleased to announce to our Backers that although we have one more draw deck (the Obstacle deck) you now will experience a lot less deck burn on the Adventure deck and you will also now have Booby Traps to deal with. To make this change happen we are giving you all 5 new Booby Trap cards in both the Caves and Sewers sets as a gift from IG to you at our cost.

You will now have:
• An Obstacle deck with Trials and Traps
• An Adventure deck with 5 Booby Traps, Foes, Discoveries and Loot.

5 - Lighting and Surprise

One of the key principles in Legends is that lighting conditions matter. The mapping system gives us a single lighting condition for that corridor (the one you exit). The testers therefore felt it intuitive that if they were wandering down a bright tunnel this should be better than a dark tunnel for spotting traps and obstacles. However it would be easier for Foes to see you coming.

The game has changed so that you now gain an advantage against obstacles and traps by choosing the bright exit (you are more likely to see traps, have more light for trials etc.) but it will increase the chance that Foes see you coming and are able to surprise you. Choosing a dark exit will mean you are more likely to stumble into a trap or fail a trial etc. but you will have an advantage in getting surprise on any Foes you may encounter.

This means that the existing system of Alertness (Alert, Bold or Careless) still works as before except it does NOT apply to Foes. A separate Surprise roll is made vs Foes to determine whether you or they have Surprise. This in turn is modified by whether you chose to Sneak and also whether you came from a bright or dark tunnel. Some Foes will be harder to Surprise than others (it is fairly easy to Surprise the Goblin Drunks).

  6 - Difficulty levels

The play testers were experienced gamers and noted that they found some elements of the game too difficult. As noted in the past update this is not an easy one to fix, some of you want it hard; some of you want it easy. So we went through all the cards and made some changes:
a) A rigorous challenge of all the test thresholds. Giving you options that you would never take was seen as being of little use so some of these have either been tweaked to be of more value or removed entirely.
b) Giving you better options. For example on a Barrier we usually give you three options: an easier one which will cost you time or damage even on a success and two progressively harder options which have a better risk reward payoff. We are not dropping everything as sometimes if you don't want to take the gamble then you will have to take the consequences of the easier test.
c) We have added three levels to the game: Easy, Heroic (normal effectively but you guys are playing reluctant Heroes after all) and Legendary. 

• Easy is the option for those that want that family friendly co-op feel 

• Heroic is the recommended default setting for experienced Gamers 

• Legendary mode - you really will have to accept the possibility of Hero death in this mode!
d) We have increased the number of party tests in the game. Party tests make every party member take a test, by definition they increase in difficulty with the number of Heroes. Having more Heroes gives you more options, and this helps to balance out that advantage.

 The Treacherous Bridge that we trialled at the Expo for example was particularly popular.

e) Foes now have a more in depth Hero difficultly banding. Before every Foe increased in difficulty depending on whether you had; 1-2 players, 3-5 players or 6+ players. Our play testers felt strongly that (provided it could be done with the creature in question) the difficulty level should be more granular. We have now provided a different Foe difficulty level for 1 Hero, 2 Heroes, 3 Heroes etc. all the way up to 8 Heroes.

 7 - Player Aids and Tokens

We have created a number of aids. Less things to remember means you can concentrate more on the adventure. We are double checking all of the token requirements just now and can confirm the number of tokens has increased considerably since the original stated figure of 28 tokens in the Kickstarter.

8- Scenario cards It became pretty clear that players wanted more guidance on how the Adventure deck should be constructed for each Scenario. We have tweaked this to give guidance on the amount of loot, Foes etc. that should be included in the Easy/Heroic mode for the Scenario and how these should be modified if you want to play in Legendary mode. Again, please note this card has had sections pasted around on it, it will be made beautiful in the final merge.

 The gold bar at the bottom shows the Legendary mode deck figures.

9- Action Call Outs

There are a lot of different tests in Legends: Basic Tests, Table Tests, Staged Tests, Basic Party Tests and Basic Table Tests. These can all work slightly differently depending on whether you are dealing with a trial, trap, curiosity etc. 

  We have always worked on the assumption that every card tells you the card type (e.g. Trial) and the Test type (e.g. Basic Test) and therefore the rules are pretty clear which Hero needs to do what on the card. Apparently we were wrong!

To help explain - here you can see this card is a Party Basic Test (top right next to the Mastery Pennant). Basic Test means select either of the three options, apply the relevant Attribute plus any Alertness rating (+2 in this case) any relevant Kit (x2 Modifier in this case) and make your roll. The fact this is a Party Basic Test means all Heroes have to cross that chasm, not just one Hero as proxy.  

However we of course know this because we have played Legends quite a lot! So taking into account tester feedback, we have added in a one or two line Action Bar on every card which clearly state which Hero or Heroes need to do what on each card. Please note we have not changed the rules or the engine behind the game (to do so would sacrifice the depth that we believe the game warrants). However we believe this simple change will make it all clearer when you play it for the first time and continue to help reduce the number of questions you might have.

10 - Weapons and Foes

Each of the Foes was fought multiple times under a variety of conditions. Each weapon and its suite of talents was also tested multiple times under a variety of conditions. I'm pleased to say the weapons performed exactly as we had designed them, they all do different things and feel very different. You will not use a sling in the same way you would use a spear etc. 

Some of the Foes came out too easy a few came out too hard. This has been dealt with in the balancing. We have kept a few difficult creatures exactly as that. Yesterday I had an epic eight Hero combat against the Goblin Queen where she caused a massive 22 wounds before the Heroes bested her. We strongly advise when you are playing Legends that you remember you are playing reluctant peasant adventurers - there is no shame in running sometimes!

11 - Cinematic Campaign

Testing for the Caves Campaign was completed and it confirmed a few things: If you have the time to commit to the Cinematic Campaign it really does add an extra dimension to the game. You will think twice about everything you do when it could result in you or your Heroes being killed by that 'oh come on it's only a harmless wee bunny' decision. The Caves element of the Campaign involves protecting the safety of your townsfolk. It is surprising how easy it can be to lose your fellow townsfolk over the course of the Campaign. We are looking at the balance on this one as otherwise it may be a case of 8 were sent and, err, there was nobody to return to.  

Joking apart there are just some modest balance tweaks to be done here and then it is on to the Sewers Campaign final testing.

12 - Iconography

Here is the picture from above to help:

 The testers coped with nearly all the icons but struggled with a few of them (mostly the old obstacle icon and the flooding icon), these are being redesigned. We have tried a three pronged approach on iconography to help you understand what is going on at any point:

ColourCrimson/red - you must draw this card from the relevant deck.

Parchment/yellow - This is an optional thing you may choose to do (a Campsite for example).

Green - a passive icon, you do not need to do anything with this icon unless the rules specifically state so (e.g. an insect icon, indicating there are insects in the location).

Shape The Shape of the icon will confirm whether it is passive (a circle) or which Deck to go to (e.g. Pentagon for Adventure, Rhombus for Obstacle).

Icon Design
The design of each icon will further confirm exactly what it is (for example a fist in the Pentagon is a Foe whereas a Map in the Pentagon is a Discovery.

We do not believe this should cause any issues for colour blindness, the shapes clearly dictate where you are going and it will quickly become self evident what you do and do not need to do with each icon type. However we absolutely would like challenge on this, please do get in touch with us if anybody is experiencing any issues on this front.

Timelines

This leads into what are our current Timelines for getting the game to you. Our critical path is:
• Get the rest of the revised decks final tested by the end of August.  

• Complete all of the graphic design changes, icon updates and rulebook updates by mid-September  

• Share the rulebook for feedback to our Backers in mid-September.  

• Complete the Final Layout of the rules by end of September.  

• Send the card files, box files and rule files to the Manufacturer at the end of September.  

• We are awaiting confirmation from Whatz games what this will mean in terms of delivery, however it is generally 8-12 weeks for manufacturing and delivery (Whatz are fully aware of what we are doing and are keen to get the files).

This unfortunately means we are looking at a December shipping date guys.

We understand you want to get this game as soon as possible. We hope you can see from the above that the 3rd party testing is absolutely necessary and that we are doing all we can to get this game to you as soon as we can.

We wish you and your fiamilies all the very best.
Kind regards from team IG.

July Progress update - new weapons!
almost 7 years ago – Mon, Jul 10, 2017 at 01:06:09 AM

Hey guys - this is not a video full of shiny art this time but a good old fashioned progress update.

We are diligently plodding thought final testing as scheduled. We have final tested all the weapons, weapon talents and the foes now. We did not encounter any real surprises during the process, possibly a couple of balancing points to make on whether a creature is tough enough or indeed too tough however nothing major.

We have always encountered this debate over 'how tough do you like your game' and we get varying responses every time we ask people this question.  The variance often comes from whether the respondent is playing Legends as a game that they can 'win or lose' or as an RPG experience where the adventure experience is paramount. Don't fret folks, we think the danger level is appropriate to satisfy both perspectives and the key point is that everything worked as we expected and nothing radical happened.

New weapons
One thing we wanted to let you know was that we are going to give you more choice in the weapons you will get.  We had planned this for some time but needed to final test the weapons against all of the foes first. 

We are pleased to announce the introduction of both the javelin and the sling, diligent observers of the Sewers box art may have picked up that the Performer is hurling that weapon in a pose one might associate with proficiency in the javelin. In addition you'll see our grizzly old Labourer is desperately fending off the Bile Beast with a Bill.

The final weapons line up is therefore:

Caves:
Bow and 3 Talents
Axe and 3 Talents
Spear and 3 Talents
Staff and 3 Talents
Seax and 3 Talents
Sling and 1 Talent

Sewers:
Bow and 3 Talents
Axe and 3 Talents
Spear and 3 Talents
Staff and 3 Talents
Polearm and 3 Talents
Javelin  and 1 Talent

Druid Booster:
Club and 3 Talents

Please note:
1) All the weapon talents are unique so you have three bow talents from Caves (each with two abilities) and three from the Sewers.  This gives you 6 (plus the standard shot for 7) different ways to use your bow with the Caves set increasing to 13 different ways to use the bow if you add in the talents from the Sewers Set.
2) The replication of bow, axe, spear and staff in both sets is deliberate and has been the case since inception.  This is because our research showed these as the most common Saxon/Viking era weapons in use - this fits completely with world of Mor Nadar and the low fantasy feel we are going for.  Also importantly if you are playing with a group two of you can take the axe etc.
3) However we want to give you that chance to use the seax (you are starting out as a quasi Saxon people after all) and after much testing a prototype polearm also.  That is why these weapons have 3 talents each (which is 7 different ways to use them).
4) We couldn't resist it, the idea of using javelins and the sling is thematically appropriate and just too much fun to pass up.  Therefore we have added these weapons in as discussed above and given them one weapon talent each.  

The javelin and sling are a gift from IG to you and are included on top of the original stated game contents for free.


What is important also is that the weapons all play and feel very differently.  These are not just different stat blocks.  You will find that the axe and the talents behind it will give you a weapon that behaves very differently to the staff and so forth. 

Finalising the weapons is important because of course we now know what will happen to them when you upgrade twice at a later date.  So where is my sword you ask? Well swords were incredibly rare and expensive in the Dark Ages, way beyond the reach of Novice level reluctant heroes who are evicted, penniless and have had their arms confiscated by the Newcomers.  However if you play a Seax then upgrade it to the Langseax then of course that will have to upgrade to something else at Apprentice Rank once you get through those Caves and Sewers...

Can everything be upgraded then in a future set?  Well that is a discussion for another day and lots more testing but it has already been mapped out how it will work.  All I'm saying is that if you want to use a Dane Axe or an Angon at a later date then the weapons mapping has that covered off.

Non Weapon stuff
OK so with the important area of combat locked down final testing on the non combat stuff begins (simultaneous testing of obstacles, discoveries and the kit and Skill Talents which interact with them). In parallel with this testing work Paul Grogan (our 3rd party editor) is robustly challenging everything and working through the rule book. Rest assured Paul is challenging EVERYTHING (a good thing) and that the final testing we have done will be complimented by blind testing in due course. 

The game is tantalizingly close and we know you guys want it soon. Right now our focus is on eliminating errors, balancing thresholds and making sure that when you get the product you will be able to take the game from the box and understand how to play it. With Legends we have always found that people have that "ahhh I get it moment". The game is not complex (verified by many at the Expo and Reviewers also) after you have played a few turns. The challenge on Legends is that it tries to do things differently and you are trying to replicate the guidance of a GM but of course there is no GM! 

Hugh always jokes that there is no "Kev App" with this game, we looked into it guys but the costs of the hologram were just too high! The Blind playtesting will give us that final piece of the puzzle, the ability to let you play the game from the box without us having to explain it and give you the 'ahhh I get it' moment. 

Shipping wise we are still looking for October.  We really had hoped to attend Essen this year and have the product with us there (indeed at the start we had said there was an outside chance we could do this at the Expo).  However we have learned that things just take a bit longer than we thought they would.  We have decided therefore that we will not attend Essen in 2017, we don't believe we will have stock to sell with us at that point and we believe the cost and time we would incur we can deploy more usefully on Legends and future releases.

We apologise for those looking to pick up at Essen but want to flag this now that as was the case at UKGE we will not be able to offer local pick up at Essen on this occassion. We would hope that the game will be in transit to you during that month though, that is what we are devoting all our resources towards just now.

Hopefully by now some of you are getting excited by the weapon line up we have announced, as ever it is our pleasure to produce content for you.  

From all the team at IG we wish you and your families the best.

I'm off to go navigate a treacherous bridge - anyone want to join me?

Cheers

IG

Promo Cards, Post Expo Update and Future Plans
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jun 15, 2017 at 11:33:16 PM

Hey guys,

OK we have finally recovered from UKGE 2017 which was tremendous in so many ways.

From the get go I want to thank our amazing crew of demo staff: Jon, Chris, Eoghan and Mark who alongside Hugh and myself worked their cotton socks off all weekend for IG.  Our stand was more than three times the size of the previous year and we were consistently told by visitors that we were one of the busiest booths at the whole Expo.  I'd also like to thank the incredibly supportive wives that gave six of us a pass for four days to go and nerd it up.

Also of course I would like to thank our amazing team of Artists who all worked so hard to bring together the pieces for the show.

Finally a huge thanks to Scott for his tireless work making amazing banners.  Fitting all the artwork on those huge banners in a way that had immediate impact and with appropriate fonts and call outs is quite a talent.  

Feedback
I thought I would share the demo feedback with you so you can see how Legends has changed in the past year from the perspective of people who played the game.

Sample Size in 2017 was 83 feedback forms vs 45 in 2016.

Q1 - How much did you enjoy the Game?
95% of respondents rated Legends as fun or great compared to 91% in 2016.

Q2 - How complex was the game to understand?
84% of respondents rated Legends as straightforward compared to 50% in 2016.

Q3 - Did the theme of the game come through?
82% rated the game as involving or deep compared with 67% in 2016.

Q4 - How much would you pay for the game?
£15:2    £20:15   £25:46      £30:20

I have shared the comments below, good and bad (all constructive):
Very engaging. Great artwork and very interesting concepts.
Thoroughly enjoyed the game - proud to be a Backer!
Some thought on the links between decks and the effects on Scenarios. A Campaign structure that builds and draws players in.
Love that enemies react on their conditions, i.e. Low health enemies flee. Love how wounds are distributed. Artwork is good.
Make iconography easier to understand. Make how to play videos.
Looking forward to receiving my pledge. Engaging romp! Relatively easy to follow, good characters.
Fun, simple dungeon crawl that clearly has more depth.
Encounter Legend have colour codes for ease of reading - make optional vs compulsory interaction frames stand out.
Rolling high for both PC & Enemy seems off. Should be Advance = Hit for PC and Miss for enemy.
Hard to understand some icons with bad vision.
The icons are a little overwhelming at first.
Great game, very enjoyable.
Extra icon shorthand cards, 1 per player?
Lots of variety and replay. Enjoy the ability to role play with easy mechanics.
Really enjoyed it.
I like you can play both genders for each class.
Beautiful! So happy to see females represented. Cannot wait to play more!
No, just really looking forward to getting my hands on it.
Fun, fast and frantic!
A Fun and exciting game that is great for any level of gamer.
Nice having lots of abilities.
Great location cards.
Needs a large table. Easy to play, takes time to learn icons.
[game was very simple] Don't take it badly. I am not a fan of RPG combat mechanics.
Really fun to play, beautiful art. Very impressive altogether.
Really good fun, great demoer.
Your dice are broken!
Searching Loot didn't seem to make much sense. Drawing enemies instead of just loot and traps would be better.
Lots of symbols to learn but after a couple of play throughs they'd make sense. Very nice artwork.
Good blend of RPG and boardgaming.
A good visual alternative to role playing.
Really liked it. Looking for a six player game we can evolve characters on. I think I have found it!
Really enjoyed the demonstration, everyone was very helpful and answered all questions. 

Conclusions:
We really value all our feedback forms, we used them last year to improve Legends as we want to make it the very best game we can. Our take on the feedback we have above is as follows:
The vast majority of people who try Legends find it fun.
Legends has become more immersive in terms of theme but more straightforward to understand.  This is a big deal for us as we have actually added MORE depth to the game since 2016.  However through constant iteration, backed up by Scott's graphic design work and the frequent lightbulb moments which Hugh and I have we really feel like our vision of a game with depth, immersive theme and ease of play is coming to fruition.

The price figures are there purely to show what we said at the start of the Campaign, Legends is a big game in a small box, so the validation from gamers that our pricing is in line with expectations is most welcome.

In terms of actions from the Comments section, we have noted the icons mentioned that need tweaked and a few of the other player aids that require adjustment. We are also tweaking font size where the card permits to ease reading.  We often have to pack a lot of text onto a card which can necessitate smaller text but please be assured that my miniature painting days are mostly done now as my eyesight is getting worse so I am always pushing for larger fonts where possible.

We also took the opportunity to do our colourblind testing at the Expo and received the thumbs up.

Promo Cards:
We always want to push the boundaries and thought it would be a nice idea to turn the UKGE event into an adventure itself.  You will be able to see this in the video better but the idea was that it might be fun to romp around the NEC in a more 'Legendary' setting whilst also giving you a glimpse of future plans for new Environments including the Crypts and Brethren Works.
To be honest we didn't think anybody outside the UK would be that interested as we had looked at it from a UKGE venue perspective. Clearly we got this wrong!  We have had a lot of interest in these cards and we want to look after you the Backers.  With this in mind because the game is unpublished and therefore logistically it is still possible for us to do so we will include all four promo cards for free with every copy of the Caves Set when it is sent to you.

We need to have the ability to create Promo cards for Conventions and so forth to help market the game and generate interest in the Legends story. We hope that you are happy with this decision.

What's next?:
Currently we are sifting through all the cards to spot errors and and areas for improvement alongside final testing of Scenarios and the Cinematic Campaign.
We are delighted to confirm that the Rule Book has been passed on to Paul Grogan of Gaming Rules (who has a huge wealth of experience in this area) who (after Origins) is spending his time on the third party edit and then pushing it out for final blind testing. 

We are also now receiving a lot of interest from Retailers and hope to have stockists for Legends going forward, more on this to come in future updates.

The Video:
The video covers off the promo cards and future plans for Legends.  We wanted everyone to be able to see the concept art that we shared at the Expo and thought this would be the best way to do so.
A few caveats:
I had to wait a week or so record this as I had lost my usual dulcet tones to a more Rod Stewart like voice after four days of the Expo.

The recording was made late at night and there are a couple of things that crept in which I should flag now rather than rerecord the update:
1 - Thermal vs. Thermonuclear.  Thermonuclear was definitely a memory from one of my favourite 80s films: War Games. For those that remember it Legends is basically a big game of tic tac toe...(ahem).

2 - Brake Slug Power...errr can we just pretend I never said that one.

 
We thank all of you for your continued support in this project, it was great to see many of you in person at the Expo and we hope this update helps you share some of our excitement from that event.

Best wishes to you and your families.
Cheers
Team IG

Big update, card art & Expo sneak peek
almost 7 years ago – Mon, May 29, 2017 at 01:31:52 AM

Hi guys,  

this is a big update!

I wanted to show off a lot of the cards to explain the changes that we have made to them. Please note we had a deadline to hit to get these cards to the printer for UKGE, a deadline we did not want to miss as we want to conduct final testing at the Expo. These cards are pre-finals (roughly 90% complete), they remain subject to changes at final testing. Please be reassured that the rules and all cards will be subject to a final 3rd party proof after we have done final testing. We know you guys want a finished product that is error free. We will be doing everything we can to ensure that we deliver upon that.

Also to simplify the video production please note these cards are shown full bleed, there will be 3mm removed round the edge of all the cards when they are cut.

In terms of the cards themselves we hope you like them, we've tweaked mechanics, graphic design and art to deliver the game for you in a format that we firmly believe is way beyond what we initially hoped for at the start of the Kickstarter process. We are delighted to be able to do this as we want you to have the best game we can possibly make for you.

As a personal note I would like to thank all of you for the kind wishes you have sent over the past few months which have kept us going. Legends Untold has proved to be an epic journey for us, we can now see the tavern at the end of the quest however there are a few more trials to deal with before we reach home. We know that the majority of you can not join us at UKGE and therefore we wanted to show you, the Backers, the pre-final cards before the general public. For those that can make it to UKGE please come and join us at the stand, you will be made most welcome by our merry band. 

We wish you and your families the very best.
Cheers from Team IG!

Important update - it's a big one!
about 7 years ago – Thu, Mar 23, 2017 at 01:32:16 AM

Hi guys!  

Apologies for the delay in getting this update out to you. There are a lot of moving parts which have clicked into place in the last week. We hope when you read the update and see the video you will be able to see that we have taken Legends several steps forward since the last time we updated you.

Video

For those that want to go straight to the art here is the video:

Delay

This is a message we never wanted to deliver but it is appropriate to be upfront and honest about this right at the start. We are going to be late and you have our apologies for this.

1) Our June date was based on the original delivery for the Caves set, which we would have reached for the base game. The impact of the stretch goal changes, boosters and Sewers set have added extra time to the delivery date owing to the additional content being delivered. We got that wrong in the whirlwind of the campaign, which was a truly crazy, exciting and exhausting process. We have gone from delivering a 110 card game to more than three times that many cards and balancing everything has taken some time.

2) Art Direction. We wanted to use the additional funding we received to create a product which we think gives Legends the look it deserves and this has added delays to the process. We have had to source appropriate artists specialising in the various artistic areas: Characters, Creatures, Environments, Small Assets and Top Down Locations. Selecting artists, putting in place contracts and art directing over 300 cards takes some time.  

We understand you will be disappointed by this announcement and we are disappointed too. We really wanted you guys to have the game before the UK Games Expo in June so that we could continue to push the game and introduce the finished product to reviewers and Retailers at that convention. It was always going to be incredibly tight to deliver that deadline which is why we quoted June as the delivery date. We have spent some time doing detailed project planning on what is left to be done and are confident (notwithstanding things beyond our control) in a revised delivery date of September/October 2017.  

To give you all some confidence in this date we’ve provided a detailed update for each area below.  

Art  

All of the art for the Caves, Sewers and Boosters sets has been commissioned and received (or is in final submission stage) with the exception of the Location cards, which are currently being worked on. An artist has been identified for the Location cards. Test cards for the Caves and Sewers have been developed and accepted. The Location cards have undergone a lot of redesign work to make them feel more thematic and immersive. In addition, given the increased size of the Location cards, we wanted to add more rooms for you to explore and to make them feel in tune with the environment. We want the Caves and the Sewers to look and feel distinct rather than both feeling like a different type of dungeon. The current estimate is to have the Final Location cards delivered by mid April.  

Box Art

We are in the process of commissioning the box art for the Sewers set. During the Kickstarter we could only show you a mock up using a black box with an outline Lizardkin Chanter on it. We wanted to focus on the cards first and develop our relationships with the portfolio of artists we now have. The new box art should be completed in April.  

Graphic Design  

We have worked hard to improve the graphic design of the cards and Scott continues to work his magic! We are not quite ready to show you the revised cards however they have been tweaked to improve gameplay, visual impact and also address some things we were never happy with (where to place the card code identifier for example). The graphic redesign of the cards will be completed by the end of March.

Rules

The rule book has been set for some time now, the only changes that have been made are to accommodate those improvements which the stretch goals have given us (larger cards, additional cards, improved events, better use of tokens, etc.). In short we have more card real estate to work with and so we are using that space to include a number of ideas to give more depth and re-playability to the game. We also have a lot more cards giving us the flexibility to implement new skill and weapon talents into the game. We have spent a lot of time trying to keep the game easy to play whilst having the depth that we wanted in an adventure game.  

Editing and 3rd Party Proofing

We have been discussing the final edit with established rules editors. We are close to making an announcement in this regard and will do so in due course. We need to get all of the cards complete and assembled so that we can send them with the rule book to the chosen editor. We remain firm to our commitment that the game will go to a third party to challenge the rules to ensure they are as clear as possible. The rules will be professionally edited and proof read prior to their publication. We are excited that we are nearly in a position to be able to embark on this important step.

Card improvements

Scenarios

Now that we are using the larger Scenario cards we have the ability to give the Scenarios more punch. We have been able to add in some more improvements to make the game feel more immersive. A few of the standard Scenarios now have Side Quests on them (small optional quests you can undertake during the Scenario for additional effects). We have also added the concept of Plot cards which are used in a variety of ways to make some of the standard Scenarios play as a mini campaign and have an attached story which is entirely different to the Cinematic Campaign.

The Cinematic Campaign feels different for both sets. The way you play the Caves Campaign will feel totally different to the Sewers Campaign. We have been asked to clarify what that means for future hero development, we are cautious of giving away spoilers but what I can say is that the Weeping Caves and the Great Sewer both meet at a number of points, the locals know the best known meeting as The Great Diversion where water from the Weeping Caves is diverted into the Sewer. However only a few know how to reach the Great Diversion from either the Caves or the Sewers and it is up to you to try and reassemble your Heroes there if you can survive the Cinematic Campaign(s).  

Events

Moving the Events to separate cards has turned out to be perhaps the most valuable upgrade we have done. The flexibility this has given us to make the adventures unpredictable and more immersive is great. We received feedback that some of you wanted an extra layer of difficulty in the game and we have addressed this by adding Legendary Events on the Events card. So you can now decide if you want to tackle your adventures in standard or legendary mode. Your game, your choice!  

Locations

As noted above the Location cards are being commissioned now. We have identified improvements we can make both to the card and to the graphic design elements. We will share these at a later date.

Barriers

Now that we have separate cards for the Events and also tokens to assist us the Barriers are used in a much more interesting way. They still serve their basic function of impeding progress into another part of the Location however we have also found a way of cloning them now to suit Scenarios as required. For example in the Sewers you may need to deal with a lot of sluice gates in one particular Scenario but that doesn't mean we need to replicate that card multiple times. This enables us to give you both the variety of different Barrier cards and also a new flexibility using them that we had always wanted to deliver.

Obstacles

We have improved the rules around teamwork to include Party tests. So now if six of you decide you need to get across that Chasm then what one Hero does may directly assist or inhibit the following Hero making it feel much more like a party experience. We have used graphic design to accommodate this improvement as well as to increase the art space so that you can see more art on the card.

Discoveries

We have worked hard to improve the graphic design of the Discovery cards, in particular the Encounters. The amount of space for the art was far too small previously and we are pleased to say that through revised graphic design we have now doubled the space for the artwork on these cards to put them on a par with the other cards in Legends.

Foes

We have made some material graphic design and illustrative changes to the Foes. As part of our revised art direction we have chosen not to simply colour our line drawings and leave them on a parchment background as was the original intent. If you look at the accompanying video you will see that each Foe is now fully rendered by hand and has an accompanying background to make these cards 'full art' in their own right. We have made a number of graphic design changes to accommodate the new improved art so that you can see as much of it as possible.

Hero Templates

We are still working through our planned series of improvements here. We believe we have found a better way of making the tableau/character record sheet work for you, this will make it more intuitive and easier to assemble and use your Hero. Graphically we need to do our new Heroes justice and will therefore be replacing the medieval green tapestry background which some of you did not like with something else. We should have completed all of the Hero templates by the end of this month.

Booster sets

With all of the space on the cards available we had to make a few decisions on what the final game would look like and what is the best game for you the Backers to receive. We have iterated through the various options and are pleased to announce the following changes to the Booster content:  

The Neophyte (Druidic) booster

The double poker sized Scenario card will be retained and will now be reverse printed too giving you two Scenarios rather than one. There are now 2 Kit items rather than 1 in the booster, these are a Cat companion and a Raven companion. You guys asked that we give the Female Performer a Cat so we did (we put a little wooden carving on the end of the performing staff which you can see in the video). However we wanted to let you actually take a pet in the game so now any one Hero can take the cat card. We have increased the number of skill talent options to 4 to let you choose how your druid may follow the Druiach path.  

The Gardener (Alchemist) booster

Like the Neophyte, the Alchemist booster will have a double sized reversible Scenario card to provide you with two Scenarios rather than one. Watching the Achean culture come to life (OK come to card) has been a real joy for us. We have therefore added in the Achean Gardener's Outfit as a card, so between the Caves, Sewers and Boosters at Novice Rank there are now 10 Occupations and 10 Outfits. We also decided that if you are going to set out on the path of becoming an Alchemist it seems appropriate to have a Skill Talent to be able to do this, we have added in a complimentary Skill Talent into this booster set for you to try out. When you look at the video we hope you agree the Hero really feels like somebody who wants to explore and harvest ingredients.

Everything else

BackerKit

We thank everyone who has completed their survey. Please note we are still missing details from about 120 backers, please do complete the survey ASAP if you have not done so. A number of you have been in touch about change of address details, we are arranging with BackerKit to update the system accordingly on your behalf. If you have any issues please email as [email protected]  

Retail and Distribution

We have been asked by a number of you about stocking the game in FLGS and the like. We are always happy to hear about retail enquiries and have a few ongoing just now.

Conventions  

We will shortly be starting our 2017 Convention Season. We kick off with Conpulsion (Edinburgh) and International Tabletop Day (Dunfermline) and then look forward to UKGE in June. We also hope to be attending Essen this year. If any of you are attending these Conventions please do hunt us down and come have a game with us!  

We are hugely grateful for your continued support and wish you and all your families the very best.

Cheers

The IG team.