Pros

• Good Artwork
• No Minis

Cons

• Price
• Name
• Generic Fantasy
• No Minis

The Page

Now, I lean more into the cons for this game as I look at it but I do want to compliment it on a very nice page. I do have one major knock with it but generally, they nail a good Kickstarter page. I do want to talk about price here. For $82 USD and $18 shipping, I can get games that give me more. Now, Kickstarter prices are going up because prices on everything are going up, but for a game without a mini in sight, which is a good thing, the price is a bit high.

The name I’m also going to knock some because it is generic at best. At worst, and I’ve heard of this happening already and I warned the designer it might, people think it’s a Lord of the Rings game. That might get them some extra clicks, but it has also gotten them someone who left the page or felt the bait and switch. Shire is not only a Tolkien word, but, Tolkien and Hobbits are the first thing people will think of.

So, those are not the main thing I wanted to talk about. I want to talk about the character boards. They look good, but I don’t know what they look like in a game. There are sections that seem to be split up basically into little areas, what is that for? Is that for an upgrade? Is that for item storage, what is it? I want more shots of game in action, versus the production images.

The Game

The game itself seems pretty solid, but this is where I run into another issue. I don’t feel like it’s that unique. The game play seems pretty normal, the classes are normal as are the monsters. I like the idea of the trash mobs. It’s something that has a very RPG feel to it where you have your lousy monsters show up early in the day so that the players spend a few spells and abilities for when they finally reach the big boss for the day.

But generally, I just consider this game to be pretty generic. It’s generic fantasy and it’s a generic concept. I don’t see it setting itself apart from games with scenarios, and for less in terms of PvP you can get the Dragon Prince game or for basically the same amount you can get Super Fantasy Brawl.

Back or Brick

So no surprise this is a Brick for me. To me, I don’t see enough game to price point. Nor do I see the value of getting it now instead of maybe picking it up on retail. Now the game won’t exist without this Kickstarter but the funding goal have already been hit. If it’s good, someone will pick it up to publish. The art is solid, but the whole thing just seems too generic and not that great a price point to me. Add in the true solo play being an add-on, it makes it less likely to hit my table.

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Pros

• Campaign
• Miniatures
• Price
• 3 Game Modes
• Aesthetic

Cons

• PvP
• 3 Game Modes
• Shipping
• Change in Miniature Size
• Add-Ons

The Page

The page navigates really well. Some of this is that Lazy Squire Games has previously crowdfunded two games. This is their first time on Gamefound though. And some of why this page is really so easy to navigate and find information on is because of how Gamefound is built. Lazy Squire Games, though, uses it to the best of their ability.

Honestly, the more stuff is on Gamefound the fewer negatives I’ll have with pages, because I don’t have to go searching for the game play section, that is linked on the side. So to give more props to Lazy Squire Games, though, they gives you a lot of game play information. They don’t shy away from it and just show you minis, which are amazing. And they do a good job of showing all three game modes.

The thing that I will ding them on most is the add-ons. They do have a few add-ons, but they could really leverage how Gamefound works to make it a whole lot more ala carte. They have a pledge for the base game, Lavon Rising is an expansion, and that’s great, but any sort of big box add-on should be an add-on as well as maybe a slightly discount if you pledge for a lot of it. ISS Vanguard and some others have done a great job of splitting stuff into add-ons, this doesn’t.

The Game

The game itself looks like a lot of fun. And the three game modes looks like they are well thought out. I like two of them a lot. The Hunt mode is like a mini campaign for the players, and then there is an expansion that adds a fully immersive campaign. Then, there is player versus player. Which I have no interest in that mode. I have my skirmish game, Super Fantasy Brawl, and while I’d likely try it, I wouldn’t back Wild Assent for the skirmish mode.

I also like in the Hunt mode how it talks about supporters. This idea that you have people you can recruit to your camp who give you static abilities. It’s a cool and thematic way that I feel like you can improve a character uniquely. A lot of games give you ways to boost your character and they can be really unique, but to give more of a common pool to do that is very cool.

Back or Brick

But, let’s get down to it, is this game a Back or a Brick for me? It is going to be a Brick. Now, Wild Assent has a lot of great reviews. That is one of the advantages of backing it now, but there are a few things that throw me off.

Firstly, the minis have changed sizes, so people who bought the original will now have different sized minis or get a discount. Secondly, I’d want the base game and campaign expansion only, and that’s probably just under $300. That is too steep with game and shipping. I get that the campaign is a lot of work, but I would imagine they can leverage a lot of what is already in the base box.

Now, if you have the money to throw at this, like I said, it has a lot of very good reviews. And if you want that smaller style campaign from The Hunt, which is tempting to me, you can get just the base box for about $165 to be shipped to the US. Even that seems a little bit steep to me, but for a proven game, not too bad and there are stretch goals so the value should end up being there.

But, is this game a Back or a Brick for you?

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Now, Player versus Player (PvP) is something that might never come up in your game of Dungeons and Dragons. There can be moments that make it worth it for the story to have some PvP, but that’s not that norm.

So, let’s start out with some reasons that you might have some PvP in your game?

A lot of the reasons that you might have PvP aren’t good reasons. The players out of game (or in game) might not like each other, so they might fight. This happens when you have an unbalanced party, when you have a chaotic evil wizard and a lawful good paladin, you might end up having PvP in the game. You can also run into it when you have a rogue or greedy character who is stealing from the players or is hording the good loot because, even though they can’t use it, they want to keep it because it’s pretty.

You might also get PvP, and this is a good reason, when there is a tournament. Maybe there is some sort of challenge that all the players enter into and in the end they have to face off against each other. This is something that works best when you have players who really want to show off their characters mechanical abilities for a session or two.

Finally, it might be a turn, to borrow a wrestling term. When someone turns, it means that they are going from being the good guy and helpful part of the party to possibly becoming the BBEG or some level of villain. This one is neither good or bad because it could be a really cool moment for the players if it’s done correctly and planned out. If it just comes out of nowhere and there’s no reason for it other than the player got bored, then that’s considerably less ideal.

How do you then deal with it these are some of the reasons.

If it is for a “bad” reason, I think you have to deal with it differently than you do with a “good” reason. With the some of the “bad” reasons, I’d start with an above table discussion. Take it out of the game and figure out how you can avoid conflict against two opposing characters for whatever reason that might. Odds are in those situations, one person is going to end up feeling like their character is being picked on in the game by the other character, and that can lead to issues outside of the game. But it is always possible that these players have been intentionally playing their characters in a way to build to that moment. If you don’t know as a DM, you should take that conversation out of the game for a moment before you sit back and watch them go at it.

If it is one of the “good” reasons, try and make it feel unique. If it’s a tournament, make it some reward that all the characters would want to win or need to win for their party so that they can continue going forward with their quest and the story. Or if it’s a turn, make that moment as rewarding as possible. Build to it slowly, pass a note to let the player know when it’s the right time, and then spring it on the other players. Hopefully it’ll be a shock and a good shock, and then let that combat happen. However, if you are doing this and you want that character to end up as the BBEG, give specific instructions when to run and get out of the combat, because up against a single character, the party is probably going to make quick work for them. Or give them something that will allow them to put up a better fight that the players don’t know about. I would also recommend, after that first encounter, you take over the BBEG, former player character, in any of the combats, and let the player roll up a new character.

For both of the good reasons for PvP, I would use them sparingly as if it draws out too much, you are likely going to lose the focus of some of your players at the table. When you are doing PvP with a group of people at the table larger than two, that means that you are going to have some players just sitting around and watching, and unless it’s compelling for the reason for it, or if it’s the whole party against the one character who has turned on them, So keep things moving, keep it interesting, and create some sort of countdown for the players so that it doesn’t end up being a long and drawn out slug fast, though, I doubt it will be. Also, try and avoid fatalities, unless it’s supposed to be a a situation where, going to the example of the character who turned, that they are not the BBEG, but have just been giving information to the BBEG. Then see how many of the party members they can take out before they are taken out.

Overall, I think that PvP in D&D is something that can work sparingly. And I think that’s something that needs to be done carefully. There are plenty of ways for it to go bad, particularly above table that you don’t want to create resentment at the table. You are going to have to get the buy-in from the players to make it really work. Like I’ve already said in the article, keep it moving as well, don’t let it drag out too long, because you might not have the whole party involved in it, and you don’t want them to be bored at the table.

Have you run into a situation where there was PvP at a table that you were a player at or that you were running the game? How did that work for you?

Share questions, ideas for articles, or comments with us!

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