Very, very straightforward in fact. To help with all this predictability (D20 aside), scenarios will throw in events based on a card draw at the end of each or each other turn. DM: The ‘hobby’ side of miniatures gaming – building and painting the miniatures – is hugely popular and even draws in people who collect and paint models without ever playing the games. How much input as the game’s designer do you have into the look and feel of the mini’s themselves?

Created by Joseph A. McCullough and published by Modiphius Entertainment, Rangers of Shadow Deep (RoSD) is a tabletop adventure game designed for 1-4 players (yes, they have options for solo play). As noted in the rulebook, each player creates a character – a ranger – to represent him on the table, and to go on a series of missions to explore the Shadow Deep and to fight against the evil forces that plot to destroy their kingdom. Over the course of these missions, players will learn more about the secrets of the dark realm and will be able to watch their characters grow in power and ability, enabling them to take on greater threats and make a larger contribution to the war. In the lower right you can see Milo doing his thing. After having encountered a zombie in the house and a giant rat behind it, he goes for the last clue, finds another giant rat and kills it. In the mean time new zombies enter the table from all sides. So the pressure is on. As campaigns progress, characters will learn more about the plot, the kingdom, and the Shadow Deep itself. Each scenario builds naturally on itself and can have either straight forward or an elaborate series of objectives. Playing cards are drawn to randomize events that may vary per scenario. Immediately we have our characters and underlings swarm out to collect the clues. Drixi runs up to the top left one, Draxen to the one in the top right. The knight bonks the head off a zombie, while Clarissa kills another undead.This new Rangers of Shadow Deep book is a brand new retail edition, with a matt laminate cover and updates to the core rules, making it the most definitive version of the game to date. At the moment, I’m working on a small game called Deathship One. The idea is that a squad of soldiers has been pulled out of space and time and dumped in an alien death trap. You can use soldiers from any time period, past, present or future. It’s a solo or cooperative game, and in truth, you aren’t supposed to win. It’s a death trap after all. The fun is seeing how far your squad can make it before they are overwhelmed. The whole game consists of playing through five rooms. In the unlikely event you make it through, you get to go home. I’m keeping the rules light and simple as I want the game to move very fast.

Yeah, it certainly is “the user-friendly, straightforward one” among the cooperative fantasy games out there I’d say. By the way, Modiphius (who will publish 200 new things at each blink of an eye, it seems) are about to throw out a second-ish edition. Not sure if they change much at all. I think they’ll just roll the rulebook, some additional rules, and some supplements into one 40quid tome. Slated for a February 2020 release.Since Frostgrave has so many different spell possibilities it can be quiet a wild and unpredictable game that leads to a lot of cinematic moments and a lot of reasons to laugh with your friends. Later on, as you get into the game you can expand. You can get expansions that give you new scenarios and optional rules, but none are necessary. You can buy a few monsters to increase the complications in your game, or a new miniature to represent your more powerful wizard. You can hand-make some terrain out of old cereal boxes. One of the great aspects of the hobby is that you really can start cheap and build everything up over time. There is huge satisfaction to be gained by this slow-build-up approach. Survive and you will grow in power and ability, and be sent on more difficult, dangerous and intricate assignments. The PDF is linked and the campaign provided in the latter sections of the book are impressive. Depending on how the players chooses the missions, there are upwards of nine scenarios to play with increasing difficulty. There are also advertisements for an additional four campaign modules. On a side note, I can see RoSD as they type of system where a crafty GM could easily re-skin/adapt the rules it into branching type of fantasy settings or even another genre entirely. The knight stumbles out of the building which collapsed on his head and into a zombie. In the meantime Clarissa investigates the last remaining clue. She encounters a very odd person who doesn’t know anything about a range, but happily follows her around, playing weird songs.

Rangers of Shadow Deep> Rangers of Shadow Deep> Rangers of Shadow Deep BP1753 - Rangers of Shadow Deep In the end though, it’s not possible to keep everything completely balanced. As the number of possibly combinations reaches the infinite, there are going to be possibilities or interactions that the designer never even conceived. But that’s what makes wargaming great. It’s part of that infinite possibility. The wargamers that are attracted to my style of games are the ones that are willing to trade the occasional blip that they might have to legislate themselves for that huge level of possibility. DM: Stargrave, the successor to Frostgrave was released earlier this year? Can you tell us about the new system and how does it differs from Frostgrave? Heroic Abilities – Think of this as Feats from D&D 3 rd edition. They allow players to perform combat maneuvers, provide passive buffs, or take a unique action.Then there’s that thing. It’s probably just me being weird, but it already bugged me in Frostgrave – the fact that only one of the characters gains experience. Sure, sure, the companions also gain a sort of reduced kind of experience, and in Frostgrave the apprentice also levels up along with the wizard. But somehow the idea that for some reason this one person is more special than their companions (who are more treated as cannonfodder) is odd to me. I would prefer to all members of the group to gain experience. Rangers activate– in which each player does something with their Ranger. One after another players may carry out two actions with their character: one move action (moving up to the character’s movement allowance) and another action like fighting, firing an arrow, using an item, interacting with a person or an item, and so on. Or do another move action (albeit at a reduced speed. It’s pretty much like in Infinity.) Anyway, Rangers of Shadow Deep works really well and we instantly made a date for another game in our campaign. So stay tuned for more adventures of our rag-tag band of rangers! This game is very much scenario driven, so usually the table is set up according to the scenario, an introductoriy blurb is read out, special rules and scenario goals are explained.

Solo and co-operative tabletop miniatures game from the creator of Frostrgrave and Ghost Archipelago Joseph A. McCullough If there’s one thing I’m not too happy with it’s that the game’s maybe a bit predictable. The events and randomized stuff that happens when investigating clues does help with that of course. DM: If someone wanted to start their miniatures gaming hobby with one of your games, which do you suggest as an entry point and why? Develop a writing habit. It doesn’t matter how many ideas you have, or how great they are, unless you get them down on paper. Once you have a manuscript, making changes to rules is easy, but writing a complete rulebook, that’s hard. That’s why we’re not famous rangers. Yet. Anyway, there are four Clues on the table we have to investigate to find out about the whereabouts of the ranger, plus two more in the buildings.In my case, the answer is ‘as much as I want’. Osprey Games and North Star include me in all the discussions about the miniatures. That said, I honestly don’t think this is one of my strengths, so for the most part, I stay out of the way and let other people do the things that they are really good at! DM: The initial and on-going costs – the vast array of expansions, multiple factions, new miniatures and rulebook editions on a regular release cycle – can be seen as both a barrier to entry for many players new to mini’s games and restrictive to regular players looking to try a new system. How do you feel about this and can you suggest any ways players can reduce these? So, while the game is still very much a tabletop wargame, it has a lot of the feel of an RPG, especially if you are playing it cooperatively with other players. DM: What do you attribute the popularity of miniatures-based gaming and the success of your games to? Is it the world building, the element of role play, the chaotic fun of rolling handfuls of dice? RoSD takes place in a dark fantasy setting where the world is slowly being consumed by the Shadow Deep, a realm of darkness wherein evil lies. The Kingdom of Alladore is currently next in line to be consumed by said darkness, and it is up to the rangers, a group of skilled heroes, to stop it. This is a game about playing as heroes who are desperately fighting a desperate campaign against a seemingly unstoppable evil. They are the light against the darkness, and little by little, they will try to keep Shadow Deep at bay for another day. The world of RoSD is a brutal one. Characters and Companions may be gravely injured or die. Objectives may be lost, but for those who persist, a great story will unfold. Also I have a rules question about the game and I was going to start a new thread but I figure this will save me some time and save the board some space..