_Up until now, Victory Badges (and the Hero Award) have been relegated to 'homemade only' status.  See the Make It page for a few examples.  Still, sometimes it's fun just to see what some of the more object-oriented components would look like if they could be printed out rather than hand made - by the way, 3D printing technology (if you haven't guessed) is on the cusp of changing the indie board game industry in fairly profound ways...but that's a topic for another day.

In the meantime, here's a 2D version of what we think the Victory Badges ought to look like.  They're in the usual PDF format; although, probably not as fun to use as thicker/heavier homemade versions.

_And for those who don't have access to a color printer, or would rather color their own, here's what the grayscale version looks like.

_Oh, one quick thing.  One of our Hauflin friends just mentioned that if you print out two copies on thick paper and then glue them back-to-back, they work pretty well.  Another friend added that gluing both sides to a piece of intermediate material, such as cardboard or foam board, would make them good and thick (and of course much more fun to pass around).  Enjoy!

Hello all.  Three days ago Lisa and I quietly pushed out an update, which was primarily intended to tighten down a few squiggles.  As with all incremental updates nothing fundamental to the core game or gameplay has changed...Probably the most noticeable adjustment in this release will be found in the subtle re-balancing of two character classes - Dwarves and Malornians.  One of the principal design goals has always been to have a fairly balanced set of playable classes, with the understanding that each possessed certain...inherent advantages.  Our feeling has been however that Dwarves and Malornians in particular didn't derive enough benefit from merely higher starting health; thus there was room for a slight modification.  Even with this change, I'd like to note that the same overall dynamic (between the various character classes) remains.  For example, it will always be true that Elves by nature may have a tendency to excel in larger group games, whereas, Hauflins (who haven't yet acquired a good permanent Mount) will find earning the Hero Award a tad greater challenge.  The disparity is so subtle most players probably wouldn't notice it.  None-the-less, we remain comfortable knowing that younger, less experienced players may benefit from starting with an Elf character, whereas experienced players will find a somewhat greater challenge in playing a Hauflin.  The adjustment to Dwarves and Malornians merely brings them in greater parity with the others ~especially as it relates to the Fighting Guild.

But enough with the design-talk gibberish.  Let's get on with the Release Notes.  Here they are, for the latest Ruleset 1.0.4:

- Upgraded Dwarf and Malornian character classes with fortitude hit counters
  See: Health Tracker and section of Game Manual on Health Trackers

- Items deck, Changed Protective Gear to single-use items

- Companions deck, Changed "Ned the Pirate" to "Charlotte de Pirate"
  Added four more Treasure Hunters

- Opponents deck,
  Downgraded 'Figly the Guard,' 'Group of Grunchies' and 'One-Legged Pete' to d6
  Downgraded 'Armlann the Metalsmith' and 'Arvatheryn the Ranger' to a d8
  Replaced 'Larn the Legendary Hero' (d12) with 'Perfidious Lurch' (d8)

- Adventure Cards, Fairies no longer send the group backwards

- Dungeon Cards, Trap Doors no longer send the group backwards

I believe a little background is in order here.  The original idea for the color card backings was to keep it simple.  The field would remain white, with a simple brown for the font...a slight variation on the gray/white combination used for the grayscale decks.  The intent was to help with keeping ink & toner use as low as possible.  But there was one fatal flaw in that plan.  When designing a game, one has the tendency to constantly be thinking about ways to improve the design...

One day, while assessing at the most recent prototype (with white cards positioned around the more colorful game board), Josh had the idea of adding just a little color to the cards, so the contrast wouldn't be so harsh.  In the continuing spirit of simplicity we settled for a heavily subdued earth tone, keeping the previously used brown font.  This was a pleasing change, not seeing white card backings, and felt satisfying enough for several weeks.  Until one day...

Josh was working on the Town Timer, and felt that maybe, just for this one deck (it being separate from the others and all) we could choose a unique color scheme.  And so, once again, we set out to apply something unique but subtle.  And all was well...for a time.  And shortly thereafter the game was released to the public.

Then one day Josh began experimenting with the Spells deck and...Well, I think you can see where this is going.  I suppose in some fashion this is my way of apologizing for not focusing on this feature prior to releasing the first PDF packs.  Because undoubtedly there are some out there who have gone through the effort of putting these decks together, who now realize their cards aren't going to be as colorful as they could be.  And for that I really am sorry.  It wasn't intended that way.  Really.  But if you want to print out a new set and bring them over I'll help with cutting the cards...I think I'm actually getting good at it.

Now, the obvious question is whether this is still an ongoing process and should further changes be expected.  Yes and no.  The game itself is indeed a work-in-progress.  But that really only means we are looking to integrate artwork over the span of the next few years.  Everything else should be largely "in-place" aside from very minor unforeseen updates, such as the one from yesterday.  As for the card backings, this is the color palette we've been working on for the past few weeks and we are satisfied with the results (and hope you are too).  Please consider this to be a solid state feature, with no further changes in the pipeline.

Let me start by saying this has been a busy month.  We fancied a break during the brief period following the first public release.  That didn't quite materialize.  Instead, we've been busy working on a good deal of behind-the-scenes stuff, some of which I'll be talking about over the next couple days.

First order of business is a minor rules clarification:

Notice the 'Pushing Ahead' rule just before the section on Treasure Hunting.  In the most recent version of the Manual (1.0.3) we've added a small sentence to the end of that rule.  It reads, "Likewise, characters may not walk alongside their mounts in order to use the walking symbol."  In other words, when the group is traveling with Mounts, they must use the Horse icon for group movement - it isn't optional, meaning players aren't allowed to roleplay walking alongside their mounts in order to use the boots icon (something players with a Treasure Hunter may be tempted to do).  Those with version 1.0 of the Manual could easily overlook this clarification and make a mental note of it, or even make a small notation right on the page.

This has also inspired a new Q&A entry at the end of the Grouping chapter, page 43.  You will now find at the top of the page this entry:

Can I stop using an Item of Special Movement in order to use the walking symbol?  During travel time any item of special movement your character has must be used until it is replaced with a mount, or, the item gets traded to another player.

Now, we don't imagine this coming up very often, but those paying close attention may notice a kind of open-endedness to this rule clarification.  There's no need to go into detail here, but the key word there is "traded," and the notion that sometimes communication and negotiation among players can affect various aspects of the journey.