Greetings, heroes! Steamforged here with an update so monstrous, you might encounter it in the depths of the Ancient Forge.
We’ve got sneak previews, an upcoming Q&A, insight into the pre-production phase, and a reminder on what’s new with Bardsung since our Kickstarter concluded in November…
Where We’ve Been
We’ve been working hard behind-the-scenes and we’re thrilled to say all print files (for cards, rulebooks, boards, and the like) have been checked, finalised, signed, sealed, and delivered to the manufacturer ready for pre-production to begin!
The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed the Barksung update included a sneak peek at said files, in the form of the Bardsung hero card design.
Now, how about some more sneak previews…?
Dawnguard Hero Profile Card
Equipment Card
Hero Ability Card
Hero Ability Card
Hero Ability Card
Hero Ability Card
Squire - Solo Mode
Challenge Card
Demystifying the Pre-Production Phase
For print components, pre-production is the phase when we check and re-check print proofs to approve them for mass production.
For miniatures, pre-production is the phase when we receive PVC samples, or tooling samples, that have been created using the moulds, which were created using the resin masters we showed you last time.
Bit of a mouthful, that, isn’t it? Let’s break down the journey:
- Resin masters of your miniatures are created and approved;
- Moulds are created using the approved resin masters;
- Those moulds are then used to produce PVC samples, or tooling samples;
- The samples are used to check the mould is working as expected;
- Any necessary tweaks to the mould or miniature design are made, and we revert back to step three;
- If no further tweaks are needed, the PVC samples (and therefore the moulds) are approved, and mass production can begin!
And, speaking of journeys, what say we take a look back at the steps we’ve taken so far?
Here’s a reminder of what’s changed since our Kickstarter adventure concluded in November, and news of some brand new changes we haven’t yet shared…
Winds of Change — What’s New?
The Unexpected Quest we embarked on together in February added 12 brand new miniatures to the game, bringing the total numbers to:
- 102 miniatures in the Hero Pledge;
- 123 miniatures in the Legend Pledge and Bardsung All-in Pledge
Behind-the-scenes, we’ve also:
- Increased the board size by 50%
- Increased the size of the core Adventure book by 80% (from 100 to 180 pages)
- Increased the size of the Daily Unlock Adventure book, featuring adventures from the guest writers, by 250% (from 40 to 100 pages)
- Removed the punch board sheet from the Lost Levels
As you can see, the board and Adventure books have been hit by a transmutation spell of enlargement! The books now include far more content than we originally planned for.
With all these additional pages in each, there will be plenty of words to lose yourselves in on your quest to become Bardsung.
And, speaking of adventures, you may remember that back in December the esteemed Matt Mercer of Critical Role joined our hallowed hall of guest writers!
But what about those tiles from the Lost Levels expansion? Well, one thing we found during playtesting was that the additional tile set in the Lost Levels wasn’t adding anything to the game beyond extra artwork for flavour.
Instead, a more elegant (and storage-efficient) option was to include the mechanica artwork on the reverse of several core game tiles instead. That way, you wouldn’t miss out on the artwork, and can still set the scene for your Lost Levels adventures.
