Sweet Dreams

And another stretch goal bites the dust! This time it is the last of the extra Shadows (bringing the total to a worrying 6), and the Nightmare cards (and tokens) that use them. These are now included in every core box you pledge for.  

At a glance, Nightmare cards look just like normal Darkness cards (part of their evil cunning). This allows them to be shuffled into that deck, where they can lurk in ambush for unsuspecting players. The main difference between Darkness and Nightmare cards is in what they say.

It’s probably easiest to think of Nightmare cards as the least pleasant of the Darkness cards turned up to 11. Most of the sorts of things they do are the same, just more so. Instead of one player losing resources, two or all will. Instead of one new Shadow spawning, two will. Instead of some Hunters moving, all will surge and attack.

In addition, there is some new unpleasantness…  

The Fluidity of Shadow  

One intriguing thing that the new tokens from this stretch goal allow us to do is changing the frequency in which Shadows can appear. 

In the core game, the current level of Danger dictates the number of Shadows who can spawn at a time. When a Darkness or Nightmare card calls for a new one to Spawn, you check the Danger level and see how many it depicts. If you have fewer than this number on the board then you spawn another. One. So far, things are predictable. You know that you can’t get an extra Shadow until one disappears or the Danger rises beyond the next threshold. This removes that certainty by potentially changing these limits as the game progresses.

The new tokens are placed on top of these printed numbers of Shadows, increasing the numbers that can be on the board at once. This can even be a non-linear progression, so instead of going 1/2/3/4 as it does to start with, it goes 2/2/4/5, or whatever happens to show up on the Nightmare cards. We are even testing the possibility of the values going down as well as up, which creates some interesting choices for the players in terms of modifying tracks. Normally it is always good if Danger goes down, but if the Shadows could be 4/5/2/3 then it might not be. Do you want a lower Danger with more Shadows or a higher Danger with fewer? As Danger interacts with Discovery and Chapter cards as well as tests, it’s not an easy decision.

Your best choice may also change, depending on which chapter you are in. A very simple rule, but a potentially complex decision. Anyway, you’ve got all those Nightmare cards, Shadow, and tokens already locked in. What’s next?

One Final Tale  

We have one stretch goal Adventure left to share with you, and the next SG is the first step in this tale. At $930k we have the Chapter cards for The Haunted Mountain. Solomon Kane returns to the Black Forest in a new Adventure that’s been based on the folklore of the time. 

If you are interested in any of our add-ons, simply click on the green “manage your pledge” button near the top of the page. Then increase your total by the amount of any add-ons you wish to include in your pledge. So, if you have an Early Bird Puritan pledge ($110) and want to add the Early Bird Virtuous Bundle ($190) so that you have everything available for Solomon Kane, you would increase your total to $300. Please note that during the campaign there is no way for you to tell us what the money you pledge is actually for, so don’t worry about that now. Instead, after the Kickstarter is over we will send you a “pledge manager”. This allows you to tell us exactly how you want to allocate your pledge, which add-ons you would like, how many core boxes, and (most importantly) where we need to send it all! Also note that you need to take the Early Bird Virtuous bundle if you have an Early Bird pledge, to avoid getting The Right Hand of Doom twice.