Canceled project.
Maybe we will find a more suitable way to publish it in the future?
‘Fifteen years ago, mists came upon the Lands of Zekáinar. This period is known as the Blackout. They were brought with the Meteorites and they decimated the human population…’
Visit the canceled project here:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sugaar/expeditionary-company
Maybe the biggest gamebook you ever played…
Expeditionary Company contains elements of gamebooks, single-player roleplaying games, and even board games in a combination that will delight and entertain the most demanding fantasy fan. Expeditionary Company’s three books and 3 000 sections guarantee many hours of fun, fear, tension, blood, sweat, and tears to survive in a world that is falling apart around you.
A truly immersive experience with an open-world flavor.
1-2 Players
What’s in the game?
The collector’s edition of this game will include three hard-cover gamebooks with over 3 000 sections and 500 000 words! They will be encased in a high-quality bookcase with metallic ink printed logos. The case also contains a 60 x 45 cm world map of the Lands of Zekáinar, so you can track your trips between cities.
It will also include:
- Company, guards, and journeys sheets
- Quick access card and rule summary
- Digital soundtrack
- Digital aids (spreadsheet, game sheets)
Demo
Do you want to try a small part of the game? Do not talk more. We leave you the demonstration demo so that you can enjoy the beginning of the game and you can check its scope:
Your Story
Fifteen years ago the ‘Blackout’ descended upon the world. This intense storm of meteorites caused enormous destruction and what came next was even worse.
The Mists that arose from the meteorites ended life as had existed until that time. The dead rose from the grave, the living were corroded and mutated out of all recognition. Reality itself seemed to sicken and die.
None knew how to combat the shadows that were devouring the world or the foul aberrations that emerged from the Mists.
It was the end of days.
…
Then the Auric came down in their ships.
These strange gold-armored beings ringed Elmuria from the air with a yellowish powder, protecting the city from the surrounding, encroaching Mists. Later this substance came to be known as goldash, and the ring it formed as the Belt of Gold. At the time it was simply a miracle.
The Auric brought with them their cult of the Sun God, and this made sense to many. The Sun was, must be the victor in the eternal fight against darkness, against the Mists.
The Auric were the warriors of light. They brought goldash to protect the realm of men.
All hailed them as saviors!
…
It was soon clear that the Auric were not here to serve us, but to rule over us. In return for their goldash, they demanded control and tribute. They were to be as gods among us. Who could refuse? It was their price for saving the cities. For saving the world.
All cults but theirs were forbidden. All bodies or assemblies that could oppose their rule were dissolved. Writing, even reading, banned! All temples, palaces, storehouses, were now theirs. All in exchange for the goldash that allows the world to continue existing.
Seven cities were saved from destruction, and Elmuria was proclaimed the new capital of the realm. Everything was gone. Taken by the Mists.
To venture beyond the Belt of Gold is almost a death sentence.
But it must be done.
…
You, and your guards, are willing to take that risk. Your newly minted Expeditionary Company intends to make voyaging between the remaining cities safer, easier for merchants and producers, for anybody who needs to travel, even in these dying days of the world.
Select your guards. Stock up on Goldash. Agree on contracts with guilds and other travellers. Constitute your caravan, load your goods (hide secret cargo away from spying eyes!) and take to the road!
Along the way, maybe you will be able to do your part in saving your people from the hell you are in, from the Mists, from the cruel rule of the Auric. There are secrets to discover out there. Maybe you can find the truth, the way. Or part of it, at least. Out there.
In the Mists…
The game
At the core of the game is the management of your Expeditionary Company, which provides guarding services for journeys between the cities of Zekainar. Replayability is guaranteed by the huge number of possible combinations of client and destination, and by the way that decisions you make affect the outcome of those journeys.
Each journey is different, each client has their own specific demands, each of your guards bring different skills, abilities and personalities to the table, and as time passes the world around you changes too. You will have to adapt your strategy to all of these circumstances and possibilities as each month of the game passes.
But there is more than that. Expeditionary Company also contains exciting individual side quests which you will play from the point of view of one of your guards, more concerned with the handling of their sword and dagger than company accounts and stocks of goldash.
In essence Expeditionary Company offers an open-world game, where you make all the decisions, in a perilous, ever-changing reality.
Who could ask for more?
Well, there is more! An enthralling story that takes you to the end of the world! Expeditionary Company offers a complete, immersive experience, full of mysteries to resolve along the roads of Zekainar and on the dark streets of its cities. You know that time is running out. Will you be able to get to the bottom of what is really happening to your world? Will you have the courage to face all of the terrifying challenges that fate throws before you? To take on the Auric themselves, who have enslaved your people? To enter the cursed Mists that devour the lands, rotting, corrupting all they touch? This is not a task for the faint of heart. You need to be brave and determined if you want to be worthy of the respect and trust your guards have placed in you.
Contents
Expeditionary Company will have a collector’s edition that will include 3 hardcover gamebooks in a slipcase, along with the 60 x 45 cm map of Zekáinar and your game sheets.
But you will get much more with your copy of the game:
- Quick access card and guide
- Original soundtrack
- Digital aids
- And many streach goals such as dice, mobile app, postcards with illustrations and information, notepad, personalized notebooks…
How is it played?
Zekainar faces possibly his final days. Every month, you will see what is happening in the world and how conditions change. You will have to adapt and choose wisely.
Then you will be able to play four stories during that month:
- Make a Guarding Mission.
- Make a Trading Journey.
- Play two active side quests.
Also, if you don’t organise one of the two allowed trips (safety or commercial), you can substitute it with another individual side quest in Elmuria.
You will assign one of your guards to these adventures and they can
- Earn money working
- Fight at The Bloodsoaked Sands
- Race at the Circus
- Visit The House of Good Fortune
- Consult Two-Headed Oracle
- Socialize in a tavern
Or if you’ve discovered the right information or contacts, play one of the special adventures – there are plenty! Of course, you will also be able to visit the Souk and invest your profits in helpful articles. There is so much to do and so little time! Will you get it?
Want to see how a security contract is resolved?
Riq Sol himself walks you through one of them:
Sample Races at the Circus!
Riq Sol shows us how horse races are resolved in the Elmuria Circus.
Sample Fights at the Coliseum!
Riq Sol shows us how gladiatorial combats are resolved at the Elmuria Coliseum.
Soundtrack Sample
Here’s a sample of the soundtrack you’ll get when you purchase Expeditionary Company on Kickstarter, composed by Arbutusland.
Working the game tests with the prototypes
We are already working with the prototypes! Guard sheets, travel sheets, company sheets… All 3 books are written, and the demo in the photograph contains only 20% of the 500,000 words that narrate the 3,000 sections of the game.