Crowdfunding Spotlight - Middara: Unintentional Malum - The Complete Trilogy

Published: June 24, 2019 2:30 PM /

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middara ks header

Middara: Unintentional Malum Act 1 is the best new game that I've played in the past few years. After playing through it's 100+ hours long campaign, the game sits snugly inside my personal top 5 games of all time. Despite the length of play, and the incredible breadth and depth of the story, Unintentional Malum Act 1 truly is only the first third of a trilogy and the Kickstarter campaign for the remaining two acts, and a reprint of Act 1, is now live.

What's New?

The big draw for this campaign is the continuation of the story that started in Act 1. Acts 2 and 3 are both estimated to clock in at 40+ hours of gameplay each and look to add more than a "typical expansion pack" to the game. In addition to continuing the main story, both Acts 2 and 3 add new Bounties and content that can be used to further expand Middara's Crawl Mode and smaller Adventure Pack content. Both new acts come with around 40 miniatures, as well as new Items, characters, locations disciplines and gear.

If you already have the base game, you'll be able to pledge at the $175 "Returning to the Portal" level to pick up the new content. On top of Acts 2 and 3, the Returning to the Portal pledge will also get you the components from the Pirates of Elenia unlock from the first campaign, the 1.1 update pack that contains tweaked and re-balanced content from the base game, the Trail of the Princess Micro Adventure, and all free daily unlocks and free stretch goals.

If you want to go All-in as a returning backer you can pledge $300 for the new Acts and a bunch of extra goodies.

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Unparalleled value... With Middara that's a fairly accurate statement.

Back Again For the First Time

If you don't already have a copy of Middara, there are two options available to you in this campaign. The first of those nets you the base game only. For $115 you can pick up a copy of the base game, the free daily unlocks, and all free stretch goals.

If you feel like going in for all 3 acts, then you can pledge at the appropriately named All 3 Acts level for $275. This level is exactly what the name implies, and also comes with the free daily unlocks and free stretch goals, and if you want to go All-in as a new backer you can do that for $500.

On top of those three pledge levels, there are some a la carte options for people who want to pick and choose their goodies, or add extras on top of their pledge.

$50 nets you the Pirates of Elenia Adventure Pack, which only requires Act 1 to play. This add-on comes with a group of minis that were included as "extras" in the first campaign as well as a side story that contains another estimated 40 hours of gameplay.

$30 will get you the 1.1 update pack. If you have the base game from the first Kickstarter and want the updated rules tweaks and balance fixes, as well as the remaining Pirates of Elenia content that didn't come shipped with the game originally, but don't want to commit to anything else, this add-on is for you.

If you wan't an updated rulebook to go with the 1.1 updates you can nab a 1.1 rulebook for $15.

$15 will get you an Alternate Antagonists variant pack to spice up your gameplay.

There are 4 resin kits for $20 each that provide a few pieces of gear as well as a 5x6 Adventurer card.

For $15 you can snag a copy of the Micro Adventure Trail of a Princess. This expansion requires only the base game and gives you a 6 hour adventure that looks to fill in a bit more detail about Shayliss, and what she was doing while parts of Act 1 unfolded. One notable thing about this adventure is that it's only for 1-2 players, and promises to be the first of a series of adventures that will help explain possible plot holes, but tie up (and together) events from other stories.

$30 will get you a copy of the Promo Pack from the first Kickstarter. This is a group of minis that replace some of the figures from the base game that are represented by cardboard standees by default, and has a few characters that you can use in Crawl mode.

The price isn't listed at the time of this writing, but $Some will net you a complete extra set of 25 dice from the game. This is perfect for people who don't like having to share dice, or who like to give every player at the table their own set. I am one of those people.

$30 gets you a set of 4 playmats for the game that will help you keep your characters ordered and organized while you play. Middara can be a bit of a table hog and, while large, these mats can help keep things tidy.

The final item are two art books, which can be added on for $30 each. Each book is not only chock full of full color art, but they also come with Alternative Art Adventurer cards, and an extra red revealer.

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The Casual Nightingale Resin looks awesome.

When will I get my goodies?

The reprint of Act 1 and the 1.1 Update pack are planned to deliver in May of 2020, while Acts 2 and 3 have an estimated delivery date of December of 2021, and shipping is going to be charged separately some time after the conclusion of the 30 day campaign. While Succubus did overshoot their delivery estimate of Act 1 by a significant 3 years the scope of the game and sheer volume of content speaks as to why that was. Considering Act 1 is essentially just a reprint, and based on the content shown it looks like those delivery dates are reasonable. As of the time of this writing the campaign is already approaching the million-dollar mark. Considering the team at Succubus Publishing were only seeking $40,000 as their goal it's safe to say it will be well funded.

I Like Free Stuff

Like most gaming Kickstarter campaigns there promises to be a ton of 'free' stuff added to this campaign over the 30 days that it's live. 1 free unlock will be revealed each day of the campaign, and other stretch goals will be added for things like total number of backers, so if you are a stretch goal junkie then there is bound to be something unveiled during the campaign that will catch your attention.

I'm all-in at $300 for this Kickstarter, and I can't wait to dive back in to Middara.

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twilliams
| Senior Writer

Maestro of cardboard and plastic, former Tabletop Editor. Now I mostly live in the walls and pop in unexpectedly from time to time. If you ever want to talk… More about Travis