www.ddmguild.com

You can download the somber gray scenario now.

He's tough. 

And he's got a wand. 

And he'll be here, this weekend.

We don't have a dedicated map to realease for Orcus- though Dungeon of Blood really fits both the theme and the design.  Temple of the Unseeing is a great second choice. 

The thinking behind the current Orcus scenario is to make it a bit flexible, so that you can play against the Prince of Undeath many different ways, though always aiming to take him down.

But, since most of the minis gamers are looking for a challenge, and since bigger is better, lets talk about his toughest incarnation.  If we assume that he was able to slay the Raven Queen, but had a moment of vulnerability where he could be taken down, you are looking at fighting a 765 point monster of a demon lord, including his (crafty and downright mean) wand. 

So, - what do you think?  Can you put together 8 creatures totalling 765 points to take down Orcus? 

Hope to have him out to you soon, so we can find out.

UPDATE:  So, one of the playtest groups emails me this:

"Playing with the Big O is seriously fun. The table keeps changing like there's no tomorrow. Epic Raistlin brought a nice team to meet the O and it looked bad for O early on, but then it started to go sour real soon for the "heroes"..."

To be honest, we weren't actually expecting a new random set this year anyway (though a beholder-like set is expected).  We are, in fact, planning on releasing new ways to use existing miniatures.  There's lots of work to do catching up on the Iconic sets, (aside from the already released icing death scenario, we've only worked on Orcus and Gargantuan Blue).

I 'suspect' we will try to re-introduce some of the older maps (Thieves Quarter?) and continue to sanction worthy new maps, such as Haunted Quarry.  And yes, I am planning on running large events at both GenCon and NeonCon this year.  It might be time to start thinking about spring qualifiers for the GenCon Championships.

We've our own releases planned for 2011 as well.  Half of the "Outfitter's shop" was previewed at GenCon last year, opening the door for new, mundane yet useful items for the supporting members of your warband.  On the other extreme, the 13 piece epic items set is burning a hole in my computer, waiting to be posted (some very cool options for your summer epic tournaments in there).  The beholder set stats will also be released very soon.  By the springtime, you'll also see the first cards for a 'DDM War' type of unit:  a cluster of several commons that acts as a single creature. 

We've a few more surprises that should offer new ways to play.  And when new miniatures do come out, we'll be ready.  Let's face it; in a bad economy, the free rules and stats from the DDM guild are one of the best deals around.

Been thinking a little about this season's 'limited championship.'  Ok, I've been thinking a lot about it.

We have a great new set, Lords of Madness, coming out in just a couple weeks.  Its a huge set.  While this fits nicely with some cool new scenario-type products we are developing, it does create some interesting considerations as well.

For example, we've never used a huge set for a championship before.  While we tried to have an epic championship at one time in the distant past, it's tough to do.  The Epic tourney at GenCon was our largest in some time.  Epic is a swingier format, after all, and could well push an already somewhat swingy format (sealed) right over the edge.  

And yet, do we really want to 'waste' this opportunity?  Would it not be very cool to field an army including huges in the sealed champs?

Moreover, without significant WotC sponsorship, we can't redraft every 3 rounds, either without making it unaffordable.  We want to keep the ticket price in the 45 dollar range.  And nobody wants to be stuck with a completely untenable pull that you can sometimes get with only two boosters. 

So, what to do? 

Our solution to these and other considerations ended up being pretty simple.  Players will be cracking 3 Boosters, and constructing two seperate warbands, including maps,  from them. 

Players will construct both a 200 and a 500 point band.  The same figure can appear in both, since they will play these bands in alternating rounds. 

I see the 200 round as perhaps more of a hard-core strategy round, while the 500 round is a celebration of the set itself. Only players who can hang in both formats will make the cut to the single elimination rounds.

So that's it.  A new take on the swiss sealed portion of the Championships. 

Looking forward to seeing you all at NeonCon.

Best,

d'Garry