Hi First name / Friend,

hope you are doing well and safe. In the last newsletter, I described the battle system in detail and the Mage character, so in case you missed it, check it here: Previous newsletters

Today I came with the following topics:

• Character introduction - Engineer
• World
• Game mechanic - Area control + graphic design question
• Solo mode with David Turczi
• Current project status - next todos

Character introduction - Gimdro (Engineer)

In the previous newsletters, I showed you the Warrior and the Mage characters, now it’s time for the Engineer ;)

Gimdro - Leader of the Engineer clan

" Gimdro matured into a quiet and wise boy. He liked to withdraw to his father’s library and did not care for social life. Indeed, he spent a lot of his time with the scientists who lived in the court of the king and he made some friends in these circles with whom he shared common interests and thinking. He was fascinated by the great human inventions, he himself made several experiments, which turned out to be several innovations used in everyday life of the royal court and began to spread all over the world. One day Gimdro felt his mind widening. Everything was clear and easily understandable. Nothing in the outside world was interesting for him anymore, but science. It occupied his mind fully. He read books very quickly and understood everything easily. He noticed the relationships between things and saw the essence of everything. He started to design incredible things and dreamed of engineering miracles. He was happy to be able to help people, and with him, mankind could start to bloom again. But no one was interested in his inventions...

The attributes of the three brothers also appeared in other people at different levels. People with similar traits formed groups together. They became the clans.

The Engineer clan was not really interested in the outside world. They got their strength from within. They were a silent, introverted clan. They knew they were the most vulnerable, so they constantly developed their engineering inventions for their own protection. Gimdro became the leader of the Engineer Clan.

The Engineers went back to the huge forest in the south-east. They liked silence and nature there. Their cities blended in the environment, technology, and nature mold together. Their territory was surrounded by advanced traps, they did not want any intruders."

In the game:

He is the weakest character, so he tries to avoid direct conflict and battle. But he has very powerful action cards and skills, and he has also cards that can protect him against any aggressors.

Usually, the best strategy with him is to collect crystals and complete secret quests with them. Besides that, often he is the most interested in capturing Villages and building roads.

So if you are not one who likes to attack others and many direct interactions, it's your character

WORLD

First of all, this won’t be a game with just 5-10 rows of story. Not at all...I created a whole world. And this game is the 1st piece of it. My plan is a trilogy, and this is the 2nd episode. The 1st will be the “The beginnings”, and the 3rd will be the “The final battle”. But these titles make sense for you too if you read the story of this part (60 pages with images;). This storybook with more illustrations will be a part of the collector edition pledge level. Check it (click on the image below), and tell me how you liked it ;) 

Game mechanics: Capturing a field, area control

+ graphic design question

I was wondering whether I should call it area control or not because it’s not a classic one. But in the consequences it is similar. So, you move your Hero and the common Lost Souls on the map between different fields. A field has 3 main attributes:

• who can perform an action on it
• what the cost of the action is
• it can be captured or not

When you capture a field an instant good thing (based on the field) happens to you or you will receive a bonus until you own that field (for example Fortresses increase your combat power, villages grant you special advantages). But there are some fields (Fortress and Castle) that also block the other players in their movement until you own the field. So you can’t go through an opponent’s Fortress or Castle only if you take it (which requires resources from you). That’s why it can be tactically important what and when you capture. 

Graphic design question

As I mentioned it is defined, who can perform the specific field action, and what the cost of that is.

Current design: There can be 2 icons below the fields: first defines who can perform the action, second defines the cost. If both of the Hero and Soul can perform the action there is no icon, and if the action is free there is no cost icon neither.

Who can perform the action:

there is a Hero icon if only Heroes can perform the action. There is a Soul icon if only the common (every player can move them) Souls can perform the action. And there are no Hero/Soul icons if both of them can perform it. 

The cost of the action:

The cost can be gold or hit point, or it can be free. Of course, if it costs hit point(s) then you must pay it only if you do it will the Hero because only Heroes have hit points. 

EXAMPLES:

The Fortress can be captured only by a Hero and it costs 1 HP:

The Mine can be used only by a Lost Soul and it costs nothing:

The Village can be captured by either a Hero or Soul and it costs 2 gold:

The Portal can be used by either a Hero or Soul and it costs 1 HP if you do it by a Hero

My question is how clear and easy these markings are for you? Do you have maybe another better idea/solution to show it? If yes just reply to this letter and share your thoughts. I would really appreciate it.

Solo mode with David Turczi

There were several beta tests, and during this week I had a long call with David Turczi, who helps me to create a really remarkable solo variant. The discussion was very useful, meaning now I go back and redesign some parts of the solo mode - the movement system and event handling will be more gripping :)

Current project status

There are still many things ahead of me to launch the KS. After my normal day work my second “shift” starts at 6pm until...until I can :) but usually, 1 am. 

The latest achievements: 

The KS intro video is about 95% - it’s very epic and moving :). I’m very excited to share it with you as I can ;). 

The other big process was in the online platforms: TTS and Tabletopia. Actually, they are ready, but honestly (and sadly), the first proofreading of the rulebooks are still in progress and it takes more time than I expected, so it’s my mistake, I just planned wrongly. But I really hope in some weeks I can release the online versions and you can try it - I am also really looking forward to it.

Besides that, I made the 1st print run of the 3d objects (minis and other items) and they are perfect - only 2 items need minor modifications, so soon I will start the “mass production” for the reviewer copies.

Okay, this is for today. If you want more info about the game check the official webpage here: https://legacyofthracksboardgame.com/ or just write to me (reply to this letter).

Thank you, and keep in touch. 

Bests,

Balázs