Krosmaster

A tabletop game based on the French cartoon/vidya Dofus/Wakfu. Essentially a skirmish game using miniatures on a game board using rules similar to the turn-based grid gameplay of the MMO, it features characters from both games and both cartoons (and some stuff in-between) among generic characters in a timeline defying way. The game is played more with different objectives than an outright arena play (although arena IS one of the scenarios and the most basic one). There's no set number of players, so any number can join as long as there is enough miniatures. The actual plot for the game is loose; Demons of Rushu and/or Xelor being his usual dick self have snagged characters from all over the timeline and dropped them into scenario settings for their amusement. Nothing remains canon since everyone gets bomfed back to the state they were in when they came, and sent back to their timeline again sans new memories. Thus you can have Iop-god Goultard and young Kerub fight Dark Vlad Goultard and old Kerub, with some Eliatropes and Brotherhood members cheering in the stands. The game was produced via Kickstarter, but obtaining miniatures (let alone the starter set) outside France or the UK prior to 2014 was a costly endeavor. Not as costly as the Warhammers, but not cheap either. Thanks to a second Kickstarter, the game made the leap to Engrish nations and across the drink.

The miniatures focus on generic characters from races in the vidya, along with a few monster characters, and the main cast from the television cartoons as the most rarest and most individually expensive to buy minis in any given set. Many of the randoms that come with the sets are the same mini but with a different paintjob and a different piece (for example, the Pandawa minis only have different heads and poses while the Fecas have different weapons (one of which is a fish). Others, like the Puddly and the cartoon casts, are completey unique. They're prepainted and preassembled so they aren't 'eavy Metal quality, but chances are good if you're on this site you have paints and kneadite/greenstuff on hand for your OCD needs.

Viewing them for prolonged periods may induce diabeetus, so pack insulin.

Sadly, despite desperate pleas from fans there is still not yet a Smugduck mini (key word is "yet" of course). The original promo pack involved the members of the Brotherhood of Tofu from the Wakfu cartoon (Ruel, Eva, Amalia, Grovy, Yugo, and Nox). Most have since become hard to find, although a Multiman pack containing them was released for general sale in French. A Dark Vlad colored Goultard was released as a promo as well, although wave three will have a Dark Vlad miniature proper that will also come in a promo color. Argon Gass, a robotic Foggernaught, was released as well as three different versions (Wakfu, Stasis, and Gold) of "Terminatot", a caricature of the co-creator of Wakfu and founder of Ankama, Anthony "Tot" Roux. A special promotional 4-pack was released for Treasures of Kerub however featuring young Joris, young Kerub, old Kerub, and young Lou. Frigost had a promo of Count Frigost released. Mid-level backers of the Wakfu dub Kickstarter recieved the older promo Nox and Yugo minis, and preorders for Quest Starter recieved six wholly unique minis (Cleophee, Rubilax-possessed Tristepin, Phaeris, Dragon Adamai, Yugo as he is during the final battle, and evil Qilby). The original Kickstarter had large models of the tabletop miniatures as well for purely display purposes (unless you want a homebrew game against a giant Nox or Argon Gass anyway).

The Game(s)

Each miniature comes with a code (as long as you didn't purchase it second-hand, in which case it may have been already been used or in the fineprint the seller may have said the code isn't included with your purchase so beware). Said code is used online to get the miniature in a vidya version of the game, which can be played in case you have no amis de grande classe avec des goûts exigeants. The online version is 100% free, although you have to buy new miniatures. BUT WAIT! You don't have to use real money to buy them as the currency in the 100% free Wakfu MMO (now on Steam) to buy Krosmaster minis! Enutrof be praised!

The first starter set, Krosmaster Arena, sits at about $60 which has everything needed for up to 4 players to play. The game releases waves of miniatures, with the current wave being 2 while 3 is currently being displayed in cases at conventions. Characters from the wave can be purchased from $7 blind boxes which contain one random character, one piece of scenery or tokens, and the character card. No "rares" exist, as each case contains one of every character in the wave (although an artificial market exists for characters that can be fielded with the restriction of no duplicates, or who were in the shows/comics). Midway between two waves comes window boxes containing four characters, including the rares (so if you happened to be eying that "rare" Qilby miniature, remember that even though he's $40 on eBay right now he'll probably wind up in a box later with three others). Window boxes cost $30 each, with more scenery and the character cards. The Frigost expansion pack costs about $40 and gives you some additional miniatures, as well as adds a few more rules to the game revolving around winter (and ties in to one of the comics set after the Wakfu cartoon ends). A Multiman pack was released that retails for $30 and comes with six minis and rules involving characters who provide bonuses to each other. The newest addition to the Krosmaster series is actually a new game using the same miniatures and stats called Krosmaster Quest. Krosmaster Quest is a $90 starting set, the alternative to Arena, and plays more like a cooperative RPG than Arena's competetive skirmish game. In addition, there are scenario pack called Not Mines containing new terrain retailing about $14. Technically, all that's required to play is the miniatures (or a quarter to represent the base) plus their cards (which can be viewed online) a dice (like you don't already have that) and a rulebook (.pdf). This makes the game fairly easy to pirate if for some reason playing free on the computer isn't /tg/ enough for you, although since most fans get into it for the adorable miniatures of characters from the cartoons/games then want to upgrade the cardboard Kamas (currency tokens) and scenery to plastic you can quickly get in over your head without feeling like you're spending much money (still, fully upgraded Krosmaster is still less than getting any but the cheapest Warhammer armies together). Resin boards cost $400 if you get sick of paper and cardboard, becoming the Realm of Battle for the game (as in unnecessary and for mostly display).

Crunch

Every character has Hit Points, Movement Points, and Action Points plus a couple of spells, each with their own range, damage rating, and abilities. Wave two added further abilities.

You select your team by points value in Arena, choosing four miniatures with some restrictions on multiples. You choose the movement order of characters before the game, which can have a very important effect on the game (to the point that your entire strategy may change if certain characters move after others). When a player wants to attack on their turn, they choose their spell and choose a target within that spell's range. The attacking player rolls their dice. Krosmaster uses special dice that have faces that relate to different actions. One face for critical hits (+1 damage), one face for dodging (moving away from an enemy), one for locking (keeping an enemy from moving away from you), one for armor (reducing incoming damage), one for dodge and crit, and one Dofus face which is wild, meaning it can be whatever you need it to be.

The attacking player rolls to score crits and do more damage. The defending player rolls to score armor and mitigate damage. Some abilities, items, and powers allow players to roll extra dice. As of season 2, the rules have changed slightly. Now, rolling more crits than the opponent rolls armor means you only do a single extra damage on top of the spell's base damage. Likewise for armor only reducing damage by one, even if you have 2 armor dice and your attacker has no crits, for instance.

While Quest has not yet been released and only demos have been played at conventions, it will apparently be more scenario-oriented and resemble a dungeon delve and/or boss fight instead of a gladiatorial fight.

The game has a free online tutorial/demo here [[1]] and can be signed up for here [[2]]

Gallery

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  The Krosmaster starter set. Also, Amalia.
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  Krosmaster being played on a high end resin board.
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  The next expansion set, "Krosmaster Squared".
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  The first season of Krosmaster minis. Increasingly expensive, and mostly available in French. Thankfully the card is easy to read, there's translations online, and the code works in both forms of the game. The Brotherhood of Tofu miniatures are the most expensive of the batch.
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  The second season of miniatures. Yes, that Pandawa has an ahegao face and the other appears to be...swallowing something.
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  Krosmaster Frigost.
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  The Not Mines scenario set.
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  A Multiman pack.
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  Krosmaster Quest.
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  Krosmaster explained.
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  A fan's custom-modded Amalia.