Gen Con saw the long-awaited premier of Greenbrier’s dark fantasy role playing board game Folklore:  The Affliction.  The company also debuted the action-movie inspired Vengeance at the show, and teased details about its upcoming Champions of Hara.

Announced two years ago (see “Dark Fantasy RPG Board Game by ‘Descent’ Designers”), Folklore:  The Affliction offers a streamlined role playing adventure without using a game master.  Players assume the role of characters exploring a magical world dominated by the forces of darkness, fighting monsters and trying to uncover how evil came to control the world.

The game was funded by a very successful Kickstarter campaign that attracted $503,326 from 2,784 backers (an average of $180.79 per backer).  Originally intended for release in late 2016, the massive $100.00 game appeared for the first time at Gen Con.  Backer fulfillment is ongoing, and Greenbrier has only a small number of copies available for the trade.  However, the company’s Sales Manager, Walter Barber, told ICv2 that a second Kickstarter will soon begin to fund a reprint of the game, which will release on October 31.  The reprint will have a lower MSRP of $60, but will not include the plastic miniatures that were part of the original run. Those miniatures will be made available as a separate item.

Vengeance, as the title suggests, is inspired by the revenge stories that are at the heart of action movies like Kill Bill and Django Unchained.  Each player becomes the hero of a story, left for dead by their nemesis, and now out to settle the score.  During the game’s “Montage turns,” characters heal and learn new abilities, which are used during the “Fight turns” to attack gang dens run by their nemesis.  Combat in the game is resolved using custom dice, which are manipulated by character abilities to create unstoppable fighting combos.

The game includes 85 plastic miniatures, 18 custom dice, 87 cards, 4 player boards, 16 gang den boards, 3 game track boards, 40 tiles, 69 wooden markers, 49 cardboard tokens, and 51 colored mini bases.  Vengeance was designed for 1 to 4 players, and takes about 30 minutes per player to play.  MSRP is $100.00. 

Vengeance was also funded through a Kickstarter campaign, attracting $182,275 from 1,574 backers (an average of $115.80 per backer), with fulfillment planned for the next few weeks and release into the trade scheduled for November.

Greenbrier’s next big project will be another role playing style board game called Champions of Hara, with Barber as the lead designer.  As one of the “Champions,” each player tries to restore the balance of magic in the world of Hara.  Along the way they fight a variety of monsters, navigate mini encounters, and close the rifts that are tearing Hara apart.  The game is heavily story-driven, with each scenario determining whether the game is competitive or cooperative as well as the challenges and rewards available.  Each scenario will be introduced by a short 10-page comic that reveals the setting and back story for the characters in the game.

Champions of Hara will include 7 world bards, 8 decks of cards, 6 Champion displays, 6 Power decks, 6 Champion pawns, 150 wooden cubes, 2 dice, and 17 tokens.  It is intended for 2 to 6 players, ages 12 and up, and takes about half an hour per player.  MSRP is $60.00.

A Kickstarter campaign to fund the project will launch later this month.

See multiple images of the games in the gallery below!