About this project
Legends Untold: As deep as an RPG, as fast as a card game!
£129,748
3,238
Click on the image above to read all of information uncovered about the world of Mor Nadar!
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*The Caves and the Sewers sets have 153 cards in each of them: The only cards that are in both sets are 3 weapon cards, 150 of the cards are unique to that set. Each set contains 27 Double sized cards (126*88mm) and 126 poker sized cards(88*63mm). See below for more details.
In Legends Untold 1 to 4 players* take on the role of unlikely heroes, the final hope of a conquered people. Starting with only your wits and a crude weapon you will explore the Weeping Caves trying to gain access to the great free city of Dun Mordhain.
We want to make Legends Untold because we love to play immersive adventure games but don't have the time to set them up and play them very often. Inspired by “Choose your own adventure” books, RPGs, and fantasy board games, Legends offers a deep adventuring experience that sets up in 5 minutes, has no player downtime and you can finish in an hour.
* The game can be played with up to 8 players if more than one set is purchased.
For more details checkout our wiki at https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/198832/legends-untold/wiki
We have more stretch goals planned beyond this.
We have huge plans for this game described in the sections above but to give you an idea of what we have mapped out to date, that content would include: Various packs at higher Ranks (Apprentice, Journeyman and so forth). Culture packs helping describe the lands and cultures of a people: e.g. the Celti or the Acheans. Bonus Occupation and Mastery paths which will add another facet to gameplay such as Alchemy, Crafting and Druidism. For now though we now we need to walk before we can run!
We were finalists in the Wyvern's Lair (the gamers answer to Dragons Den / Shark Tank) competition at the UKGE in June 2016. Here are the reasons to buy this game we gave in that pitch:
Convenience
- Portable with small shelf space requirement.
- 5 minute set up, no player downtime,
- 1 hour play time. Drop in drop out functionality.
Depth
Not just hack n' slash in this game you can: disarm or bypass traps, navigate obstacles, investigate curiosities and encounter NPCs. Surprise mechanics which reward scouting and good marching order decisions assist rapid, interactive combat, where you can help or hinder your colleagues with historic weapons which perform differently from one another. Advantage/disadvantage rules require teamwork and utilise a range of upgrades and choices to help build your hero.
Flexibility
- Modular Hero build, 1000s of combinations with no restrictions.
- Play this game solo or coop as a boardgame no GM required.
- Add a GM and play it as an RPG.
Replay Value
Legends Untold is designed to give you a different experience every time. The base Caves set has over 360,000 possible maps which you will create as you explore. Dynamic environments produce physical effects like floods and cave ins. Mix any foe with any environment. Play Goblins in Caves or Lizardmen in Sewers or Undead in Crypts or mix them up as you desire. Or combine them all to create a Multi Environment Giant Adventure (MEGA) game.
Packing more game into a smaller space.
Legends has a huge amount of depth and so we've tried to squeeze as much content as we can onto the cards. There are no duplicate cards in Legends, a lot of the hero cards can be rotated to give you an upgraded version when you level up. The talent cards all have a number of abilities on them giving you multiple effects on the same card.
The Stretch Goals section below shows our plans to give you a game which is almost 50% bigger if we can unlock them.
In the Caves and Sewers* starter sets we need to cover off the foes you will fight, the environment you will explore, the effects you may sustain (poison, fear etc) and the modular components of your Hero. To help explain this here is a listing of the card composition for the Starter sets prior to any stretch goals being unlocked:
* Please note the campaign builds on a concept of eight heroes splitting into two parties of four to help save their people. The first party is represented in the Caves starter set.
If we can unlock a degree of funding that makes it commercially viable then we will make the Sewers starter set available as an add on. The Sewers set will have an identical composition of card types (Foes etc ) but with the exception of three cards (the bow, the axe and the spear which represent the three most commonly available weapons to the Heroes all of the cards in the Sewers deck will be different to those in the Caves deck. For example the Barriers, Obstacles etc. will all be different.
All hero cards are interchangeable across both the Caves and Sewers Sets giving you for example 32 Skill Talents (which is 96 individual abilities) to customize your Hero with. The foes from the Sewers set (Lizardkin) can be played with the Caves set giving a huge amount of added flexibility.
Will you accept the challenge and head forth into the Weeping Caves?
Each turn you will be required to make important decisions to determine the fate of your heroes. Let's show you those decisions and explain the game.
Let the Adventure begin!
You are in the Weeping Caves, before you proceed you must decide:
- Which exit will you take deeper into the caves?
- Which of you will lead the party and scout the path ahead?
- Who will take guard at the rear of the party?
- Will you proceed slowly and with stealth, or avoid wasting what precious time you have?
All of these things impact your readiness in this location, whether you are alert, bold or careless impacts everything you can do in a turn.
Dynamic Mapping
The scout draws the new location, matching the lighting levels where possible, and adding it to the map as you journey onwards.
Obstacles
The amber ringed man pushing a boulder icon means there is an obstacle on the way into this location. Drawing from the adventure deck you find that a chasm blocks your path!
- Will you use rope to help you swing across?
- Can you make the jump, quick but dangerous?
- Should you climb around, slow but safe?
Being alert and having a light source will help you, and it being a team trial, the entire party can put their hero's talents to use in assisting. Each test shows what happens if you pass (in the green column) or fail (in the red column).
Exploration
Now you are past the chasm, the magnifying glass in the cave shows a search zone, a place where there could be useful loot or strange curiosities to be found.
- Will you search carefully and burn time or search quickly and risk being caught off guard.
- What will you find - loot, a trap perhaps?
This time your search finds some Lobgourds, crudely made firebombs that some goblin has left behind.
Barriers
The blue ringed barrier icons show that your way forward is blocked and you will need you to figure out a way past them - this one is an old wooden door:
Will you?
- Pick the Lock, which takes time
- Force it open, but perhaps hurt yourself in trying
- Lever the hinges off you get through, but give whatever is on the far side time to hear you coming
After each barrier you draw to see what lies beyond it... will it be the Goblin Shaman? A spiked pit? Captured merchants? An ancient shrine? The game will be different and unique each time you play .
Continuing into the darkness of the weeping caves you will find combat, bizarre curiosities and characters to converse with alongside fully customizable heroes and a campaign system to grow your heroes' talents and equipment. This is the essence of Legends Untold.
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This is our first game and we are trying to keep things really simple to get you guys the game as quickly as possible. We have spoken to a number of fulfillment suppliers and given the small size of the box involved there is only a marginal difference in shipping worldwide.
We have therefore adopted a flat rate of £7 to cover shipping costs to any destination.
Please note we will not ship to Brazil or Russia.
Content: Currently we have designed 80% of all the cards for both the Caves and Sewers packs. The remaining 20% has come from suggestions made via the reviews seen above as shown in the Stretch Goals section.
Graphic Design: The card templates are 90% complete, the only remaining tasks are finalising things where mechanics have dictated a change.
Art: Many of the cards require final artwork. We have used placeholder art on a number of the cards where necessary. In some cases it is a matter of commissioning an entirely new piece, in others it is colouring an existing ink drawing. For example all 10 of the basic Foe cards in the Caves set have an ink drawing but we have only had the Shaman coloured up to show a final copy. We have an established team of Artists alongside our Graphic Designer ready to go to complete this work for us. So in essence we need your help to take concept art and turn it into finished cards:
Rules: The mechanics are complete, we have play tested this game continually over three years. Our biggest challenge is explaining the game in the rules owing to its depth. 9 times out of 10 when we demo this game people love it, however there is no Inspiring Games App (the Kev App as Hugh jokingly calls it) which you can call on just to explain rules at any point. This is a challenge we recognise that we need help with. Our intent is to contract an external Editor to improve the layout and terminology within the rules. We wanted to get the rules out to reviewers first to get their opinion on the game. Thanks to those reviews and the community on BGG we have identified improvements which will help with this communication and ease gameplay. When we have locked down the contents of the game (i.e. which Stretch Goals have been unlocked) we can then proceed to contract with the external Editor to improve the rulebook. Feedback from gamers has been consistent, retain the depth but lose unnecessary complexity, we intend to deliver that for you in the final rulebook.
Legends Untold is our debut game but one that we hope will be around for many years to come. We have planned an immersive campaign for you to help you build out your adventure and world at a pace you desire.
You begin as a reluctant hero at Novice rank and have nothing but a crude weapon and some talents to help you along the way. In the Caves set you will undergo 8 scenarios leveling up each time you succeed until you achieve Apprentice rank.
But what of the other party, those other 4 heroes we mentioned? They chose the alternate path and descended to the Great Sewer. Well if we can reach a certain funding level (we don't want to walk before we can run) that second party will be available via the other Novice rank starter set as an add on.
Both parties are trying to reach a way into the enormous city of Dun Mordhain, which remained free against the onslaught of the Newcomer conquest. These two Novice rank starter sets are entirely interchangeable giving you an incredible amount of choice in your set up. Both sets will lead you to another part of the underworld of Dun Mordhain. Upon progressing to Apprentice rank you will be able to continue with your journey through either The Crypts, The Silent Dark or the Brethren Works. These packs will require you to complete 12 scenarios before you finally find a way into Dun Mordhain.
The Heroes will now have achieved Journeyman Rank and at this point our vision would be that they must spend 16 Scenarios in and around the City to finally negotiate a permanent home for their people. Dun Mordhain is truly huge and we would anticipate an environment which includes, the defences, the midden, the harbour, the castle, the merchant district and many more places.
At this point the heroes will have reached Skilled rank and be ready to set off into the wider world in a direction of your choosing.
This animation shows you the anticipated career path tree for the Student:
The year is 2725 in the reckoning of the Brethren. Two years have passed since the Siege of Dun Mordhain and the Treaty of the Peoples has been signed.
At Skilled rank you choose where to go next and have your own adventure in a huge open world environment that we want YOUR help to build. We will lay down the bones but want you the gamers to help flesh out the world and tell us what you would like in it. Why? Because we are asking you to invest your time and money in our game so we want to make sure we give back that sense of identity and love to you. We are making this world together for you to share for many years to come.
The Map above shows Mor Nadar (Big Country, the world known to the Celti peoples).
At Skilled rank you could for example travel East to Aes Nu, the great falls of Evermist and investigate its hidden secrets. Or West to the Legendary Areten, the first people with innate magical abilities whom no one has seen in centuries.
Along the way you will travel though vast wilderness environments. Here you have a choice, you can instant time that travel and proceed directly to your chosen Environment, or play out that travel using the Wilderness packs available.
Here a whole new dimension to the game will open up. You must deal with weather, time keeping, getting lost, finding food and shelter as you travel.
And here is where we want you to be able to reuse all of those assets (caves, crypts etc) you may have purchased on the way. If you are journeying between two cities and are in the woods and see a cave...well if you have the caves set you can play your very own open world side quest using the existing assets you have already purchased.
So it's up to you really, it is YOUR open world and your adventure. Will you journey north to the Lands of the Jotnar to help free the Viki from their tyrannical masters, or South to glorious Achean City States?
The decision is entirely up to you.
OK we want to let you play the game. We will try and ease you in using a Level 0 Scenario. This means you don't need all the rules right now just the ones relevant to the situation. We hope this playable demo is fun, let us know how you got on in the comments section please!
Kevin Young - CEO, Inspiring Games
A gamer since the age of 10, starting with Red Box D&D (yes I'm that old) and being a lifelong fan of RPGs, board games, card games and all things tabletop really. For the past three years stuck in his ever diminishing man cave working on the beast that is Legends Untold.
Kev (only his Mum calls him Kevin) is the creative one in Inspiring Games, ideas tend to spew forth at an alarming rate, many of which make sense and are perfectly simple (to Kev at any rate).
Hugh Ducker - Design Director, Inspiring Games
A gamer of equal vintage Hugh loves to game, anything from LARP ing to board games to miniature games and all that lies between. Hugh is the straight man to Kev's chaos, the Ying to his Yang etc. Hugh gets to drive a car round Kev's head collecting tokens as he goes and then has the unenviable task of trying to translate said ideas into a cogent game design. Hugh is at his happiest designing mechanics and making them work.
Hugh and Kev say no to each other a lot, every single day we work on design. We believe this is essential in creating an Inspiring Game, if two people can share a vision then you have the start of something wonderful.
We are supported by a wonderful tribe of playtesters and work very closely with a team of talented artists who are given art direction by our Graphic Desginer:
Scott Nicely - Creative Director and Chief Designer for his own art house Jovial Graphics. Scott has worked with many big name publishers in the hobby including Fantasy Flight Games, Tasty Minstrel Games and AEG. He has also helped create amazing graphics for successful Kickstarted games as Secrets of the Lost Tomb, Karmaka and Endure the Stars. Besides having over 15 years experience in the games and toy industry Scott is a passionate gamer. He brings his extensive graphic talent, player experience and enthusiasm to every project.
Risks and challenges
We can’t deny that there are risks backing a new company. We have worked hard to mitigate as many risks as possible. Most of the artwork is ready to commission and we have gone through a large amount of the graphical design process. We have released a work in progress version rulebook, and we have already confirmed our manufacturer.
As this is a card game we believe that production delay is unlikely but is one of our major concerns. We have carefully considered the unknown in our planning; we honestly believe that we can deliver on time.
Please note that we are planning to improve the rulebook and gameplay after stretch goals are unlocked. Any stretch goal that requires further art will need to be completed as well. All art, rules and graphical design may change.
Questions about this project? Check out the FAQ
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Funding period
- (28 days)