In December, I thought I was cruising along and would have print tests around now. Did you know I'm solo-developing a fairly complicated game? Apparently, I didn't realize either. There isn't another game slated for funding until October (a simpler game), and I've now realized that HISTORIC will simply take longer until it's done. Having October as a loose deadline for the game to be in people's hands is letting me breathe a sigh of relief, but it means I need to start sharing a lot more for you to understand just what this game is, and what you're getting! That way, you know the wait is worth it.
First off, I want HISTORIC to be more than a board game. I was going to originally make it a fantasy, or grimdark rather, version of ZOETROPE. That game (that I made) runs on cards, comes in a small box, and is incredible at pushing people to roleplay a story that has some structure and clear actions being taken by players with loose rules. But HISTORIC is more than this. I want it to feel like a real dungeon delving TTRPG. So... dice had to come in.
So I had Salty Water come back to make the above symbols, and now nothing is simple.
Above, we see two actions cards. The first is a generic action card that will be in a generic deck that all classes can make use of. You see the Action symbol (red hand) in the top left, the name in the middle, and nice art below. Then in the text box, there's a slight italics bit of leading text, then we see the symbols.
Crossed Swords is the COMBAT symbol. Cards that feature it show us cards that have specific intended uses in combat. In this case, Perfect Lie can be used as a Feint that opens an enemy to an ally's attack.
Campfire is the REST symbol. Cards that feature it show a way to use the card while taking a rest in-game, either at the campfire before the dungeon delve, or if someone uses a Rest action card. You can tell your allies a lie that will help them gain resolve, but it can hurt them in the end of the lie is revealed to be a lie.
Open Book is the NARRATIVE symbol. Cards that feature it show you a way to use this for roleplay or the narrative part of the game-- the part where you and your friends are pretending to be your characters, or explaining how the story is going. Here, Perfect Lie says you can tell an NPC, a non-player character, anything you want, and they'll buy it.
Grey Gear is the MECHANICAL symbol. You can see this on the second action card here for the Maker of Hands' Willful Push ability. This denotes abilities that will roll dice or affect dice or the mechanical rules of other cards in particular. As you can see here, symbols can appear with other symbols. This ability is Mechanical, but is used in Combat, so both the gear and crossed swords are found.
You may also notice the Orange Lightning Bolt, which is the QUICK symbol. This denotes an ability or use that will interrupt another player's action, roll, or abilities. In most uses, it tells you in italics when it can be used/how it will interrupt, but in some other cases, it's the context of what it does that will help you see when to use it. For Perfect Lie, you can guess that it will be used beside an ally's next attack. For Willful Push, it tells you clearly that it's meant to be used when the Keeper (the story leader/dungeon master) rolls.
Trinkets have been completed, and work in a variety of ways! Crystalline Nails here is meant to be used after your own or in an ally's turn as a Quick action during combat that deals 1 Physical damage. Once used, it then asks you to Turn it, a keyword that means to turn it 90 degrees clockwise. It then notes that when it's returned upright, discard it. These are a limited use item that deals a little extra damage between your attacks, inspired by the small throwing knives in Elden Ring and similar games.
Tomes or books are unique among Trinkets and other item classes, in that they have a special mechanic to themselves. Lemy's Fall here shows it off for us. You may attempt a Reading roll once per rest, shared on the card, and denoted with the Campfire symbol for REST. This is where you roll all four of your dice, the two white six-sided dice, the black six-sided die, and the gold twelve-sided die.
Then you check your total against the options on the card to make a choice of what you'll gain. When you rest, you can use your Books to find secrets about the dungeon ahead, or to find helpful knowledge to help your group in general. Books can help you heal, can give you magic, and can help you figure out how to cook, for example!
Relics and Tools here are more specialized items. Trinkets usually offer small benefits or are things you use and then discard. But Relics like Ma'an's Eye? They have unique powers to offer you, and each one has a unique sticker or two that you'll be able to add to the bottom of the card after a few sessions of play in order to unlock a powerful final ability.
Tools are weapons, cooking implements, and other items that can offer you a long term, reliable item to use. The Steward's Sword here is a great weapon because it deals 1 Physical damage but it also deals 1 Soul damage, hitting your enemy right in their core! Soul is your core health, with Physical and Mental health being shields for it. So long as you have Soul left, you can be revived, one way or another.
And Traits are ready now as well! These 9 cards give you two options each to choose from, and can be dealt randomly or chosen by players before play. These long cards slot into your deck box, with the side you chose sticking out. They most often give you an extra ability you can use during Rest.
Games start with a Riding the Road Card, which shares what your ride on the Road Eternal is like. This is when you travel between dungeon delves, outriding the annihilating sun by chasing its orbit. This is where everyone rolls their dice for the first time in a session. Note that it says "They do not Take Back their dice." This means once players roll their dice, they leave the results on the dice in front of them.
This card will often affect people by checking who has the highest, lowest, or matching dice on their Set Dice (meaning dice set in front of them.) This card can also set the tone for narrative experiences for some players, like with that last effect on this card.
There are 20 of these for me to wrap up!
Then you come to the Campfire Card. This is when your group settles down to rest before the delve, preparing yourselves for the dungeon ahead. Campfire cards can cause problems, have you be attacked, or they can offer boons. But they tend to affect your Set dice, and they always share what the delve ahead will be made up of. In this case, the first Delve Space will be drawn from the Aeonic deck of cards. The second will be drawn from the Ruins, third from the Burrows, and on. These cards build your Delve Deck.
There are 20 of these in the game as well.
Now, in the dungeon, we look at Delve Cards. These are events, sequences, or areas that you find. This particular one has clear effects for you if your players use a Search or Rest card here, and an Access the Console action (that should have a Mechanic symbol in front of it). This is a unique thing people can try to do while here. The Keeper (the one running the story) will share that they can try to access it, and what roll must be done to do so, but they won't share what the rules are for what happens after they roll it.
There is also a couple symbols at the bottom. One is the character class symbol for the Aeon Caller. It's a special ability for that character. They can make an easier roll to Access the Console than other players, because it's an action that works for them in particular.
Additionally, this area is Aeonic, themed to the angelic-hell-rings that are the Aeons. This means that prayers to the Aeons may affect you in this space. If you prayed before this Delve, or during this delve (there are chances to pray in the game, including in this very card), it will let you add 1 to any die roll here.
And finally, in the bottom corner of Delve cards, you'll see the Room Visit count. There are stickers int he game to put here to mark how many times you've visited this space. For this card, that means the chance for you to get attacked while resting here goes up the more times you've been here.
There are 6 types of Delve areas, Aeonic, Ruins, Dark, Burrows, Malefact, Sunken. Each one has 15 Delve cards, for a total of 90 Delve cards to mix up your dungeoneering!
And the Classes...
The Maker of Hands is the only one with a proper set deck so far. They can help manipulate dice, Hold them (make it so the a set die doesn't get re-rolled next time it would be rolled.) This means if you have a 6 on a die and want to save that, your Make of Hands ally can lock it in place for your next roll, letting you use the 6 instead of rolling it to something else! The Maker can also Max out dice, meaning set them to their highest number, or hold a Keeper's die. The Keeper have a rolled 1 sitting in front of them? Keep it that way so you can beat them later on another roll.
Today I'm hopefully wrapping work on the Glassen Artisan. They are your top tier healer option, but also represent a faithful character who has unique powers around the true Ensu faith, one that keeps the souls of your characters with yourselves, not taken by evil powers that hunger.
And as I wrap design work on characters, I am folding their mechanics across other cards, actions, tools, trinkets, delve cards, to make sure everyone is melded into the game.
But the Work is Not Simple...
While I have the items decks all done, Tools, Relics, Trinkets, and the generic actions deck, I have a lot of work ahead of me adjusting everything into the dice system and to make everything interactive and impactful. Based on the workload, and knowing I'm going to have to get a supplemental income stream in my life (see the updates on the Misery Tarot or Hot Housewives Tarot for that), I am now removing any immediate deadlines for this work.
I could have made this a re-skin of ZOETROPE, and it would have been fine. But it wouldn't have been incredible. And I'm actively aiming for incredible.
The project will be in hand to you all before October, but what that looks like on the way to that point is unclear to me until I am done with, and happy with, all of these cards. Only then can I finalize the rulebooks (there are two, now), and only then can I tell you how much more time I need to refine things and when we'll head to manufacturing.
So hang tight with me, I will have more to share in a month or two!
