The majority of that work is transfering cards from Photoshop into in InDesign, turning icons into fonts, etc. We've hired some additional help for this (for both Stormsunder and Wild Assent) to keep that process moving. We've been showing off different card types in updates while that work is underway. This time we're going to look at equipment cards, specifically the difficult-to-balance companions.
Companions in Stormsunder When we sent out the demo, we only had two out of the three "sizes" of companions tested and in the game: Small and Medium. Large companions were an exciting prospect, and the stretch goal miniatures reflected our enthusiasm for them, but lord almighty they have proven a challenge to balance. We wanted companions to have an impact, since they are fun/cool and eat up an equipment slot, but we also had to worry about them clogging up small maps and taking too many (or too little) hits for the heroes.
Small companions do not have miniatures and instead are thematic stat-sticks, just like any other piece of equipment. We're going to look at two that aren't new, as they have changed quite a bit since they were first conceived. The first is the Young Phoenix (new card on the right):
As you can see, the Young Phoenix used to exhaust to heal, but we already had a lot of healing available to the heroes (especially since, in the demo at least, Adina was the one with the card). We decided to change the effect to a Revive, keeping it a very useful companion, but not a free 20-Health every encounter. You might also notice we have an AP icon on the top left, we'll get to that when we get to the medium companions (the X here just means the Young Phoenix is a small companion and therefore does not have a miniature/token on the board).
I believe we showed Candy and Copper before, but I don't think they were part of the demo:
Candy and Copper retained their small status when we updated them, but the evasion they provided had a similar effect as the Young Phoenix's big heal: trivializing some encounters (especially against Villains). We changed them to a handy enhance which is nice because unlike most enhances it does not have an AP cost.
For medium companions we're going to first look at the Greater Hawk, a great piece of equipment that Vanessa had equipped in the demo (new card on the right):
As you can see, the Greater Hawk's card had a lot of changes, including now having an AP cost and a new passive. As I said above, balancing Companions has been a challenge, especially for the medium and large ones who have miniatures on the board. Giving their attacks an AP cost tempered their impact and made them a lot more manageable.
Companions may always move for free, so the Greater Hawk is effective even if you don't want to pay his cost. He counts for his owner when it comes to flanking, even for ranged attacks, meaning he can be behind Vanessa's target and Vanessa will get that hot +2 BD for flanking even when attacking with her crossbow.
Medium companions are ones that have an AP cost but no health and cannot be targeted, so the Greater Hawk's old passive text is not needed.
Who's a good boy? The Desert Dog is a good boy, that's for sure. He's a medium companion, so he's not targetable, but he's smart enough to loot chests and other containers. He doesn't have the best attack, but there's nobody better to bring along to get some of that elusive, time-based loot. Remember that AP cost on the top left of his card is for his attack (it's cost does not stack with his active ability).
Next, we're going to talk about large companions, who are full-fledged members of your party, with Health, attacks and more. Let's look at the explosive Fire Spirit first:
The Fire Spirit is a ranged large companion with the ability to blow himself up and, (with some luck) take some adversaries down with him. His low health (and 0 armor/defense) make him an easy kill, so be sure to protect him until you need him to go nuclear on your enemies.
The Prototype Runetech Golem is a special companion that can only be obtained on a specific quest chain:
He doesn't have great damage, but if he can hit his marks (2 specials or an affinity), he can put the hurt on an adversary. Severe Wounds is a powerful status effect, and Bleed is nothing to sneeze at either.
That's all for now! We'll be back next month to talk more about preparing files for production as well as any other Stormsunder-related news we have to share. Until then, we'll see you in the Storm (where it's dangerous to go alone: take a good boy).
- LSG
Vanessa, the Hunter
about 1 month ago
– Tue, Dec 31, 2024 at 02:26:58 PM
As we said in last month’s update, the majority of the work is preparing cards, so we’ll again be looking at some cards we haven’t shown before: Vanessa’s Hunter hero-specific specialization.
Vanessa the Hunter When picking her specialization, Vanessa can choose between Hunter and Survivalist, increasing her support role or her survivability. Being a Survivalist gives her some added defense as well making her less likely to be targeted by an Adversary who is Marked. Marked is a unique status effect that Vanessa has thanks to Marked for Death. Marked can be placed on any target, with attacks she makes against that target giving her Power. Hunter allows her to flip the Marked token over in a subsequent round, changing Marked to Hunted. On it’s own, Hunted is the same as Marked (more on that later).
Vanessa also gets a boost to Wanderer if she picks the Hunter specialization, allowing her to use it even while Immobilized. The daughter of the last lord of the Nyere will not be contained.
Vanessa gets access to two new ability cards as a Hunter: Pierce and Savage Escalation. Both interact with Marked (and Hunted) targets, granting proegessively more powerful effects dependent on just how focused Vanessa is on killing them. Pierce is an enhance that ignores physical defense of the target, with more defense ignored if they are Marked. If the target is Hunted, the attack assigns damage instead.
Savage Escalation is a deadly attack ability card that costs less AP the more Vanessa focuses on the target (-1 AP for Marked and -2 AP for Hunted), rewarding her for single-target priorities.
Vanessa also gets the Hammerhead Bolts utility signature skill card with Hunted, which also interacts with Marked/Hunted targets. Adding 1 Impact (Red) dice is nice no matter what, but the target also receives Fatigue if they are marked and Stun if they are Hunted. Stun is incredibly powerful and useful in Stormsunder (so much so we’ve dropped it here and there to maintain balance).
That’s all for now! We hope you’ve had a happy holiday season and wish you a safe and happy New Year!
- LSG
Surviving the Storm Requires the Right Equipment
2 months ago
– Fri, Nov 29, 2024 at 08:36:00 PM
Cards are a huge chunk of that work, so let's take a look at a sample of one of the largest batches of cards: Equipment. Here are some never-before-seen equipment cards along with a little analysis of their gameplay impact:
Equipment Cards Like most RPGs, equipment plays an important role in combat in Stormsunder. The better your gear, the easier a time you will have in the Storm (and the greater risks you can take without being punished). We're going to show 9 cards today, 3 Weapons, 3 Armor and 3 Accessories (1 Common, 1 Rare and 1 Epic of each). Let's start with weapons:
The Boarding Pistol is a common weapon with a Perception requirement, making it a great early choice for Wynter, Vanessa and even Drustan. It's designed to be stronger up close, losing dice (but retaining base damage) the further away the target is.
The Scepter of Exiles is a rare weapon that requires a rather high Spirit, making it logical to use by Liora, Quell, Adina and Jaden (and later on perhaps Feilheim. What it lacks in damage it makes up in pure utility (and fun). Being able to chuck your enemy anywhere in your zone can be incredibly useful depending on the map and your party makeup. Just need to hit those two specials...
Blessed Hammer might seem a little mediocre for an epic weapon at first glance, but it's an enhancer's dream. If you manage to roll a critical with the attack, all dice aside from Impact dice get their damage doubled, even dice that aren't on this card. Vanessa gives Capac Support Fire II? That's 2 more dice with double damage. Liora can use Strategic Sorcery to add Impact dice to the attack (making a critical more likely) as well as some magical dice that will be doubled as well. With a little effort/teamwork, Blessed Hammer can be one of the best weapons in Heirs of Ruin. Hand it to any Strength-heavy hero, such as Capac, Aleksandra, Vacrem, The Ursus, etc and prepare to be amazed.
Next up is armor, starting with the fairly basic Gladiator's Sandals. These breathable boots give the hero who equips them a free 1-field move after they are attacked. Since it's a low agility-req card, it works with a lot of heroes, but Rask is an easy recommend as he's fairly slow (with only 4 Speed), and this gives him the opportunity to move a little more than he normally would.
The rare Helm of Barbs is great for the same list of Strength characters listed for the Blessed Hammer as it provides both defense and taunt and you can never have enough taunts (if you want your squishies to live, that is).
Bloodforged Bracers are pretty straightforward as Epics go, giving +1 BD to the wearer's primary weapon. Base damage is incredibly strong so the requirements reflect the equipment's worth. There are three heroes with solid Spirit and Strength: Capac, Feilheim and Liora, all of whom benefit (though if I'm being honest, if I had to pick one to get the bracers it would definitely be Capac).
For accessories we begin with the common (and a little dark) Gravedigger's Pliers, a good fit for anyone who has an open slot and can consistently pass the Strength Test. Gold isn't rare in the Storm, but there's no harm in finding a little extra where you can.
The rare Ring of Absorption is a potent defense accessory and, after a few hits, a potent weapon. Its Strength requirement isn't much to overcome for the heroes you want to take hits, so hand it over to Capac, Feilheim, etc. Just don't expect The Ursus to be able to use it until level 3, as she doesn't have an accessory slot until then.
The epic Bottomless Chest isn't the strongest accessory around, but it can save your life if you are low on Health and really wished you didn't have an inventory full of Tranquilizers. The ability to trade in Consumables can be quite powerful and its likely your party has at least one hero who both can hit the Spirit requirement and has a free accessory slot, so it's a luxury you can definitely make room for.
That's all for now! We'll be back at the end of the year with news on finalizing the files and whatever else is going on in the development of Stormsunder. Until then, we'll see you in the Storm (where you can never truly have too many Tranquilizers).
- LSG
Stormsunder News for Your Consumption
3 months ago
– Thu, Oct 31, 2024 at 08:14:11 PM
Hello, folks!
In this update we're going to take a look at consumables both old (updated) and new, but first let's talk about the next huge step to finally finishing this thing we call Stormsunder.
State of the Testing (and More) I've been adverse to discussing schedules as they have universally proven wrong, which causes justifiable backer frustration/anger but we're finally at the point where the rubber needs to meet the road and Stormsunder can and will finally move forward. What does that mean? In March we'll be providing all of Stormsunder's printed files to translators. March is only four months from now and with Act V still being tested there's a lot to get done so that every card, page and book is ready and most importantly, final. Given how late Stormsunder is, you would definitely be forgiven for thinking this is just another arbitrary deadline that will be missed like so many before it. You'd also be forgiven for not believing me when I say that's not the case. Regardless, the files will go to translators in March.
We won't get into the timeline following the March deadline (how long translations will take, production and fulfillment schedules, etc.) not just because I am deadline-prediction averse, but also because we don't have all the information yet, but once we have semi-firm dates, we we will start sharing them.
Consumables I'm the type of player that uses almost no consumables (aside from Health potions) in both video and board games and my play time with Stormsunder never really changed that. That doesn't mean there aren't a lot of awesome consumables for you to collect and use, however. First let's look at some simple changes we've made to consumables that were in the demo:
We changed the Healing and Greater Healing Potions so that they use Vitality instead of a flat amount. This allows them to scale a little bit with hero levels (and scale even more from hero to hero... poor Vanessa).
We also scaled back some consumables like Purification Scroll below, limiting its formerly map-wide range.
There are also a lot of new consumables we've added since the demo, including a bunch of potions (so many potions), like Elixir of Power:
Elixir of Power is very situational unless it's not. When it's not? Think Popeye and Spinach.
Reflect is really strong, causing damage to the attacker equal to the damage they dealt (which can be a lot depending on the adversary). Combine this with Barrier and you are in for the easiest defense roll of your life.
Note that the text says "Enchant" not "Enhance." Banshee's Tears is a free Magic Dice for the entire Encounter, making this a great consumable for just about everyone.
That's all for now! We'll be back next month with more news about testing, files and whatever else is going on in the world of Stormsunder. Until then, we'll see you in the Storm (where potable water is always the best consumable).
- LSG
Injuries Take a Turn for the Worse in the Storm
4 months ago
– Mon, Sep 30, 2024 at 07:22:20 PM
Hello, folks!
We're going to skip straight to the gameplay preview this month as next month we'll actually start talking about some scheduling items. The short version is that Act V is still in testing but we're finally starting to finalize game files.
Injury Card Updates I don't believe we've looked at Injury cards before as they aren't as exciting as heroes, adversaries, signature skills, etc. Still, they are an important component of balance for Stormsunder and provide a much-needed deterrent to being reckless in Encounters and also a measured punishment if you let the intrusive/Aleksandra thoughts win. We'll be looking at four "sets" of the Injury cards with the original, demo versions on the left:
The first thing you might notice is that there is no longer a static amount for the test at the bottom of the cards. The original idea was to have many of the injury deck cards be replaced in the Bones of the Conquered and A Pharaoh's Wrath and while we still plan to fiddle with the deck in those expansions, basing the test on hero level makes the deck feel like it has a more consistent difficulty curve. For these cards specifically, Dislocated and Concussion now have a damage trade-off to using the Signature Skill they are affecting (rather than removing access to the skill entirely). Losing a Signature Skill proved to be a little too punishing, so we decided to make the change.
Fracture (and Fracture II) didn't impact the vampire twins and other Speed-heavy heroes that much, but absolutely punished the slower heroes such as Capac and Felheim. By giving it the same damage trade-off as Concussion/Dislocated, it impacts all heroes the same and allows Capac to continue to move in fields and not inches.
This might be seem like a silly change, but there are two Light Wound cards in the injury deck and only one Light Wound II. Losing base damage was definitely the more punitive of the two options, so we switched them.
Nothing Serious and Nothing Serious? get a slight nerf in that they are no longer as simple as discard or discard if you pass a test. By making these cards quick and easy to get rid of, we were keeping "weak" cards in the injury deck and making the impact of injuries as a whole a little inconsistent. You may recall that a hero with three or more injuries in an encounter cannot be revived until that encounter ends. By making these 4 cards (as each has 2 copies... 20% of the injury deck) stay around until the end of the encounter, they now present a danger even if they don't do anything when they are drawn.
That's all for now! We'll be back next month to talk about scheduling and anything else that's going on in the development of Stormsunder. Until then, we'll see you in the Storm (where every injury has a cost).
