"Bad Lands: Curse of the Skinwalker - Coming Soon!" Topic

Howdy Folks!

So, I know this is a miniatures forum, but I also know a bunch of folks here were interested in our skirmish game, Blackwater Gulch. So I wanted to come by and introduce our new game, Bad Lands: Curse of the Skinwalker! It's basically the board game version of BWG, with a "weird west" setting.

Bad Lands is a Co-Op Western Horror Survival Game where you play the roles of rival gang members turned town defenders, forced to put their differences aside to fight off a vicious onslaught of Skinwalkers (were-beasts) and many other folklore creatures.

Curse of the Skinwalker is the first game, focusing on werewolves and other were-things, along with other corrupted animals like Jackalopes or Chupacabras. We do have other separate-but-compatible games planned for other themes, this is just the first.

The game is fast and fun and easy to learn. It plays similar to other survival games like Zombicide, you can use the heroes right out of the box for a quick game, or build your own heroes, adventures and campaigns totally from scratch and earn fame and fortune RPG-style.

The game shares many similar rules with our skirmish game, Blackwater Gulch. You can use any BWG miniatures in your games if you wish, since we'll have downloadable Hero Cards for every BWG character, or you can use them for your own custom heroes. There are no miniatures in Bad Lands though, we will be using cardstock pawns similar to games like Pathfinder to keep the prices way down. We will do miniatures later on though, but first we need to get the core game funded. We're planning to launch the game on Kickstarter on February 1st if all goes well. We're working on the "how to play" video and hope to have that done in a few days to a week or so.

We've been working on this game for the last 2 years now and are really excited to see it all finally coming together! So, head on over to our website to check it out! You can see some more pictures and also download the preview rulebook. Or leave a reply or PM with any questions :)

gangfightgames.com/badlands

So, I know this is a miniatures forum, but…

"Use Your Blackwater Gulch Minis!" sounds like you have that sorted…

Same distributor(s)?

Doug

Yes and no :) This time around we are going to self-publish, but we'll be using Game Salute's Ship Naked service to fulfill the KS pledges and also ship to stores, etc.

Little update, we finished the preliminary loot cards now. The design my change slightly in the end, once we are finished drawing up all the stat icons. For now, I placed each of the core loot cards here in this PDF

gangfightgames.com/badlands/downloads/BadLandsSampleLootCards.pdf

Gray cards are uncommon, there will be multiple copies of each making up almost half of the 64-card deck. Green cards are uncommon, blue are rare, purple are infamous and orange is legendary. You'll only be able to get Legendary cards in the core boxed game(s). Later on when we do all new stand-alone games, each one will have a different legendary item.

Beast Packs will have 10 extra loot cards too… 4 commons, 3 uncommon, 2 rare and 1 infamous. There will be some repeats for common items but each new beast pack will have a few new loot cards too that don't come in the core box.

The first beast pack we're planning is Werebulls, they'll have an Alpha Skinwalker Bison, 2 Skinwalker Bulls and 3 Hodag minions. That will be the first stretch goal and an add-on item, and each goal will also add a new bonus hero and/or monster to the core game too

Hey folks

Our Kickstarter preview page is up, we're planning to hit the launch button on Feb 1st.

kickstarter.com/projects/gangfightgames/1965724351?token=8a0cdb41

We still have to add some more graphical menus, and finish the how to play video, and we're still waiting for a few more art pieces to come in (I think the werebison is my favorite :) ). Also as soon as the campaign launches we'll add update #1 to act as a menu listing all of the Blackwater Gulch gangs and solo minis with photos. Since there's a lot we thought it would clutter up the main page too much. Throughout the campaign we'll also be posting updates with hero & monster bios and fluff.

Stay tuned :)

Just got some new art to share. First, here's a standard werewolf. The one I've been showing is the Alpha version, this one will be a Fiend, which is what we call the the regular mid-level beasts.

Next up, here's a standard Werecat.

And here's the standard wererat. At first I wanted them to be "wild west skaven" but after some thought I prefer this look, but the alpha version will be much meaner. The Wererat beast pack will be the 2nd stretch goal.

And last is the first demon in the game, the Jersey Devil. I think i'm going to name him the "Barrens Devil", since New Jersey is pretty far from "out west" .. but it's a local legend and I wanted to include it, since it's still a folklore creature. He will be the Bonus Beast that gets added to the core game if we hit the 2nd stretch goal, and he'll be a boss level monster.

I should have some more to share in a couple days :)

Next batch of artwork is done!

First we have the colorized Alpha Werecat

Next here is the standard Werebat

And a standard Werebear

Next. here is the Alpha Werebison, who will be the boss in the Werebull beast pack that will be for the first stretch goal

And last, here is the Sasquatch, who will be a bonus fiend. We'll add 2 of them into the core game if we make it to the Werebull stretch goal. I was going for an "evil chewbacca" kind of look with him :)

All of these will be getting colorized in a few weeks. Next on the list will be to get the video finished. I've been having trouble with my camera but I think I finally got it all captured onto my PC now, so it's just a matter of editing 45 minutes of me droning on about different rules into a quick 5 minute video :)

The "how to play" video is finished. It came out to 12 minutes which is about twice as long as I was hoping, but considering it was about an hour to begin with I guess that's not too bad :) I just did the first few turns of the game then jumped to the end to show how to figure out who wins if it's a single game, or how much XP you'd earn if it was a campaign game.

This was just mean to show the basic mechanics so I just used 2 heroes to speed it up. Most games will use 4 heroes and have twice as many beasts spawning, so the fights will be a lot more challenging.

youtube.com/watch?v=WOXNWEW08nQ

Kickstarter campaign is live!

kickstarter.com/projects/gangfightgames/bad-lands-curse-of-the-skinwalker

Check it out :)

Today's update:

Howdy pardners!

Wow, we're off to a great start. Thank you all for your support so far! We need help spreading the word, there are so many gaming sites out there, I'll never be able to find them all. Please share this project with all of your friends or post a link on your favorite forums or facebook or anywhere you can :)

Throughout the course of the campaign I'll be posting updates with some of the game's background, hero & villain bios and other aspects of the game. So let's start with the two different ways to play.

The "default" way to play is Survival Mode. This is the co-op rules that were shown in the How to Play video, where your Heroes are suddenly caught in the middle of a beast assault. All Heroes hail from rival gangs in the town of Blackwater Gulch, but they are forced to work together if they want to survive the night. Still, each Hero wants to come out on top, and the one who scores the most kills and scores the most loot will win. Combat is easier in Survival Mode, the beasts are easier to kill, but there are a whole lot of them and if you allow them to swarm around your Hero, they will rip you to shreds real quick. Also, since the enemies attack automatically, it's quite easy (and fun) to play solo games too.

The second way to play is Adventure Mode. In this mode, one player will become the Overlord or Game Master, we just call him the Villain Player. He will set up the board, place the objectives and control all of the beasts, while all other players will control the Heroes. The combat rules change slightly, unlike Survival Mode where Heroes can automatically wound their enemies, in Adventure Mode the Villain player will roll to hit and make saving throws the same way Heroes do. This makes the beasts much more powerful, so there won't be as many. The Villain player builds his beast back based on the amount of Heroes in the game. First he chooses one Boss like an Alpha Skinwalker. Then he can select 2 fiends like normal Skinwalkers, or 3 Minions for each Hero in the adventure.

Both game modes can be played as a single game, or they can be linked together into ongoing campaigns. I'll go more into detail on the campaigns next time :)

Thanks again for your help!

More to come…

Last time, I said I would go more into detail on the campaign system, but I decided to change things up and do the first Hero preview instead. So, here are the first 4 Heroes, plus a bonus Hero courtesy of Bombshell Miniatures!

Azalea is a new recruit for the Widowmakers gang. Her pistol skills rival even the most infamous Gunslingers in town, and her short fuse has earned her quite a reputation in just the few weeks she's been around.

J. W. Clarkson is an infamous hunter of beasts, come to town at the request of the church to investigate the recent Skinwalker curse plaguing the land. He comes from a long line hunters, roaming the land protecting an unwitting populace from dark things that lurk behind the shadows.

Gina calls the Tranquility Crew her family, lending her gun and her know-how to Captain Reinholt and the rest of the crew. With her keen eyes and a longarm she can take down at any target at any distance.

As his name might suggest, Cookie is a cook. He works at the Golden Coin Saloon, where his new specialty, Jackalope Stew, has been filling the bellies of hungry miners and gunslingers alike. "All the flavor's in the horns," he says.

Special Guest Star

We included Dusty Paige in our original skirmish game, Blackwater Gulch, as a bonus hired gun. Due to popular demand, we will be including her in Bad Lands as well! She will have a downloadable PDF hero card, along with all of the original Blackwater Gulch characters, and you can use her miniature instead of a pawn. You can buy her figure from the Bombshell Miniatures online store.

That's all for today! Tomorrow we'll show off some of the Villains :)

What would a survival or adventure game be without lots bad guys to kill? In Curse of the Skinwalker, your primary villain is going to be a faction of sorts, simply called Beasts. In time, I hope to have several other boxed games based on other factions, with Undead things planned for the next one, and also mixing in lots of other folklore critters along the way too.

We call all bad guys "Villains", and there are 3 types. Minions, Fiends and Bosses.

Minions, like this Chupacabra, are like Villain foot soldiers, or cannon fodder. They are weak, but numerous. In a 1 on 1 fight with a hero, chances are they will be squished pretty easily, but if you aren't careful and allow them to group up around you, you'll be in for a world of hurt. Minion cards have a green border, and most of their stat lines are going to be pretty much the same as what's above. But, each one will have a special ability to set it apart from his minion cousins.

Fiends are a bit tougher than Minions, but still not too difficult 1 on 1. Again, they rely on outnumbering hapless Heroes, and some like this Werewolf with his Pack Hunter ability will be even more formidable in greater numbers. Fiend cards have a yellow border.

(You may notice he's not called a "Skinwalker Wolf" anymore. I decided to just stick to were-whatever for these beasts, just feels more natural that way.)

Lastly, we have the Bosses, denoted by the red border on their cards. Bosses are as tough as Heroes, and they all have two different abilities. For Skinwalkers, they will always have an animal aspect ability, in this case, all Werewolves have the Pack Hunter ability. His second ability, Throat Ripper, will make sure a fallen Hero stays down. Smellin' Salts won't work if your jugular is missing!

Perhaps you would like to know more about the Skinwalker Curse? Here is a page taken from the church's definitive guide on Lycanthropy, by Dr. Samuel D. Manchester III, Esq., Monster Hunter Extraordinaire.

That's all for today! Next time I'll show off some loot, because what would a survival or adventure game be without lots of loot?

Here is the first screenshot for the Alpha Werewolf miniature that will be free for all backers getting a copy of the game :)

So far he's unposed, and lacking a lot of detail like hair and a tail and other things, but still a great start. I'll post new pics as I get them.

He's going to be "a head or 2" taller than your average man, but I want to try and still keep him on a 30mm base. Most of the men we have are a bit small for our 30mm bases, so he should still fit good. Once he's all done, we'll be tweaking and reposing and shrinking him down to make 2 different normal werewolves too, those will be normal man sized. I love 3D sculpting :)

Today I got the concept sketches for the Rake creature and the Wendigo. Both of these will be undead, rather than Beasts.

The rake is a more modern myth (like the Montock also, which is based on the Montauk Monster), but I wanted to include it because it's so creepy. He'll be a mid-level Fiend. There will be lots of different Wendigos, this first one is more of a Native American, but there will be cowboy and girl wendigos too. In Bad Lands, they are basically vampires.. but much more savage and brutal than your usual vamps, and they definitely don't sparkle.

I'm also making progress updating all of the cards to the new look. I should have them done in the next few days, then I'll send them off to get printed so I can take some new photos. I might try and redo the how to play video too.

Lastly, it looks like there are a lot of big companies planning campaigns in March. I'm a little worried that they will draw a lot of attention and backer dollars, and it might make things harder for us. I haven't decided yet, but I may wait and reboot more around early April now. That will also give me more time to get more done so the game will look even better. But we'll see how it goes.

Here's the new art! First, the Rake:

And here's the Wendigo

Here's an update for the card pics, the cards I showed last time were just mockups, this is more of the final version. Also, for the Chupacabra encounter card, the little wolf icon at the top shows it's a Beast. Undead will have a little skull over there, demons will have a little devily head, etc. It's so you can tell which race they are, because some Heroes or special weapons give you bonuses against them.

That's all for now.. back to work!