About

About the Game

Heroes of Feonora is an RPG Board Game designed for players of all ages. It begins in a bustling village alive with activities set in a colorful world of humor and mystery. The inhabitants of this world have unique backgrounds and personalities. Some of them might even be persuaded to join up with a character, bringing valuable skills and new roleplaying opportunities for the player. In order to succeed the group will need to work together as they make preparations for the perilous journey ahead. Earn Copper Pieces by taking on part-time work at the local bakery, helping townsfolk with their quirky troubles, fishing and more... Of course, those with a more daring personality will find there is plenty of coin to be made catching dastardly Criminals or seeking out fame and fortune in the Fighter's Fighting Guild. Recruit Companions, find a trusty Mount and gather supplies. But don't delay, for once the Town Timer runs out the group must set out at last ~ into dangerous wild lands of Feonora. How well did the group prepare? You'll soon find out as the party encounters hostile foes or interesting characters looking to barter and trade. Search for hidden treasure and get swept into unplanned Side Quests. Good teamwork is vital for those wishing to reach the ultimate, harrowing Final Encounter, which will require a different strategy altogether depending on the Story.

Should the group survive the journey and complete the adventure a special phase of the game unfolds to reveal who among them has proven most worthy of honor and admiration.

The imaginary world of Feonora awaits...

...Adventurers Welcome.

Games support 1 to 6 Players, Ages 10 and Up

More About the Game

Heroes of Feonora is a cooperative board game experience with the heart of an RPG Adventure. It touches on a range of themes, from warm and friendly with light humor to dark and sinister plots unfolding. The game world has been crafted in such a way that players are free to create nearly any character type they wish to imagine, with opportunities to interact with and roleplay those characters in a loosely structured environment. While it purposefully borrows conventions from traditional Roleplaying Games it doesn't try to deliver a distilled version of the open-ended gameplay found in tabletop RPGs ...because well, that's never what it wanted to be. With each new story players will find themselves (and their characters) faced with group-oriented goals that sometimes conflict with individual pursuits. Finding the right balance is one of the keys to success and among many challenges involving judgment and decision-making. Characters who pull together to complete their quest are rewarded with the very treasure they've collected throughout the journey, along with improvements to their reputation, rank and abilities.

But the question will also arise, how well did my character perform compared to the others?
...that too will be answered.

Designer Insights

Early on and throughout its development there was a pressing desire to combine, or perhaps in a way juxtapose the individual goals and desires of each player against a meaningful group dynamic. The setting, mechanics and stories are meant to offer a pretext for this ongoing struggle, along with opportunities for roleplaying that might not otherwise exist.

In addition to the theme of cooperation the game was designed with the philosophy that accessibility and mechanical depth should try to co-exist, but that neither should stifle those elusive esoteric qualities that are born out of friendly competition and highly individual play styles. This was ever something to be encouraged ...but which cannot itself be baked into any formula.

In some way we would try to cobble together the framework for a shared experience filled with collaboration, agency and unexpected moments ~ by gently drawing each player into their character's world, for a time.

Background

In 2007 two people set out on a journey to create a fantasy themed board game they could play together, that enabled the creation of unique characters and (if possible) could somehow be shared with others. It started out something like this...

...and continues on, perhaps more slowly than most games would normally take : )

Timeline of Milestones and Noteworthy changes

November 2007 - Conception and development get underway.
May 10, 2010 - First public release. Not pretty but it works.
September 2011 - First batch of character portraits arrive. Hurrah!
January 2012 - Ruleset 1.0.4 released. Fortitude Hit Counters reinforce the resiliency and natural toughness of Dwarves and Malornians.
February 2013 - Ruleset 1.0.6 released. The Artifact Completion Bonus gives a nice little reward to Characters who've managed to find all the rare Artifacts.
March 2014 - Ruleset 1.0.7 released. More "colorful" and exuberant mounts have arrived at the Stables. So many to choose from.
June 2014 - The Ingredient Fix comes out and veritably shakes up Feonora's bread baking industry. Luddites revolt. Uprisings are crushed (with promises of cupcakes). Peace is restored.
October 2014 - Ruleset 1.0.9 released. Small adjustments to Character Class abilities, Mounts, and we discover a special secret pertaining to Hauflins.
August 2015 - Ruleset 1.1 is released, featuring minor changes to the leveling system and a revised, somewhat more complicated Fish Delivery mini-game. Is it better than the previous one? We don't know! (lol)
May 2016 - Card elements begin migrating away from illustration placeholders to a fully narrative design.
February 2017 - Players can now earn the new "Prize Fighter" badge for collecting the most Opponents cards.
July 2017 - Magic Spells transition to performance art for those with Style* and Flair!
August 2017 - Characters that reach a certain level can now earn a special one-time Rank bonus power-up. The Magic Specialist achievement brings enhanced capability for Magic Users.
October 2017 - With the new "Goods and Wares" booklet Characters can visit The City for the Joy of Shopping and Confectionery Delights.
December 2017 to June 2022 - A pause in development due to life, the world and things not quite as enjoyable as playing board games ...such as being stranded on a (totally not imaginary) remote desert island.
April 2024 - A new addendum arrives at last, featuring a revised Health system, the discovery of Gemstones, dedicated Bakery dice and many other small changes throughout the game.
May 2024 - Changes to Master Class Fishing and the Magic User advantage brings about the introduction of new custom Fishing dice.

About the Designers

Lisa is the proud proprietor of a quaint, out-of-the-way book shoppe in Villageton (where most folks come to read rather than purchase books) and divides her time perusing the fruit & vegetable market, meeting locals for a bit of tea in the tavern and, when the weather is nice, strolling through the Royal Gardens.

Josh is an explorer of some small renown who travels here and there, from time to time, observing the goings-on of the realm. He occasionally helps out in the book shoppe, which mostly involves running errands to and fro the City.
His spare time is usually divided between tending a small coffee garden or tinkering away in his workshop.

A little secret between the three of us. We've always known that Heroes of Feonora has probably very little chance of ever achieving mainstream popularity in the board game (or RPG) community. But we think that somewhere out there is a small audience willing to come along on this journey, and being able to look past the low-budget design will find it to be just the thing they've been looking for.

If you can read this you don't need glasses.