UPDATE 11/13/2024
Guidebook Progress
IN PROGRESS: Icon Index
UPCOMING:
Turn book into the editor.
Find a cover artist.
CHANGES:
The Icon Index will be the final chapter of the Heroes Guidebook.
We are completely reworking our character sheets to make them printer-friendly and free to download. This section will be removed from Chapter 1.
With the addition of Wizard’s Wardrobe, and the revision of the old decks, Armor Sets swelled like crazy! Rather than add 30+ new pages to the Guidebook, we went to the Discord community for guidance. The consensus was to give Armor Sets its own book. To that end, we have removed this content from the main book.
Likewise, the Legacy Support document was also decided to become a free digital download as opposed to a printed paper product.
Armor Sets Collection
The revised Armor Sets decks are now COMPLETE. The preview galleries are updated, as are all of the shop pages at the printer website.
The Heroes Guidebook needs to be ready before we can launch this collection, so thank you in advance for your patience. In the meantime, feel free to peruse the galleries and generate some hype amongst your gaming groups.
Book of Frost - Spell Booster will be live on TGC on 12/1/2024!
We cranked out a full 18-card spell pack of ice and winter-themed spells last year during the ice storm that froze Texas solid. This was waaaay in advance of Arcane College and we’ve been holding on to them for that release. Since that is taking longer than expected, we are going to let them loose on the world this winter. As of December 1st, you will be able to order these awesome ice spells from TheGameCrafter.
UPDATE 10/10/2024
Guidebook Progress
Chapter 5 continues. Adding the copy to the book for formatting today. There is a Chapter 5.1 section in progress as well.
Chapter 6 is kind of in limbo. With the revision of Armor Sets, Chapter 6 got kind of gutted. We still need a legacy support section though, I just have to figure out exactly that is going to look post Ch5.
Armor Sets & Blueprints Progress
You can preview the revised collection NOW in the ARMORY gallery.
We should be ordering prototypes this week.
As always Advanced Armory is fully backward compatible, so those with legacy decks will have no trouble using the cards they have.
Grand Grimoire I - Big Spell Deck
Many of you have been ever so patient with us, waiting for more spell cards. We have not forgotten! In the meantime, we had some requests for a deck of just spells. Grand Grimoire I is exactly that. Head over to the Arcane Library to check it out!
This deck is expected to go live at the end of October, or early November.
UPDATE 10/03/2024
Guidebook Progress
Chapter 5 is roughed out and waiting on the revised decks to be finalized. We need those cards 100% done before we proceed.
Armor Sets & Blueprints Progress
You can preview the revised collection NOW in the ARMORY gallery.
Wizard’s Wardrobe, our first expansion for this collection, is also posted online for preview. This deck is in the proofreading stages now.
As always Advanced Armory is fully backward compatible, so those with legacy decks will have no trouble using the cards they have.
UPDATE 9/16/2024
Guidebook Progress
Chapters 1 through 4 are written and formatted. Chapter 5 will cover the revised Armor Sets.
Chapter 6 will cover “Legacy” support. Basically an FAQ/guide to outline the changes between First Edition and 2nd Edition. The purpose is to demonstrate that your exiting 1E collection is completely valid by outlining the major visual changes, and tiny handful of game mechanics changes.
Armor Sets & Blueprints Coming to 2nd Edition
First Edition Armor Sets and Blueprints decks are now archived. You can still get them in the 1E Archive Bundle, but they are no longer available to order individually.
After a lot of discussion with the community, we made the decision to give these decks a facelift. This is partly to align them properly with the current edition, AND to remove some old AI elements that were used way back before AI became a big scandal.
There will be an upgrade pack setup for current users to get only the cards they need to update their current decks (if they want them).
UPDATE 8/21/2024
Guidebook Progress
Chapter 1 and Chapter 2 are fully formatted and in the next round of proofreading. Currently writing Chapter 3: The Heroes Market.
New Deck Boxes on TheGameCrafter!
We have three new deck boxes (and deck divider packs) up on TheGameCrafter!
The original ARMORY Deck Box got a facelift, and now comes with Advanced Armory-themed deck dividers.
Already have a deck box, and just want ARMORY dividers? We got you covered.
We added an HQ Deck Box to help you keep your HeroQuest game system cards organized. Also includes a set of HQ-themed dividers.
Would you prefer Blank ARMORY dividers? They are available for those who need greater customization for their deck boxes. These will work perfectly for both the ARMORY box, the HQ box, or any other box made by TheGameCrafter.
The Dreadful Deck Box is now available for GM’s to help keep their evil gaming cards organized between quests.
Blank Dreadful dividers and extra Dreadful dividers available for those who need greater customization for their deck boxes.
UPDATE 7/13/2024
Guidebook Progress
The guidebook has been on hold for a few months due to manpower shortages. My day job hit the busy season, and I got to spend a lot of time with my new granddaughter. She was the hero of the hour (or quarter lol) and demanded my full attention for a little while. BUT I’m back in the studio and chipping away at the book again. But where is the book at exactly? I will do a detailed breakdown at the bottom of this update.
UK Printer - Printerstudio.co.uk
2nd Edition decks are LIVE on Printerstudio.co.uk! As we release new decks in the USA via TGC, we can now also release them on PSUK at the same time.
Spanish Decks & Spain Printer - Printerstudio.es
We invested in translation services for our Alchemist Shop range and have uploaded our potion decks in Spanish to both TGC and a dedicated storefront on Printerstudio’s server in Spain. Unfortunately, not a single deck has been sold in this language. Without support from our Spanish-speaking community, we cannot translate any additional decks. The current offering will remain active though, grab them if or when you are ready for them.
Guidebook Progress
When I set this project down in May, I was actively working on Chapter 4 (the GM guide). This is where all you evil wizards will find help with your Dreadening decks. Chapter 5 is intended to be the revised Materials & Matching section (replacing the current mini book). Chapter 6 would cover 1E content that didn’t make the transition to the new edition (i.e. Armor Sets).
Currently, we’re up over 50 pages, easily double our original book. Rather than risk missing something small (but important) I am putting literally everything into the manuscript. There is a lot of internal discussion about how much really needs to be included. As of today, Advanced Armory is running on Standard Format. Standard is the refined First Edition system. Since it’s launch in January, we have massively expanded our range. This is why the book is taking so long to write, there is much more to go over this time.
Standard Format Guidebook
Once we’ve covered all of our decks, and ported over what’s left from the original book, we will streamline. The 2E Standard-format Guidebook will give you everything you need to use both your 1E and 2E collections as upgrades to your favorite D6-based games. Standard is mean to function as an upgrade to an existing game system, so we will do our best to make sure that’s what this book will accomplish.
This new book will get a physical print run. You will be available through our Etsy shop. No waiting for the printer this time, just order and we’ll ship right away. There isn’t an estimated release date yet. When we get closer to print, we’ll make an announcement.
Masterclass Guidebook
Please excuse the pretentious name. As this system evolves we are exploring an alternative. ;)
”Why Masterclass?” - Not everybody has kids or is a casual hero, so Masterclass started out as a more mature version of Advanced Armory. The idea was to add in more granularity and up the difficulty for the older and more seasoned gaming community.
Masterclass has grown into much more. At this point, we are ready to forge our own “heroic D6 questing system”. No need to re-buy what you already have though. Use our rules (dice and cards optional) and apply them to your existing gameboards and minis.
“Cards optional? Does that mean no MC decks??” - No no, we are still doing Masterclass decks. We cranked a few of them already during the Backerkit campaign. BUT we are going to put our card decks’ content into book format as well. Some folks like our work, but don’t like cards. This will make Advanced Armory accessible to them. It will also make localization easier too, if we ever get funding to translate. In addition to game mechanics, we will be introducing our own original game setting (realm) as part of masterclass. This will allow us to really develop and diversify our content without having to rely on generic tropes, name schemes, and tiptoe around neighboring IP. We have our own IP now. You have seen little teases of it in some of our cards.
“Can I use my existing Advanced Armory cards with Masterclass?” - Absolutely YES! Masterclass is not “3E”. We are not replacing anything. This is an expansion of Advanced Armory, with Standard format as its backbone.
Well, that’s for now. I need to get back to writing. If you have comments or questions, hit us up on Discord or Facebook any time.
~Girot
UPDATE 2/26/2024
Guidebook Progress
The Guidebook is actively being worked on. The player’s section is written, and the GM section is in progress now. Still, lots to do, but the book is chugging along nicely! In between bouts of writing we are trying to keep things fresh with smaller releases.
First Quarter New Releases
This month we saw a modest expansion for Loot The Room with the Moar boosters. Next month we will see our first pack of monsters with Dreadful Encounters I. These are just monsters, nothing fancy this time. Until now we’ve been applying our Dungeon Decks to our existing monster cards, now you will have Advanced Armory monsters that pair with DD perfectly!
UK Printer - Printerstudio.co.uk
We are a little behind in getting our decks uploaded to Printerstudio.co.uk. This is absolutely still happening, it is just a matter of when. This is partially due to our focus being primarily on the Guidebook. Ideally, we will be able to launch our UK offering alongside the book. The silver lining here is that any quality issues we run into between the US launch and the UK launch will have been sorted.
UPDATE 12/25/2023
Happy Holidays!
As of today, all of ARMORY Standard, Alchemist Shop, and the Dreadening Collection is LIVE on TheGameCrafter! We will do a more formal announcement after the holidays, as well as some demo videos. Once all of that is ready, we will send it out via our Backerkit mailing list.
Enjoy your festive questing, and see you next year!
Before we get any deeper into Mining Expedition or our other decks, we will take a couple of weeks to get our current decks uploaded to Printerstudio.co.uk, which should be online before the end of January.
UPDATE 12/04/2023
The Armory website is under renovation.
Please excuse the mess! We’re in the process of reorganizing and updating our website to accommodate the changes to our product line. Since we are sticking with print-on-demand as the primary method to deliver our content, some changes are required. This is a good news, bad news situation.
The Good News
With a print-on-demand setup, we are not as restricted as far as individual product sizes (i.e. card counts).
We can produce smaller decks, even booster packs, instead of huge decks or full collections.
Booster packs for 2nd edition is just packaging. The foil bags are much cheaper than tuck boxes and can accommodate sets up to 25 cards.
HeroDraft may return in the future in a different format.
HeroDraft Blue (first edition only) will remain available for as long as first edition remains.
We can set up shop at multiple vendors, making our content more accessible in multiple countries. Eventually, this will mean multiple languages too!
The Bad News
It takes A LOT of time to set up storefronts online. Especially when we have so many options to offer.
TheGameCrafter is very easy to work with, but they require a lot of behind-the-scenes work.
Printerstudio and MakePlayingCards have the same website format. Their stores are… minimalist. They’re fairly easy to set up, but the presentation is awful. This is partly why we set up our website. We feel it’s important that you can view a deck in its entirety before you buy.
Print-on-demand is expensive and takes time to get an order printed. Some vendors offer expedited options, but those fees can get very expensive.
Quality control on our end is limited. If there are major issues, you will need to contact the printer directly.
We show off our work in our Discord and on Facebook, so follow us there for more details!
UPDATE 11/28/2023
We did NOT fund on Backerkit.com but this journey is nowhere near over!
We have a busy winter ahead of us. There are endless paths for FHCS and Advanced Armory to continue down, so rest assured we will absolutely be back! Over the next couple of months, we will be making some adjustments to Wave 1 decks to get them ready for print-on-demand relaunch at TheGameCrafter (US/NA) and Printerstudio.com (UK/EU).
“Adjustments” mean moving cards around to accommodate print sheet sizes (print-on-demand goes in multiples of 18 versus 55 for mass production). We don’t have to strictly adhere to multiples of 18 either, but the fewer pages per deck the cheaper they are to print. There are also a few cards that it doesn’t make sense to have multiple copies of (like the Champion Potions).
We will reorganize Wave 1 into several smaller decks, similar to how did First Edition. This way you can purchase only what you need and at your own pace.
Yes, there will be “bundles.” One-click shopping with discounts for those who prefer the “all-in” way of life.
We are holding back our digital releases temporarily, so we have something to offer in the Spring when we try crowdfunding again.
Wave 1 Works-In-Progress
2nd Edition Guidebook
A simple Standard-format guidebook explains how to apply basic Advanced Armory decks to your existing game. No more, no less. Digital, pro print, and home print options.
Masterclass has (unintentionally) become a soft replacement system for our favorite D6 game. We never set out to reinvent the wheel, but here we are. This volume will detail hero creation, equipment, our magic system, how to run a dungeon using our Dreadening range, and some very simple campaign mechanics. We will also formally introduce our little microverse that has developed along way. Not a full-blown realm, just some named groups and locations that you can easily insert into whatever world you are playing in.
Wave 2 Works-In-Progress
We are pushing forward with the development of our planned (and recently inspired) 2024 (Wave 2) projects:
HeroSheets - An assortment of character sheets, and inventory tracking sheets for all of your questing needs. These are slightly less fun to work on than cards, but they ARE coming. Thank you for your patience!
Masterclass Armor & Accessories II, III, IV - We still have the balance of the original Armor Sets to get through. These decks will establish more options for you to choose from without having to commit to a large collection.
Heroes Guild I, II, III - A collection of hero classes, skills, and basic spells. Everything you need to upgrade your existing game to Advanced Armory.
Mining & Blacksmithing - A minigame/expansion that brings in resource harvesting, and sets up our crafting system. This is a modular expansion, so only buy/print what you need. For those who want an all-in option, there will be a boxed expansion available as well.
Dreadful Dragons - Need a really REALLY big boss monster to humble those well-equipped heroes? Look no further! This new deck has an assortment of dragons, monster skills and spells, and dragon-themed artifacts!
Arcane College & The Grand Grimoire - This will be a mage-dedicated expansion! New and variant hero classes, cartloads of magic equipment and artifacts, and a full range of spells and spell scrolls!
The Witchlight Moors - Our first fully realized quest pack! Travel to the Witchlight Moors, a beautiful but haunted marsh that bridges the world of the living with the world of the dead. You must find and destroy the Soulshard Legion, a cohort of elite undead who have been mustering here in secret. This boxed expansion will include a book, cards, and tiles.
We show off our work in our Discord and on Facebook, so follow us there for more details!
UPDATE 10/18/2023
We are green lit by Backerkit.com for launch!!! We are now going LIVE on Tuesday, October 24th!
2nd Edition Deck Galleries are back down again. We are doing some last minute site maintenance and security checks before we launch next week. We expect galleries to be back online Sunday night.
UPDATE 10/10/2023
2nd Edition Deck Galleries are LIVE again! Not only that, we’ve completed our final pre-campaign edits to ARMOR, Alchemist Shop, and Loot The Room. We’re still processing The Dreadening but should have that done today. Feel free to poke through and check our work. If we missed something or could word a card better, reach out to us on Discord and let us know!
BACKERKIT Campaign Page is about 85% completed! We just have to do a little tidying up in Story and finish detailing the Risks section.
Our Roadmap to manufacturing has been finalized and posted. It took a couple of dry runs, but we worked with our manufacturers to get the absolute best deal for all stakeholders involved in this project (the backers, the manufacturers, and our studio).
Pledge Levels have been reworked and now represent shipping regions. Wherever we are shipping your rewards to you, that will be your pledge level.
If you are outside of the listed regions, or are unsure which pledge level is right for you, please contact us! We can look your region up and let you know which pledge level is right for you.
UPDATE 9/19/2023
BACKERKIT vs KICKSTARTER - We’ve decided to go with Backerkit for our crowdfunding campaign. We love Kickstarter, and we’ve used them many years ago. Crowdfunding has evolved over the years, however, and Backerkit has taken what KS started (pun intended) and created something elegant and intuitive. The user interface is much easier to work with, and that flexibility has provided us with a means of presenting our campaign in the most satisfying way possible. In our experience, the Kickstarters we’ve backed that have been the most successful have been those that were the most fun! Our goal is to fund the manufacturing of our products, so why can’t that journey be a fun and exciting one?
The campaign Landing Page is LIVE. If you want to stay in the loop, please pop by the link and put in your email. We will be sending out updates that way and on social media as things progress.
Our discord is now open to the public as we ramp up for the crowdfund. This is your chance to go backstage to see FHCS working on Advanced Armory, possibly even provide early feedback. We can make changes all the way up to the day we send our files to the printers. After that, whatever is in print is forever.
OLD NEWS
ARMOR 2nd Edition is trimming the redundancy, moving items that should be artifacts to Artificers Guild (they still come with this set, just getting an updated card back and classification), and reorganizing everything into Standard (current system) and Masterclass (added complexity for seasoned players).
KICKSTARTER coming later this year to bring the Advanced Armory system to physical production. This will make everything much more affordable, and eliminate crazy long printing queue times.
Our Etsy store can go live once fulfillment is completed. From there we will be able to sell already-printed decks and ship them directly to you. While we are primarily a USA studio, we will attempt to forge alliances with vendors in the UK, EU, and AU to get better coverage and reasonable shipping.
Translation into other languages is very expensive. Just the translations themselves are thousands of dollars for each language. A physical production run will require a minimum order of 500 units for each individual deck type or product. At the very least, we can create stretch goals for just the translation so we can setup print on demand options in Spanish, French, and German. All that being said, IF there is sufficient enough demand and the funding happens, you folks can make it happen.
HeroDraft booster packs will be discontinued with the launch of ARMORY 2nd edition! They are too expensive to print-on-demand, and even a modest production run doesn’t work. We would need a minimum of 10,000 packs to even consider keeping this format. Unfortunately, they just don’t sell well enough. When the Etsy store goes up, I will offer what few packs I have left, but once they’re gone, that’s it.
Free Digital Products are still on the to-do list. These take a crazy amount of time to set up for immediate A4 printing. While we say we a lot, we are perpetually short-staffed. The existing option(s) will remain available in their current edition/format. Once 2nd Edition is completed, we will try to allocate some resources (or maybe recruit some help) to getting everything posted up on DriveThruRPG as free downloads.
