Swords: Cut the Deck

4th of July Update
22 days ago – Thu, Jul 04, 2024 at 05:55:18 PM

Happy 4th of July!

We are... almost there!

Some updates:

- All of the materials on our side are done! Some last-minute feedback is still coming in from our panDEMONium backers and I will keep tweaking things for as long as I am able to for them, but that window is closing fast

- We are currently waiting for an updated timeline from our manufacturer - there's been a lot of moving parts but we're clear of any issues (that we currently know of)

- You will have an opportunity to update your address again

- We have two new guest artists: TheSketchGoblinand TheImmortalThinkTank! Two great New Zealand artists who I'm excited to have on board!  Baltad, God of Fire is exclusive to the Kargob Edition of the game, while everyone will be receiving Saber Snake.

- This brings the total exclusive foil cards in the Kargob Edition up to four:
- Kargob, God of Darkness
- Kargob's Fang
- Baltad, God of Fire (by TheSketchGoblin)
- The Birthday Blade (which you can only use on your birthday)
These are all heavy hitting cards that cost more to use than any of the Heroes or Swords in the base game. The Kargob edition also includes a handful of extra Mystery Swords

- We have had lots of requests to make the extra Mystery Swords available separately, but if we do, it will be in a future expansion - I'm also not ready to commit to a new expansion until we've done right by everyone and gotten them the base game, collected feedback and improved the formula. We've been learning a lot, and we have a good relationship with this manufacturer now, so making an expansion will also have a much faster turnaround

- Foil masks are currently being checked over by the manufacturer

Move cards:

I've had some requests to talk more about the game mechanics, so today I'm going to talk about Move cards:

During the course of the game, players pick 3 move cards, which they then reveal in sequence.  Each card interacts with its opponents move card to create an outcome, and those outcomes can be modified by the effects of a players Hero or Sword.  Damage is done to Hero cards, effects are resolved, and then the next round begins until somebody has no Heroes left.

Predict your opponent's strategy, bluff your way to victory and gain the upper hand by executing sick combos!

You have 12 move cards in total - 6 Basic Moves (3*2) and 6 unique Special Moves:

Basic moves have a silver band across the centre, indicating that you have two of them at your disposal.

Attack! - Does damage to the opponent equal to the value shown on your Sword card; unless they Block! it

Block! - Stops an incoming Attack!

Buff! - Leaves you vulnerable to an Attack! but adds a Buff token to your Hero, which you can use later to do extra damage

Special Moves have a golden band, indicating that you have one in your arsenal and can only play one of these per bout.

Parry! - Blocks the opponents Attack! and then acts as an Attack! if that block was successful

Power Gambit! - Adds 3 Buff tokens to your Hero, but if you are attacked you get nothing AND you take double damage!! A high-risk play!!

End Them Rightly! - Does exactly 1 damage and only works on an opponent with exactly 1 health remaining. A final, dramatic blow mostly for gloating rights! It can slip past a Block! though...

Cleave! - Cleave negates an opponent's Block! and then applies any Buff tokens you have as bonus damage. If they weren't blocking, they take Sword damage too! A powerful blow to shatter defences.

Remedy! - Heals damage or removes status tokens but leaves you wide open for an offensive!

Swap! - Swaps out your current Hero or Sword for one in your Waiting Zone. Turn the tide by bringing out a fresh fighter! They'll be vulnerable to an attack, though...

The Stabastian card has the special ability to let you play two Special Moves in the same bout! There are other cards that modify these moves to have lower requirements or do more damage. You might be able to come up with some strange new strategies we haven't thought of...

 - We may have shown off a Disarm move card in the past - we decided it wasn't working quite how we wanted, so it's going back in the forge for a future expansion maybe

If you are just tuning in, preorders for the game and for dice packs are still up on BackerKit.

In other news...
Pest Sprout is returning to Makeship in 3 days for the Time Warp 2.0 event! If you missed out the first time, this might be your last chance to get one(?) Some of our guest artists have returning plushies too!
 

Thank you again for your kindness, patience and eagerness to jump in!

Matthew
Lord of the Sword Fjord

Thane
Baron of Blades

Wow! It's a Time Dice!
2 months ago – Mon, May 20, 2024 at 08:28:38 PM

Hi!

Our dice proofs finally arrived! We're not happy with all of them, so there's a little more tweaking to do... but we're close!

A small update:

• Our sword-shaped tokens had some manufacturing issues which we believe we've worked through, but we're still waiting on the final proofs
• There are a couple of panDEMONium backers who haven't replied for final sign-offs, so feel free to join us in the Swords Discord or you can email me at [email protected] so we can work together and make sure your beautiful card is ready to join the deck.

If you're just tuning in, you can preorder the game here or you still have 3 days to grab the Kargob plushie by Makeship here.

Thanks for your patience

A Smaller Update
3 months ago – Fri, May 03, 2024 at 07:50:03 PM

Hi!

We're getting very close to having everything signed off, so expect more smaller updates like these to keep you in the loop.

A small update:

• We are currently waiting on our dice prototypes. Once we have them in hand and they please Kargob, we'll be making a whole lot of them!! We'll try to start getting solo dice orders out asap and will give everyone a chance to update their orders and addresses when that starts happening - we will definitely have spares.
• Our sword-shaped tokens had some manufacturing issues so we're working through those adjustments currently.
• The cards are 99% done (whew!) and there is a group going over the wording with a fine-toothed sword currently to make sure we haven't made any mistakes. There are a couple of panDEMONium backers who haven't replied for final sign-offs, so feel free to join us in the Swords Discord or you can email me at [email protected] so we can work together and make sure your beautiful card is ready to join the deck.

If you're just tuning in, you can preorder the game here or check out the new Kargob plushie here.

Thanks again for all your support

The Finishing Touches
3 months ago – Thu, Apr 25, 2024 at 05:57:16 PM

Hi gang,

We got some product samples! We'll share them over time as we get all the different elements locked down. Things are finally starting to come into sharp focus!

While we were waiting for that particular ball to start rolling, we've also spent a good amount of time looking at the game from a Birds Eye View and cutting things that didn't make sense.

The Neverwarden has a fun ability that is on theme for the character, but outside of a few Mystery Swords, there was actually only one Common-Type sword in the base game for her to power up! That didn't make much sense to us, so we snuck the fan favourite Lukewarm Shank in along with a couple of others. 
A few cards we've shown off before have new rules that we think are a bit less cumbersome and a lot more fun. 
Additionally, it didn't make sense for Orcs and Trolls to have their own classes when there were only 3 of them and no card abilities affected those things, so they've become Merchants, Mercenaries and Wizards to blend in with the rest of the Heroes.

We had an empty slot in the Kargob Edition after some shuffling, so we've added Kargob's Fang as a cool sword to thank our supporters. Kargob is the coolest of the Gods, after all. Here's a peek the art for that alongside a few of the Mystery Swords that are only in that edition.

Psst! If you're just joining us, there are still some Kargob Editions available on Backerkit.

In another piece of news unrelated to this Kickstarter - Kargob, God of Darkness is available as a plushie on Makeship starting today! Worship the Darkness like it's going out of style!

My friend Stephen has also launched a new card game Kickstarter you might be interested in - Reforge Ballistic! You can check it out here

As always, thank you for your patience while we sharpen the last few items and make sure this launch goes just right.

Matthew
Kargob's Secret Admirer

Sorry, This Is The Boring Part
4 months ago – Tue, Apr 02, 2024 at 04:50:42 PM

Hi everyone,

I know we haven't checked in for a while, but rest assured, we're still out here making moves.

We are expecting to receive another prototype with all of the components (box, playmat, dice, tokens, cards, etc.) from our new manufacturer in the coming fortnight.

Unfortunately, this is the long boring part, where we send files, they send feedback, they ship samples, we approve them and so on. It's not particularly glamourous, but it is critical to get it right and it helps to ensure we make the best possible product.

All the contracts are signed and the order numbers with the manufacturer are final and paid for, so we just need to be sure we're happy with everything they send us and then it is go time.

On the up side, it has given us a little bit of time to do more playtesting and balancing to make sure that matches are fast-paced, decisive, and most of all, fun.

A few backers have raised some concerns throughout the campaign about the durability of foil cards. It's a bit difficult to guarantee long-term use on our first ever product, so we decided to pay a bit extra and give everyone a non-foil copy of each of the Guest Artist cards just in case. We hope that lets you enjoy using them the way you want to.

We're also going to boost the Kargob Edition by including an extra foil copy of each of the 16 backer-created panDEMONium Mystery Swords!

As always, there are a few still available if you're just checking out the campaign for the first time.

As long as there are no issues with the dice, we will expedite the process of getting solo dice orders shipped out first and foremost.

Thanks again for your patience.

Matthew