Clandestine Preorders

Ascension and the Origin of Clandestine
over 1 year ago – Thu, Nov 07, 2024 at 07:26:22 PM

Ascension

In Clandestine, Ascension is the name of the game. (Well, technically it's the name of a different game, but the Ascend action does drive a TON within Clandestine.)  That's why there's an entire board and set of tiles dedicated to Ascension.

• Ascension contributes to 15-25% of your final score.
• Ascension sets the pace (and end) of the game. 
• Ascension lets you acquire a Conjunction card - your personal objective with a unique, powerful game-changing benefit.  
• Ascension adds new, more powerful secrets into your deck.
• Ascension increases your hand limits.
• Ascension grants you an ascension tile - either a one-time bonus or an ongoing benefit.
• Ascension draws new universal followers to the city.
• Ascension rewards the first to a new level with intrigue points (and provides the trailing societies with a unique, minor benefit).
• Ascension is incredibly satisfying each and every time you achieve it and turn that dial!

As any good secret society knows, ascension is your reward for successful devotion and progress. Clandestine ensures that you feel the full impact with an embarrassment of riches in the form of rewards, power, and progression at each and every ascension.

Clandestine - Origins

Five years ago after several plays of Crusaders, Thy Will Be Done - I found myself thinking how much I enjoyed the upgradeable rondel mechanism, but I didn't like how it was detached from the main board.  I started to wonder, "what would happen if all of our rondels were interconnected and our choices directly influenced each others' next actions".  

It wasn't long before I had the concept in prototype form and sat down with several friends to explore the possibility of a game driven by intersecting rondels and a mancala mechanism requiring "splits" as one followed the leader.  

(I love how in the picture above, the shadows are even bigger than the cubes - evoking the future theme of Clandestine and coming out of the "shadows".)

After a few playtests of "moving cubes around", I made enough changes to have a functional and fun set of mechanisms and movement that now needed the appropriate theme.  As players took actions in public and private areas, the idea of a secret society theme started to take shape and was quickly encouraged by dozens of early playtesters - paving the way for what you see with Clandestine today.  

Dice Tower Live

Earlier this week I had the privilege of joining the Dice Tower crew in their studio for a live playthrough of Clandestine.  If you didn't get a chance to check it out yet, I encourage you to watch Zee, Chris, & Wendy as they delve into the world of Clandestine and seek to build the most intriguing society.  Special thanks to all of you who happened to watch live and chime in during the live chat!  

In the next update, as we hit the halfway point of the campaign, I'll dive into another 1-2 societies, sharing details about their asymmetry and secret decks.  As always, if there's anything you'd like to learn more about or like me to consider, please chime in via the comments!

I can't say it enough (and will continue to say it), thank you for helping to bring Clandestine to life!

--Jason

Serpent Keepers ❤️ Intrigue! + Dice Tower Live
over 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 04, 2024 at 05:48:37 PM

I'm sending this update from southern Florida (for reasons to be shared at the end of this update), but first... 

Based on the comments and messages I received, let's first peek behind the curtain of the... Serpent Keepers!

Peace is an egg, perfect yet fragile.  It needs a watchful parent to nurture it, and to protect it from hungry snakes.

With Intrigue being the "victory points" in the game, you'd think ALL societies would ❤️ Intrigue (and you're not wrong).  The Serpent Keepers have found a way to take advantage of that shared desire by using intrigue as a type of bait in order to maintain balance across the city.

I typically tell players the Serpent Keepers are the most complex society to play (it's not easy being green...) at least on your first play. This gives some players hesitation before choosing it while causing others to instantly gravitate toward the challenge.  

The Serpent Keepers' advantages include a Society Path with an extra REVEAL action - making secrets easier to obtain.  As a result, they start with a bigger hand-limit for Secrets.  Additionally, they're the only society with the Ascend space on the inner left chamber as opposed to the inner right chamber).

What makes the Serpent Keepers more complex? Their secrets work together via a two-step process.  Many of their secrets allow them to "INITIATE" a space, placing an intrigue token from the supply onto an action space.  A subset of their secrets serve as traps, designed to be "PRIMED" on initiated spaces.  

When those PRIMED spaces are used in the future, the trap triggers - always giving a bonus to the Serpent Keepers - and, sometimes, giving a bonus to an opponent that triggers it.  Alternatively, some of those "traps" distract and slow down opponents if they trigger the space, thus giving players pause before opting to use a space PRIMED by the Serpent Keepers.  The more intrigue tokens on that space (or adjacent spaces) the more powerful the effect of those traps.  As a result, while they may be a minor nuisance (or reward) early in the game, they can be quite intimidating (or lucrative) late game.

With Mesoamerican inspiration, the Serpent Keepers are an ancient and well-connected group dedicated to the preservation of social order. They count politicians, diplomats, and even kings among their number, and use their influence to fight what they perceive as the universe's natural decay into chaos (symbolized by the eponymous "serpent"), ensuring that peace (and their own power) reigns supreme.

Personally, the character art for Serpent Keepers is my favorite of the five societies.  From a gameplay standpoint, I find myself making the most adjustments in my playstyle when playing the Serpent Keepers depending on the player count and the other societies in the game.

One note I'd like to make about ALL societies is that their secret decks (which get stronger as you ascend to new levels), typically have a "sow" then "reap" curve where your early secrets encourage you to put components around the city and your more powerful secrets allow you to reap rewards for the number of components you've sown around the city.  

Now that you know more about the Serpent Keepers, are you likely to choose them for your first play, or, hold off and tackle them once you've played one or more of the other societies? (Share your thoughts in the comments.)

Dice Tower Live - Tomorrow (Tuesday) Nov. 5th at 9AM CST / 10AM EST.

I (oddly) flew out of a chilly Chicago in shorts this morning in preparation for my arrival in a balmy South Florida this afternoon.  First thing in the morning (Tuesday), I'll be making my way to the Dice Tower Studios to join the crew for a LIVE playthrough of Clandestine!  

If you're able, please join us LIVE (and if not, be sure to watch it later on YouTube when you can) as the Dice Tower crew assumes control of their secret societies to see if they can emerge the most INTRIGUING in Clandestine!

Coming Next? 

In future updates I'll continue sharing:

• peeks behind the scenes of each society
• highlights from my personal design diaries
• details about the ascension board and tiles &
• my favorite gameplay evolution - the CONJUNCTIONS

In the meantime, keep sharing your thoughts and questions in the comments and sharing the campaign with your friends! More to come soon and hopefully I see many of you tomorrow in the Dice Tower Live chat!

Warmly (literally - thanks to the balmy Florida air...)

--Jason