A solo/co-op sandbox adventure awaits you in the land of Avalon. Explore, mine and craft! Slay monsters, level-up and find rare loot!
Latest Updates from Our Project:
Quick Reference guide finished! Classic Patrol Route Die Returns! Card Sleeves for the game! NEW Evolved Minions! Scalable Difficulty Reference Card! New Video Series! And more!
almost 3 years ago
– Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 12:29:34 AM
Hello everyone and good day to you! :-) I hope that everyone is doing great, having a fantastic summer, and staying safe. It is really nice to be back with you for one of our huge updates. And this particular update I think you were going to love.
First let me say from the start of this year till now I have been working on various things for the game every day, no day off. The Crusade never ends I tell you! I'm very happy to say much has been accomplished and finished up.
I wanted to get here sooner with you guys, but I just kept the ax to the grind and kept working to get all of these various things wrapped up for all of us. I'm very excited to dispatch this update for you and what you're going to find within it. I think much will surprise you.
So without further Ado let's get this update rolling!
Here is a link to the last Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update for you. If you're new to the Dungeon Crusade universe or missed it, do check it out.
THE BRAND NEW QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE FORLEARNING HOW TO SETUP AND PLAY DUNGEON CRUSADE, BUT NOW WITH THE EVOLVED MINIONS GAME VARIANT:
Yes, we did talk about this last update, but there was something very awesome and a real game-changer for Dungeon Crusade added to the quick reference guide. More on that in a second!
Let's go over this really quick.
The quick reference guide is comprised of:
- Setup
- The 5 phases that comprise a turn
- Key information on everything you need to know in playing the game
- F.A.Q./game variants/rule clarifications
- the (4) dungeon boards/images for setting them up and additional information on where traps, treasure chests, and mining sites are located
Like the post says above, use the quick reference guide to teach you how to set up the game and get to playing very quickly and easily. This is not wordy at all. This is straight to the point on how to set up and play Dungeon Crusade. Then, refer to the Crusaders' Handbook for more in-depth information about a particular game mechanic.
Here is the link for you to download theDungeon Crusade Quick Reference Guide.This is in PDF format: https://bit.ly/QRG-DC
But here is what has been added to the quick reference guide, and it's a real game-changer....
EVOLVED MINIONS:
What is this Evolved Minions game variant?
This game variant slightly reworks the combat system when heroes are combating the minions within the dungeon. With this new official game variant, you expect these benefits while playing Dungeon Crusade.
+ GREATLY reduces playtime
+ Significantly speeds up the Monster phase
+ Combat with minions is now 1 vs.1 (like a duel)
+ Combat with minions now only takes seconds to resolve (10-15 seconds)
+ Much smoother gameplay
+ Minions will now randomly select one of their 3 warfare types to attack a hero with (a simple A.I routine you'll use)
+ Heroes will never know what warfare type a minion will select before engaging in combat
+ Final Strike die added when combating minions (1D20)
+ Critical Strike: After a hero slays a minion and there is damage leftover, this can be applied to any other adjacent minion
+ Enhances gameplay considerably
+ Adheres to the Dungeon Crusade gameplay and fits perfectly
+ FUN, enjoyable and adds a certain planning and tactics when considering to attack a minion with a particular hero
+ Counterattack can still be used in the Monster phase.
Consider what minions are...
Minions are the trash mobs in the game. They're the lowest level monster and creatures in Dungeon Crusade. While they are versed in 3 of the warfare types, they are not as proficient as the Champion monsters and Guardians at using all 3 warfare types in a combat situation.
However, as you know, if too many minions escape from the dungeon and raid the village, they can lose the game for you.
The new official Evolved Minions game variant goes perfectly, from what we just discussed.
Overview of this game variant and things to know:
These are some things to keep in mind using this game variant.
+ Rallying heroes together to combat minions is NOT USED and CAN NOT be used with this game variant. Instead, it's 1 vs. 1, as in a duel between a hero and a minion.
+ A minion will randomly select only 1 of its 3 warfare types to use in combat.
+ A Final Strike roll is not a warfare roll. It is known as a Final Strike roll. Consider both of these as 2 separate attacks.
A player will be using the D20 for the Final Strike die. However, a player may add any buffs from the selected warfare type to the Final Strike die roll.
+ A hero must select only 1 of their weapons to use in combat against a minion. A player will only be using battle token 1. Place the battle token on the selected weapon the hero will be using, combating a minion.
+ Counterattack can still be used against a minion in the Monster phase of a turn.
As you can see, this was a real game-changer for Dungeon crusade, and I'm very happy where the game is at right now. This fits so perfectly in the game and adds just another layer of strategy, tactics, and planning. I highly recommended playing Dungeon Crusade with this variant. Have a look in the quick reference guide to see how this works, it's quite simple to understand.
So populate your dungeon with 12 minions or more now! The Evolved Minions game variant makes the game go much quicker & smoother as combat is resolved in seconds now.
THE NEW VIDEO SERIES: HOW TO SET UP AND PLAY THE AVALON ADVENTURE BOARD GAME AND DUNGEON CRUSADE:
I'm super happy to say this video series has been fully wrapped up, ( for now), and came out excellent. This took a solid 2 months and many, many hours to bring to completion.
I took the time to fully explain how to set up the Avalon Adventure board game, how to play it, how to set up Dungeon Crusade, how to play it, explained each of the game's mechanics, and gave some great strategy tips along the way.
The series was very well received and helped many people in learning the game, and most importantly showed while the game is of course girthy, it was designed with quite easy game mechanics which are easy to retain and understand.
So if you're looking at how to set up and play both of these games, this is the video series for you and will get you very acclimated to both of these games.
Well, as some of you may know, we had a surprise announcement for Dungeon Crusade. And, here they are. The original patrol route dice are back!
I worked with a company a little while back to make this happen for the game. This has been highly requested, so I'm very happy we can offer these in the very near future. Details will be on the way for you.
This brings me to the replacement content. A few good people have been waiting for some pieces and parts that we are getting to, now that we have everything wrapped up. I would like to thank them for their patience and understanding, and I will make sure they are taken care of and they get a few of these original patrol dice in their order plus a few other Crusader gifts I have planned for them. Stay tuned for more information about this, as this is our focus now.
SCALABLE DIFFICULTY REFERENCE CARD:
This was announced a little while back, but I wanted to post it again in this update.
Here's the brand new Scalable Difficulty Reference card. This can be used on the Events and Challenges in the Encounter deck and for those trapped Treasure Chest cards and Trap cards for your level 1 and level 2 heroes.
When one of your Heroes has to complete a challenge or an event in the Encounter deck, or one of those trapped Treasure Chests or Traps in the game, you can use this handy, scalable difficulty reference card for those situations. This also counts towards affliction checks.
This brought even more balance to the Encounter deck, the Treasure Chest deck, and the Trap card deck. It makes the game a much more enjoyable and balanced experience.
Here is the link for you to download it, print it out, cut it out and adhere each side together >>> https://bit.ly/DC_Card
AND DO REMEMBER, THE DUNGEON CRUSADE IS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD:
The Dungeon Crusade Combat Chart App is here! The links are below for you.
We're very excited about this and very eager for you to try it while playing Dungeon Crusade. It's ready for download right now and on many different platforms.
Please understand that this app IS NOT REQUIRED to play Dungeon Crusade, but rather this app enhances your experience while playing.
This app takes the place of the 6 warfare tokens in the game and the combat chart. The app handles all combat, including the roll of the warfare dice, placing and randomizing the 3 battle tokens, and the loot & gold roll.
While I created the graphic design for the app, it was the technical wizardry of the most awesome Ed Farias who built the app, so huge kudos to Ed! :)
GROOVUS GAMES UNLIMITED HAS PARTNERED WITH PANDA CARD SLEEVES FOR SLEEVES FOR ALL THE CARDS IN DUNGEON CRUSADE:
And here is some very awesome news for you on the card sleeves for Dungeon Crusade.
As I posted before, Groovus Games Unlimited has partnered with the most excellent company Panda Card sleeves, and they have created the sleeves for every single type of card in Dungeon Crusade and the Avalon Adventure board game.
A few weeks back, I sent the project manager the sample cards in the game. Last week, he emailed me some photos to share with everyone to see the sleeves on all of the various cards.
He also had this to say...
"The sleeves are made of acid-free material, the same as many brands' penny sleeves. However, these sleeves are thicker and more durable than penny sleeves. They're not expensive so that people can protect all the cards in the most affordable way."
He also mentioned doing some free giveaways, so stay tuned for that.
It's been quite busy with the game as we are working on a few announcements, but I will be doing the graphic design for each of the packages. I'm thinking of having maybe a few images of the heroes and monsters on the various packs of cards, the Dungeon Crusade logo, and of course, the sizes and what cards the sleeves are for.
Also, these sleeves will be available on Panda Card sleeves website. As soon as they are available, I will let you know. We're shooting for maybe a few weeks from now. As soon as I have more information, I will pass it along to you. A HUGE shout out to the most awesome Julius Kelly for his assistance with this! :)
A HUGE SHOUT OUT TO DUSTIN FREUND ON HIS GAME THE GHOST BETWIXT SHIPPING OUT!
I wanted to take the time to give a huge shout-out to Dustin Freund, a fellow game designer and a true best friend to me on his brand new game, 'The Ghost Betwixt', that is going to be shipping out around the world.
I met Dustin years ago when Dungeon Crusade was on Kickstarter and we built a strong friendship right off the bat. I remember him telling me about The Ghost Betwiwt,
I could tell how passionate he was about it, how focused he was, his determination, and wanting to share his creativity, imagination, and ingenuity with fellow gamers and people around the world. and here he is now with the game boxed up ready to ship out!
I clearly remember that feeling when I saw Dungeon Crusade in those boxes on the verge of shipping out. It's truly an awesome feeling, I'm just so happy and excited for Dustin his game is finally going out to everyone.
And I have to say massive kudos and outstanding job to Cole, Travis, and everyone else involved with The Ghost Betwixt. Superb job!
I have said in the future I would look forward to working with Dustin and Cole on a game together and see what we all could come up with. I think we'd have a great time and do something quite creative and unique for fellow gamers and people.
And this brings us to the end of another Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update, which I think was quite an awesome one. As you can see, myself and others have been very busy with the game.
In my life, it's probably 90% game and 10% family time. But, as I've always said I am incredibly committed to the game, its growing fan base and always working on giving people and fellow gamers the best experience possible with the Avalon Adventure board game and Dungeon Crusade.
As I aforementioned, I am very happy, pleased, and content with where the game is right now. The Scalable Difficulty Reference Card, the Quick Reference Guide, and most certainly the Evolved Minions official game variant were three huge game-changers. These things perfected the whole experience and made the game even more enjoyable.
As I have mentioned a few times in the past, from the very outset of this project, I was out to do something for fellow gamers and people that was quite creative, innovative, immersive, thematic and had a ton of passion baked into it. I wanted to give people a brand new experience to enjoy in the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre.
To be able to give people something new in their life to enjoy and experience is a real-life reward. I will always be eternally grateful for the opportunity to create and develop Dungeon Crusade for so many people and will always give 100% of my creativity, imagination, ingenuity, and passion for the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre in every single game we create/design/develop with Groovus Games Unlimited.
Okay, all! Thank you for your time and I truly hope you enjoyed this quite excellent update. Go ahead and download the Scalable Difficulty Reference Card and give the Evolved Minions a spin. I think you're really going to enjoy this.
Stay tuned for a few exciting announcements we have for you and I hope everyone reading this has a great evening, stay safe and have a fantastic rest of your summer. I will be talking to you very, very soon.. Rodger :-)
The new Dungeon Crusade Quick Reference Guide is finished, new video series starting on how to setup and play and much more!
about 3 years ago
– Mon, May 10, 2021 at 12:22:06 AM
Hello everyone, good morning, and Happy belated Mother's Day to all the moms out there. :) I hope everybody has been doing good, staying safe, had a fantastic weekend, and is enjoying any games you may be playing.
This is Rodger, of course, and it is incredibly nice to be back here with you and to get back to our Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter updates. I have to tell you how overwhelmingly busy it has been for the past few months. It has never been quite this busy before with the game. It has hindered me in getting this update dispatched for you.
The fan base for the game has most certainly grown, which we are very grateful for, and as I have mentioned a few times in some posts, I'm still going to bed anywhere from 5, 6 to 7 a.m. in the morning, waking up around 11 a.m. doing it all over again. I'm working with more people now, so we thank you for your patience and understanding while we were working on many things, getting some things finished up and some exciting things for the near future we think you'll enjoy.
We have some very awesome and cool things to share with you in this update so let's get it started!
Blackhand Conscript...a new malevolent agent of the Blackhand Army...(armor & pose not final)
Here is a link to the last Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update for you. If you're new to the Dungeon Crusade universe or missed it, do check it out. This was probably one of the best updates as it announced Dungeon Crusade had shipped out, and there were many photos taken from people all around the world showing off their game!
THE BRAND NEW QUICK REFERENCE GUIDE FOR LEARNING AND PLAYING DUNGEON CRUSADE:
For the past few months, this is one thing that did take some time to put together. I've been working with a truly brilliant and fantastic gentleman by the name of Ilpo on this and a few other people. Huge kudos to Ilpo for all his incredible help on this.
But I'm very happy to report that we have had some excellent feedback on this. Many players have said they have just simply used this to learn and play the game, and then referred to the Crusaders' Handbook for a more detailed and in-depth look at something particular in the game to learn more about it.
The quick reference guide is comprised of:
- Setup
- The 5 phases that comprise a turn
- Key information on everything you need to know in playing the game
- F.A.Q./game variants/rule clarifications
- the (4) dungeon boards/images for setting them up and additional information on where traps, treasure chests, and mining sites are located
Before we go any further, take a look at how it came out. Please note, we are making a few adjustments to a few sections and I'm implementing some additional information in the rule clarification and FAQ section. But this will give you a good idea of how great this came out.
When I put the graphic design together for the quick reference guide, I made sure to use nice big fonts, space everything out so it was an easy read and we made sure everything was very clear and to the point for explaining everything about the game.
Also, you can see I put some nice diagrams and illustrations in there to explain some of the things in the game very easily and clearly for you. I hope you like how it came out.
Closing out this section, Ilpo and I made a few minor changes to a few sections of the quick reference guide, and I'm implementing a few other things to the rule clarification and the FAQ section. So while I wanted to have the link here for this update, by tomorrow at this time, it will be available for download. So please check back here in both of the comment sections for the link.
Lastly, in regards to the FAQ/rule clarifications/game variants section, you will see that this is page 15 of the quick reference guide. This is something I always want to evolve and add more information to for players.
So in the future, you may see page 15.1 show up in one of the updates. You can download that and put it right by page 15. This way, you'll have all the current information and any changes to either the Avalon Adventure board game, Dungeon Crusade, or any of the 4 House of Chance games. However, I don't foresee anything changing with any of the House of Chance games.
THE NEW VIDEO SERIES ON HOW TO SETUP AND PLAY THE AVALON ADVENTURE BOARD GAME AND DUNGEON CRUSADE:
But now, with this Kickstarter update out, our quick reference guide finishing up, I'll be doing an update for the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel shortly, and we will finally get to this long-awaited video series on how to set up and play both the Avalon Adventure board game and Dungeon Crusade.
As I've mentioned before, This forthcoming series will be quite a departure from the other videos you may have seen on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel.
The format will be straight to the point, focused, and not too chatty other than getting people acclimated to these games. I'm very excited to begin shooting this series, and I genuinely believe you'll enjoy it.
We will be working on the series this coming week, and I'll make sure to drop off a link here so you can check it out.
THE CREATIVE CRUSADERS:
Custom made riser and dungeon walls created by the fantastic Mark O'Reilly
To be completely candid with you, it honestly surprises me and amazes me about how many things have been created for Dungeon Crusade and the Avalon Adventure board game by some truly talented, imaginative, and creative people. If you saw the prior Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update, you'll know what I mean.
There were so many things created for both of these games in the short time that it's been out, and all of it is just outstanding, along with the people who took the time to create it.
I would like to say thank you, and it is always wonderful to see what you have created for the game. I am sincerely grateful to you.
If you have not seen any of this in the prior update, please go check it out and then come back here. All of it looks tremendous.
I would like to take the time to point out a few of these people and some of the things they have done with their Dungeon Crusade game.
ROB HOUSTON:
I met Rob last year, and all I can tell you is this is one awesome guy. He's such a gentleman and very passionate about dungeon crawl games and especially Dungeon Crusade. We've chatted many times and got to know each other fairly well.
So while Rob didn't necessarily make anything, he took many different types of terrain, furniture, dungeon scenery, props and created one awesome and thematic looking dungeon to play Dungeon Crusade in!
If you're wondering where Rob got some of this scenery, I believe some people had said the doors are from Massive Darkness, I believe? And I think some of it is from Altar Quest. as for the other stuff, I would have to ask Rob.
Here are some photos for you to check out of his dungeon. Great work, Rob! :)
AKSEL GURKEN:
Aksel has been a massive supporter of the game, a very good friend, and helped many people out with various aspects of the game. This guy has such a great personality, glowing attitude and is such a positive force. It is always a pleasure to see a post from Aksel and chat with him.
Aksel resides in Turkey, and at the time I'm typing all this up, I could not get a hold of him. LOL, so I hope he doesn't mind me throwing them into the spotlight!
He shared this magnificent gaming table of his. From what I'm led to believe, he is working with other people on building these tables for gamers around the world.
A few people were asking him questions about it, so here are some quotes from Aksel on this table.
" I had it built here in Turkey. We are working on a plan to get these in the homes of all players around the world."
"Wide edges are so much more comfortable to rest your hands and arms on. Plus you can put your player boards closer to yourself and not have to lean into the vault."
So this table has this inner vault as he mentions. I caught another post where he was talking about the board game Middara. Aksel had said he's using the top part of the table to play Middara, and Dungeon Crusade was safely tucked away in the vault. LOL, as I said, this is a magnificent table!
Here is a picture of the table for you. Thank you for sharing this Aksel! :)
MARK O'REILLY:
LOL, now, look out here for Mark! He has created a massive amount of things for Dungeon Crusade. I met Mark some months ago, and we became very good friends.
Like the other people I have mentioned, great personality, super attitude, and always a pleasure to chat with, also, he has joined us for a few things that are coming up in the project.
Mark has created so many various things for the game it's astounding. Instead of me shooting my big mouth off and saying everything, just take a look at everything this man has made. I could have two months of Sundays and could not make half of this stuff! Kudos to you, Mark, awesome work on everything.
Custom designed hero cards
Custom-created hero cards where you can write down your heroes' health and essence levels.
And a cover for Dungeon Crusade? Yep, Mark made that too! LOL, no cats will be destroying this dungeon!
PEDRO WAYNE:
One of the most fantastic things I've seen Pedro make is he recreated a 3D Talisman board..... and all the freaking expansions! You really have to look this up to see it to believe it. The detail is absolutely astounding.
But what I'm sharing here is possibly my most favorite thing that Pedro has created. LOL, oh wow, this is awesome. He took the time to create a 3D village board for Dungeon Crusade.
I had said this when he posted it.
"There are so many things I could say about this village board. The creativity is completely off the charts. I love those little tents at the bazaar!
And as I told you before, the terror track and the incantation track are freaking awesome! Having a monster move down those pillars closer to the Village was just genius to think of.
When I initially saw the dice tower before, I just thought it was a regular dice tower. But it turns out it was the Tower Attack game! I love how you have the treasure chest and all the different amounts a hero can win!
LOL, I'm not done yet. I love how you have the tokens for The Elder globe and the quest tokens. And all the various cardholders. And, of course, adding all of those little buildings. All of it is truly fantastic and very creative." Massive kudos to you, Pedro! Just excellent!
The Terror Track represented by a monster moving down the pillars closer to the village!! BRILLIANT!!!!!!!
ARROW BASES FOR YOUR CARDBOARD MINIATURES ARE NOW AVAILABLE:
You may remember a very awesome guy named Ed Farias from the last update that created many things for the game and did some playthroughs of the game.
A few months back, Ed created something that I thought, and many people thought, was very creative and helps out while playing Dungeon Crusade.
What Ed created is colored arrow stands for your cardboard miniatures for playing Dungeon Crusade. Your cardboard miniatures fit perfectly into these colored arrow bases, and then you can use them to point in different directions when they are on one of the patrol routes in the dungeon.
I chatted with Ed earlier to make sure I could post this year. He has an Etsy store where you can purchase these at a very great price. However, he wanted to stress that this is ONLY for people within the United States.
He is sorry that he cannot ship overseas; as we all know, shipping is quite expensive at this time. However, for people on the other side of the world, read on because a good friend of Rob Houston has something for you very similar.
FOR THE CRUSADERS OVERSEAS WHO ARE WANTING COLORED ARROW BASES:
So for you people overseas who would like these colored arrow bases, Rob Huston knows a gentleman by the name of Piotr Sajewicz who is now making these.
I put his website link below for you, and to my knowledge, he is making the slots a little smaller (and the arrows) so the cardboard miniatures fit perfectly within the base.
I think the initial run of these colored arrow bases the slot was a little bigger, and the arrow itself was a tad too big.
Rob had used one of the colored bases that came with the game on top of these arrow colored arrowed bases. I can't remember if he said he glued it or not.
If you are interested in getting these, I would message Piotr and ask him about that slot on the arrow bases and make sure it is slightly smaller than the initial run of these arrow bases. I would also ask if the arrows are a bit smaller now.
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO FELLOW GAME DESIGNER JACK SPOERNER:
I wanted to make mention of this here in this update and send out a huge congratulations and kudos to the amazing, creative, imaginative, driven and talented game designer and friend Jack Spoerner and his team on the incredible achievement they accomplished with Dungeons of Infinity
If you remember, a few years back Jack was on Kickstarter with this game. Myself and many others were sharing his project, as it was in the last few days and just on the verge of funding. The game was successfully funded and overfunded for Jack!
I have become very good friends with Jack and we have many things in common. He sent me a copy of his game and I sent him a copy of Dungeon Crusade. Dungeons of Infinity is getting incredibly good reviews and the last I heard it is completely sold out. I'm very happy for you Jack and your team. I know you work very hard on this and I'm glad so many people are enjoying your creation.
I did an unboxing video on my Facebook page a few days back and shared some of these photos. So I'd like to share them with you here. If you get a chance, and when the game becomes available again, do check this game out. If you're into dungeon crawlers, then here's an awesome game for you.
Lastly, here's some things that I had to say on my Facebook page upon unboxing Dungeons of Infinity.
"He thought of this game years ago. It was in his head, something that he envisioned and imagined. I think it's absolutely incredible when an individual can take that out of their head, work with many other people and bring it into the real world for other people to experience and enjoy.
That can be said for people that create music, create art, make video games, board games, and as I mentioned in the video, even if you are crazy about flowers. To be able to build a beautiful flower garden that you're envisioning and share your passion and creativity with a beautiful flower garden. I hope you get what I'm saying with that. :-)
The bottom line is this. You only go around once in this world. Whatever you're passionate about, whatever you want to share with the world and people, stick to your guns, kick @$$ and just do it. And don't let anyone ever stop you or get in your way.
In closing, Jack, I was just blown away with the whole game. I wanted to play it right then in there! You and your team did a magnificent job. You have a lot to be proud of with this accomplishment. Big kudos to you my friend!"
IN CLOSING:
Well, we are at the end of another Kickstarter update, and I hope you enjoyed it. And I must apologize to you again for my delay getting here with the update.
But truth be told, these last three months have probably been the busiest ever with the game. As I said, we're getting things sorted out, getting things accomplished, and looking forward to some very awesome things we have in store for everyone in the near future. You will not want to miss what we have planned.
As I said earlier in the update, I have to update the folks over on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel. I always dispatch sort of like a video Kickstarter update for everyone over there, so they know what's going on. It's going on 2:45 a.m. right now, so I don't know if I'll do it tonight, so it will probably be tomorrow.
After this is completed, we will be finishing up the few things we have to do for the quick reference guide. Make sure to check back here for a link to download it. Also, there will be links here when the videos start rolling out on the new series for how to set up and play both games, so keep your eyes peeled for that.
Lastly, to everyone reading this, thank you for all your patience, understanding, and love. We genuinely appreciate it. Also, thank you for your time and interest in checking out the update and everything Dungeon Crusade.
I hope everyone has a fantastic Monday, stay safe, happy gaming, and I will be talking to you very soon... Rodger :)
Dungeon Crusade Book I: Genesis of Evil is out around the world!
over 3 years ago
– Wed, Feb 03, 2021 at 12:24:25 PM
Hello everyone and a good day to you! :) Rodger here and I hope everyone has been doing great, staying safe, and enjoyed the first month of 2021. It is incredibly awesome to be back here with you for this VERY special, huge Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update. This one is going to be quite a departure from the usual ones I dispatch, but I think you'll enjoy it.
In a way, this the grand finale for Dungeon Crusade Book I: Genesis of Evil, as in massive Kickstarter updates for this project.
Before we begin, I must tell you for the past 2 months it has been overwhelmingly busy with the game, and that is no exaggeration. It hindered me in getting this update out for you, as I was trying to be there for everyone for whatever they needed.
But there is so much excitement for the game, very nice messages, comments, emails coming in, and very nice reviews of the game popping up. Everyone that worked on the game is sincerely grateful to each and every one of you for your excitement, kind words, love, and support.
So let's just get into this! I'm very excited for you to check out everything in this special update.
Here is a link to the last Kickstarter Dungeon Crusade update for you. If you're new to the Dungeon Crusade universe or missed it, I encourage you to check it out.
I want everyone to know that's reading this that if you see a delay in the updates, check the comment section. I've been in there on a regular basis over the past month letting people know what's going on, and will continue to be in there seeing how everyone is doing.
This photo was created by Vangelis Misioulis.Thank you for this Vangelis!
DUNGEON CRUSADE FROM AROUND THE WORLD:
And what a perfect way to start this update off. As the title of the update says, Dungeon Crusade has been arriving at homes all around the world. Many people have taken the time to post some great photos of the game in their home and have said such nice things about the game.
I've been collecting these photos to share within this special update for everyone to check out. And please take special notice how some people have gotten quite creative and greatly enhanced their Dungeon Crusade experience with terrain, painted miniatures, walls, props, and many other things. Everything looks incredible!
There's a lot of them, so enjoy!
And there you have it! Believe me, there were even more photos, but this update would have gone on for eternity!
I want to thank all the awesome Crusaders around the world for sharing all of these excellent photos and all your kind words and reviews that went along with them. We're all sincerely grateful to you.
GAMEPLAY VIDEOS:
Here is an excellent playthrough of the Avalon Adventure board game for Dungeon Crusade that the amazing Colin from One Stop Co-op Shop did just a little while back. He even added sound effects in!
Thank you Colin for taking the time to do this playthrough. We're very grateful to you.
Also, a super nice guy named Ed Farias did a fantastic playthrough of the Avalon Adventure board game and a gameplay video of Dungeon Crusade. Ed is the gentleman I worked with on the Dungeon Crusade Combat App.
That app is now available for download on IOS, Google Play, and Amazon. I'll have a section about the app further down in the update.
But do check out Ed's YouTube channel and check out his Dungeon Crusade videos.
Another fellow Crusader and a great friend to everyone named Monte did a ton of great videos on his YouTube channel called Just Play One did an unboxing and many playthrough videos. So when you get a chance, have a look at Monte's videos
Lastly, there is a very nice guy and a good friend to the project named Laurent who goes under the name Boardgamer69 on YouTube and does games videos for French-speaking gamers.
It seems Boardgamer69 seriously took a liking to Dungeon Crusade and has been doing many great videos on the game which we are very grateful for.
In the one review video he did, it had this line in the description...
"Dungeon Crusade, c'est peu dire qu'il m'a fait rêver, alors est-l’élu, le Dungeon Crawler Ultime, celui qui terrasse tous les autres..."
I don't speak French, but I did translate it to English, and it reads...
"Dungeon Crusade is an understatement to say that he made me dream, so is the chosen one, the Ultimate Dungeon Crawler, the one who defeats all the others ..."
That was a very nice thing to say Boardgamer69, and all of us that worked on the game are very happy that you are enjoying the game so much. Here is a link to this video, and you can find many more videos while on his channel.
In this section, I wanted to put the spotlight on some truly incredible creations by a few creative and talented people who wanted to take Dungeon Crusade to the next level.
Each of them is a good friend to me and has been a huge supporter of the Dungeon Crusade project over the years. If you're interested in creating one of these things and need some additional information, let me know, and I'll get some contact information so you can reach out to them.
So have a look at some custom created Dungeon Crusade game content!
JAMIE PRICE: WARFARE DICE
In Dungeon Crusade, when combat breaks out between the heroes and the denizens of the dungeon, a player will use 3 specific warfare tokens for the upcoming battle. These warfare tokens are shuffled and randomly placed on the combat chart.
So what Jamie did was create warfare dice. What you do is roll one die at a time. When one of the warfare types is the result that matches one of the three warfare types on the monster card, you set that die as phase 1 of combat. You then do the same for the other two warfare dice.
We all love rolling dice, so this is something we may be creating for the game in the near future if people let us know they would like to use warfare dice while playing.
Great job, Jamie! This was a very awesome and creative idea.
ED FARIAS: 3-CHANNEL DUNGEON CRUSADE DICE TOWER:
Just wowsa on this one! LOL, let me start by saying Ed is quite creative & talented and can create many different things.
He has a 3D printer, among other things, and has made some truly great things for gaming. I also worked with Ed on the Dungeon Crusade Combat App. He did all the programming on it.
But from what I remember, this 3-channel dice tower did take some time for Ed to complete. He kept adding things here and there until it is what you see now. You can see this excellent dice tower in action in Ed's playthrough that I linked above in the other section.
Stellar work, Ed!
PEDRO WAYNE: 3-CHANNEL DUNGEON CRUSADE DICE TOWER:
Let me start by saying that Pedro was just born to imagine and create incredible things for a variety of board games. I can't even begin to list everything this guy has created.
One of the most awesome things that I have seen Pedro create is a whole 3D conversion of Talisman the board game and ALL the expansions! This is something you have to see for yourself.
But from what he said on his Pedro Wayne Game Changer Facebook page, this took him about a year to bring to completion. Here is a link for that page if you would like to check out everything he has created.
So Pedro, absolutely outstanding work on this dice tower for Dungeon Crusade! And...there's even small chains on the drawbridge!
ED FARIAS: CUSTOM DESIGNED HERO BOARD ORGANIZER
And yet another creation from Ed. Ed took the hero cards, scanned them, trimmed them down a bit, and created these clear hero board organizers. He used Adobe Illustrator and his laser cutter to make these.
He also said in the future, he's going to do a more elaborate hero board organizer.
Fantastic work once again Ed! These are very rad!
PEDRO WAYNE: CUSTOM CARDHOLDER
This right here is one of my favorite things. The things Pedro comes up with! :) When I first saw these photos, I had to do a triple take.
It goes so well with Dungeon Crusade and adds so much more theme to the game.
I'm quite sure how he made this, but I would love to have something like this for my game. Excellent and creative work, Pedro!
If anyone out there has created something for Dungeon Crusade, and you would like to see it in a future update, shoot me a message and some photos. I'll gladly put your creation in a Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update for people to check out your creativity and imagination!
STORAGE SOLUTIONS:
Since the game is getting out there to everyone, I wanted to share some storage solutions with you. I've shared my storage solution a few times in the past, but a few other people have used a few different methods that you should take a look at.
I must say, it is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED THAT YOU DO NOT PUNCH THIS GAME OUT UNTIL YOU HAVE SOME TYPE OF STORAGE SOLUTION! LOL, sorry for the caps lock.
But seriously, you want to have some way to store all the various tokens, dice, plastic bases, markers, clips, etc. for Dungeon Crusade before taking it all apart.
Let me start with this video I made for everyone a little while back, where I took the time to break apart the game little by little, go slowly, and show you how to store everything. I know many people have watched this video, and it's helped them out.
Here is a photo of the plastic compartment trays I use for storage.
Also, here is a link to these plastic compartment trays on Amazon. You may want to look around on their site to see something else you may want to use.
So if you do not have any storage solution for Dungeon Crusade yet, do check this out.
PEDRO WAYNE'S CUSTOM DESIGNED STORAGE SOLUTION:
Remember I told you about this guy already? LOL, and here we have yet another fantastic and creative thing from Pedro. He took the time to create this quite excellent storage solution for his game.
I'm again very unsure how Pedro did this, but I know many people who enjoy creating their own storage solutions for their game collection. So have a look at what Pedro did, and it may give you some great ideas on how you would like to store your game.
One final storage solution to show comes from our friend Laurent, or rather Boardgamer69, as he's known on YouTube.
Again, just another idea of how you could store your Dungeon Crusade game. Awesome work, Laurent!
So if you have a storage solution you would like to share for people to see, send me a message and some photos, and I'll be happy to put it in an upcoming Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update.
CRUSADERS' HANDBOOK CORRECTIONS:
I wanted to let everyone know of a few corrections to the Crusaders' Handbook we have made and a few errors that we have corrected. We have submitted this and a few other things to our production manager at the manufacturer to update the files.
So have a look...
There was a misprint in the first column on page 63 in the Crusaders' Handbook (rulebook). We do apologize for that. Please disregard how that reads.
This is how that should read.
"PLEASE NOTE: If a player plays the Avalon Adventure board game, they do get a shopping phase at the start of playing Dungeon Crusade before descending into the dungeon. (Please refer to page 3 in the Scenario Book for more information.)"
So basically, after your heroes are imported into Dungeon Crusade (place them on the Village board) from playing the Avalon adventure board game, they DO get a shopping phase; however, they DO NOT receive any starting gold.
They must use the gold they obtained in Avalon to shop in the village.
SEEDING THE DUNGEON:
This is not an error but more of a clarification. But when you are seeding the dungeon, you ARE to look at the tokens you are pulling out of the mug or bag when placing them into the empty chambers of the dungeon. This is open information.
For a great challenge, you can choose not to look at the tokens when placing these tokens in the empty chambers of the dungeon.
HEROES MUST BE RALLIED INTO A CHAMBER BEFORE THE MONSTER TOKEN IS FLIPPED OVER REVEALING WHAT RESIDES WITHIN THE CHAMBER:
Again, this is not an error but more of a clarification. But let's say you have planned out in the upkeep phase that 3 heroes are going to storm into a chamber of the dungeon to attempt to retrieve a quest token.
During the hero phase, you send in the first hero, and he or she does the rallying call for the other 2 heroes who are waiting outside of the chamber.
Those 2 heroes MUST be within the chamber before that monster token is revealed. Once all participating heroes are within the chamber, the monster token is flipped and revealed on what resides within the chamber.
2 PAGES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE CRUSADERS' HANDBOOK:
These 2 pages have been added to the Crusaders' Handbook and will be available for download. I'm still touching up a few things. I did some graphic design and put 2 dungeon boards on each page. I then highlighted where the treasure chests, mining sites, and trap sigils are located at.
There are a few other things we are getting to, but once everything is finalized, we'll have an update dispatched for everyone.
THE DUNGEON CRUSADE COMBAT APP:
We're very excited about this and very eager for you to try it while playing Dungeon Crusade. It's ready for download right now.
For the past few years, I have wanted to create this app for people to use while playing Dungeon Crusade. My creative gears are always in motion to create innovative things for people to have fun with.
Please understand, this app IS NOT REQUIRED to have to play Dungeon Crusade, but rather this app enhances your experience while playing. What this app does is it takes the place of the 6 warfare tokens in the game and the combat chart. The app handles all of the combat except the roll of the warfare dice and placing the 3 battle tokens.
I must throw a massive spotlight on my very great friend Ed Farias for his help in creating & developing this app. Ed is just a technical wizard when it comes to building apps. He was a true pleasure & honor to work with, and Ed will be involved with many other projects with Groovus Games Unlimited.
I put together all the graphic designs/assets needed for the app and explained to Ed how all of this should function and play out.
Ed took it from there, developed the app, added some effects then we teamed up to add some sound effects into it. And there you have it! The Dungeon Crusade Combat Chart App! :)
The app is incredibly solid at this point, but we may tweak just a few things on it based on players' feedback. So let us know!
The app is on the Google Play store, the Apple store, Amazon, and a web-based version on Ed's website. And the best part about the app, the price is $0.00.
And finally! Here is the next video I'm very excited to share with you in the Dungeon Crusade spotlight video series on the creation and world-building of Avalon that I have wanted to get out for the past few months.
As I said at the start of the update, for the past few months, it has become overwhelmingly busy with the game, and it hindered me from working on this video and getting it wrapped up to upload to the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel.
But I'm genuinely very pleased with how this video came out, and if this was the final video in the spotlight series, it's a fitting ending. I'm very excited for you to check it out.
It has a runtime of almost 14 minutes, and there may be close to 250 images/photos within the video. It was quite a time-consuming video to put together, but it turned out excellent. I hope you enjoy it. :)
And here we are at the end of this sort of grand finale Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update. There will be a few more updates of course, but the ones after this one will more than likely be scaled down quite a bit.
But with fulfillment wrapping up soon, we'll be working on the new video series where we will be going over how to set up and play both the Avalon Adventure board game and Dungeon Crusade. I've said before as the creator I believe it's my job and responsibility to do this for people who want to play and enjoy the game.
This forthcoming series of videos will be quite a departure from the other videos you may have seen on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel.
The format will be straight to the point, focused, and not too chatty other than getting you acclimated to the game. I'm very excited to begin shooting this series, and I genuinely believe you'll enjoy it.
Lastly, it was a real pleasure & honor to work with all of the amazing artists on the game, the tech writers, and of course, meeting many of you on this quite epic journey of ours. I want to sincerely thank you all for your friendship, excitement for the game, time, interest, and support. I'm sincerely grateful to you.
I set out to break the mold of the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre and give fellow gamers and people something innovative, thematic, immersive, creative, and basically just a brand new experience.
With the game fully finished and seeing all the kind words and very nice reviews coming in, I think all of us genuinely accomplished something quite special with Dungeon Crusade Book I: Genesis of Evil. To be able to give fellow gamers and people something new in their life to enjoy and experience is a real-life reward.
I will always be eternally grateful for this opportunity to create and develop Dungeon Crusade for so many people and will always give 100% of my creativity, imagination, ingenuity, and passion for the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre in every game we create with Groovus Games Unlimited.
OK, all! I hope that everyone has a great Tuesday, thank you for your time and I'll be talking to you very soon...Rodger :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqoyKzgkqR4
Dungeon Crusade is out for delivery to all the awesome Crusaders out there! :)
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Nov 26, 2020 at 05:48:26 PM
Hello all and good day to you. :) Rodger here, and I hope that everyone has been doing good, staying safe and getting ready for the upcoming holidays. It is fantastic to be here with you for our monthly Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update, and yes...you read that right. The excellent fulfillment service, SFC has been shipping out Dungeon Crusade to everyone. ALL of us are so happy and excited it is on the way to everyone for the holidays.
Now I must explain. I wanted this monthly update dispatched a little more than a week ago. But it has been truly overwhelmingly busy on the game front. Since September 22nd when those games arrived from the manufacturer, as in the final Editions of the game, It has been overwhelmingly busy with every aspect of the game. There's a great deal of excitement for Dungeon Crusade, and of course, we are extremely grateful to everyone.
So much has happened from the last update to now.
So I have a lot of photos and a few videos that the manufacturer and fulfillment sent me a little while back to share in the update with everyone. But in a way, it's old/new news, as the fulfillment service was lightning fast on getting the games out to everyone.
I wanted to have this update out first, but as some of you know, they have been sending tracking information to everyone and shipping games out. LOL, I hope all this makes sense, especially if this is all new to you! :) But no worries, we'll get through this.
Let's get this update started...
Here is a link to last month's Kickstarter Dungeon Crusade update for you. If you're new to the Dungeon Crusade universe or missed it, I encourage you to check it out. This was one of the best updates ever.
In a way, this previous update was like the grand finale for Dungeon Crusade and the last of the "Mega-Ultra" monthly updates. It showed every piece of final game content that people will be receiving in each of the 3 editions of the game.
AND PLEASE REMEMBER! CHECK THE COMMENTS SECTION!
I want everyone to know that's reading this that if you see a delay in the updates, check the comment section, especially now that the game is shipping out to everyone.
I'm in there every few days seeing what's going on and giving everyone updates on what's going on with shipping, what we're up to, what's getting completed, news, and just everything Dungeon Crusade.
In any case, I just wanted everyone to know to check the comment section to see what's going on. Plus, if you go scroll through the comment section's history, you'll see a ton of great information I provide for everyone.
THE MOST UP TO DATE DUNGEON CRUSADE NEWS FIRST:
Dungeon Crusade arrives at the fulfillment center!
So there it is! Dungeon Crusade at the fulfillment center ready to be packed up and sent out. An excellent sight to behold.
They received the games not that long ago, but as you have seen, they have many of the games out for delivery already. They were incredibly quick on getting the games out. Our shipping manager said the rest of the games will be out this week.
Huge thanks and kudos to our amazing shipping manager and her team.
Many copies of Dungeon Crusade bubble wrapped and ready to be placed in the shipping box to be sent out.
WHEN TO EXPECT DUNGEON CRUSADE TO SHOW UP:
I spoke to our shipping manager the other night, and I kindly asked her for the best "guesstimate" for when the games would be arriving in different parts of the world.
Please know this young lady has seriously gone to bat for all of us and pushed her team to get the games out ASAP but at the same time do it safely and securely.
Folks over in the EU, Germany, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Australia, etc., so everyone on that side of the world should see the games show up before Christmas.
For our friends in Canada, she told me mid-December the games will be arriving for you.
For all of us in the U.S.A., it's going to be 'possibly' a few days before Christmas, a few days after, or worst-case scenario, the first week in January.
But please know, they are doing their very best to get it over to us. We greatly thank them for everything they are doing and continue to do for all of us.
This is all the information we have at this time. We will have much more information for you later this week. She also told me that this week, all of the rest of the games would be getting out the door.
HOW DUNGEON CRUSADE IS BEING PACKED:
We and the fulfillment center made sure thick bubble wrap was used to protect the games.
When I was chatting with our shipping manager, I kindly asked if her team could use fairly thick bubble wrap on all the games to make sure they would be safe & secure. I also asked her to send me a video so I could share it with everyone.
Again, I must say a huge thank you to our shipping manager and her team for getting the games out so quickly to everyone and doing an awesome job on the packing of everything.
TRACKING INFORMATION:
Some people have reported an issue with tracking numbers. I forwarded this information to our shipping manager. She told me to tell people to use this link for tracking their order...
This was brought to their attention, and they are looking into it.
But please rest assured, your order/game is fully secure and will arrive. They're a great fulfillment company and truly care about what they are shipping.
Closing out this section, as I aforementioned, our shipping manager said all of the games would be out by the end of this week. Any further updates we receive we'll of course post here in the comments sections for you. So do keep an eye on both comment sections.
DUNGEON CRUSADE AT THE MANUFACTURER:
So this information is of course from a few weeks ago when all the games were boxed up and being prepared to ship over to the fulfillment service.
Here is what I said at the time when we received these photos a video....
Being completely candid with you, I was utterly speechless when I received a video from our amazing and outstanding production manager, Flora, from Wingo Games, with who we are partnered with for the printing of Dungeon Crusade. I was not expecting this at all.
I took the video she sent me, created this Dungeon Crusade video, and placed it within the video.
Flora sent me a massive WALL of Dungeon Crusade games wrapped and ready for delivery to the fulfillment center. You'll notice many other pieces of game content that they are diligently working on to get into the other Dungeon Crusade boxes. When I saw the video, I was just blown away by the whole thing.
I've said it many times, everyone at Wingo Games from Flora, another fantastic production manager named Hedy, all of the engineers, and the rest of the excellent staff at Wingo games have done such an incredible job on communicating everything that was going on, sending photos and videos of each step of the mass production phase and working very hard to make sure Dungeon Crusade came out perfect for everyone.
We greatly thank them for everything they have done, and we look forward to working with them on a few other games I'm presently working on and developing. Huge kudos to Wingo Games! :)
I'll be releasing a full video review of the excellent experience of working with Wingo Games on Dungeon Crusade in the near future. I feel they need to be put in the spotlight on what an outstanding manufacturer they are and what a pleasure it was working with them.
Also, Flora had sent some photos of the photoshoot they did for the game to put on their website. It will appear in the showcase section of their website.
She said she would let me know when it has been added. So if you like, when it hits their website, I'll make a post and let you know if you'd like to check it out.
DUNGEON CRUSADE BOXED UP AT THE MANUFACTURERAND IN THE BAY READY TO BE TRANSPORTED TO THE FULFILLMENT CENTER:
Here are a few photos our production manager from Wingo Games took and sent me with all the games and add ons boxed up and waiting to be loaded on the truck to be delivered to the fulfillment center.
Here are a few quick videos of a walkthrough showing all the games boxed up and ready to be transported to the fulfillment center...
Closing this section out, we all want to thank the outstanding staff and Wingo Games for everything they have done for us. They were a real pleasure and honor to work with, and we look forward to working with them in the future on some new projects we have in the pipeline.
REVEAL OF EACH DUNGEON BOARD FOR DUNGEON CRUSADE:
Here is the reveal of each dungeon board for Dungeon Crusade. This was an ongoing series on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel that we finished up just a little while ago. You'll see each dungeon board close up plus much of the other game content in the game.
And there you have it. Dungeon Crusade is now headed out to everyone. Like I had mentioned, the fulfillment service is doing the best they can to get the games to everyone before the holidays. We'll be keeping you posted on how everything is going. So please check both the comment sections here on Kickstarter and on the official Dungeon Crusade Facebook page.
With the holidays upon us, stay tuned for some great video series we'll have on the game for a couple of surprises that I think many people will truly enjoy.
I've mentioned this before, but I would like to say it at now this point with the games on their way to everyone. I have said from the outset of this project, I was out to do something for fellow gamers and people that was very creative, innovative, immersive, thematic, and had a ton of passion baked into it. I wanted to give people a brand new innovative, creative, and thematic experience to enjoy in the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre.
To be able to give fellow gamers and people something new in their life to enjoy and experience is a real-life reward. I, all of the amazing artists and the few tech writers will always be eternally grateful for this opportunity to create and develop Dungeon Crusade for so many people and we'll always give 100% of our creativity, imagination, ingenuity, and passion for the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre in every game we create with Groovus Games Unlimited.
Thank you to everyone here for your friendship, excitement for the game, time, interest, patience, and support with Dungeon Crusade. We're all sincerely grateful to you.
I hope everyone has a great Thursday, and if you celebrate Thanksgiving, Happy Thanksgiving! I'll be talking to you soon... Rodger :-)
The Final editions of Dungeon Crusade have arrived from the manufacturer and the game looks OUTSTANDING. Manufacturer is assembling games, then forwarding to fulfillment center. More information in update.
over 3 years ago
– Sun, Oct 18, 2020 at 12:18:59 AM
PLEASE NOTE: Allimages and photos within this updatewere taken from allthe final editions of Dungeon Crusade the manufacturer sent us towards the end of September.
Hello all and good day to you! :) Rodger here and wowsa...it is truly excellent to be here with you. I have been incredibly excited to get this update dispatched and out to you and share this most awesome news.
I genuinely feel like this is a landmark Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update that all of us have been waiting for. This update to me will always be the best update ever.
Please forgive my delay in dispatching this update. This was a very time-consuming update to put together, and from September 22nd till now, it has been truly overwhelmingly busy with every aspect of Dungeon Crusade.
So yes, all 3 final editions of Dungeon Crusade and all of the add ons arrived in late September from the manufacturer, (Septemeber 21st, to be exact, everything was debuted on September 22nd) and first off, the manufacturer did an EXCELLENT job on the printing/mass production of the game. Every piece of game content looks amazing. Colorful, vibrant, bright, ultra-detailed, and very sharp. They greatly exceeded my expectations.
My first honest reaction to seeing the 3 editions as the box was opened I was BLOWN AWAY. Totally surreal. When I opened the shipping box, (which is in the unboxing video series on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel, link later in the update), I had a ton of racing thoughts on EVERYTHING I/we went through over the years creating the game.
Everything funneled down into that shipping box. Like there it was, finally...complete. I'll never forget that moment, to be honest with you.
The amazing staff at Wingo Games did an outstanding job on the final printing of the game.
I worked very closely with them for months to make sure everything was clear, vibrant, colorful, bright, and very sharp, Huge kudos to Wingo games and all of their fantastic staff.
PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ! PLEASE READ AND OH YEAH...PLEASE READ!
Please excuse Skully, everyone. He doesn't have much couth about him.
I mentioned this in the comment section about a week ago to a very awesome backer, and I had this prepared for this Kickstarter update.
I wanted to share this with you here and let you know what's going on.
Last month, when I dispatched the monthly Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update, we shared many photos that our production manager from the manufacturer sent us.
You can see that all of the game content has been shrunk wrapped, in plastic, and waiting to be assembled into the game boxes.
The final production editions of the game the manufacturer sent us were delayed and didn't arrive here until September 21st.
Here is the video series on the unboxing of the final production editions of the game, which started the day after. Every piece of game content looks outstanding. They did an excellent job, and it exceeded my/our expectations.
I want to share what our production manager had said, letting us know what was going on, on their end and why there were some delays.
I will say their communication has been fantastic in keeping us in the loop of what's going on.
On 9/1/2020 (I believe I shared this in the comment section), I received a message from our production manager telling me the die-cut that was being used for the House of Chance game The Adventures a Bravely the Knight had broken, and they needed to remake it.
On 9/8/2020, I received another message from her telling me the die-cut had been repaired, and they can now finish that game. I save all messages.
I have another message from 8/27/2020 from our production manager saying that we would have the final production of the games next week, (back then) to send out.
My point is; they were doing their best to get everything wrapped up on their end to get the games to us. The ball was/is in their court, so to speak.
I/we/Groovus Games Unlimited don't do board game manufacturing. We must wait for them to finish what needs to be done with the games.
Also consider, this is a massive game with many different components. I know for a fact the team in charge of putting Dungeon Crusade together at the manufacturer was putting a lot of hours, time, and hard work into making sure the game was perfect, and I/we greatly appreciate everything they have done and continue to do for all of us.
From the end of August into September, I was messaging our production manager at the manufacturer every few days and asking when the final production editions of the games would be sent out.
Of course, I was very respectful, considerate, and polite, considering how much work they have put into finishing up the game for us. They also know just how many people are highly anticipating Dungeon Crusade.
I received a message back from her, and she was very apologetic about the delay in sending the final production editions of the games.
She was very nice and explained this is their peak season for producing/workingon games/projects, and they are not only working on Dungeon Crusade but many other games and projects.
To be honest, I felt I was being a bit pushy on messaging them so much after she had told me that.
The bottom line is that if we had received the games when we were told we were going to get them, the games would have been well off to the fulfillment service by now for shipping out.
However, the manufacturer was doing their very best they could to get the games wrapped up and out to us for the final review, and at the same time, dealing with all the other games/projects they are working on/wrapping up for people.
Here's what's going on right now...
1) The manufacturer (Wingo Games) is located in China, as you may know. In China, they celebrated their Mid-Autumn Holiday Festival. This ran from October 1st through October 8th, and of course, they have returned to work.
We submitted our full review of the game(s) to the manufacturer, and they took care of a few issues.
Namely, the village board and the dungeon UI board were a tiny bit too big. They fit in the box, but it was a little snug. But they trimmed a few mm off each board, and they go perfectly in the box now.
2) Assembly of the games begins: Once we gave them the final review of the game, and everything checked out, and they corrected the issues, that's the green light for them to start assembly of the games.
What this means is, all of that game content people saw in the Kickstarter update last month and that we've been sharing on the Dungeon Crusade Facebook page and on the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel that's already wrapped in plastic/shrunk wrapped is placed in the game boxes, then the game boxes are shrunk wrapped.
Today I received a message from our production manager letting me know that they are doing their best during this peak season to get Dungeon Crusade finished up and all of the other games and projects they are working on.
She also told me they are all working overtime presently to get all the games/projects done. Again, they are doing their very best for all the customers and games they are handling.
3) Delivery of the games to the fulfillment center: Luckily, the fulfillment service is located in the same town as the manufacturer.
What happens next is the manufacturer boxes up all editions/add ons of the game and delivers it all to the fulfillment center.
Our production manager told me recently that they anticipate this to be anywhere from October 22nd to October 31st.
She promised to keep me updated on this so that I can pass it along to everyone else, so we are all in the loop of what's going on with the games.
Again, please keep in mind I/we/Groovus Games Unlimited are not involved with that procedure I aforementioned. We must wait like everyone else for the manufacturer to finish up what they need to do. Basically, the ball is in their court.
I live in the U.S.A., not in China, and don't work at the manufacturer. That might be silly to say, but there are some people that may think that, so I want to clarify that.
4) Pick & pack, then the games ship out: Once the fulfillment service receives the games, they begin the pick and pack procedure.
What this means is they get everyone's orders placed in the shipping boxes and prepare it to be shipped out.
I know for a fact when the fulfillment center(s) receive games, they are very quick in getting it all out. As in 5-7 days from what I have learned and heard.
5) Our shipping manager said everyone could see the games by late November but before Christmas.
There was that small delay with the mid-autumn festival celebration and receiving the final editions of the game from the manufacturer, but rest assured, myself and everyone involved will do everything within our power to get the games out to everyone ASAP, but at the same time, do it safely and securely.
I'm/we're hoping the manufacturer finishes up ASAP with what they have to do and gets the games over to the fulfillment center before the end of the month. So we're still hopeful for delivery this year.
Any update we receive on shipping and what's going on, I will immediately create a video, make a post, create a Kickstarter update, so everyone knows what's going on.
Once the games arrive at the fulfillment center, we will have updated information to pass along to everyone.
Many people are looking forward to Dungeon Crusade with great expectations, so I will be there throughout all of this for them to keep them in the loop of what's going on.
Personally speaking, I would love for everyone to have the games immediately. Since September 22nd, I've been going anywhere from 18-20 hours a day straight, sleeping for 3-4 hours, waking up and doing it all over again. I won't stop until this game reaches everyone looking forward to it.
While it is me, of course, as the creator and presents the game, there are many other people involved, such as the very excellent staff at the manufacturer that are doing their very best to get the game wrapped up so we can both get it out to everyone.
At the same time, as I aforementioned, they are working on the many other games/projects they are responsible for and dealing with any delays/problems/issues they encounter along the way.
The bottom line is all of us involved with the game are doing our very best to get Dungeon Crusade out to all the awesome people who are eagerly awaiting it.
I know this was a lot of information to throw at you, but I feel much better getting all this information out there for everyone, so we all know exactly what's going on.
OK...now on with the update.
Here is a link to last month's Kickstarter Dungeon Crusade update for you. If you're new to the Dungeon Crusade universe or missed it, I encourage you to check it out.
AND PLEASE REMEMBER! CHECK THE COMMENTS SECTION!
I want everyone to know that's reading this that if you see a delay in the updates, check the comment section, especially now that the game is finished printing and shipping in the near future.
I'm in there every few days seeing what's going on and giving everyone updates on what we are doing, what we're up to, what's getting completed, news, and just everything Dungeon Crusade.
In any case, I just wanted everyone to know to check the comment section to see what's going on. Plus, if you go scroll through the comment sections history, you'll see a ton of great information I provide for everyone.
BREAKING THE SEAL OF THE SHIPPING BOX, FINALEDITIONS OF THE GAME AND ADD-ONS:
Again, here is the link to the unboxing series of all the final editions of Dungeon Crusade. There is also a video where I take the time to show and recommend how to store all the various game content.
Here are the first set of photos of each edition of Dungeon Crusade taken out of the shipping box along with some of the add on content.
Please note, at this point, we left all the shrink wrap/plastic on the various game content. So some photos may not look so clear due to the plastic/shrink wrap...
Also, within the unboxing video series, we took the time to open each edition of Dungeon Crusade and take some additional photos...
SHOWCASING THE DIFFERENT ASPECTS OF DUNGEON CRUSADE:
I was unsure what to call this next section, but here we take a look at some of the main game components in their respective category. For example some of the cards, tokens, boards, and game mechanic items, each of the 4 dungeon boards, the House of Chance games, and the Avalon Adventure board game.
At this point, we had everything in the different final editions of the game out, set up the lighting, and got some great shots of all the final game components that everyone will be receiving. These following photos and images truly show off how incredible Dungeon Crusade came out.
CARDS, TOKENS, BOARDS, AND GAME MECHANIC ITEMS:
In this section, we'll be taking a look at the Ancient Ruins dungeon board. When I designed this dungeon, I wanted just a standard type of dungeon but very retro-inspired. I passed off the blueprint of the Ancient Ruins to the amazing artist Shaun Ellie and he painted the final version for the game. He did such an outstanding job on it!
I wanted to design an ultra-creepy and abandoned castle. I knew some things about castles, but I took some time to research everything about them so I could come up with a killer design for Shaun to paint and for all the quests I wrote for this particular dungeon.
When you see the whole dungeon set up, you'll notice there's an outdoor area with a royal graveyard, watchtowers, upper and lower baileys, a forest I named the Somger Forest, and a few other locations.
Shaun came up with the idea of having snow around the castle. Needless to say, brilliant!
You'll find the king's burial chamber in the castle's interior, the queen's burial chamber, a cellar, a throne room, a huge ballroom, and tons more locations. There are secret entrances all over the castle.
When I came up with this dungeon board, I wanted it to feel very vast for the player. In the dungeon's central area is a huge creepy cavern, home to the one guardian in the game, Red Widow, pictured in the poster.
In the Northwest corner of this board, I created a small village called Briarwood and an area called Darkmoon Logging Camp. I wrote a few quests that deal with these specific areas.
Other than that, on this board, you'll find Dugan's Excavation Camp, an ancient crypt called Crypt of the Betrayer, the Swamp of Sorrow, the Valley of Shadows, and a hidden small dungeon to the northeast part of the board. That area is pictured in all the photos I posted.
There are even more locations I could name. But the point I want to make is this board feels HUGE. I think it feels this way because of all the indoor and outdoor areas.
Also, this is the only that features a ladder that goes underground where heroes (and monsters) can show up in another place.
Of all of the stories and lore that people have spoken about across the land of Avalon, there is one that has been told for many years that is one of a quite malevolent & horrific tale.
There once lived a man by the name of Aleister Kaladar who resided in the village of Mystvale. Unbeknownst to anyone in the village, Aleister practiced in the arts of dark magic and was accused of abducting villagers to use in his wicked experiments.
Aleister was exiled from Mystvale and traveled west to an abandoned tomb which became his new home.
There, he continued to practice in dark magic, summon creatures from beyond, abduct villagers from Mystvale and build many deadly & devious traps for anyone foolish enough to enter into his tomb.
The heroes have been summoned to enter into this deathtrap dungeon and discover if, in fact, Aleister is still alive, and put an end to this nightmare.
The Tomb of Kaladar is the most creative, deadly & unique dungeon board in the game. It features the trap system, but what makes this dungeon unique is the general layout of it and the six environmental hazards that the heroes will have to navigate.
Lastly, I loved designing this diabolical, deathtrap dungeon! I passed off the blueprint of this dungeon to the outstanding artist Damien Mammoliti and he painted the final version for the game. Talk about ultra-detailed! See for yourself...
As most of you know, there is a game mechanic in Dungeon Crusade called "Celebration Day." This is when the heroes return to the village after they have completed the quests they have been tasked with.
During Celebration Day, the heroes can do many different things. Level up, purchase and sell gear at the blacksmith, rent a room at the tavern to sleep to recover essence, visit the academy to learn new special abilities, visit the temple to receive healing, be cured of afflictions, and receive a blessing. They can also visit the bazaar to stock up on a variety of potions and torches.
But there is a unique building called the House of Chance. On Celebration Day, one randomly decided game will show up in the House of Chance. The heroes can then enter the House of Chance and gamble in an attempt to win big!
There will be times your heroes enter the village on Celebration Day and will need gold to purchase various things. So head into the House of Chance and try one of these 4 games!
Please note:All editions of Dungeon Crusade come standard with Tower Attack. However, the Master of the Realm edition includes the additional 3 House of Chance games.
TOWER ATTACK:
THE ADVENTURES OF BRAVELY THE KNIGHT:
SKULL JACK:
HEROES VS. MONSTERS:
THE AVALON ADVENTURE BOARD GAME:
The Master of the Realm edition and the Crusader of the Realm edition of Dungeon Crusade come with the Avalon Adventure board game. I was incredibly passionate about creating and developing this game.
The Avalon Adventure board game is a highly thematic and creative choose your own adventure type of game that offers unlimited replayability.
The heroes' goal is to recover the 3 Runes of Eternity that are randomly placed throughout Avalon. However, there are also some fake runes.
The heroes must journey to the many different locations (dungeons, towers, ruins, crypts, forests, groves, villages, tombs, castles, etc.) in Avalon to flip over the tokens to discover if they found the real runes or a fake one.
Each time they enter a new location, they will experience a unique event, encounter, battle, or situation. There are 259 unique events & encounters just in this game. You'll never see the same game twice.
I love choose your own adventures, so this was my chance to do something very innovative and creative to create a choose your own adventure game where you'll never see the same game twice.
You can play this before playing Dungeon Crusade. You can then import your heroes into Dungeon Crusade "if" they survive venturing across the land of Avalon to recover the 3 Runes of Eternity.
I wanted to take the player through the land of Avalon on an ever-changing adventure. Your heroes will meet many NPCs, good factions, evil factions, characters, etc. that will pop up in the quests in Dungeon Crusade. So these 2 games tie together in a way.
THE CREATION OF AVALON:
When I created the land of Avalon for Dungeon Crusade, as you can probably tell, I was very passionate about it. But more so, I wanted to take people into this land and have them experience everything in it. As you may know, there are over 50 unique locations in Avalon.
I wanted to take the player across this land, deep down into the many dungeons, to the tops of towers, into the depths of crypts, the villages, forests, the snowy regions to the north, the sandy & arid areas to the south and everywhere else in the land of Avalon.
I wasn't just going to create some fantasy land called Avalon and leave it at that. I could never do that for the type of creator I am.
It was about immersing the player in this huge land and having their heroes venture through EVERYTHING it had to offer. But I think it's something you have to experience for yourself, as in playing it and seeing the unique experience it has to offer.
After you play this game and everything that "could"/"might" happen to your heroes, it's something that sticks with you, and you reflect on it. Such as what happened in the village of Salemport. What transpired while the heroes were climbing the huge stone spiral staircase in the Ruins of Ashenfall. What the heroes found residing in the cellar of The Vile Lair. Etc.
So hopefully, you can see, there was a lot of creativity, imagination, thematic storytelling, and ingenuity put into the creation of the land of Avalon and the Avalon Adventure board game.
IN CLOSING:
Before we get into the closing of the update, since we're all on the same page now, I wanted to share this video series that will be finishing up this weekend.
Here is the reveal of the final version of the Ancient Ruins dungeon board. This is the first video in a new playlist where we will be taking a look at each of the dungeon boards for Dungeon Crusade.
Next in the series, we'll be taking a look at Castle Blackwood, then The Cavern of Lost Souls, then finally, the most deadly deathtrap dungeon ever conceived, The Tomb of Kaladar.
Years ago, I set out to create/develop/design Dungeon Crusade Book I: Genesis of Evil.
I wanted to break the mold of the fantasy adventure/RPG/dungeon crawl genre and give fellow gamers and people a game that was genuinely innovative, thematic, immersive, creative, challenging, fun, and had a ton of passion baked into it.
Basically, give them a brand new experience to enjoy. I flat out refuse to do something that is run of the mill. I like to innovate rather than imitate.
With the help, friendship, and talent of all the amazing artists, all of you incredible people here backing the game and pledging for it, the few tech writers I worked with, the fantastic staff at the manufacturer, and the excellent Kickstarter platform, I believe all of us have accomplished something very special.
It's a great season in all of our lives to be able to enjoy something this grand and epic.
I will always be eternally grateful for this opportunity to use my creativity, imagination, ingenuity, and my undying passion for the fantasy adventure/ RPG/dungeon crawl genre and create something like Dungeon Crusade for all of us to enjoy in our life. So thank you to everyone for everything.
Lastly, as I said way at the top of the update, the amazing staff at Wingo Games is hard at work doing what they need to do with the game to get it done, so they can forward everything to the fulfillment center.
As soon as we hear any update from them, I'll make sure everyone here knows what's going on as well on the official Dungeon Crusade Facebook page, the Dungeon Crusade YouTube channel, and a few other places.
I hope everyone enjoyed this Ultra-Mega, Hellfire Barrage edition of the monthly Dungeon Crusade Kickstarter update. I was very excited to show you how excellent the game came out.
This was a very time-consuming update to put together. But as I said, to me, this was indeed a landmark update. This long journey is finally over.
I'm going to grab some sleep. I hit the 24-hour mark for being awake, LOL, and I think I need a recharge. I hope everyone has a great Friday and a fantastic weekend. I'll be talking to you very soon...Rodger :)
P.S.
I wanted to share this here what I posted on my Facebook wall upon hearing the incredibly sad news about Eddie Van Halen on October 6th...
"In great sorrow, I'm posting this, and still, in disbelief, we have lost the legendary, incredible, and awesome Eddie Van Halen today.
When I was getting into the car this afternoon, I heard this terrible news. Being very candid with you, I was in complete shock, and just a tremendous sadness overcame me. I just sat there for minutes, looking at my phone, searching for more information on what happened to Eddie...Cancer.
Eddie Van Halen's guitar playing and the music of Van Halen has been the soundtrack of my life since I was very young till this very day, and has always inspired me in whatever I do in life. He was a huge influence on my guitar playing among many other guitarists.
Just a little more than a week ago, I created a video for Dungeon Crusade, and there was Van Halen's song, "On Fire," cranked in the background.
Like many of us and so many fellow guitarists, Eddie was there for us with his absolutely brilliant, creative, over the top and groundbreaking sound and guitar playing. He genuinely inspired all of us in our journey in playing the guitar.
The music of Van Halen from 1977 through 1984 inspired so many bands from that era and continues to inspire young musicians with their legendary and timeless music. They have such a unique sound. When you hear the first notes of one of their songs, you just know it's Van Halen.
So to Eddie's entire family, fellow bandmates, and all of his millions of fans around the world, GOD bless you, I wish you the very best, and he will always remain a legend and a hero in all of our lives.
Rest in Peace, Eddie; we all love you, and thank you so very much for the gift of music and incredible guitar playing you gave all of us to enjoy and continue to be inspired by.
