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Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress

Game ID: GID0283520
Collection Status
Description

Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress is a new dungeon crawl adventure board game in the Shadows of Brimstone series. It can either be played on its own, as a stand-alone game, or it can be used in combination with any and all of the other Shadows of Brimstone products! It is fully compatible, in every way!

Players take on the role of courageous Heroes, fighting back a tide of evil creatures and demons that have invaded their world! Play as the stalwart Samurai Warrior, using your mastery of the Katana and your bushido code of honor to defeat your foes in combat, the nimble and deadly ninja Assassin, using stealth and speed as weapons, the Traveling Monk, a member of an ancient Yamabushi order devoted to fighting supernatural creatures wherever they may be found, and the powerful and mystic Sorceress, who wields Elemental Magik to crush her enemies

Set in Feudal Japan, the Heroes must brave the Forbidden Fortress; a feudal castle overrun with all manner of Demons, Ghosts, and Monsters inspired by Japanese myth and legend. The massive Oni, red beast-like ogres wielding giant clubs, stalk the halls, while deadly Tengu sword masters descend from the skies with their raven wings to attack the Heroes. Legions of Samurai Dishonored Dead rise from the grave, and writhing Acidic Tentacles burst from the floor to spit acid and feed on the Heroes with their razor sharp teeth. But at the heart of the fortress lie the most terrifying and epic foes of all; the Harionago, a ghostly, demonic woman, held aloft by the twisting strands of her animated hair, which is also used to entangle and slash at the Heroes with its vicious barbs, and the towering Living Statue, possessed by Darkness to break away from its posts, wreaking havoc and smashing the castle it was once built to protect!

Game Features

Includes 27 multi piece hard plastic, 32mm scale game miniatures for the Heroes and Enemies.
Immersive adventures and story driven gameplay, using the Shadows of Brimstone™ Game Engine.
Fully Cooperative, with all of the players working together against the game itself
Dynamically generated adventures, 12 different Missions, and 4 unique Heroes with many options for customization, the game is designed for massive replayability.
Built-in Campaign system for keeping your Hero characters from game to game, finding new items on your adventures and gaining new skills and abilities as you go up in level.
Heroes visit a Feudal Japanese Village between mission to re-stock and re-supply before the next adventure, having a mini-adventure in town.
Double-sided Map Tiles include a Japanese Fortress on one side and the Belly of the Beast OtherWorld on the back side for the Heroes to explore; stepping through a shimmering portal and continuing their adventures in an alien world inside of a massive living creature.
Over 250 game cards, a full set of beautifully illustrated, double-sided Map Tiles, a host of dice and counters, and all of the large Hero and Enemy record sheets needed to play
Includes a CD Soundtrack of original Music, created to set the mood while playing.

Shadows of Brimstone: Forbidden Fortress can be played on its own as a stand-alone game, or it can be used in combination with any and all of the other Shadows of Brimstone products already available! It is fully compatible, in every way! For new players, Forbidden Fortress will make a great introduction to the world of Shadows of Brimstone, and for veteran players, it adds a ton of new content, including two brand new Worlds to explore - the Japanese castles and temples of the Forbidden Fortress and a living world inside a massive creature in the Belly of the Beast. It also includes a brand new set of Heroes and Enemies to add to your games. With the option of starting your Heroes in Feudal Japan or the Old West, or having a mixed party of Heroes, drawn from both worlds, the possibilities are endless!

Year Published
2018
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment: pos 4 · mix 0 · neu 0 · neg 0
Mentions per page
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Showing 1–4 of 4
Video aTLfuTT6eQw Meet Me at the Table playthrough at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 13672 · mention_pk 39952
Video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Rich emergent storytelling with player-driven narrative
  • Deep character customization and loot progression
  • Dynamic combat with varied enemy behaviors
  • Thematic miniatures and table presence
Cons
  • Complex rule system can be fiddly and easy to misinterpret
  • Tracking multiple resources and tokens can be tedious during longer sessions
Thematic elements
  • Escape from a demon-haunted fortress with a self-authored narrative
  • Deep inside the Forbidden Fortress within the Shadows of Brimstone universe
  • Emergent, player-driven storytelling with loot-driven progression
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Cooperative combat — Four heroes with distinct abilities engage threats with varied stats and effects
  • Darkness, depth track, and dread management — The fortress depth track and dread cards shape urgency and encounters
  • Exploration and tile placement — Cross-path maps, fortress tiles, and depth tracking drive progression and exploration
  • Line of sight and ranged attacks — Line-of-sight rules determine attack viability and positioning in the dungeon
  • Loot and experience progression — Defeated enemies and explored areas grant loot, shards, gold, and XP
  • Resource management (grit, tokens, dread cards) — Grit tokens, key tokens, and dread/darkness mechanics regulate risk, healing, and actions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • this game has so much it's just awesome
  • it's going to be super cool
  • gaming is all about just having fun
  • Shadows of Brimstone can be an epic adventure
  • thank you so much for watching
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video UBO1gepAomo The Dice Tower game_review at 0:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10692 · mention_pk 31570
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Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Strong starting point for Shadows of Brimstone fans and newcomers
  • Stunning artwork and highly detailed minis
  • Campaign-focused design with meaningful progression and replayability
  • Clearer rulebook and improved clarity around status effects and targeting
  • Excellent cross-compatibility with other Shadows of Brimstone boxes
Cons
  • Heavy and complex system that requires commitment to a campaign
  • Very large component count; setup and organization can be time-consuming
  • Costly to own the entire ecosystem and expansions if building a full collection
Thematic elements
  • Japanese folklore, samurai, ninja, sorcery, and dungeon-crawl exploration
  • Feudal Japan with Japanese folklore and mythic monsters
  • campaign-driven, RPG-style progression with loot, artifacts, and ongoing missions
Comparison games
  • Shadows of Brimstone: City of Ancients
  • Shadows of Brimstone: Feudal Japan
  • Shadows of Brimstone: City of Angels
  • Shadows of Brimstone (base game)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Campaign progression — Structured adventures with persistent character growth and escalating challenges across a campaign arc
  • Dynamic monster design and movement — Monsters with varied movement and attack patterns designed to reduce exploitation and increase challenge
  • Loot and equipment system — Extensive loot, artifacts, starting gear, and upgrades that affect future encounters
  • Modular map tiles and large minis — Two-sided map tiles representing distinct worlds and a wide range of detailed miniatures
  • Rule clarity and status effects — Updated rulebook with clearer status effects and improved monster targeting rules
  • Token economy — Use of Fury, grit, saki, corruption, and other tokens to manage actions, combat, and status effects
  • two-world campaign structure — Separate thematic tracks (Belly of the Beast and Feudal Japan) with distinct tiles and map decks
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • Well, I'm coming in at a ninth on this. I really, really like this.
  • If you are starting off, if you don't have the other ones, this is a great starting point for you.
  • This is a standalone box.
  • That is a seal of excellence from me here at the Dice Tower.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video hES_Z4b5cr8 Meet Me at the Table announcement at 0:02 sentiment: positive
video_pk 7394 · mention_pk 21874
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Click to watch at 0:02 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Interesting theme and mechanics
Cons
  • Miniatures not yet fully painted
  • Most in primed/created state only
Thematic elements
  • dark adventure
  • exploration
  • horror
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
No quotes stored for this video.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video p_uYWa79t6E Dice Tower review_roundup at 1:54:48 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2340 · mention_pk 6862
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Click to watch at 1:54:48 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Love Shadows of Brimstone system
  • This system adds a lot
  • New characters
  • New monsters
  • Adds a bit more melee
  • Good remake of older game
Cons
none
Thematic elements
  • Dungeon crawling in feudal Japan
  • Feudal Japan
  • Thematic dungeon crawler
Comparison games
  • Shadows of Brimstone
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Character development — New characters and monsters
  • Dungeon crawling — Cooperative dungeon crawling mechanics
  • Melee combat — System adds more melee combat options
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • The real Chris time is the friends we made along the way
  • If you've played a lot of Arnak and you want to spice it up a little bit, this is a really good one
  • This is just a fantastic version of this game
  • It's a great formula. It's not a good execution
  • It does almost nothing wrong, but it just doesn't do enough right
  • This is such an outstanding card game
  • One of my favorite dungeon crawls, period
  • Star Wars is one of my favorite games
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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