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True Messiah, a game of surreal religious horror

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
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Hi! I'm Craig Stern; you might know me as the developer of RPGs like Telepath Tactics and Telepath RPG: Servants of God. Well, I've decided to take a short break from video games and produce a crazy strategy board game, for which I've just launched a Kickstarter campaign. The game? True Messiah, a strategy board game and deck-builder of surreal religious horror.

It is the near future; Earth. Years ago, scientists successfully constructed the Belief Engine, a machine that warps reality based on peoples’ strongly held beliefs. The machine was turned on for testing, but it proved too sensitive: widespread belief in the depravity of man and imminent social collapse suddenly took on the full force of objective fact, and science skepticism rendered the Engine’s creators helpless to intervene. Without resort to a shared external reality, civilization crumbled like a sand castle in the tide.

From the ruins have now arisen cults led by charismatic, messianic figures possessed of seemingly divine powers derived from the still-functioning Engine. You are one such a figure—the true one, the Messiah. It is God’s will that you build temples and marshal followers, then mold their beliefs to perform miracles and destroy your rivals. They’ll be doing the same, but don’t worry–God is on your side…

True Messiah features loads of gorgeous surreal art; think "Dali meets Dune." Build temples, marshal followers, then mold their beliefs to perform miracles and destroy your rivals.

2-4 players, 60-120 minutes. Click here to check out the Kickstarter page, which has lots more info!

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Leechmonger

Arbiter
Joined
Jan 30, 2016
Messages
756
Location
Valley of Defilement
The art style looks amazing.

Have you considered replacing recurring text with symbols? Things like "choose a target player/space", "draw x cards from the top of your deck", etc. Nothing as extreme as Race for the Galaxy, mind you.

I can't watch the video at the moment, so I'm not sure if this is addressed: what is the motivation for attacking other players in 3+ players games? Specifically, what would lead me to attack one player as opposed to another? I've found that in Evolution, a game with no tactical positioning between players, targets are often chosen on a whim and king-making is rampant. Have you taken steps to prevent this? Will I be attacking players due to a specific resource they're sitting on, for example?
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
The art style looks amazing.

Have you considered replacing recurring text with symbols? Things like "choose a target player/space", "draw x cards from the top of your deck", etc. Nothing as extreme as Race for the Galaxy, mind you.

I can't watch the video at the moment, so I'm not sure if this is addressed: what is the motivation for attacking other players in 3+ players games? Specifically, what would lead me to attack one player as opposed to another? I've found that in Evolution, a game with no tactical positioning between players, targets are often chosen on a whim and king-making is rampant. Have you taken steps to prevent this? Will I be attacking players due to a specific resource they're sitting on, for example?

Thanks Leechmonger!

I'd considered using symbols, but ultimately decided to opt for specific, consistent terminology instead, as relatively few of the effects on the game's various cards really lend themselves to that sort of representation.

The motivation for attacking other players in 3-player is that the game is not won by being the last man standing; rather, the first player to eliminate another player wins the game. So if you sit around and turtle, you're not necessarily doing yourself any favors.

In 4-player, kingmaking is taken out of the equation entirely by forcing the players into permanent alliances for the duration of the game (with the unspoken assumption that the winners will immediately turn on one another the second they secure victory).
 

Leechmonger

Arbiter
Joined
Jan 30, 2016
Messages
756
Location
Valley of Defilement
Oh that's right, the game ends on elimination not after a set number of rounds.

So if I understand correctly, 4-player games are 2v2 rather than FFA? Also, can combat in 3-player games involve all three players?
 

Jaesun

Fabulous Ex-Moderator
Patron
Joined
May 14, 2004
Messages
37,241
Location
Seattle, WA USA
MCA
Will back this immediately, just for the art. :shittydog:

SO hoping this does well, and you might consider an electronic version.
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
All right, we're now up to Update #2!

I stayed up late last night producing two new videos explaining the game's rules in greater depth, including the combat rules: https://www.kickstarter.com/project...gy-game-of-surreal-religious-ho/posts/1694354
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...gy-game-of-surreal-religious-ho/posts/1694354
On the financial front, things have begun to slow down, but we're still doing pretty well. By my count, we'll hit 25% funding if we get just 12 more backers. If you're on the fence, why not take a moment to check out the videos and see if you want in? :)
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
The final 20 hours have begun--truly, we are in the end times!

Fetch may not be happening this time around, but I can at least ensure that we're in a good position to make it happen in a few months. To this end, I'm looking to wrap today up with 230 backers and $16,000 pledged. Go here to help! http://truemessiahgame.com/
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
For those curious: True Messiah is still a thing!

Yesterday, however, I finally got word that Blackbox is once again available and willing to handle shipping and fulfillment for True Messiah, which means that I can finally go ahead and schedule the second Kickstarter campaign! This will be happening in 2018, so I’ll most likely be scheduling the second Kickstarter attempt for early that year–keep an ear to the ground for a future announcement of the official date!

More info: http://sinisterdesign.net/true-messiah-july-2017-update/
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
We're up to Update #8 now, but I specifically wanted to pop in to mention Update #7, which contains video of a start-to-finish 3-player game of True Messiah (plus my own commentary and strategic analysis in the comments below). Worth the time investment, IMO! Click here for the goods.

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pakoito

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Jun 7, 2012
Messages
3,086
That's some good art. Shame about the font.

How's the KS going? It's too big a game for my playgroup, still, it looked nice.
 

Craig Stern

Sinister Design
Developer
Joined
Feb 15, 2009
Messages
398
Location
Chicago
The KS is going well enough--last I checked, we were 37% funded and 36.7% of the way through the campaign. Personally, I would have liked to be past this point by midway through day 2, but for some reason backers from the first campaign have been real lethargic about re-upping (despite the fact that I'm offering a way better deal on the game this time around).
 

vonAchdorf

Arcane
Joined
Sep 20, 2014
Messages
13,465
It's strange that this game which has gorgeous art and a dedicated creator with a proven track record (albeit in computer games) faces such difficulties while other simple board / card games make much more. Do they have a better rolodex? Good luck with the relaunched campaign.
 
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