PB& Games

0.7.16: every warlord and every pack, redrawn as jointed paper dolls

Version 0.7.16 19 min read

The thirteen warlords redrawn on the new jointed doll, in two rows on cream paper: the Eternal, the Boxer, the Ninja, the Train Conductor, the Explorer, the Gunslinger, the Mummy, the Pirate, the Witch, the King, the Dragon, the Viking and the Spaceman.

0.7.16 replaces your avatar. All thirteen warlords were drawn again on a new jointed doll, with elbows, knees and hands that close. All 21 packs were drawn again too, in three looks each, and every pack's Ascendant form now has a drawn effect of its own where the old one had a ring on the ground. Also in this build: act lords fall under a word of their own, curses are played at you where you can read them, and fights are drawn between the sim's ticks.

Every warlord, drawn again

The old doll was five flat pictures: a head, a torso, arms, legs and an accessory, and each one tipped and swung as a single piece. The new doll is a paper puppet on brads. It has shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips and knees, a face that changes expression, and six hand poses, so a fist closes round a sword hilt and a finger can point.

Five warlords as they looked in 0.7.15, above, and redrawn on the new jointed doll for 0.7.16, below: the King, the Mummy with a pharaoh's headdress, the Spaceman with a flag on his pack, the Gunslinger and the Eternal with a beard of starlight
Four more warlords before and after: the Boxer in a purple robe and champion's belt, the Pirate with a parrot on her shoulder, the Witch with a broom and potion bottles on her belt, and the Viking with a braided beard and a round shield
The last four warlords before and after: the Ninja, the Train Conductor with his lantern, the Explorer holding up a map, and the Dragon with ram's horns, wings and a tail

Every warlord was drawn twice, once for each body type.

Six warlords in both of their body types, Type 1 beside Type 2: the King and Queen, the Witch, the Pirate, the Viking, the Eternal and the Boxer

Every emote, all three dances and the fall when you lose were animated again for the joints. Here is the King on the old doll and the new one.

The King's cheer, laugh, rage and dance on the old doll from 0.7.15, left, and the new jointed doll, right: the old one tips and swings as one piece, the new one raises a fist, bends at the elbows and turns on the spot
The Dragon, the Witch and the Gunslinger act out emotes on the new jointed doll: a rage with both fists up, a laugh, a cheer with the pistol raised, a battle cry with the broom swung overhead, and a slump with tears
The Pirate, the Conductor and the Boxer each dance one of the three dances, arms out and knees bending, with cut-paper music notes popping over their heads

Each warlord has a little life of their own while standing around. The Gunslinger's spurs spin, the tip of the Witch's hat sways, the Ninja's headband tails flutter, the Viking's braids swing, the lights on the Spaceman's chest blink, and the Dragon's tail sways while a wing twitches now and then.

Four dolls standing idle: the Pirate glances aside, the Eternal stretches both arms out, and the gilded Vanguard and gilded Siege Works looks breathe, blink and shift their weight
The Choose Your Warlord screen with the redrawn warlords standing in the cardboard box: the Ninja, the Train Conductor, the Explorer, the Dragon at the front, the King, the Mummy and the Spaceman

Marching through the page

Sound the March used to fade to the pack draft. Now your warlord throws a fist up, hops off the stand and lands at the spot and size they have on the draft, while the draft page folds up from the bottom of the screen with a hole cut in their exact shape. The hole is cut for the pose they land in, so the page fits round them as it lands.

Sound the March on the Choose Your Warlord screen: the Dragon throws a fist up and hops off his stand, the pack draft folds up from the bottom edge of the screen with a hole cut in his shape, and the page lands round him so he is standing in his place on the draft
The fold at half speed, close on the left of the screen: the Dragon cheers and hops off his stand, the draft page swings up with a Dragon-shaped hole in it, he shows through the hole as it closes on him, and the page lands with him standing on his disc above his nameplate

Back does the opposite. The page falls forward off your warlord and they hop home to the stand.

Back on the pack draft: the draft page falls forward off the Dragon and drops away, and he hops home onto his stand at the front of the Choose Your Warlord screen

Every pack, in three looks

Each pack you draft dresses one part of your warlord: the head, the torso, the arms, the legs or an accessory. So each pack was drawn as five pieces, and every piece has to hold up alone on anybody.

The pack draft: the King stands beside three pack cards, and each pack picked puts one piece on him, a burnt robe from Pyromancy, a loot pack from Goblin Horde and sleeves from Forbidden Lore
Eight warlords dressed by the packs they drafted, among them the King with a Pyromancy head, Steel Legion torso, Bug Hive arms and the Wild Pack monkey, the Mummy with a Final Rites skull and a Draw and Order trench coat, and the Viking with a Primordial Growth head and a Siege Works cannon

Every pack has three looks. Battleworn is the everyday one. Winning a run with a pack unlocks its Gilded look, and raising the pack to its final level forges its Ascendant form. Gilded is the same character in their best: finer cloth, a taller plume, a jewelled clasp, with the gold kept to the trim. The Slime Swarm's gilded jelly has a small gold crown swallowed inside its head, and coins sunk at different depths in its body.

Six packs worn whole on the King in their Battleworn, Gilded and Ascendant looks: Pyromancy, Slime Swarm, Steel Legion, Goblin Horde, Bloodletting and The Wasting
Five packs in their Battleworn, Gilded and Ascendant looks: Spectral Host, Forbidden Lore, Giantkind, Pandemonium and Behind You!
Five packs in their Battleworn, Gilded and Ascendant looks: Bug Hive, Siege Works, Vanguard, Final Rites and Mutagenesis
Five packs in their Battleworn, Gilded and Ascendant looks: Wild Pack with a great wolf standing behind, Primordial Growth, Heartbreakers in a drift of love letters, Draw and Order inside a ring of cards, and Trapper's Delight

Here are seven of the everyday looks next to what they replaced.

Seven pack avatars on the King as they looked in 0.7.15, above, and in 0.7.16, below: Slime Swarm, Bug Hive, Siege Works, Final Rites, Forbidden Lore, Spectral Host and Giantkind

Ascendant forms

The old Ascendant look was a recoloured body with a halo, a drift of particles and a ring on the ground. All three are gone. Each Ascendant form is now drawn piece by piece in the pack's own element, and each has one effect, cut from paper like the rest of the doll.

Six Ascendant looks before and after. In 0.7.15 each was a recoloured body with a ring on the ground. In 0.7.16 the Living Flame stands in a ring of fire, the Hoard King on a pile of gold, the Alpha Moon in front of a great wolf, the Infinite Hand inside a ring of cards, the Heartless in falling love letters, and the Crimson Tide in a pool of blood

Pyromancy, The Living Flame. Scorched ground with molten cracks, a ring of flames, embers spiralling up, and a phoenix on the staff.

Pyromancy's Ascendant form, The Living Flame: a figure with a flame for a head stands on scorched ground inside a ring of paper flames, embers spiral up round him and a phoenix beats its wings on his staff

Steel Legion, The Stormforged. Paper bolts strike the ground on one side of him, then the other.

Steel Legion's Ascendant form, The Stormforged: an armoured legionary stands on a scorch star while paper lightning bolts strike the ground on one side of him and then the other

Wild Pack, The Alpha Moon. A great spirit wolf stands behind you with stars in its coat.

Wild Pack's Ascendant form, The Alpha Moon: a great spirit wolf with stars in its coat stands behind the warlord, its head at his shoulder, breathing and swishing its tail

Siege Works, The War Engine. You stand on the sled of your own machine while a copper gear turns at your back and the stack puffs smoke rings.

Siege Works' Ascendant form, The War Engine: the engineer stands on the sled of his own machine, a copper gear turning at his back, a stack puffing smoke rings and a valve venting steam

Slime Swarm, The First Ooze. Six little slimes with faces hop round your feet, and bubbles rise through your body.

Slime Swarm's Ascendant form, The First Ooze: a teal jelly figure with bubbles rising through it, and six little slimes with faces hopping round its feet

Forbidden Lore, The Last Reader. The ground splits open on ink and tentacles rise at your sides, the two tallest ending in an eye that watches you.

Forbidden Lore's Ascendant form, The Last Reader: a hooded reader with a tentacled face stands over a split of ink in the ground, and tentacles tipped with eyes rise and sway at his sides

Heartbreakers, The Heartless. A rain of love letters he never opens, landing on a heap at his feet.

Heartbreakers' Ascendant form, The Heartless: sealed love letters tumble down round a troubadour and land on a heap of unread letters at his feet

Pandemonium, The Crowned Riot. He juggles a die, a bell, a crown, a battle card and a bauble.

Pandemonium's Ascendant form, The Crowned Riot: a jester holds one hand out and juggles a die, a bell, a crown, a battle card and a bauble

And the rest:

  • Goblin Horde, The Hoard King stands ankle deep in a heap of coin, with a goblet, a sword and gems in it.
  • Giantkind, The Walking Mountain has a mountain coming up under him: broken ground, a lit crack, and two snow-capped crags with a cloud on each peak.
  • Bloodletting, The Crimson Tide stands in a sea of blood made of wave-cut card.
  • Vanguard, The First Banner has the sun behind his shoulders.
  • Mutagenesis, The Apex Strain stands in a spilled pool of the strain, with a double helix climbing out of it on each side.
  • Primordial Growth, The World-Tree stands in a grove whose buds open in turn.
Six Ascendant forms side by side: Goblin Horde ankle deep in a hoard of coin, Giantkind with a mountain coming up under him, Bloodletting in a sea of blood, Vanguard with the sun behind his shoulders, Mutagenesis between two turning helices, and Primordial Growth in a grove
  • Spectral Host, The King in Mist stands over a bank of mist that lost souls rise out of.
  • Bug Hive, The Endless Swarm has a wall of honeycomb behind him, with drones flying cell to cell.
  • Final Rites, The Last Litany stands in a circle of script and six grave candles.
  • Draw and Order, The Infinite Hand has a dial of twelve battle cards behind him, and each card turns to show its picture as the long hand reaches it.
  • Behind You!, The Unseen Blade has two shadow doubles at his shoulders, and his own shadow lifts a dagger.
  • The Wasting, The Pale Rot grows a fairy ring of mushrooms where he stands.
  • Trapper's Delight, The Perfect Snare stands among four open traps that snap shut one after another.
Six more Ascendant forms: Spectral Host over a bank of mist with souls rising, Bug Hive in front of a wall of honeycomb, Final Rites in a circle of grave candles, Draw and Order inside a dial of battle cards, Behind You! with two shadow doubles at his shoulders, and The Wasting in a fairy ring of mushrooms

The effects answer your emotes. Rage and the wolf snarls with its hackles up, the tide of blood rises to your knees and the ring of fire leaps. Mope and the wolf hangs its head, the tide sinks to a puddle and the fire gutters.

Three Ascendant warlords rage, then mope, then cheer, and their effects follow: the spirit wolf snarls, hangs its head and howls, the tide of blood rises to the knees and sinks to a puddle, and the ring of fire leaps and gutters

You show one effect at a time. If you wear Ascendant pieces from more than one pack, the look decides which effect you get, and Shuffle look at the end of the draft shuffles the effect along with the pieces.

Shuffle look at the end of the draft: the three packs are dealt onto different parts of the King four times over, and the effect at his feet changes with the look, from ink tentacles to a hoard of coin to a ring of fire and back to tentacles

The effect stands with you on the battlefield.

A warlord in Pyromancy's Ascendant form, The Living Flame, stands in a ring of fire at the end of the road on Verdy B. Queen's meadow while slimes and a magma brute fight burning bees up the lane
A warlord in Goblin Horde's Ascendant form, The Hoard King, stands on a pile of gold on Rex Mortifer's crossroads while slimes and goblins fight skeletons in front of him

Trophies

The trophies you win from events were drawn again for the new doll: Duelist's Shades, The Ten-Gallon Crown, The Magnificent Mustache, The Powdered Wig and the rest. The Peg Leg has nothing to replace on a body with no shin, like a ghost's tail of mist, so there it turns into a ghost parrot on your shoulder.

The event trophies on the new doll. On the King: Duelist's Shades, The Ten-Gallon Crown, The Magnificent Mustache, The Peg Leg, The Enormous Medal, The Powdered Wig, The Vainglorious Cuirass, The Champion's Gauntlet, The Prancing Boots, The Looking Glass, The Ghost Parrot on legs of mist, and eight worn at once. Below, trophies on the Gunslinger, the Pirate, the Witch, the Mummy and two pack dolls

The new doll dances at the Coronation, and Uncle Jim still runs on to join in.

The coronation: a crown drops onto a paper sunburst over a banner reading The Crown Is Yours, the Dragon warlord dances out front, and Uncle Jim runs on beside him and dances along while paper music notes fly

When a lord falls

An act lord now falls under a word of his own. The Elder Treant is FELLED, Wally is COLLARED and the Magma Magnate is QUENCHED. The page shows the lord in full colour under his own sign, and a boss win no longer says the lord of this place is dead.

The woken Elder Treant stands in full colour under his name sign and a paper banner reading Felled, with a sunburst of paper rays behind him and the dimmed autumn board beyond, where the player's warlord stands with no nameplate or health bar
Were-Wally stands under the Wally name sign and a paper banner reading Collared on a paper sunburst, over his darkened village at night, with nothing else on the screen
The Magma Magnate, crowned in blue fire and holding two fireballs, stands under his name sign and a paper banner reading Quenched, over his dimmed board with every bar, card and plate cleared away

VICTORY itself lands as a prize ribbon on a paper sunburst, a cream strip with a red rosette pinned to it.

The whole screen at a boss win: a cream paper strip reading Victory with a red prize rosette pinned to its left end, on a sunburst of paper rays, confetti falling over the Magma Magnate's board, and a clean letterbox bar across the top and the bottom with no cards or buttons showing
The camera pulls back from Wally's village onto a table with no hand or buttons left on it, the Victory ribbon lands on its paper sunburst, then gives way to Were-Wally standing under his name sign as the word Collared drops in

Curses are played at you

A curse forced on you in battle is played at you first now. It rises out of whatever caused it, the hex's own card, a dying Hex Wisp or the Jinx that reached your lord, to full reading size. It holds as long as an enemy card does, with a thread tying it to its source, then dives into the pile or hand slot it went to.

A Hex Wisp dies beside a line of Knights and its Searing Brand curse rises out of it to full reading size on a thread, holds, then dives into the hand as a sixth card
The Cursemonger's hex goes off: the Doubt curse rises out of her hex card on a purple thread, holds at reading size over the board, then drops away to the discard pile

Threats you can hear and see

A crown volley's shots now leave the lord and land on your commander with a sound, in that lord's own ammunition. A phase break's banner, its stomp and each thing it does to you have sounds of their own.

The ground a guard volley will hit is one piece of paper down every road now, where it used to be a runner per road stacked up where they met. It lies on the board all turn, so you can see where to stand.

The Cursemonger's Hex of Rot card hangs over the player's commander while the guard ground lies on the board as one gold-edged sheet of paper down both roads, with pinked tape across each road's end and gold rings under the four Legionnaires standing on it
The Cursemonger looses three purple orbs across the board at the player's commander, standing on gold-edged guard ground behind four Legionnaires

The Explorer's trails

The Explorer's trails wander like an old adventurer's route, curving round every marker they pass. In co-op with a road-bound ally, No Roads frees only her seat. When her pick wins the vote the whole party walks her trail in single file, and that rank's roads crumble off the chart. On every chart, the roads you didn't take fade back once you've left their rank behind.

The Act 1 map with the Explorer standing on a battle marker and her dotted trail wandering across the parchment behind her, curving round the markers it passes

Cards and events

Blue Jay is reworked. It costs 1 and Exhausts, and a card in your hand permanently gains "When Drawn: draw a card". The stamp lasts the whole run and prints on the card's face. Two Jays on one card make it draw 2.

Three cards side by side: Blue Jay, a 1 energy spell that reads Choose a card in your hand, it Permanently gains When Drawn: draw a card, Exhaust; a Knights card that now reads When Drawn: draw a card; and an Archers card stamped twice that reads When Drawn: draw 2 cards

Motley Jack's Wall pays the Medium Brass Ring only for a solved clasp. Miss it and the ring stays on his cord, but the letter comes anyway. Carry that letter to the altar with no ring and he reads it at last, and weeps.

A cut-paper picture of Motley Jack, an old white-bearded man in a patched coat, sitting on a ruined wall with his hat beside him, reading a letter and wiping his eyes, with the torn envelope at his feet

The Ghost, Tombstone, Banshee and Raven Familiar cards print their own card art now, where they used to blow up the small field print.

Units

Three Mutagenesis units before and after: the Bio-Titan redrawn as one creature, a hump rolled over a belly with a small scowling head sunk in front; the Prime Specimen with its big mutated arm cocked on the near side; and the Test Subject with the grafted green arm on his near shoulder and his own thin arm tucked behind
  • The Bio-Titan was drawn again as one creature: a hump rolled over a belly, a small scowling head sunk in front, one huge near arm and one small far arm.
  • The Prime Specimen and the Test Subject lead with the near shoulder.
  • The Stone Giant's slab is one piece of sandstone, so it reads as quarried rock and not a kite shield.
  • The War Giant holds the helm he took by its spike, where you can see it.
  • The Dice Titan has a hinged bone jaw where it had a visor.
  • Were-Wally has a wolf's fangs, and you can see through his open mouth in profile.
  • The Hive Guard's jaws are brown like the bees', and the Shuriken Adept points with a real hand.
Close-ups before and after: the Stone Giant carrying one plain sandstone slab instead of a slab with a grey panel in it, the War Giant holding the helmet he took by its spike with all four fingers showing, and the Dice Titan with a hinged bone jaw and a mouth where it had a visor
Close-ups before and after: Were-Wally with his jaws wide open and two long wolf fangs, the Hive Guard with brown curved mandibles instead of pale wedges, and the Shuriken Adept pointing with one finger out and the others curled

Your small goblins are drawn taller now, and the Goblin Brute and the Warboss stand a head taller than the rest, so the big lads read as big again. Each one still packs, reaches and gets hit at its own size.

A goblin army on its road: three Goblin Archers, a Warboss with a red crest and a horn, four Rabble with spears, and a Goblin Brute with a spiked club, facing Grix's hooded goblins and archers on red discs. The Warboss and the Brute stand a head taller than the rest

Fights

  • Every fight is drawn between the simulation's ticks, on every platform. Bodies glide on every rendered frame, and so do the seven lane fronts: the tide, the fire wall, the knife volley, the crown's salvo, the fire mission, the fuse and the reaching root.
  • A melee unit stuck behind a line of its own archers walks round the end of the line, or shoulders through when the line fills the road. It used to step back and forth behind them.
  • Ending your turn while the deploy frame is still gliding in holds the round on the frame you planned in.
  • In a fight against two lords, when one falls the camera goes to the one left standing for their line, then opens out onto the frame the turn is played in. It used to pull back to wherever it stood when the blow landed.
  • When the last lord falls, your hand, the pause plate, the battle log and the rest of the HUD fade out and stay out through the finisher and the VICTORY ribbon. They used to come back under the letterbox bars.
  • The spell that ends a fight no longer plays over the finishing move. A Fireball's flames fade out, and nothing new is drawn while the camera is on the lord.

When the last lord falls, the table clears for the finisher.

The killing blow lands on the Magma Magnate: the hand of cards, the Pause plate and the rest of the interface fade out, the camera dives in under letterbox bars, the warlord runs up and blows out the fire on his crown like birthday candles, he crumbles to ash, and the camera pulls back over a cleared table as the Victory ribbon lands

Co-op

  • Perihelion's Gravity Toss plays on every seat. Joiners hear and see the heave and each crash on a crown, and every hurled body flies on their screen.
  • Joiners see and hear the crown volley and the phase stomp, with every shot landing on the host's outcome.

Phones and the browser

  • The Compendium opens on a page that is already set under its cover, and closing it no longer freezes the screen it hands back.
  • A field stops compositing pictures nobody sees, and stands are drawn in fewer, bigger batches. A crowded frame went from 2,544 draws to 2,122.
  • Phones and the browser run the simulation at 30 ticks a second. With the drawing between ticks, bodies glide there too.

Small things

  • Backing out of the pack draft keeps the song playing where it was.
  • The battle log fades with the rest of the HUD when the hand tucks away, and its tab no longer carries an unread count.
  • Wally's set pieces pull the camera back to take in the sky when it isn't already showing.
  • Lord portraits on the map, the crest stamp and the Compendium are taken without their drifting motes, so the stray specks round them are gone.

This post went out to players on Steam and itch.io on 2 October 2026, and is kept here. Comments and questions are read on either of those, or through the quill in game.