Hallowed Heroes: A Grimdark Trading Card Game

The pitch

Thirty years ago the Dawn Banner won the war. Since then the sun has never been fully bright.

Hallowed Heroes is a two-player trading card game set in Vaelmoor, a dying realm of burned villages, drowned fens and empty wizard towers. Every card is drawn in a heavy grimdark comic style. Every deck is led by one Leader worth fighting for.

This campaign prints the first three starter decks, each a complete 70-card deck plus its Leader, ready to play out of the box.

What you get

• 3 starter decks: 70 cards + 1 Leader + 1 quick-reference card each.
• Standard 63 × 88 mm TCG size, on premium black-core linen stock (final stock confirmed by proof).
• Color-coded borders: each Essence has its own hue and its own pattern (dots, waves, hatching, crosshatch, thorns), so colors still read in grayscale and for color-blind players.
• Rarity you can see: Common, Uncommon, Rare, Legendary, Mystic. Rarity sets how much of the border shines.
• Tournament-readable: cost pips run down the left edge, type is shown by the seal's shape, and ATK/DEF sit on a sword-and-shield crest.

The world of Vaelmoor

The Dawn Banner marched to end the war with the Barrow Kings. They won, more or less. When the Thirteenth Bell cracked, the land's power split into five Essences:

• Radiant (vigil candle in a broken halo) — Seeps from: Meadows, shrines, old battlefields; Plays like: Healing, shields, Guard walls, go-wide Formations
• Tidal (the drowned bell) — Seeps from: Isles, drowned towers, sea mist; Plays like: Card draw, Glimpse, counters, bounce
• Ember (iron brazier) — Seeps from: Crags, burning watchtowers; Plays like: Burn, Charge, Bloodied fighters, Offerings
• Grave (nailed coffin) — Seeps from: Barrows, gibbets, catacombs; Plays like: Drain, Crypt recursion, Curses, Blight
• Wild (thorned antlers) — Seeps from: Thornwoods, bogs, wolf-runs; Plays like: Wolf tokens, growth, ramp, big bodies

Meet the three starter decks

• Dawn Banner Vanguard — Leader: Aldric Thorne, Lord-Marshal of the Dawn Banner; Colors: Radiant / Ember; Plays like: Go-wide Formation aggro. Flood the Battle Line and push before they stabilize.
• Weave of the Seventh Bell — Leader: Seraphine Astralis; Colors: Tidal / Ember; Plays like: Spellslinger burn. Chain Sorceries, see the top of the deck, finish with fire.
• Thorn Coven — Leader: Morwen Blackbriar; Colors: Grave / Wild; Plays like: Blight, Snares and attrition. Win the long game one curse at a time.

Each deck works on its own and is tuned to play against the other two. Buy all three and you have a ready-made three-way rivalry for game night.

How to play (90-second summary)

1. Goal: reduce the enemy Leader's Resolve to 0.
2. Set-up: shuffle your 70-card deck, put your Leader face-up, and draw 7. Pilgrim's Mulligan: if your hand has 0–1 or 6+ Grounds, you may redraw once for free.
3. Your turn has five phases:

• Draw: stand your Kneeling cards, ready your Soldiers, draw a card.
• Main: play up to one Ground, and cast Soldiers, Sorceries and Hexes.
• Battle: attack with your Soldiers.
• Second Main: play more cards (no Ground).
• End: if you played no Ground this turn, you may turn one card from your hand face-down as a Ruin, which makes 1 colorless Essence.

1. Essence: kneel a Ground to make 1 Essence of its color. A cost shows a number (any Essence) plus shield-shaped colored pips.
2. Card types: Soldiers stand on your Battle Line (wizards count too). Sorceries are one-shot spells, and Swiftcast ones can be cast on your opponent's turn. Hexes are Snares set face-down to spring later, plus Curses and Blight.
3. Deck rules: 70 cards plus 1 Leader. The Leader's one or two colors set what you can play. 24–28 Grounds are recommended.

What's in the box

• Starter deck(s), 72 cards each in a full-color tuck box — Lone Banner: 1 (your choice); All Three Decks: 3; Founder's Vigil: 3; Reliquary: 6 (2 of each)
• Quick-start fold-out guide — Lone Banner: 1; All Three Decks: 3; Founder's Vigil: 3; Reliquary: 6
• Founder promo pack (18 cards, Kickstarter-exclusive art treatment) — Lone Banner: –; All Three Decks: –; Founder's Vigil: 1; Reliquary: 1
• Name in the printed rulebook's "Roll of the Vigil" — Lone Banner: –; All Three Decks: –; Founder's Vigil: ✓; Reliquary: ✓
• Digital rulebook + print-and-play — Lone Banner: ✓; All Three Decks: ✓; Founder's Vigil: ✓; Reliquary: ✓
• Every stretch goal unlocked for that tier — Lone Banner: ✓; All Three Decks: ✓; Founder's Vigil: ✓; Reliquary: ✓

Reward tiers

Shipping is charged after the campaign in the Kickstarter Pledge Manager, at cost. Sales tax and EU/UK VAT are collected there too.

• Candle-Bearer — Price: $5; Limit: –; Contents: Print-and-play PDFs of all 3 starter decks, digital rulebook, your name in the online credits.
• Lone Banner — Price: $25; Limit: –; Contents: 1 starter deck of your choice + all physical stretch goals for that deck.
• All Three Decks: Early Bird — Price: $59; Limit: First 48 h or 150 backers; Contents: All 3 starter decks. $10 off for the people who show up first.
• All Three Decks — Price: $69; Limit: –; Contents: All 3 starter decks + all stretch goals. The main tier.
• Founder's Vigil — Price: $119; Limit: –; Contents: All Three Decks + 18-card Founder promo pack + name in the printed rulebook.
• Reliquary: play one, keep one — Price: $189; Limit: –; Contents: 2 full sets of all three decks (one to shuffle, one to keep sealed) + Founder promo pack + name in the rulebook.
• Card Shop Founder — Price: $299; Limit: 15 stores, verified retailers; Contents: 6 full sets of all three decks, a store promo pack, a "Founding Hall" listing on the website and first call on demo nights.
• Name in the Ashes — Price: $349; Limit: 10; Contents: Founder's Vigil + your name (and, if you like, your likeness, with your approval) on a Soldier in Set 2.

Add-ons (Pledge Manager): extra starter deck $22 · extra Founder promo pack $12 · (after the 4th-deck stretch goal: 4th starter deck $25).

Stretch goals

• $10,000 — Unlock: FUNDED: all three starter decks printed.
• $15,000 — Unlock: The Ashen Chronicle: a digital lore book on Vaelmoor and its Leaders, plus wallpapers, for every backer.
• $20,000 — Unlock: Rarity Shine: real spot foil on the shiny part of every Uncommon–Mystic border.
• $25,000 — Unlock: Five full-art basic Grounds (Meadow, Isle, Crag, Barrow, Thornwood) in every full set.
• $30,000 — Unlock: Printed full rulebook in every full set.
• $35,000 — Unlock: 4th starter deck (Tidal/Grave) unlocked as an add-on.
• $40,000 — Unlock: Card Shop Launch Kits: prize promos and a tournament-night kit for every Card Shop Founder.
• $50,000 — Unlock: First Ashen Edition booster packs as an add-on (randomized "Vigil Packs" from the 661-card set).
• $325,000 — Unlock: Hand-Drawn Art Commission: we hire freelance artists to create new hand-drawn art for the remaining cards in the set.
• $350,000 — Unlock: Lead Artist: we employ one full-time lead artist for 12 months to create new hand-drawn art for the cards and future sets. This replaces the freelance budget.
• $750,000 — Unlock: The Hallowed Heroes Art Guild: we employ a full-time team of three artists (a lead artist and two illustrators) for 12 months to create new hand-drawn art for the cards and future sets.

Why these levels: each tier roughly matches the point where the printer's per-deck price drops (about 250 and 500 decks per design). That way an upgrade is paid for by volume and does not eat the fulfillment budget.

Why these art levels: the three art goals build on each other, and only the highest one unlocked gets funded. The lead artist replaces the freelance budget, and the Art Guild team includes the lead. Each level is the lowest point where the model's surplus covers that goal plus 25% headroom for the earlier stretch goals. The surplus is what's left after Kickstarter and payment fees, dropped pledges, printing, tariff, freight and contingency.

• $325,000, freelance: about 595 new illustrations at a mid rate of $215 each, plus 10% contingency, comes to about $141,000. The published range is $80–$350 per card, or $47,600–$208,250 in total. The surplus at $325,000 is about $186,000.
• $350,000, lead artist: one full-time lead artist for 12 months costs about $159,000 with salary, benefits, employer payroll taxes, equipment and a 10% contingency. The surplus at $350,000 is about $200,000.

Why $750,000 for the Art Guild: a 12-month team of three costs about $343,000 fully loaded: salaries, benefits and employer payroll taxes, equipment and a 10% contingency. At $750,000 the model's surplus is about $459,000, after Kickstarter and payment fees, dropped pledges, printing, tariff, freight and contingency. That covers the team plus 25% headroom for the earlier stretch goals. See the Art_Team sheet in the budget workbook.

Timeline

• Tue 8 Dec 2026 — Milestone: Kickstarter prelaunch page live. "Notify me on launch" starts.
• Mid-Dec 2026 — Milestone: Proof decks ordered. Photography and video.
• Fri 22–Sun 24 Jan 2027 — Milestone: Demos and follower drive around SCG CON St. Louis (America's Center; free to attend) and Geekway Mini (21–24 Jan).
• Feb 2027 — Milestone: Review copies out to creators. Card shop demo nights.
• Tue 2 Mar 2027, 10:00 AM — Milestone: Launch
• Tue 23 Mar 2027, 10:00 AM — Milestone: Campaign ends
• Apr 2027 — Milestone: Funds arrive (about 14 days after the end). Pledge Manager survey. Final files and print order.
• May 2027 — Milestone: Printing, freight and customs. Demo decks at Geekway Prime (13–16 May, St. Charles).
• June 2027 — Milestone: US fulfillment from Missouri. International follows in July 2027.