10-08-2023, 01:34 PM
Court of the Dead:Mourners Call is a unique board game in theme & mechanics played on a specular board & stunning art work. At its heart is a dudes on a board worker placement game where 3 Factions compete to control the underworld.It's a 3 player game that I converted to Solo here is the
BGG Link .
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2489...rners-call
The Theme really called to me so I compiled some additional background
from The Court of the Dead: The Chronical of the Underworld.
The universe is cruelly imbalanced. All of existence is mired in an endless battle between Heaven and Hell, waged for longer than anyone can remember.
The war machines of both celestial realms turn on power stolen from mortal souls. Death himself is enslaved by the singular task of harvesting the dead, yet he yearns for a more noble purpose.
Compelled by the plight of the mortals, Death creates the Court of the Dead. This unlikely council is intended to spark his rebellious ambition to set in motion a daring plan to end the war.
Facing the forces of Heaven and Hell will not be easy. Death and his allies must not only defeat those mightier, but also tame their own destructive nature. To achieve their noble goal of peace and balance, they will have to…
Join the factions of Bone, Flesh and Spirit as they work to achieve the goal of the Underworld: to gather enough forces to take on the celestials of Heaven and Hell to end their ceaseless war. If the Factions work diplomatically in Court of the Dead: Mourners Call to maintain a balance, they can ensure the Underworld survives long enough for them to also complete their collective and hidden individual objectives. The Faction who best contributes to these goals will earn Death's favor and a place among the elite of the Underworld.
Mourners are Factions in an allegiant with Death — dedicated to realizing his noble ambition to end the celestial war and restore balance to the universe. However, Death's purpose includes your own ulterior motives. Factions must unite and rise, or fall together. But only one Faction will achieve their particular vision of the Underworld united. The task will not be easy. While the Underworld is united in its purpose, it is divided in its strategy to achieve that aim. There are three factions in the Land of the Dead: Bone, Flesh, Spirit. Each is a unique path to rise up against Heaven.
Court of the Dead: Mourners Call is set in an underworld whose population is divided into three main factions: Bone, Flesh, and Spirit. These factions are represented in part by the six guilds in the game, two for each faction.
For starters, there's the Bone faction guilds: the Council of Osteomancy and the Mortis Knighthood. Bone is known for its devotion to structure and order. As a result, they make up most of the Underworld's bureaucratic system. Lawgivers, judges, even jailers are all members of the Council of Osteomancy. It's pretty obvious that if a member of any faction wants something done, then he or she is going to have to go through the Council of Osteomancy, and for this reason, the player with the most of this guild gains two influence in the faction of his or her choosing. But lest you think that Bone is made up of nothing but a bunch of pen-pushers, you should know of the Mortis Knighthood, a militia of reaper guardians led by the Reaper General Demithyle, a prominent member of the Bone faction. This militia is tasked with a number of responsibilities, not least of which is the harvesting of fresh human souls, a task known as the Dark Deed in the Underworld. The purpose of the Dark Deed is to supply the celestials with their constant stream of etherea, the energy locked inside the souls of mortals. etherea.
Flesh is next with their two guilds: the Shroudrieves Coven and the Conclave of Shadows. Flesh is the polar opposite of Bone. Whereas the former prides itself on its unswerving rigidity, Flesh is always changing, always adapting. Even the castle of Queen Gethsemoni is a giant walking structure of animated flesh that moves constantly throughout the capital city of the Underworld, Illverness. Connected with this ever changing nature of Flesh is their chief arcane art, necromancy, the art of stitching together bodies for the new arrivals to the Underworld. This grim art is the realm of the Shroudrieves, and as a result, the player with the most of this guild will gain an additional guild figure of his or her choice, representing the new addition to Death's ranks that the Shroudrieves have prepared a vessel for. The art of necromancy is not limited to just the creation of new bodies, however. In fact, it is often used to augment and change the form that a mourner has already taken. As a result those who have the most cause to hide their identity, the spies and assassins of the Conclave of Shadows, make use of this art to assist them as they work silently to remove any obstacle that Gethsemoni has become impatient with.
Last and most mysterious of the factions is Spirit and their guilds: the Gravedancers Circle and the Dreadsbane Order. The Spirit faction is composed of those mourners who seek a wider view of the events that take place in the Underworld. While just as important as Bone and Flesh, Spirit lacks the clear organization of either, seeming instead to be bound more by a commitment to certain ideals. One of these ideals is an altruistic commitment to those mourners who seem most lost and in danger of succumbing to the various maladies that can befall them. The guild devoted to the immediate care of these poor souls are the Gravedancers, also known as fostermurden. Because they see to it that such souls are cared for, the player with the most of this guild can reduce the Dreadsgrip Threat meter, an action that would no doubt likely save many guild members from otherwise being destroyed. Yet despite the idealism of the fostermurden, the Spirit faction also knows that dark realities and consequences must be dealt with. After all, the Executioner of the Underworld, Oglavaeil, is one of the most well known, and perhaps most feared, members of Spirit. Oglavaeil, however, does not investigate the criminals and villains who become his victims, instead waiting for a sentence to be delivered to him from those whose right it is to issue such judgment. No, it is the order of inquisitor ghost knights, the Dreadsbane Order who seek out those who must be dealt with, especially any who seem to find themselves succumbing to the fearful Dreadsgrip. For this reason, the player who controls the most of this guild will not run the risk of losing any guild members to the Dreadsgrip since it is his or her guild who will be the ones seeking out and ultimately destroying those abominable Rakers who have lost themselves to this destructive force.
OD
BGG Link .
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/2489...rners-call
The Theme really called to me so I compiled some additional background
from The Court of the Dead: The Chronical of the Underworld.
The universe is cruelly imbalanced. All of existence is mired in an endless battle between Heaven and Hell, waged for longer than anyone can remember.
The war machines of both celestial realms turn on power stolen from mortal souls. Death himself is enslaved by the singular task of harvesting the dead, yet he yearns for a more noble purpose.
Compelled by the plight of the mortals, Death creates the Court of the Dead. This unlikely council is intended to spark his rebellious ambition to set in motion a daring plan to end the war.
Facing the forces of Heaven and Hell will not be easy. Death and his allies must not only defeat those mightier, but also tame their own destructive nature. To achieve their noble goal of peace and balance, they will have to…
Join the factions of Bone, Flesh and Spirit as they work to achieve the goal of the Underworld: to gather enough forces to take on the celestials of Heaven and Hell to end their ceaseless war. If the Factions work diplomatically in Court of the Dead: Mourners Call to maintain a balance, they can ensure the Underworld survives long enough for them to also complete their collective and hidden individual objectives. The Faction who best contributes to these goals will earn Death's favor and a place among the elite of the Underworld.
Mourners are Factions in an allegiant with Death — dedicated to realizing his noble ambition to end the celestial war and restore balance to the universe. However, Death's purpose includes your own ulterior motives. Factions must unite and rise, or fall together. But only one Faction will achieve their particular vision of the Underworld united. The task will not be easy. While the Underworld is united in its purpose, it is divided in its strategy to achieve that aim. There are three factions in the Land of the Dead: Bone, Flesh, Spirit. Each is a unique path to rise up against Heaven.
Court of the Dead: Mourners Call is set in an underworld whose population is divided into three main factions: Bone, Flesh, and Spirit. These factions are represented in part by the six guilds in the game, two for each faction.
For starters, there's the Bone faction guilds: the Council of Osteomancy and the Mortis Knighthood. Bone is known for its devotion to structure and order. As a result, they make up most of the Underworld's bureaucratic system. Lawgivers, judges, even jailers are all members of the Council of Osteomancy. It's pretty obvious that if a member of any faction wants something done, then he or she is going to have to go through the Council of Osteomancy, and for this reason, the player with the most of this guild gains two influence in the faction of his or her choosing. But lest you think that Bone is made up of nothing but a bunch of pen-pushers, you should know of the Mortis Knighthood, a militia of reaper guardians led by the Reaper General Demithyle, a prominent member of the Bone faction. This militia is tasked with a number of responsibilities, not least of which is the harvesting of fresh human souls, a task known as the Dark Deed in the Underworld. The purpose of the Dark Deed is to supply the celestials with their constant stream of etherea, the energy locked inside the souls of mortals. etherea.
Flesh is next with their two guilds: the Shroudrieves Coven and the Conclave of Shadows. Flesh is the polar opposite of Bone. Whereas the former prides itself on its unswerving rigidity, Flesh is always changing, always adapting. Even the castle of Queen Gethsemoni is a giant walking structure of animated flesh that moves constantly throughout the capital city of the Underworld, Illverness. Connected with this ever changing nature of Flesh is their chief arcane art, necromancy, the art of stitching together bodies for the new arrivals to the Underworld. This grim art is the realm of the Shroudrieves, and as a result, the player with the most of this guild will gain an additional guild figure of his or her choice, representing the new addition to Death's ranks that the Shroudrieves have prepared a vessel for. The art of necromancy is not limited to just the creation of new bodies, however. In fact, it is often used to augment and change the form that a mourner has already taken. As a result those who have the most cause to hide their identity, the spies and assassins of the Conclave of Shadows, make use of this art to assist them as they work silently to remove any obstacle that Gethsemoni has become impatient with.
Last and most mysterious of the factions is Spirit and their guilds: the Gravedancers Circle and the Dreadsbane Order. The Spirit faction is composed of those mourners who seek a wider view of the events that take place in the Underworld. While just as important as Bone and Flesh, Spirit lacks the clear organization of either, seeming instead to be bound more by a commitment to certain ideals. One of these ideals is an altruistic commitment to those mourners who seem most lost and in danger of succumbing to the various maladies that can befall them. The guild devoted to the immediate care of these poor souls are the Gravedancers, also known as fostermurden. Because they see to it that such souls are cared for, the player with the most of this guild can reduce the Dreadsgrip Threat meter, an action that would no doubt likely save many guild members from otherwise being destroyed. Yet despite the idealism of the fostermurden, the Spirit faction also knows that dark realities and consequences must be dealt with. After all, the Executioner of the Underworld, Oglavaeil, is one of the most well known, and perhaps most feared, members of Spirit. Oglavaeil, however, does not investigate the criminals and villains who become his victims, instead waiting for a sentence to be delivered to him from those whose right it is to issue such judgment. No, it is the order of inquisitor ghost knights, the Dreadsbane Order who seek out those who must be dealt with, especially any who seem to find themselves succumbing to the fearful Dreadsgrip. For this reason, the player who controls the most of this guild will not run the risk of losing any guild members to the Dreadsgrip since it is his or her guild who will be the ones seeking out and ultimately destroying those abominable Rakers who have lost themselves to this destructive force.
OD