CREATURES OF CLAY

Clint Bohaty takes us on a short monster parade…

MUD MUMPS

“We kind of think of these guys as the ‘Pikachu of Necromolds’. They’re also the monster you’ll probably use the most on the battlefield because they’re balanced really well for how small they are. Essentially, they’re made up of the remnants of a battle that happened hundreds of years ago. Picture a battlefield that was stained in blood and rusted swords, and just a really sad place. And a wizard has risen a goal of army up out of that battlefield out of those remnants. But their personality is kind of goofy.”

INSECTOMITE

“Insectomite wears the alchemic properties on its sleeve. It is made up of insects ground up in dirt, cracked earth. Bit of beetle things like that. It’s a big beefy monster and is very defence focused.”

BATADACYTL

“This creature comes out of a cave and he’s part bat, part stalagmite, part stalactite, and also somehow part pterodactyl.”

MONGERAGON

“Mongeragon is the reanimated skull of a dragon andthe hoard that the dragon died upon. It’s made up of melted gold, the dragon skull decked out in golden armour. And then on top of the monster is actually the throne of a dead dwarven King.”

“It is very luck heavy in that regard, but our dice have been balanced as best they can based on probability and the range of matchups,” he continues, “once you start understanding the dice odds, you can start to try to put battles in your favour, but at the end of the day, if the dice don’t favour you, you know, you’re going to lose a monster.”

One of the ways players can swing things in their favour is by using monster proximity to enhance their powers.

“I tried to distil down to my favourite parts of wargaming. And one of my favourite parts is the fact that it’s not on a grid,” says Bohaty, “you’re not on a hex map, you’re on an open battlefield and you have a tape measure and you move wherever you want to move. And I think there’s a lot of freedom and fun in that.” “And because distance is such a physical component of the game, the monsters actually have ability benefits if they’re next to similar monsters,” he continues, “so for example, Insectomite and Lethydra are both monsters with a defence support ability. So, if those monsters are ever close to each other, they support each other if they’re defending. So, it’s a really simple way to make your monsters work together in the game. It’s basically a universal rule, so there’s not much nuance in it – it’s just kind of clicks.”

The monsters of the game sit in that ‘kid’s metal’ area of gaming that allows thing to be pretty dark if you look at them too hard, and pretty silly the rest of the time. As all of our monsters are literally raised from the ground, smashing them back into it doesn’t come with any complex feelings to

I tried to distil down to my favourite parts of wargaming

ABOVE The spellbooks for three sets of monsters: Insectomite, Mud Mups, and Graveghoul

BELOW The fallen after an unlucky roll explain to younger players. Instead, it’s more like recycling. Monsters like Grave Ghoul are literally made of the various bits and bobs one would find in a graveyard, including a coffin and flowers, could be spun into something darker. Here we’re encouraged to imagine a skeleton popping out of the coffin to grab the opposing monster.

The core set comes with three monsters, but battle boxes containing other monsters will be available through late pledges and eventually when the game comes to retail, although the retail version will have to be confirmed.

THE TOY OF THE GAME

Necromolds is a very physical game, it demands to be touched because it’s made of something so malleable. This all stems, intentionally, from the desire to make a game

“For me, a lot of my enjoyment of board games comes from like the table presence and the actual handling of the pieces of the game,” says Bohaty, “And when I started designing Necromolds, I knew early on, at least for the battle box and for like our launch product, I wanted to be as ‘toy focused’ as I could in game components. So, I wanted all of the game components to really be there to help the enjoyment of play. I think an example of that would be there, there are no cards in the game. There were points where there could have been cards and we were experimenting with cards and the base game, but it made the game, become a game and not a ‘toy’. And, and I think something about the way you play it, it kind of would switch things in your mind, the way you look at the elements, when you look at them as a game versus I just want to play.”

“I could lay out all the components and probably ask somebody, how does this game work? And I bet they would get 80% of the way there for what our rules are, because everything is so visual and everything has such a specific purpose,” he continues, “so the tactile and nature of Necker modes is so critical to the enjoyment of it.”

Another example of this is the ‘caster ring’, the prop that the game hands to players to do the eventual smashing.

“When you talk about, when you talk about ritual, there’s something symbolic and powerful about a ring, right?” says Bohaty, “one of the things you learn directing actors is sometimes actors need an object to get into character. They need like to wear a wig or to put on an outfit or wear a hat. It can be something super small, but they need something that when they put it on, they’re no longer themselves they’ve become a character. And so I knew I wanted something that players could wear in the game to make them become wizards. And that caster ring becomes a very powerful tool in the game because not only does it make you the wizard, but it also a tool of life and death.” Necromolds pledge manager is open right now, and the game will be for sale directly on the website once backers have their copies. A wider release is still in the works.