Project story
- Cooperative gameplay
- Fantasy-themed hero building
- Variable hero powers and thousands of combinations
- Organic & customizable hero advancement
- Modular board: maps interlock with past and future Volumes
- Strategic movement, exploration, and questing mechanics
- Dice-rolling & press-your-luck scenarios
- Several alternative playing styles; customize your games to your liking
- Multi-Volume: Can be played with the Valley of the Dead King, the Forests of Adrimon, the Sands of Shurax, or future HEXplore It Volumes
- Dynamic play duration; you choose the length of play
- 6 levels of game difficulty
- Highly customizable ruleset
- Story immersion; players choose how much of the story they want to experience
HEXplore It™ is a cooperative, hero building, adventure, board game toolkit.
The Domain of Mirza Noctis is our fourth Volume in the HEXplore It universe. It is both a stand-alone game and an expansion for our previous Volumes. Journey into the dark realm of Krasvetelia and unearth clues that can unravel Noctis’s dastardly plans.
Players create their heroes by combining two character options: their Role and Race. A third augmentation presents itself in DoMN with the inclusion of Aspects. Additionally, your starting heroes will gain a random Keepsake that may activate upon their untimely demise.
This combination drives your hero's strengths, weaknesses, and defines your special abilities. We've built a bunch of unique choices for you, so no two games will ever play the same.
You'll work together to gather Clues and complete Investigations in order to advance your hero's strength while Mirza Noctis works behind the scenes collecting Blood from the local population.
Choose your own path and explore a modular map that changes with each play-through. Each game yields substantially different events, some controlled by the players, and others occurring randomly.
- Monstrous Savings. You won't find prices like these anywhere else. Component costs are rising, but we've chosen to keep our prices similar to last year's. This will be the last time these products are priced this low. After this campaign ends, our pricing may increase.
- Limited Availability. Our print runs are generally small and there is no guarantee we'll be printing more.
- New and Unique components: This campaign will allow us to add high-quality components to each product. We have several new components in mind and hope we can unlock each and every one.
- We're a small company. Worth mentioning, we are not a large company. Our core team works fiercely to produce games in the HEXplore It line. Your support would help ensure we can keep producing awesome games, which would mean more and more content for you.
Krasvetelia. The sun sets on this cold and desolate place. A once beautiful land of craggy mountains, fertile valleys, and deep bottomless chasms, it has now wilted like a rose in winter.
The small kingdom, tucked away from the rest of the world, has had few rulers in its time. None certainly as evil as their current. It is rumored that Mirza Noctis came to power some two hundred years ago. Eternally youthful, the man is whispered to have controlled the bloodlines of this place, carefully arranging unions between noble families and culling those of weaker bloodlines.
Now, the peoples of Krasvetelia live a harsh life, starved of happiness. Writing is outlawed and the caste system in place prevents all but a handful of nobles from holding titles and land in Noctis’s name. Up until recently, a Krasvetelian's worst fear was dying of starvation. But more and more, people are disappearing in this land. Devoured by darkness, some say...
The scholars, left to themselves in their remote monasteries, have recently unearthed a terrible secret: Mirza Noctis works tirelessly. His agents are harvesting blood from the local population. Years of unattachment to the land have left its people mostly unaware of his actions. But the terrifying fact is now clear: Noctis is working towards a dangerous blood ritual. He has all but locked away any tools that could be used to defeat him, and the scholars worry he is just getting started. A greater threat is about to befall the land...
Rewards
Add-ons
Basics & Bundles
Check out all of the HEXplore It loot our previous backers made possible. You'll gain huge discounts purchasing the product through this campaign. Each product contains all unlocked stretch goals (if any) from our previous campaigns.
Items in this section are subject to our Reprints, June 2022 timeline.
Volume I: VotDK
Items in this section are subject to our Reprints, June 2022 timeline.
Volume II: FoA
Items in this section are subject to our Reprints, June 2022 timeline.
Volume III: SoS
Items in this section are subject to our Reprints, June 2022 timeline.
Volume IV: DoMN
Items in this section are subject to our Volume IV, June 2022 timeline.
What Volume is right for me?
Volume Comparisons
New to HEXplore It? Worry not! There are tons of ways to experience the varied content before you. The first and biggest question we are asked is, where should I start? To that, we would answer Volume I, the Valley of the Dead King. Our first volume contains a huge number of heroes unequaled in the series. Heroes of course, can be used in any of our games, so this volume gives you a great deal of variability. Second on the list is Domain, which has been honed to give first players an easy entry into the system. We would not suggest you start with Sands, as this box contains a huge amount of new systems for your heroes to interact with. Of course, each volume is near and dear to us, and we feel they each have their own highlights. Below is a graph to compare the volumes to one another:
DoMN - How to Play
At the beginning of the game, each player selects their hero, grabs their dice, and randomly selects the village the group will begin in. You’ll have Gold to spend before you set out and a few Gear Upgrades to select. Once you venture out into the greater world of Krasvetelia, you’ll advance through Game Turns to accomplish your goals.
Game Turns are broken into 5 phases. The group will Move, roll Skill dice, roll a Circumstance, play an Event if applicable, and finally roll for Mirza Noctis’s action. Each of these phases presents unique choices and challenges and encourages thoughtful strategy.
Villages are the starting location for our heroes. They sell basic items and contain an Inn. Villages are less populated than Cities, this means that they are more vulnerable to attack. The group will always experience a Circumstance in Villages. Additionally, Noctis’s Collectors appear here to harvest Blood. If the heroes are active at night, they may be able to find and face them. Our heroes may sell their Runes for Gold here.
Monasteries are sanctified places that offer protection from evil. These holy sites are not always easy to find but provide our heroes with powerful tools to face the gathering darkness. The group may heal their wounds, and purchase items and Gear Upgrades here. At the beginning of the game, only a few items and upgrades are available. When Noctis came into power, his forces raided and disarmed the Monasteries. Many of their treasures are now locked away in the Crypts. The market section is broken into several tiers, and each time a new Crypt is unlocked by the heroes, new items become available for purchase in Monasteries, offering powerful tools and items at the higher tiers. Our heroes may Impart their Runes to Monasteries to gain Power Ups and earn Graces.
Crypts are dangerous places where cultists and other evil entities gather. Crypts may be unlocked by the heroes. Once a Crypt has been unlocked, the heroes can enter the Dungeon, a dark place where tunnels criss-cross under all of Krasvetelia. Our heroes may also Activate their Runes in Crypts to gain Power Ups and learn Blood Magic.
Boss Locations trigger combat with a random or specific Boss. The heroes will choose the Boss they're hoping to face, but may instead find a higher level Boss awaiting them instead.
Mirza Noctis's Castle is our villain's domain. He coordinates his actions from here and the heroes may travel here to face him.
DoMN introduces an entirely new way to strategize your heroes' movement across the board. Each game turn, your heroes will be active during the Day or during the Night. This choice will have its own sets of benefits and drawbacks. For instance, the heroes may be able to play it safe by moving around during the Day, or they may want to move during the Night when the monsters have increased power and are more active.
Each game bar has its own Circumstance deck. When rolling for a Circumstance, a roll of a 5 or a hex, in either case, will result in an Encounter. Encounters in Domain will get their own deck of cards, and many Encounters will benefit from Day and Night modifiers.
Mirza Noctis works behind the scenes, gathering blood to fulfill his nefarious goals. As evil as he is, Mirza Noctis isn't the kind of villain that works out in the open. He operates through agents, terrible minions and monsters that do his bidding, not because they are compelled to do so, but because they fit precisely into his plan. As the game progresses, Mirza Noctis will be amassing Blood from Villages and elsewhere. The heroes must stop this from happening and will be facing a villain of terrible power if they fail to do so.
Collectors appear in Villages and are represented and counted with red three-sided dice. The number on the die will represent the number of Collectors in the Village and the number of Blood they collect each Game Turn. Only three Collectors may be in a Village at any time, and the heroes may attempt to find and face them at Night.
Our heroes will embark on Investigations to counter the gathering darkness. Investigations appear in both the Day and Night decks, and can be rolled as a Circumstance. If one is rolled, instead of playing the card, you'll add a Clue to the location, representing the information you're gathering about the card. Each Investigation is tied to a location on the map. To attempt to complete it, the heroes must move to the location and roll any skills or complete any actions as specified by the card. Clues you've gathered along the way will give you bonuses. Be careful, Noctis has set Traps on many of these cards. The group must use their skill to outwit the Blood Lord.
Runes are the primary way the heroes gain power in the Domain of Mirza Noctis and come in three shapes and colors: Red Circle, Green Diamond, and Blue Triangle. You will gain Runes for completing Investigations, collecting two Dungeon Cards of the same type, and sometimes in other ways. The group may travel to Monasteries, Crypts, or Villages to turn in their Runes and gain unique rewards.
We hope to unlock Rune Stones, which will replace the Rune tokens. Rune Stones are used to mark locations on the map where Runes are available to the heroes. Used on both the main map and in the Dungeon, these stones come in 3 varieties: Red Circle, Green Diamond, and Blue Triangle.
Death in Domain is not the end. Heroes who have died may very well come back as a changed creature. We're introducing Greater Aspects in Domain that allows dead heroes to return. The manner in which your hero has died will be an important factor. It is possible for heroes to become a Lycan, Zombie, Vampire, Ghost, or even Reanimated.
New to Domain are Keepsakes. Each hero starts the game with one. Keepsakes represent a fragment of your hero’s soul in HEXplore It. When your hero dies, there is a chance your Keepsake will activate, spurring your spirit into action to help the other heroes who yet remain alive. Like Roles, Races, Aspects, and Traits, Keepsakes may be used in any HEXplore It Volume.
Addon: DoMN Expansion
Return to the Domain of Mirza Noctis in this epic expansion.
This expansion presents a future timeline for your heroes — what happens when Noctis succeeds?
The dark lord has gathered the blood needed for his ritual and has ascended to godhood. But his goal of ascension wasn’t what people thought it would be. His hostility against the commoners of the land has eerily ceased. New, terrible horrors have arrived in the land of Krasvetelia, seeking to tear it asunder. Did he summon them? Or was he preparing for this eventuality all along? Noctis may be the only one strong enough to stand against these horrors. But did he gather enough power, or will he succumb to these titanic forces from another plane of existence? Only your heroes can help shape Krasvetelia’s destiny.
The Horrors have arrived.
Tragedy. Calamity. Disaster. Cataclysm. Forge an entirely new journey in the darkening land of Krasvetelia and gather power as quickly as you can to stop the four terrible horrors that have appeared in the world. You’ll face each, in a different order each time you play. Your only ally is Noctis himself, but can you keep your sanity, or will you succumb to madness?
What does this Expansion add?
- 3 new epic Roles and 11 powerful Races to add to your collection (perfect for solo and small group play!)
- 4 variable level Horrors - face them in a different order and experience contrasting effects each time you play
- Madness - Your heroes will accumulate Madness, but can you keep your sanity long enough?
- Epic Power Ups, Encounters, Investigations, Events, Treasures, and more for each of your Core box card decks
- Mythic Legendary Items and Allies
- New Keepsakes to keep your heroes going after death
- A new punchboard for your map that interacts uniquely with the four Horrors
Addon: Klik's Madness
Klik's Madness is our first Campaign Mode written for the HEXplore It system.
This choose-your-own-path, board game/novel hybrid, is an ambitious product whose story takes place in the Runecrest Valley, before the Dead King arrives. Play through the Valley of the Dead King (Volume I) in an entirely new way and experience the unfolding of a complex and epic story. Your heroes will be pulled into the narrative and will drive how the story unfolds based on the decisions and actions you make.
Welcome back to the Runecrest Valley.
What is this product?
- Klik's Madness is a hardcover book, sized approximately 500 pages
- It is a story-driven expansion for Volume I: The Valley of the Dead King
- This product features full-color printing, sewn-in binding, 3 ribbons (purple, teal, and gray/brown), and is printed on 128gsm premium paper
- Create heroes and experience a choose-your-own path story through 4 consecutive chapters of content. A 5th optional chapter contains dozens of Non-Player Character dialog arcs
- Each chapter takes roughly 2-5 hours to complete and ranges approximately 40k to 90k words (for context, most novels are between 60k and 100k words)
- You will only experience a fraction of the content during each chapter, which means your games can unfold differently each time you play
- Gain epic gear, unique campaign-only equipment and statuses, and power level your heroes throughout the entire length of the story
- Statuses and campaign items you gain in one chapter will affect the story in completely different and unforeseeable ways in future chapters
- Ambitious storytellers can use the framework we've introduced here to build their own similar stories in the HEXplore It gaming world
- If you do not enjoy reading, this product may not be for you! This is a narrative experience you'll unravel within the framework of the HEXplore It gaming system.
Players build their heroes in largely the same way they would during a standard game of the Valley of the Dead King. You'll use the same heroes throughout your entire adventure.
At the beginning of each chapter, you will find a map setup for that chapter and a series of Triggered Events, Chapter Statuses, and Campaign Items available to gain or unlock during play. After you set up your map and assemble your components, you'll read an opening narrative that sets the tone for your journey and propels you headfirst into your adventure. As you interact with more content in the game world, you'll experience varied and unique Chapter Passages that narrate your journey and provide you with choices on how to proceed. These choices will largely affect the course of your game during play.
Triggered Events (TE)
Triggered Events are moments where through the course of gameplay (landing on a special location, rolling especially well or poorly on a Stat Test, etc), you have triggered a narrative event. They are identified at the beginning of each chapter, based on the game phase in which they occur. Each chapter has its own list of TEs to be aware of and not all are related to your chapter objective. It is not expected for you to encounter all TEs in a single play-through. When a trigger occurs, the Triggered Event will specify which Chapter Passage to read.
Chapter Passages (CP)
Chapter Passages are numbered narrative moments that display the results of the decisions made during a Triggered Event. The Chapter Passages section of each chapter contains these moments, organized in a random environment for you to discover and read when instructed to do so. You will not know the outcome of your decisions until you make them. You will only know if a decision will take time to complete or not.
Heroic Moments
Within the confines of the Campaign’s story, some heroes are capable of performing amazing feats and turning the tide of the narrative in ways that other heroes cannot. For example, heroes of the Healer Role Type may have an opportunity to save a dying NPC, or an ogre may be able to perform a feat of strength. These opportunities are called Heroic Moments. The text of a TE or CP will indicate when a Heroic Moment is possible, which Roles, Role Types, Races, or Aspects can take part, and what your special ability or choice will be.
Prequel: Trouble at the Gates
When a desperate man stumbles into your secluded shrine begging for someone to help save his kidnapped family, you are there to answer the call. Explore the nuances of the HEXplore It Campaign Mode system and experience a hint of the dangers awaiting in the full adventure.
Chapter 1: A Threat in Dragon's Port
A group of suspiciously organized goblins have stolen three priceless treasures from the Baron of Dragon's Port. Their retrieval will uncover a dark plot that threatens to envelop all of Runecrest Valley.
Chapter 2: Into the Wildlands
Dragon's Port was only the beginning. More allies and information are needed to face the coming goblin scourge, and that means braving a treacherous forest with deadly new occupants.
Chapter 3: Klik's Clutches
Following his latest assault, the self-proclaimed ruler of the goblins seeks even more power. Old allies and new will be needed to face this unique threat, but will it be enough?
Chapter 4: Descent into Madness
Klik's plans have boiled over with disastrous results. Now is the time to take a final stand and bring the fight to the goblins before the entire Valley falls to Klik's madness!
NPC Arcs
You'll meet various allies as your adventure unfolds. Each can help you in various ways. These optional side-quests will allow you to help them back in return.
What is required to play Klik's Madness?
Aside from this campaign book, you'll need The Valley of the Dead King Core box. The Valley of the Dead King Expansion and Living Card deck may also be used, but are not required to play. We present alternate options in the book wherever this optional material is referenced.
We are currently working through the art requirements for Chapter 4 and the NPC chapter. Otherwise, the art and visuals for the rest of the book are complete. Beautiful art is generously mixed between the text in this book to increase immersion.
Meet the NPCs that you can interact with as the campaign unfolds. Experience unique interactions and unlock fun and entertaining scenarios!
- Therylus: A master hunter, Therylus may prove to be a useful ally.
- Baron Lasswell: The leader of Dragon's Port, this greedy man cares only for his wealth.
- Lorelei Lasswell: The Baron's niece, Lorelei may become a steadfast ally.
- Tiama: A bizarre old man on a quest of his own. Will you choose to help him?
- Bezzelquark: This quirky gnome is quite needy. But first things first, can you take care of his rat problem?
- Drumth Dorgott: This renowned armorsmith has lost much. But none of that matters when he finds his home overrun by the undead.
- Magistrate Aremi: Aremi is the leader of the quaint halfling community of Restwind Dale.
- Dented: A ridiculed goblin outcast. Will you help him escape or leave him with the goblins to face his fate?
- Kembeorn Thunderfist: The war leader of the Stormwrath Moot home, Kembeorn hosts the Great Hunt.
- The Wolf Pup: No friends and allies are quite as loyal as your newfound canine friend.
Shipping & Timeline
To keep shipping costs as low as possible, rewards will be shipped from five hubs: AU, CAN, EU, UK, and US. Shipping will be charged separately after the campaign ends. We will collect this via our pledge manager using PayPal or Stripe. Please note that the following table shows estimates based on 2021 pricing and is subject to change.
Brexit
We now have a fulfillment partner in the UK to fulfill the UK pledges domestically. UK backers will not have any customs charges to pay, since your pledge will ship directly from within the UK.
VAT Tax
To date, across our previous 3 campaigns, we have not charged our backers anything extra for VAT. We pay VAT upon import into Germany. For this campaign, we will be importing to both Germany and the UK. However, this year there were some important changes to how VAT works and we are still in the process of understanding how this will affect everyone involved. Like the past, we will pay VAT upon import to our hubs. If this is not enough and individual VAT tax is necessary to ship your product from Germany or from the UK, we may be forced to issue a separate charge. As information on this topic has not been entirely clear, we want you to know of that possibility. It is our hope, however, that the VAT paid upon import to the hubs will be sufficient, and that you will not see any additional charges. Thank you for your patience as we investigate!
Refunds and cancellation
While the campaign is active, you may cancel your pledge at any time. After the campaign ends and until we begin our fulfillment stage, pledges may be refunded at your request. 10% will be deducted from your pledge to cover the cost of fees. Once you receive your product(s), if you're unsatisfied with the condition of any of the components you receive, we'll replace them just like our previous campaigns.
Creador responsable de este proyecto: Mariucci J. Designs, LLC haciendo negocios como hexploreit.