This is the Man in Black, one of the most useful cards in the game when you are in a tight spot:
It’s only a Level 3 piece of Equipment, but it has a very useful special ability.
It allows you to discard this card and trade every other Equipment Card in your hand into the deck. The deck is then reshuffled and you are given the same number of Equipment Cards (except the Man in Black!) back.
This allows you to replenish and refresh your equipment when you’re facing something you might not be able to defeat. There are a number of single cards which can save your bacon at the worst moments of this game, and this innocent-looking piece of equipment (of which there are two in the deck!) is the one that will let you re-draw your hand to try to get one!
What more could you want from the Man in Black?
Well, don’t mistake it for the “Other Kind of Man In Black”. More on that tomorrow!
Champion of Earth is racing through its Kickstarter campaign and so far we’ve broken through a ton of Stretch Goals. All this great news means that our backers can expect to get a whole load of extra cards with their default decks! Things are doing well and right now the campaign is moving ever closer to expansion decks. Share this event with your friends because the more people that join in, the greater the rewards are for everyone!
I mentioned last week that our next big game explosion is going to be the Era: Survival expansions. Well, put a mark on your calendar because work has begun on that Kickstarter and we’re planning to run it in May. That may sound like it’s far off but it will sneak up on you faster than an Infected in the dark!
Along with a whole host of other expansions, this event is going to bring you the Aqua and Swarm Source books. These books were mentioned in the previous Kickstarter and Ed wanted to make sure everyone had a chance to get their hands on them. I know you’re going to enjoy these in-depth looks at some of the peculiar denizens of the Survival world!
As we get closer to this event I’ll be bringing you more information about these and the other books available, but until then I have an image to show you. This piece is from the Swarm Source Book. If you’ve never heard of the Swarm I’ll let you in on just one fact. The Drones of the Swarm burn everything and everyone around them to ensure that they don’t become Infected. This is virtually the same exact thing I do when I see too many dishes in the sink. You’ll find this and so many more invaluable pieces of detail in all our Survival expansion books. Start prepping today!
Today, I’m talking about Equipment which has the ability to “Scout”. It’s a specific trait that some equipment has, including the highly awesome “Hobby Drone with Assault Rifle”!
Well, if you have all that duct tape, you have to use it somehow, right?
The “Scout” ability on any card allows you to expend that card to pick up and look at every monster in the Oncoming Horde. You don’t show anyone else, but it lets you know what you want to do within your turn.
I hope you have a good memory, because you only get to do that once!
There’s also a limited version of Scout offered by the Binoculars card: it allows you to turn over the first card in the Oncoming Horde for everyone to see. It stays face-up until it is defeated.
Remember, you don’t have to fight a monster just because it is face-up during your turn, you only have to fight it if it’s turned face up because you challenged it or another monster’s effect caused it to turn.
And, of course, Binoculars carry significant risk, because they do turn up the first card… meaning any abilities will activate. Use at your own risk…
I mean, they are a Level 1 Weapon!
I’ll be back tomorrow with another cool thing that Equipment Cards can let you do.
This card makes the first monster alive in the Oncoming Horde into your willing servant. It’ll attack the next monster, and whichever one loses dies! Don’t worry, if they are equal in power, your new pet wins!
Unfortunately, during the fight, the Mind Control Collar is destroyed, leaving you to face the winner of the battle!
That last part might sound bad, but it’s a fantastic way to thin the Oncoming Horde a little, with minimal risk to you. After all, it leaves only one creature where there had been two, as well as giving you a corpse for your troubles…
I’m talking today about a particular card which is a big self-reference for us.
This is the Martian Pants card.
It’s a reference to Era: The Empowered, and one of the most powerful heroes in that universe.
Martian Pants Man, or Forethought as he prefers to be called, is able to summon any item he has recently interacted with from his pocket. The card reflects the same abilities: it allows you to retrieve the last Equipment card used in the Champion of Earth card game!
Be careful when you play this, and it may provide a huge advantage to you!
Today, I’m talking about another of the mechanics that is a little more focused on the versus aspect of the game, specifically “Just Making Sure!”.
This card is capable of making the difference between a winner and a loser! Like the Alarm, which I spoke about yesterday, it is an Interrupt card, meaning it can be played any time.
This card is played immediately after another player has achieved a killing blow, and steals the corpse from that player. As the score doesn’t matter, it may not seem on the surface like the moment this is chosen by a player would matter, but if following an Alarm, for example, the combination could be devastating, removing the competition and reducing them below the threshold required to win the game!
Also, it’s a really cool piece of artwork!
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
The alarm and the creatures that act like it in the game can be intensely strategic tools against your fellow players.
What they do is very simple: every monster of the same type will attack the players instantly. If you’ve played with the Quickstart Pack provided by the Kickstarter, you’re probably already familiar with this.
The Alarm is an Interrupt card (it can be played at any time, even during another player’s turn) will make everything in the Oncoming Horde instantly attack the active player.
The Crying Alien baby and the Werewolf Puppy will work on Aliens and Creatures respectively. There are a few other cards (such as the Alien Attack Pet) that even turn over something of another Monster Type (in that case, creature).
These moments can be devastating: a Crying Alien Baby that turns over a Mothership (9, +1 to all Aliens) and a Jetpack Alien (7, but now +1) could well spell doom for anyone who’s playing. In the same way, a well-placed alarm can sharply end the career of another hero who looks like they might win!
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
If you are one of our backers whose requested physical copies did not include the Definitive Edition, Revival, and Expansions Volume 1, you should begin to see your order within a couple of weeks in the UK, or maybe 3 in the US! These last three titles are currently being worked on and we expect to see some of them finishing very soon.
Expansions Volume 1 is currently with the indexer. Everyone loved the index from the original Era: The Consortium rulebook and we’re striving to make this next edition just as fabulous. The Definitive Edition has now gone through a full edit and is currently having its layout fixed up a bit. Ed expects this one to go out to proofreaders soon. Revival is still in the works and progressing but there is more that needs to be done with this one. I will keep you posted on each of these books so keep checking back!
So, unless you’ve ordered the Expansion Volume 1, the Definitive Edition, or Revival, you should expect to see your physical copy arriving in your mailbox within the next few weeks! Thank you again to all of our supporters. We could not do any of this without you behind us!
The Consortium continues to grow so come back soon to find out where we’re heading next!
Today, I’m going to comment briefly about what happens when you can’t defeat the Oncoming Horde.
It’s going to happen at some point, if you play enough: Monsters all around you and no way to win against what you have to fight!
In these cases, there are weapons that can help you, which attack multiple enemies, but sometimes they won’t be drawn, or will have already been used.
In these cases, the rules have your back: if any Monster in the Oncoming Horde attacks every player around the table without being defeated (if they are Stunned, they still attacked), then it is returned to The Cave for a breather. This means that if something amazingly powerful emerges and can’t be defeated, it’s not instant death for every character.
Of course, if it happens and you’re already injured, a Stunning card is probably necessary to survive…
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
Some of you already know that I am a keen computer gamer, who played World of Warcraft for many years and play quite a few other games even now. From that, I learned a lot about what enemies might do to defend themselves.
Creatures in Champion of Earth use brute strength, Aliens use technology (which can sometimes be stolen!) and Undead use magic.
Inspired by some of the nasties you can meet in various games, I added an Undead in Champion of Earth which can Shield itself from danger! You have to destroy the Shield and then, in a separate turn (because putting double its value onto it will simply consist of overkilling the Shield!), kill the Lich.
The Lich is a Level 6 enemy, so it actually takes quite a bit of doing to collapse the Shield!
This means that the person who turns over the Lich will very rarely be the one that kills it, an interesting shift in a game where the person who kills the monster really matters!
Without doubt, the Lich is one of the most powerful and dangerous enemies in Champion of Earth.
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
With over 30 days left to go, Champion of Earth is already entirely funded! This fast-paced card game took only 36 hours to reach 100% and has already unlocked some fabulous Stretch Goals! Whether you’re interested in having a digital copy, physical copy, exclusive Kickstarter expansion content or even a T-shirt you should hop into our first-ever card game Kickstarter and see what all the fuss is about.
Through the next several weeks I’ll be sharing more details about Champion of Earth as well as reward specific information but if you want to get the daily dish on what’s happening you should head over to our facebook page where Ed is doing a daily post on everything you need to know about our latest game. There is a lot going on! https://www.facebook.com/shadesofvengeance/
I don’t just have Kickstarter news for you today. Ed has also let me know that our Shades of Vengeance games will be available soon through Indie Press Revolution in the U.S. This popular distributor for indie games is going to be a great addition to our network and that’s fabulous news for anyone here in the states looking to find these games. Keep checking back here for more details on where and when you can locate our titles.
I’ve talked about Champion of Earth’s amazing beginning to its Kickstarter run. I’ve also let you in on a new avenue where you can find our games in the future. So, that just leaves one thing left to say…
Raise your bloody stump if you love Era: Survival!
Era: Survival is one of our most loved games with a strong base of rabid fans who enjoy a good zombie showdown every now and again. At Shades of Vengeance we love nothing more than giving our fans what they want so I am pleased to announce that work has begun on the long anticipated Era: Survival Expansions!
This set of expansions will be introduced much like the Era: The Consortium- A Universe of Expansions Kickstarter. We expect to run things in May/June with a Kickstarter that features multiple expansions based on the Stretch Goals. The more people who join us, the bigger the rewards will grow for everyone! So, start coming up with plans for how you’re going to defend against the Swarm and which faction you’re going to join in order to survive on Gaia.
That’s all I’ve got today, come back on Saturday for Consortium news!
I mentioned yesterday about the fact that Undead have some really unique abilities on their cards, so I thought I’d go through a couple of the more interesting ones for you!
Vampires are well known for sucking blood, of course, and gaining power from doing so. As I observed previously, Undead tend to be weaker than their Alien and Creature allies, so I decided to put a little surprise in. The Elder Vampire instantly bites all of the Creatures currently in the Oncoming Horde and add that strength to its own.
This can make them extremely powerful the moment that they are turned over, instantly becoming extremely difficult to defeat (I’ll be talking about what the game does to address undefeatable monsters in a couple of days). I, personally, have observed an Elder Vampire go as high as 30 thanks to one unlucky player’s actions!
The players are in a difficult situation, then: do you work together to fight it and divide the spoils? Every Creature that is consumed is replaced by another Monster in the Oncoming Horde, so the situation can get very bad, very fast.
The one piece of good news is that all of the Creatures consumed go to the individual that kills the Elder Vampire (or are split between everyone, if that’s preferred!).
Good luck fighting the Elder Vampire. It won’t have any more mercy than any other member of the invasion, but it can be defeated!
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
Today I’m going to talk about “Swarming” monsters in Champion of Earth.
There are a few pieces of Equipment in this game that require you to know whether the monster you are attacking is a Creature, Undead or Alien.
When I was constructing the rules, I considered the possibility that every card had to be turned face-up when they were attacked, to identify what it was, but that seemed like it might remove some of the suspense for the next player. Instead, I opted to add the monster type to the back of cards, allowing you to get an idea.
The reality is that Undead are more likely to have special abilities, but tend to be weaker: the highest is only an 8. Creatures are somewhere in the middle, roughly balanced across the spectrum and Aliens are more skewed to the top end in numbers. In pure maths terms, attacking an Alien is statistically likely to be more risky than attacking an Undead.
However, this knowledge being freely available to the players added a new possibility: What if some enemies got stronger when more of their own type were in play?
I applied this trait, with great success, to the Undead Horde and the Werewolf (pictured!). I actually also applied it in reverse to the Alien Mothership – every alien around it gets stronger by 1 when it’s face up on the field.
This provides a new level of risk – if there are enough Creatures in the Oncoming Horde, the Werewolf could be the most powerful card in the deck!
I hope you experience the fun (and frustration) of this mechanic as you defend the Earth!
– Ed
You can join the Champion of Earth Kickstarter here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/shadesofvengeance/champion-of-earth – we hope you will join us in defending the Earth!
Sophia Michailidou has worked with me on nearly every project I’ve ever done in game design, which is a fairly impressive credential. Her work is absolutely stellar and I knew that no-one else would be the right choice to bring Champion of Earth to life!
I’ve not regretted that decision for a moment: she’s done an amazing job and really brought this universe to life in a way I hadn’t even imagined.
From the Giant Eyeball to the Alien Colonist…
And the equipment of all shapes and sizes…
To the characters that you play within the game…
…I simply could not be more pleased with the look and feel of this universe.
This is a high standard of art that very few indie card games achieve and I think that has value beyond measure.
I’ll be back again tomorrow with some more thoughts on Champion of Earth. In the meantime, please check out the Kickstarter if you didn’t already!
Hi everyone! I thought, today, it might be interesting to talk about where the inspiration for Champion of Earth came from. As I mentioned in the Kickstarter video, it primarily came from the old Sci-Fi movie “Plan 9 from Outer Space” (1959). In this movie, aliens enact “Plan 9”, which is to raise undead and form an army to invade Earth. They are heroically stopped by a small group of people including an airline pilot (because they are the real heroes!)
It’s widely considered to be the worst Sci-Fi movie ever made. In fact, I will never forget how it was introduced to me: “so bad, you can tell the flying saucers are just plates thrown in the air and filmed quickly.”
Now, to me, it’s one of those things that’s “so bad, it’s good”. It’s very clearly a product of the times and, if you are able to pay attention to the plot around the ridiculous goings-on, actually has a “Day The Earth Stood Still” vibe to it, which is quite fun.
In general, this movie got me thinking. If Aliens can raise the dead to make an army, it was a “what could possibly go wrong?” kind of situation, which I knew from Era: Lyres can make a really fun, light-hearted game.
In a flash, I envisioned a few warriors using hilariously silly pieces of equipment to fight off an invasion of combined “little green men” aliens and undead of all shapes and sizes.
So I thought to myself about how to make that a little more challenging, and added the kind of creatures that you see in those old horror movies as well: Krakens, Werewolves, Giant Squids and the rest.
And Champion of Earth was born!
I’ll see you next time with some thoughts about the artwork in general!
I’m back with a little more insight into the Stretch Goals of this campaign! Don’t forget to check it out if you haven’t already for videos of gameplay and a few more details!
So each Stretch Goal will provide backers with a new card or, as we get a bit higher, a new expansion pack. Here are a few examples:
Well, a friend of mine made a very good point about one of the Stretch Goals, in particular this, below, which I thought carried the spirit of the game perfectly:
She asked “The shark gun… is it a gun that shoots sharks or a gun that shoots sharks?”
That exact kind of question is the kind of humour that epitomises Champion of Earth for me. I can guarantee you that, when the artwork for this card is unveiled, it will undoubtedly be…
A gun that shoots sharks!
Thanks for reading and I’ll see you again tomorrow.
Some of you might not be familiar with this creature, which is what you might call a “Filipino vampire”. I wanted to mention it because it’s a great example of how I wanted to reach slightly outside of the typical box.
It’s able to separate at night and the top half flies around, seeking prey. The bottom half is more vulnerable, but is able to run away from attackers if needed!
I think it would be quite rare to see this creature in a game. I particularly wanted to include it for exactly that reason. It’s very rarely been recognised, but one player at Dragonmeet 2016 noticed it, knew what it was and commented that it was nice to see non-Western stories being represented as well.
For its existence, I can only thank my wife, Mac, who educated me on the subject!
I’m pleased to present this card as a level 5 (slightly higher end of middle level) enemy which players will face in Champion of Earth!
I’ve got good news for you today, Ed has now sent out all of the Digital Rewards (apart from Revival) to each of our Kickstarter backers! I hope you’ve planned to spend the rest of the weekend getting together with your team and playing out some amazing adventures.
Your patience and support throughout this endeavor has been amazing and we thank you all for sticking with us as we march through completion of all these books. So, now that the Digital Rewards have been sent where does that leave the rest of the rewards?
Paperback rewards are moving along and we expect them to be released out to backers over the next couple of weeks. You can look forward to something special showing up in your mailbox soon! The Hardcover Expansions are going well and only lack some artwork as well as an index. The Definitive Edition is also moving straight along and only has about 12 pages left to be written as well as some artwork that should be delivered soon. Ed is working long hours to organize, write, and finalize these books. We’re hoping to get both the Hardcover and the Definitive Editions done on time and so far it’s looking good.
That just leaves Revival yet to be finished and the team is working diligently to put this last reward together for you. Things are coming around and we’re heading down the homestretch with this Kickstarter. Come see me next week to see where we’re at!
There are physical and digital options, as well as some awesome Kickstarter-exclusive rewards, so check it out!
This is a very special moment for me, as it’s the first card game I’ve ever created. While I’ve dabbled in cards for Era: Survival and am therefore confident I can make the logistics of it work, I was actually surprised to see how well people took to it when they tried it out.
Last year, I did an Era: The Consortium Kickstarter where I did a post every day about the expansions, where they came from and so on. I thought I would do the same thing for Champion of Earth! I’ll give you a daily featured image of a card and some details about how we arrived at that card. I might include a chat about the mechanics, or some more interesting info, the aim being to provide some more insight into how this game was developed.
For today, I’m going to leave you with the title image of Champion of Earth, one of my favourites out of those Sofia has created for us.
Quick, you only have three more hours to get in on the latest Era game’s Kickstarter event! Fireball wielding assassins are only a click away. I’ll wait here while you go grab yourself a copy.
This one-week Kickstarter special has blown away our expectations. Thank you so much to all the fans, over 130 backers! We are completely funded and so pleased with this successful campaign that Ed’s decided to run a print version of the campaign.
The book itself is almost ready and the last of the artwork is coming in Thursday. I’ve got a sneak peek for you just to help get you excited. I think this image helps show that Hitman is capable of some fairly epic moments! We’ll be sending out the digital book just as soon as the money comes in from Kickstarter. What a great event, thank you again for making this such a success!
Now that we’ve accomplished getting Era: Hitman funded and that it will be out to backers shortly I can tell you that Champion of Earth is coming up soon! Ed and the team have recently been working on the rules and they’re turning out fabulous. I’ve been given permission to show you an image of how things are coming along. I think you’ll agree that it looks great. We know you’re going to love this game!
I’ll see you all in a few days when I get a chance to give you an update on how things are coming along in the Consortium universe!
It’s a great idea to celebrate those fantastic Game Masters and the folks who work so hard to bring these adventures to life for us all to enjoy and occasionally be tormented with. So, in honor of this special day, Ed has declared that there will be equally special discounts happening this weekend!
DriveThruRPG will have all of the Era titles that are on its website available at a discount for the entire day of Saturday. Check them out for classic Consortium items as well as the Lyres rulebook and the Last Stand of Stilleto Unit Bundle. We’re also having a special through our own website where you can find two very comprehensive bundles for all your advanced Consortium needs!
Bundle 1- The Complete Bundle: Era: The Consortium Core Rulebook
Time Travel Campaign Part 1
The Secret War
The Fifth Race
Rapier
A New Dawn
The Last Stand of Stiletto Unit Comic
Counting Down From One Comic
Bundle 2- The Expansions-only Bundle:
Time Travel Campaign Part 1
The Secret War
The Fifth Race
Rapier
A New Dawn
The Last Stand of Stiletto Unit
Counting Down From One
This collection is intended for anyone who wanted to get in on the Expansion Kickstarter but didn’t get a chance. It includes everything from the Complete Bundle, minus the core rulebook. You can find the Expansion Bundle here
Get it for yourself or get it for a friend, this is a great collection with everything that you’ll need to keep playing for a long… long time.
While we’re here I can tell you that the remaining Expansion books are finishing up. Time Travel Campaign 2 was just sent out to backers this week, with TTC 3 not far behind. Ed hopes to have that one to you within the next couple of days!
Things are moving fast and the team is working hard to bring together these great games for you. Take some time to check out our specials this weekend and be sure to say something nice to your GM!
You know how some days, just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, something happens which throws everything out of place? Well, we’ve just had one of those days.
The RPG team working on the Consortium Expansions are steadily pulling ahead but it’s just not coming together quite as fast as we had hoped. Because of this delay we’re going to hold back Era: Hitman from entering its Kickstarter run. The rpg team doesn’t want you to wait on delivery for one reward while beginning another Kickstarter. It shouldn’t be much longer before I can announce our next rpg title.
That being said, we have a second team working on the Champion of Earth project and this card-based team is currently fresh and ready to go! Ed has begun building the Kickstarter and we’ve already ordered a pack of cards with a few placeholders. At the moment, Ed is writing and recording the videos. This is our first full-fledged card game and I’m excited to hear what everyone thinks of our fun and quick-to play card game.
So, even though sometimes things don’t work out quite exactly as planned, we do our best to make sure there’s a silver living.
As promised, I’m going to spend all of today delving into Era: The Consortium’s Definitive Edition Rulebook. Folks, this is so much more than a few extra stories!
Ed started with the idea that he wanted to include content that we had to cut from the initial rulebook due to a strict page count, Plus the Secret War and Fifth Race expansions. From there, things have been escalating and instead of the intended 100 extra pages we’ve gone over that and right now we’re at 120 extra pages… and we’ve removed the expansions, so that’s all new content!
This means we’re looking at a book right now of 420 pages. It’s also going to look great sitting next to the rest of your Era collection as this one is available only as an A4 sized hardcover with excellent print quality. This is the “deluxe” version you’ve been waiting for.
This book is a comprehensive guide and will include a deeper look into the history of the Consortium. When we developed the first rulebook, there were gaps in the timeline where nothing seems to be happening, that was never Ed’s full intention. So, he’s gone over all his old notes and picked back up many of the things that had to be trimmed out.
These are just a few of the historical points we’ll be adding;
Details about the early years of the Consortium after Captain Rogers was overthrown
The story of Amyena and those Eulutians who had a difficult time integrating with the Consortium after First Contact
The events which caused the founding of the SAR division of Smertios Security
More information about technological developments, such as the Mark 2 Stealth Suit
The Definitive Edition will also cover some more of the planet backgrounds, including information about the regions of space around the gas giants shown on the system map, and an expansion of the material around Robor, Ankou and Rosmerta. There will also be extra equipment and vehicles.
One of the great features of this book is a longer GM section. This part of the book will contain more information about the core idea of Era: The Consortium, the ability to play any sub-genre of Sci-FI. It will also include various sub-genre examples, the time period and types of scenarios which could be used! Loads of great advice to get you off and running in no time.
Well, that’s all the detail I can share with you today. However, Ed has given me leave to show you one new image from this Definitive Edition. We’re giving you a glimpse, through the eyes of an invisible intruder, into the main offices of Hayden Bank!
Today, I’m talking about our unique assassin game, Era: Hitman. This game is plowing through production and it’ll be coming very soon so let’s get you some details!
On the outside, this game looks like a fairly normal, guns-for-hire, assassin rpg but when you get in close, you’ll notice that our assassins are anything but normal. Using a new adaptation of the Era d10 Rule Set, you get to incorporate super powers into your abilities! You could choose things like creating force fields, controlling air or fire, or a number of other fantastic powers. On the other hand, if you’re not into all that fireball throwing you can play through the game without any super abilities at all. The choice is yours!
This project has recently undergone a slight change in the direction of artist as our original artist has had to back out of the project, leaving us a few images yet to complete. Ed’s already found a replacement and with only 5 pictures left to go, we’re back on track!
Ed hopes to have this game ready and out to Kickstarter by the time we deliver all of the remaining Consortium books that were unlocked during the Expansion Kickstarter Event. It won’t be long now until Ed can go through his final pass and finish writing the Kickstarter, so keep an eye out!
That’s almost it for today, but I can’t leave you on a special news edition day without a little something extra. Ed’s given me the go-ahead to share an image from Hitman and I’m always happy to show off the great work our artists are doing. I don’t ask for much in life but an armory like this is definitely towards the top of my list!
Happy weekend to all of you! I only have a few pieces of news to share with you today but Ed has also given me the green light to show off some artwork which always makes it a good day, so here we go.
Time Travel Campaign Parts 2 and 3 are both clearing through some final stages. “TT2”, as Ed calls it, is undergoing the changes from proofreading now and we expect that it should be with you very soon. Get ready because this one is right around the corner!
“TT3” is finishing up with the proofreaders at the moment, so it’s going to be following along close behind.
Overall, things are going great and we are pleased with the progress we’ve made so far. That being said, I did get confirmation from Ed that Revival will be a coming in a little later. We’re looking for the pre-edit draft to be completed around the end of this month. Not to worry though, this doesn’t hold anything else back. All of the other rewards should be going out right on schedule! That’s not bad for having so many different expansions in development at the same time, with Revival a late unlock as well…
Next week, I’m going to delve a little further into what exactly the Definitive Edition is all about, why it’s important and what it includes. So, that’s it for the news this week. I’ll leave you with a piece of art. This is Kurma city during a time of celebration, the 50th Anniversary of the Consortium. Things aren’t always so peaceful in one of the biggest cities of the Consortium but it looks like the citizens here are happy to enjoy a special holiday.
Welcome to the special in-depth news edition featuring Shades of Vengeance’s first ever card game, Champion of Earth. If this is the first you’re hearing about this game, I have a ton of great information for you and if you’re one of our fans who’ve kept up to date with every single announcement, I’ve even got some unique details for you too. So, let’s get started!
Champion of Earth is set in a world where aliens have come to Earth but these aren’t your average sightseeing, tourist aliens. These outer space invaders have gotten right to work raising the undead and calling horrific creatures from the shadows. Sounds like fun, right?
You will play as one of 6 heroes who must stop the invasion. Enemies have numbers that you’ll need to match or exceed using your equipment cards in order to defeat your opponents. It sounds easy but the amount of enemies you face can grow quickly so you’re going to have to work as a team to keep their numbers down!
Your enemies vary and could be anything from an alien mothership, to dragons and ogres, even zombies and liches. You’ll need some serious firepower to fight these creatures, but we’ve got you covered with things like a Mind Control Collar, Illegal Power Line Tap and even a Nuke! This may sound a bit like overkill but the winner of the game is determined as the one who has the most kills at the end, even if that character dies. The game has a not-too-serious, fast playing style that we think you’ll enjoy.
Champion of Earth has a ton of fun elements, creative design, and fabulous artwork. We’re excited to get this out to you so Ed and the team are working hard to have it finished before our first convention of the year, at the end of May. Crossing all fingers and toes, you’ll be able to nuke your first ogre before summer!
That’s almost it for the big special edition. I’m going to leave off today with a selection of artwork. Every time Ed sends over a batch of these cards there is something new to enjoy. I can’t decide which one is my favourite. It could be the cutest baby alien I’ve ever seen. Then again, killing zombies with something that looks like a bug zapper seems like a whole lot of fun. What about you, which one is your favourite?
There have only been a few times in Consortium history when a single individual has changed the course of an entire species. Of those rare instances, perhaps none have been quite as dramatic as Setting Sun On The Horizon and the revelation of the false god, Vilithii.
Before Setting Sun began the events which would alter their lives forever, the Vilithii were content in their caste system. Their world made sense, from the highest ruling Baron down to the lowest Collector, sacrificing themselves for the consumption of those above. It was a simple system that had endured generations.
One fateful meeting with a strange alien species would spark discontent inside Setting Sun and lead to a chain reaction of events which would topple the Vilithii’s sacred beliefs. In one evening of fire and chaos, their world changed forever and left Setting Sun On The Horizon standing alone among the ashes, ready to lead the Vilithii to a new reality.
Setting Sun has been labelled a heretic and a hero, a prophet and a plague. Which would you choose?
Today I get to show you not only another great image from the artist working on The Chosen but also a selection from one of its stories. Last week I introduced you to two of this game’s inhabitants and today I’ll show you another. This spider like creature is a truly terrifying beast and unless I’m given a flamethrower I don’t think I’d like to share a dark alley with this guy.
These are just some of the nightmarish creatures that come from Erebus, a universe which intersects with our own. The trick of it is that only a few people can actually see these creatures. For most of the rest of us, they remain an invisible danger. Only those few who can see them can actually fight these horrors. They are called, the Chosen.
To give you a better idea of what this game is like, Ed’s allowed me to share one of the early drafts from a piece that he’s written.
Enjoy the story and I’ll see you next time!
-A
The Anonassi
We all know the feeling. It’s the crawling sensation on the back of the neck, the insistent, niggling feeling that we’re being followed. It’s the feeling that there are eyes in the dark, watching. Waiting. In that moment, you know, you just know, that there is a clawed hand reaching toward the back of your head.
Sometimes we stay still and try to ignore the feeling. Sometimes we whirl around, but there’s nothing there. Then we laugh, pass it off as imagination, and go on with our lives.
But… what if… what if there really was something there, but you just weren’t able to see it?
Or perhaps you’re one of the people who can see…
Our world is under siege. Our existence is threatened.
The truth is that we’ve probably been living under the shadow of this threat for hundreds of years, since the first cases of Dark Fever were identified in Harbour City. I’ve lived here all my life, and I never gave it any thought. I never knew about the threat until just recently.
One moment, everything was normal, ordinary. The next thing I knew, an arm grabbed me around the stomach, forcing all of the air from my lungs like a giant vise. I fell to the ground, blacking out for a moment. When I opened my eyes, a land of dark greys was before me, the sand and the sky virtually indistinguishable. Standing over me was a creature like nothing I’ve ever seen. It had three mouths, and they murmured through jagged teeth while its long, lithe body coiled in preparation for attack. It had huge clawed hands that hovered over me, ready to slash with deadly purpose.
I tried to scramble away, scrabbling no more than a few inches across the dry ground, terror making my body disobedient and clumsy. The monster seemed to smile as it took a single step closer, making up the distance between us, raising its hand to strike.
You’ve been patiently waiting for these promised rewards and the day is coming soon when we can deliver them to you! One of the last steps in production is proofreading and we have several pieces heading to the proofreaders in the upcoming days. So, here’s where we’re at right now…
Time Travel book 2 has now gone to the proofreaders and we’re hoping to finish that up soon. As you know, we still have Time Travel 3 in the works and it’s currently marching through production.
The Definitive Edition Rulebook is going through its final edit. This is a great collection which will include about 100 extra pages of story, equipment, planet details and so much more! I would consider this one a “must-have” for any serious collector.
The Expansion Volume 1 book is also running through final checks and should be lining up right behind the Definitive Edition. The Expansion Volume 1 has undergone a few changes here and there but we’re very happy with the results and incredibly pleased to be able to present to you all of these expansions in one single volume that will sit nicely next to your Definitive Edition Rulebook. Ed is confident that we’ll be able to deliver this to backers by the Kickstarter deadline!
That’s about it for updates on production. I hope to have more details for you soon. Next week come on back and join me for a History in Profiles where I take a little closer look at some of the Consortium’s most notorious characters.
