Black Rose Wars

Elemental fury!
almost 6 years ago – Thu, May 31, 2018 at 06:33:01 AM

Hi, Mages!  

Here we are at a new update dedicated to magic schools, and this time we will talk about the new entry in the Lodge, the oldest magic coming from the new world ... the Elemental school!  

This school, like Demonology, makes extensive use of Evocations, allowing to recall in the Lodge the spirits of the 4 elements: Air, Earth, Water, and Fire. Each element has its peculiarities and its specific use can help you in your battle for the Black Rose.  Of course, the other spells are also influenced by an element in a powerful mix of combat spells and others disturbing opponents. 

 Among the evocations we find “Lord of Stone”, that will evoke the Earth Elemental, a strong evocation that, instead of moving, can put instability in the room where it is located or can blow up one of your evocation and inflict damage equal to the Health of the evocation to all those who are in the room ... if you use it on an elemental of the earth it will be trouble!

 With “Glacial Slayer”, on the other hand, as well as evoking a Water (or better Ice) Elemental, a powerful evocation that every time it kills a model can act again – you can remove an opponent’s evocation and make one of your own act immediately! 

Apart from the 4 Contingencies needed to summon the 4 Elementals, the other spells of this school are almost exclusively Combat spells, so you can inflict a lot of damage... but not only. 

In fact, these combat spells always have some interesting additional effect: “Suffocate” can deal 2 damage plus 1 additional damage for each other Water element spell you played during the turn, or inflict 3 damage and change the orientation of one of the spells not already played by the target mage... probably dashing his plans. 

“Geyser” will deal 2 damage, plus 1 for each Wind spell you have played, to all the mages in adjacent rooms, or it will deal 2 damage and remove all protections of the affected mages (always in the same range of action). 

As you may have noticed, these spells exploit the fact of having a certain coherence in your cards’ elements, so a well-optimized deck will require more attention in its construction! 

The only Protection available in this school also activates at its best by paying attention to the elements: “Elemental Shield” will immediately reduce the next damage by 3 or, after suffering the effects of a spell, you can immediately cast one from your hand as long as you share the same element of the one that targeted you! 

Speaking of synergies with other schools, Elemental magic is really atypical! Being very focused on spells’ elements, you must be able to choose one or two elements to focus on and look for in the decks where it is easier to find them, for example among the Destruction spells it is very easy to find the elements Fire and Water, while in Enchantment it is easy to find Earth. If you succeed in this venture you can create a deck very focused on triggering powerful combos that will give you immense satisfaction! 

Well, class dismissed for today! Are you ready to unleash Elements’ fury?

Forgotten knowledge...
almost 6 years ago – Sat, May 26, 2018 at 12:16:24 PM

Welcome to this new update all about spells. 

However this time, we’re not talking about a school but rather the most sought after and dangerous spells of the lodge, the ones only the Black Rose can bestow as gifts to mages who prove their loyalty and worth. 

Yes, we're talking about the Forgotten Spells.  

The Forgotten Spells were created in ancient times when magic still had the upper hand over reason, when the mages - who would later become the founders of the Black Rose - enjoyed powers beyond all imagination, powers that modern-day mages can only dream of having... a dream that every now and then comes true.  

The founders of the Black Rose created these extremely powerful spells, or, as some say, an unknown entity donated them in order that they be used to protect the lodge. Whichever the case, what we do know is that the founding fathers realised the extreme power of these spells and decided they were too dangerous to fall into the hands of just anyone.  

So they entrusted them to the Black Rose, she that would decide who could use them. And so as not to succumb to temptation, they made sure they forgot them too, so that no-one would ever be able to reproduce them unless so desired by the Black Rose.  

As you know, during a Black Rose War, a mage can enter their room and ask the Rose to give them superior knowledge to use one of the 10 forgotten spells. As you also know, the mage must sacrifice 4 of their spells to have the opportunity to draw 3 of the 10 forgotten spells and choose 1 to add to their hand. 

It’s up to you to choose the right card for the deck you’ve built during the game... let’s take a look at a few of these Forgotten Spells!  

“Devastation” strikes a room by inflicting 2 wounds on all models inside and converting 3 instabilities, or else all mages within two rooms will lose 2 power points, while you earn 2 power points for each mage struck.  

“Bull-o” will allow you to evoke a powerful Minotaur, who will inflict one wound on all models in every room in which it moves, or else make 2 rooms next to the target room unstable, allowing you to take their token!  

“Eviscerate” on the other hand will inflict 5 wounds on a model, ignoring the protection spells, or else kill any model that has suffered at least one wound.  

All these Forgotten Spells are truly excellent if you’ve decided to concentrate on the Transmutation or Destruction schools, or in general if you’re focusing on collecting trophies or room tokens.  

That’s all for this lesson, we’ll be back tomorrow with another update to reveal other Prohibited Spells that your mages will be dying to learn!

And now...

Stay tuned and spread the words!

A Keeper in the dark
almost 6 years ago – Wed, May 23, 2018 at 09:21:04 AM

"Are you happy with what I have done? Now anyone who looks in your eyes will now turn into stone and no one will be able to save them," snapped Athena,"Even you, Medusa, should you seek your reflection, will turn to rock the moment you see your face."

Hello, Mages!

As promised here is a little spoiler of the Myth School. A school of Magic coming from Greece, embedded with spiritual and divine power of the ancient Greek gods.

Medusa and the other mages can draw spells from the school inspired by what was only written by Homer and the other forgotten poets. Who said that Medusa was defeated by Perseus? Tzk. She ended up winning and took the chance to steal all his legendary equipment that can be summoned with this powerful school of magic.

Similarly to Enchantment, this school is working with powerful artifacts. Every time you summon an equipment it will occupy a slot in your evocation slots and give you a specific power. Be careful cause even if they are legendary, the artifacts, have a life value. They can, then, be destroyed or removed by your opponents.

This school of magic follows 2 strategies in poisoning the lodge and subduedly killing the opponents using powerful artifacts.

With the spell "Counsel of Graeae", you can look for instability cards in any deck of the Schools of Magic or make yourself an instability poisonous sprawler, which means that every time a mage comes in the room you are, you place instability.

With the "Labyrinth" spell...well you will be able to summon a weary version of the powerful Minotaur of Crete (from the forgotten magic), slower but still deadly and that with every hit he crashes a bit more the lodge. With this spell, you can also send one mage into the Labyrinth itself and make him miss an entire round, no escape from the Labyrinth!

Other spells like "Petrify", Tears of Perseus will make you play with instability and with your opponents moves, these will empower the strategy of making opponents come closer to your deadly artifacts. Trident of the seas will make you hit all the enemies that come close, the Golden Bow of Artemis will make you strike from distance and the Perseus Bright Shield will help you deflecting dangerous effects on other targets.

Ah, I was almost forgetting, there is a spell called The Anger of Crono... No spoiler here.

Poseidon will be pleased by all this destruction and power.

That's all! see you later for the final Update! 

but usual one (of the last) spoiler!

 See you later!

Around the World, Around the World, Around the World, Around the World
almost 6 years ago – Mon, May 21, 2018 at 05:12:27 PM

Hi, mages!

The time has come to travel across the different lodges of the world. In this update I will explain you the Legendary Scenarios:

Sicily Reign – Bronte, at the Slopes of Etna: Artifact Run 

America – Tenochtitlán: Black Rose Shards 

Holland – Amsterdam: Black Rose Portals 

Ireland – Kilkenny: King of the Hill 

Hungary – Buda: Blade Barriers 

France – Versailles: In search of Power

Each Legendary Scenario will take place in one of the other secret lodges across the world. A legendary Scenario is a set of rule and room placement that will give more depth to your games. Each Scenario might have a specific set of components and a specific setup (in terms of rooms, tokens and lodge shape). After that, each scenario will give you rules and details on how to deal with that specific game.

Let's go more in details! In the lodge of the Bronte, at the slopes of Etna, the mages will try to recover powerful artifacts that will aid them during the match. During the setup, each player will take a treasure chest and place it in a room of the lodge. When moving across the lodge, instead of activating the room, a mage can open a chest to retrieve an artifact and a Black Rose Trophy token. He draws the first 2 cards from the new Equipment deck that is coming from this Legendary Scenario, choose 1 and place the other one on the bottom of the Deck. Artifacts works like evocations (they have life and can be removed or destroyed). 

Each of the artifacts can give immediate benefits to the mage or a power-up for a specific action. Moving through the moons more artifacts will pop-out from Rooms. At the end of the game, the mage that opened more artifacts will gain extra power points that add to the standard rules of the game. 

Some Examples of Artifacts: Magical Shield that will reduce by 1 each damage you suffer until destroyed. Sacrificial Kriss that if used (discarded) will inflict 3 damage to a mage and if it is a killing blow only you will get points. The Ancient Book: When sacrificed will make you draw a Forgotten Spell but only in the 2nd moon The Mimic: Well that's a surprise!!! And many others.

In the lodge of Tenochtitlán in America, the Black Rose at the beginning of the match is giving a specific power to each mage. There are 12 different Cards for Black Rose Shards, during the setup starting from the 1st player he draws 3 of this Cards choose 1 and re-shuffle the remaining 2 in the deck than the 2nd player goes after and he picks 3 cards again choose 1 and re-shuffle the remaining 2 in the deck. This keeps going until all the mages have picked their Shard.

The Shard of the Black Rose will become a Skill of your mage that will definitely drive your strategy for that match giving another level of customization to the match. Like the skill that will make you place instability instead of room activation, or the skill that will make you replace one of the spells in play with one from your hand.

That's all for this Journey, see you in the next Update!

All-in!!!
almost 6 years ago – Mon, May 21, 2018 at 10:46:12 AM

 Hi everyone,  

We’ve nearly reached the end of this fantastic journey, just three days to go until the end of the campaign.  

As usual, we tend to leave the best for last, so in this update we are pleased to present the latest Add-ons and the All-in bundles.  

Two new familiars will join the other pets to give you more choice during play. Just like the other two, these families too have a somewhat “friendlier” aspect compared to the general tones of the game. This choice is linked to the concept these familiars need to represent: the pet baby animals of mages. An angry kitten or poisonous wasp wouldn't have scared anyone anyway.  

Cerberus  

The cubs of this powerful mythological being are highly sought after by the mages of destruction. In fact, in addition to increasing the physical damage inflicted by the mage when the pet is in contact with its owner, they also come with another skill, somewhat annoying for the enemies: when released by their owner, the Cerberus cubs are able to channel their owner’s magic and send it back to the target, disproportionately increasing their ability to find the target without exposing themselves.  

Draco  

The cubs of this extremely powerful being, believed in medieval times to be an incarnation of the devil itself, offer their mage enormous destructive power. When this pet is in contact with the mage, it increases all wounds inflicted by combat spells by 1, and when far away, it can create instability in whichever room it’s found when activated.  

Sleeves  

These fantastic sleeves have a special back for spell cards. Each pack contains 250 sleeves, which is enough for all the spell cards of the six schools and the forgotten magic that come with the core box. To make sure you have enough for all the Add-ons and SGs, we recommend 4 packs.  

The mini sleeves, which also come in packs of 250, are clear. This is because the cards that use them have different backs which need to be recognisable. One pack is sufficient for the core box and Crono, and with two packs you’ll have enough for all the materials.  

All-in Bundle 

As previously announced, two All-in packages will be available, one for the game materials only and one inclusive of all the published Add-ons.  

In the first you’ll find: Inferno, Hidden Thornes, and the 4 sets of familiars for $102

In the second you’ll find: Inferno, Hidden Thornes, the 4 sets of familiars, 6 bowls, 3 card holders and the art book for $160.  

The only things you’ll need to add are the sleeves, which cost $12 for a standard pack and $5 for the minis (each of 250 cards sleeves). The sleeve bundle includes 4 packs for standard cards and 2 packs for minis for $50.

And now... the Infamy of Crete