Game mechanics and breakdwn

Age of Man is a fast paced, dice-based, squad building, skirmish style combat game for 2 players. Play as one of the three factions as they attempt to complete a randomly selected mission and fight for control, technology or survival.

With just 4 rounds, gameplay is quick and achievable and endlessly fun. Simple rules and clear winning conditions makes it accessible for even the most beginner of gamers - and customization for higher difficulty for more seasons pros, making it fun for all skill levels. 

Age of Man combines table-top wargaming with the familiarity of classic board games to create an experience that is simple yet challenging and will have you reaching for new depths. 

You play by rolling dice to find out if your intended actions are successful or not, along with tokens to keep track of which models have had their turn and any afflictions that model may have. Each model has a detailed Model Card that shows all their stats, from how far they can move to how much health they have.

Each round players roll for Initiative, which can turn the tide and disrupt any plans made in the previous round. 

Also there is a new way to engage in melee combat! Most games will have a Strength versus Toughness check, in Age of Man each model has a Defense value and an Attack value on their Model Card. This number is how many dice you get to roll when either attacking or defending! Every model hits and defends on a roll of three or higher. If you and your opponent roll the same amounts of hits and saves, the models actually get pushed back!  

The Shallows

Once mighty rulers of the sunlit waters, The Shallows devolved to an ambitious and golden husk, grasping to maintain control. In the vibrant, warm oceans where ancient human cities lie beneath coral palaces, this faction gorges on opulence, politics, and manipulation. Masters of both technology and diplomatic intrigue, the aristocratic warriors of The Shallows have perfected the art of feigning power. 

While they present themselves as protectors of civilization, they secretly exploit the knowledge and resources of the other factions. Turning The Deep and The Reef against one another to strengthen themselves. With an obsession for the remnants of humanity’s golden age, they are constantly seeking the lost domes of human technology. 

Before this husk was formed, the original Shallows Leaders were descendants of humanity's attempt at surviving the cataclysmic Sinking. Designed to know right from wrong and to kickstart the evolution of the next race of man, these Protofish would then return to reclaim their home.

The Deep

Industrious and resilient, The Deep are builders of most of the infrastructure and now dwell in the abyssal regions of the planet. In the final days of civil unrest between The Shallows and The Reef, a sect of The Reef broke off to seek an ancient power source hidden in some of the first human domes that could potentially change their lives. This sect became what is now known as the Deep. With their numbers increasing and finding a powerful relic, they reached a point of stability. Some of the members who studied this relic were changed, their dna fully unlocked and able to work what looked to be magic. These members became the Charged. 

To foster connections with the other factions, The Deep invited a select few from both The Shallows and The Reef to join them and unlock their highest potential. After this evolution, the shallows wanted this power to themselves and began to scheme to distract The Deep with infighting The Reef. The Deep desire technological advancements and wanted the dome's power sources originally to help everyone. However the faked betrayal of The Reef and the scheming of The Shallows left them no choice but to close off and become isolated but hungry for power.

Prelude

During the early 31st century, humanity reached a gilded age of peace and global advancement, but strange effects of the 25th century were still be being felt. Global warming had hit hard, with sea levels rising, but for some unknown reason, the water just kept rising. The ice caps were now the size of small cites, and yet the water kept coming each passing year.

Unsure if this cataclysmic event would ever stop, humanity began to prepare in several different ways. Some built underground bunkers and tunnels, others constructed large floating platforms and lastly some crafted massive metal domes to withstand the immense pressures of the rising seas.

All global costal cities were gone when construction on the last Great Dome finished. Here were housed the scientists, inventors, artisans and musicians. Tasked with creating the next evolution, documenting and preserving the past, and breaking technological milestones, these chosen few carved the way forward as the waters continued up.

A multitude of generations later, humanity became withered, the waters had finally stopped just before the highest peaks. Word had stoped coming from the floating metropolises or the underground concrete jungles, it seemed to be just these iron domes left. Knowing their time was limited and that humanity may finally end, the biologists and technomancers gathered together to build the first Proto-fish, a human so deeply genetically modified and technologically enhanced it was no longer something reconcilable as a man. But they had to push through.

Transforming their bodies into the next evolution, humanity would live on. Every person left in the rusting domes would choose this new life under the seas than be trapped in a decaying shell. Finally the last body was changed and the domes were sealed. Free at last to begin again, the Age of Man was over.

The Reef

Diverse and defiant, The Reef are the lifeblood of Aquamundis. A collective of outcasts, artisans, normal folks, and even former nobles, The Reef fights for freedom and survival. Resourceful and united by their common struggle, they all dream of building a new home, free from The Shallows’ manipulation. The Relics, along with the ancient human domes offer the promise of independence and a real future. 

As The Shallows became hungrier for power, a portion of the faction broke off to evolve their own ways of life, creating what is now The Reef. There was harmony for a time as the power dynamic balanced out. But eventually The Shallows wanted full subjugation of the Reef causing the first of many civil wars. The Reef was fractured and many set out to find the domes as a new place to live.

They are the underdogfish, with everything to gain and everything to lose.