Who is Richard Launius?
Richard Launius, the creator of the new Legends Edition rules for Defenders of the Realm, is a prolific independent game designer who has been working in the industry for nearly 40 years. You might know him from his seminal work on Arkham Horror and Fate of the Elder Gods, but he has been working as the lead designer of the first Defenders of the Realms, as well as many of its expansions, since the game’s inception in 2010.
Want to see how much Launius has done for DotR? His previous work on the game includes:
- The Barbarian
- The Dragon Expansion
- Hero Expansions
- The Errant Paladin
- Battlefields
- Minions Expansions
- Quest Deck
- Legends Deck
- Generals Expansion
- Realm in Flames and Darkness Spreads
- The Noble Dwarf
- Relics
- High Council Cards
- Winds of War
- Companions and Catacombs
Why the New Edition?
Richard Launius has always designed games with his own family in mind, all the way back to his eldritch-horror themed games which, as the story goes, were meant to be played with his children. Fourteen years ago, he designed Defenders of the Realm; now, a decade and a half later, he’s come back to the original game with new ideas, new mechanics, and new characters, for a simple purpose: modernize the game so he can play it with his grandson.
Richard has long felt, while the original Defenders was beloved, that he could do better, that he could do more. That is why he has returned to Defenders of the Realm for a new edition with more knowledge and experience under his belt than ever before. And he’s brought artist Jacob Croft along for the ride to help make a more vibrant, punchy, and fun artstyle. Just look at the new cards!
Ask the Designer Anything
Whether you’re familiar with Defenders or this is your first time encountering the game, this is your chance to learn more from one of gaming’s most legendary designers. Richard Launius will be live on a Reddit AMA to answer your questions.
If you’ve ever wanted to know the answers to questions such as:
- Where do your ideas come from?
- What led you to make the design choices you made for this game?
- What is your favorite new mechanic in Legends Edition?
- Which of the Legends Edition characters is your favorite?
- Why the move from generic character classes to specific characters?
- What was a mechanic that you wish you could have included in the game that didn’t make the cut?
- What was it like to work with artist Jacob Croft?
This is your chance to get the answers!
Richard will be live from 4 to 5:30PM CST on November 13th, and will be taking questions through Reddit comments! Be sure to follow along for all the greatest updates and answers!
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Make sure to follow our BackerKit project to get the latest updates on Defenders of the Realm: Legends Edition! There’s only two weeks left until the campaign goes live, and there’s still two bosses and two heroes to introduce you to before the launch date. Make sure to keep up with the campaign and get in early—the faster we reach our goals, the faster you’ll get to know about the secret stretch goal heroes and bosses!