Black Rose Wars: Rebirth

The End is the Beginning
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 09:15:39 PM

After Irene's long journey, some questions are still pending…

Who will have won the battle? What happened to our heroes? What happened to Irene? And Alisha's father?

Don't worry, we are also passionate about this story, we will carry on the plot and will answer some of these questions during the future updates, accompanying all of us through the development of the game.

The journey till today has been great, the best of LMS, and all of you, fellow travelers, have been a fundamental element of our creative engine.

Feedback, ideas, and obviously the criticisms that emerged during these crazy 16 days have been collected, some better analyzed and often already translated into action. We will continue to do so, reviewing everything more calmly, and making you core in the creative process!
  We still believe this is the very essence and true spirit of Kickstarter.

Despite the tiredness, your enthusiasm has always given us new energy: you are the best part of this success.

A heartfelt thanks from all Ludus Magnus Team!

Great news! Cacus has been finally defeated! All Czacha Games Mages joined the challenge and helped smashing him with a final €78K Gigantic Fireball directly from Poland! Team work always pays off!

 And now? What will happen?

In about 2 weeks we will share with you the lineup of the project, which will accompany us until the delivery of the game; we will make constant updates (at least one a month) to keep you updated on the current status, and we will send some surveys to better understand how going on, and how bring on developments we promised we will carry on together along with you.

We will try to involve you the most and the best we can in the creative process and in the productive path because, from now on, Rebirth is our project, so you may say ...

I WAS THERE.

Ahhh…

…

…

We almost forgot... soon you will have some hot news to admire.

Stay tuned and…

#ReleasethePhoenix

The Last Battle
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 05:57:42 AM

You perceive a very powerful magical force coming from the ancient Forge, but the voice in your head, which you begin to think helped to keep you alive, pushes you to explore the Garden.

You cross several rooms, all immersed in darkness. Here the light does not penetrate, the ceilings are solid, intact, but the rooms seem abandoned for a long time.

You remember what as a child you imagined happening in those forbidden rooms, mages walking through the rooms in search of the spell that would put an end to all hostilities, defended by their own evocations, aspiring to the title of Great Magister.

You know that every room has a theme and a purpose, even if the dust now seems to belie this thought of yours, making everything homogeneously and desolately grey.

You just heard the mages talking about the rooms where they trained, now your eyes dart all around, from a tapestry to a piece of furniture, thinking how they could be beautiful. Now everything is in ruins, stones, dust, and furniture overturned, like the skeleton of a memory.

Nature is regaining possession of what the human hand has taken from it, strong roots are breaking the floors or sprouting twisted from the walls. Plants and vines cover everything in their path, cobwebs obstruct the passageways between the rooms.

Suddenly the dark becomes denser, unnatural, even your magic light struggles to penetrate it. Dai Jin warns you: "It's close, I can feel it." You carefully enter a room, the floor is black, decorated with rose-shaped engravings and other indecipherable characters. Black banners hang raggedly on the walls made up of slabs of shiny lava, almost invisible in the dark.

All around, several stairways, cutting through large empty tubs, converge towards a raised central area, where on the split floor you notice the outline of a huge rose.

The voice in your head seems to exert an unnatural pressure on your mind, bordering on pain, asking you to come closer. You climb the steps. Between the cracks in the floor, inside the rose, you see a faint pulsating light.

You try to understand what it might be, when a wave of black air hits you, making you fly over the steps, at the feet of your companions. Immediately Pyotr gets you back on your feet, Alisha and Dai Jin are already in position, their hands and their mouths move as in a silent play.

You turn around and see it...

We finally reached the last of the daily Stretch Goals.

Thanks to all your decisions, Irene is now facing her destiny. You have been great, it is only thanks to you that Irene will be able to complete her personal Ordalia.

The last obstacle to her rise is Landolfo II, prince of Capua (825-879 dC).

Landolfo II was the first black mage in history, the Great Magister of his time stole his contaminated remains from normal burial and sealed them in a sarcophagus. The power of the Black Rose watches over the sarcophagus, preventing Landolfo's return from the world of the dead, keeping him in a limbo between our plan and the demonic one. Landolfo II is THE Chaos Mage.

His personal spells work differently: you can't choose which one to use, but you will have to draw them randomly at the beginning of the game, and at each moon phase. His spells are particularly powerful, but his body is still weak.

A figure that has only the appearance of something human stands out in front of you, a thousand luminescent tentacles flutter at his sides. Constantly appearing and disappearing. You feel the incredible power of his magic, only his consumed body gives you a little hope of success.

"Get away from the Rose, her power is mine!" a shrill voice seems to come out from every part of his body.

He continues "Thanks to her I will come back to life!".

A tentacle darted through a teleporter, hitting Pyotr in the stomach. The big man collapses to the ground, breathless, bent over in pain. Alisha quickly jumps up a wall grabbing a banner and runs behind the black mage, while Dai Jin sings a litany, you only recognize one word "Albedo".

Landolfo disappears in a black cloud, just one moment before Alisha can hit him, and he reappears immediately after behind you. You feel a black vise taking you by the throat, stopping you from breathing.

You are about to lose consciousness when a blinding light floods the room and forces the mage to let you go from his mental hold.

You fall to the ground, Pyotr thunders a spell. A purple vortex comes to life, between you and the black mage, the air is sucked into the portal.

Alisha clings tightly to the banner, Dai Jin points his feet against the tubs, while the green tentacles are sucked like blades of grass into a water whirlpool. Pyotr quickly closes the portal.

Now the black mage is devoid of his most insidious weapon, but he's no less fearsome now. Your friends come closer, lining up next to you.

The last battle has just begun... but you will decide the epilogue, in your games of Black Rose Wars: Rebirth!

Writing these stories has been great fun, exciting, it was a great game, your support and enthusiasm played a crucial role. Waiting for your choices, knowing what was awaiting you, and knowing what you were leaving back on the road. Sometimes in the Studio, a "Nooooooo!" appeared when we wanted to show something different, or something more, but this is precisely the essence of the game.

We are almost at the end of this exciting campaign! The community continues to grow, the final battle against Cacus is moving forward Let's keep going, we want to take him down together and be able to add the giant into your pledges for free!

We are ready for the grand finale, are you?

Fireball!
 … #ReleaseTheHog

At last...
over 2 years ago – Sat, Sep 11, 2021 at 05:11:38 AM

Hello, Magisters!

We are very close to the end of the campaign, just a few hours before the final whistle!

A quick overview of the last unlocked stretch Goal. Goblin's Den introduces a new type of quest, Public Quests.

Their mechanism is simple, they will be placed on the game table to form the image on the back of the cards, the player with the crown selects one, turns it, and reads it aloud.

The first player who solves it will win the described prize, then he will choose the next quest card to reveal, to start a new mission available for everyone.

The missions will be themed, each one will have its own narrative background.

Goblin's Den was created to thank the most active gaming group in Italy, "La Tana dei Goblin", with venues all over the country. With their activities, they really contribute to promote and develop our wonderful hobby.

Once again inspired by your comments, we decided to take advantage of this new mechanic to add 2 new Stretch Goals: in addition to Goblin's Den, you can now unlock Irene's Quest and Link to the Past. To make the Post-Campaign more interesting and continue to have fun together, we decided to develop those 2 public quests together with you, through surveys and collecting your ideas.

Last but not least... Hogwartz!

Born for fun at the beginning of this campaign, now it's the time to make it real.

"Hogwartz the Swinomancer" will be unlocked after reaching XXXX (yes, we mean exactly XXXX) Shares!

Since you have already launched some crazy and spectacular ideas, like for the Public Quests, we will have fun with you to develop its 3 Personal Spells after the campaign!

See you later for final greetings,

Fireball!

#ReleaseTheHog

Schools of Magic and... the Trampler!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 09, 2021 at 01:55:47 PM

Hello Magisters!

We are approaching the finale of this exciting campaign, you have proved to be an incredible community, you have worked hard to unlock Social Stretch Goals at an amazing speed! And how can we forget what happened yesterday on the message board? We truly believe the biggest and most epic Spam-Storm in Kickstarter history! Kudos guys!

As many have asked us, it's time to recap ALL the Schools of Magic released during the campaign. Considering Core Box, Stretch Goals and Add-ons we have reached 16 new Schools!

This is a quick recap, written by the Great Magister Marco in person, which will give you a brief introduction to the schools and their mechanics.

It all starts with...

Hurt yourself and hurt more your opponents. Play with the Pain mechanic that will let you take advantage of the damages suffered by the Black Rose. You will always be very close to death but your opponents will be closer. 

Your enemy's worst Nightmare. Summon Umbras on your enemies and play Traps and tricks to steal their Power Points. If they want to play, your enemies will need to get rid of their Nightmares. 

Elements, elements, elements! Every time you are able to fulfill the requirements of your Spells you will unleash much more power. Fire, water, wind, and earth will be combined to destroy Rooms and kill your enemies. 

What is better than summoning undead? Summon undead and mutate them with useful Power-up Implants while using the necromancy power to steal your opponent's Power Points. Ladies and gentlemen Technomancy.

Curse your opponents with Jinx while re-building the Lodge to get their power. Slow them down and oblige them to fulfill mandatory tasks to get rid of the Hex. 

Your focus is to re-built the Lodge, use the Totemic power to increment your power. Exploit the power of the totems to heal, draw and gain Power Points. 

The end comes with suffering and Diseases. Be the one bringing suffering. Infect your opponents with the Disease tokens. Summon Plague Rats to take the control of the entire Black Rose lodge. Your opponents can try to hide but the disease or the rats will get them. 

Starve your enemies. Reduce their resource and use them to your advantage to empower your Spells. Fill up the Famine card while throwing the worst natural catastrophes at your enemies. 

There is no place to hide for the end. Killing your opponents is a minor part of your strategy, death will end the game quickly and be able to play with end game mechanics. 

Use the keen of the most famous general and the strength of the gods-weapons to annihilate your opponents. Equipment will give you back Physical Actions and allow you to act more and more often than your opponents. 

Use the environment to destroy your opponents and gain the power of the Black Rose. Place yourself on the right spot and use the Room colors to empower your Spell to kill or place Instability. 

Use your Constructs and power them up with the ancient Technology of the giants. Equip yourself with armors and protection while leading your army of empowered constructs to victory.

Mutate into Bear and use the strength of the Instability.  Use Quests and Events to shape the field and the future of your enemies... being defeated.  

Apollo's knowledge is in your hand. Read the sun signs and defeat your opponents by foreseeing their next steps. Flip their strategy against them and use the power of the Black Rose to win. The vicious Silvani will support you in your plan.

The most ancient magic, light, and darkness at your command. Gain power, avoid reconstruction of the Lodge and use instability to trigger your own Protections and Traps. 

 Read the sign of Chaos and cast your Spell. The immense power released is only comparable to the risk you will assume by this risk-taking school. One of the most powerful and unpredictable schools.

Here we are at the end of this long roundup! We are sure that you will all now be eager to learn more about all these schools, thinking about the countless powerful and crazy combinations that can be created by joining them together!

Don't worry, this is just a taste! In the coming months we will dedicate in-depth updates to each single school, to let you familiarize better with them. Let's now move on to today's BIG news!

A new Quest!

The earth trembles beneath your feet, as you prepare for the great confrontation within the halls of the Order...

We have entered in the last 48 hours! It's time to reveal your last Big Quest ... will you be able to take down the Giant Cacus before he reaches you?

Cacus is a mythological fire-breathing giant, son of Vulcan. Classical mythology represented him in different ways and forms, our illustrator Vincenzo Pratticò studied all those different interpretetations in order to make it more modern, while maintaining strong references to the historical descriptions.

Cacus is an Epic Avatar (110 mm) and was originally designed as an expansion for the Retail market, plan was to sell it at a price of € 24.

Like we did for Draco in Nova Aetas Renaissance, we've decided to give you the option to get it FOR FREE during this exciting campaign.

The challenge starts NOW, the first wound, which also reduces the price of the giant, is set at € 1275K.

Every € 25K you will be able to inflict a new wound on Cacus. If you take down the giant ... it will be yours ... FOR FREE!

If you succeed in the challenge it will be placed inside the Antiquities box (we will find a way... years of Tetris should help!).

Are you ready? If we reach a funding of € 1,550,000 the gigantic Cacus will rise again to have fun with your weak Mages in your gaming evenings.

Everything counts! Shares on Facebook, Likes on BoardGameGeek, WhatsApp groups, chats at the local pubs, coffee breaks, wall paintings, messages in bottles, messenger-ravens...

What are you waiting for, spread the word!

A New Dawn
over 2 years ago – Wed, Sep 08, 2021 at 03:14:08 PM

"Without a doubt, you decide to help Alisha, immediately after your decision Pyotr tells you that he could never let you go down alone, too many dangers could still lurk inside those ruins. You approach the entrance, with your hand you shield your eyes from the sun, it blinds you and does not allow you to see what awaits you...

You recall the spiral staircases leading down, in the center of the room. You all begin the descent. After a few steps you are back in the dark, you use your light spell to get ahead.

After several minutes, you arrive at a door closed by a heavy wooden plank.

Everything here seems strangely in order, the walls, the steps, and the door do not seem to have suffered the effects of time. Perhaps you are finally facing your Destiny, the voice in your head here is much louder, it calls you.

Together with your friends, you raise the wooden plank and open the enormous double-winged door. A new flash of light strikes you, after few moments, you see a figure cloaked in light that is fighting a dark shadow you know... the Nocturnus!

Anger overwhelms you, thinking back to Dai Jin and his sacrifice. You hurl yourself against the dark creature by throwing spheres of light, they seem to disturb it more than you hoped for.

It turns to you and expands his mantle, accompanied by the dreary sound of its bells. It tries to wrap you up as it did with your old friend.

At that very moment a knight, surrounded by the light of dawn, stands in front of you and shields you.

He reminds you of Rubedo, but while this thought crosses your head, the light emanating from the armor outlines a smaller and more familiar figure.

"...Dai Jin?!" exclaim in amazement.

“Not now girl! We have a big problem to deal with here”.

A whirlwind of colors and sparks floods the room, thanks to the help of all your friends the Nocturnus seems rejected. Unable to resist your combined attacks, the dark creature disappears in a cloud of black smoke, uttering a few sinister words: "you will not escape my Lord...".

We are pleased to present you Albedo, the second stage of alchemical matter. It represents the light, the dawn and the feminine, the alchemical marriage with Nigredo gives birth to Rubedo. This miniature can be used both to replace the token that represents it in the Core box, but also as a new Evocation, which can be obtained after resolving a special quest: Dai Jin’s Trial.

Once you get your breath back, you hug Dai Jin and explain to him that you were sure he was dead.

After making the necessary introductions with your new companions, you explain to him that you are headed to the room of the Black Rose, inside the Ordalia, looking for Alisha's father and facing your fate.

He explains that the Nocturnus was summoned by Landolfo II, the first black mage in history and that you awakened him from his exile when you entered his crypt, removing the cursed chaos book from above his crypt.

Dai Jin goes on to tell you that he discovered everything by magically hiding within the folds of the Nocturnus until he summoned Albedo to free himself.

From the hexagonal room you are in, 2 doors open, one seems to lead you to an internal garden, a strange figure dominates its center, where before there was a fountain, while on the other side you see what it looks like an old forge, a forge that appears to be powered by magma and still functioning.

Your three friends look at you, waiting for your decision, which road will you take to reach the Room of the Black Rose? Garden or Forge?

In the next Update (in a couple of hours), a great recap of ALL the Schools of Magic for BRW: Rebirth, and a NEW BIG CHALLENGE...

#ReleaseTheHog #Fireball #Cacus