Waiting in the shadows for the right moment - The Cur
It's a very special month and with the Kickstarter just a few days away we thought we'd send this monthly newsletter out a little early to give everyone time to digest it before the big day next Tuesday.
The Kickstarter Preview Page is Live
After many months of tinkering we are very excited to share the Kickstarter preview page with you all.
Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood Preview Page Link
We'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback before we go live.
For everyone who is interested in backing, there will be a special gift we would like to reward you with for joining us on Day 1 to help the project fund. A Secret Box. The box will be available for purchase after day 1 but it will only be free in those first 24hrs.
We have also revealed the Collectors All-In Pledge level for $299 (Saving $15) which will include all the content that will be available for Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood. We are particularly excited to share the Armory Box for the first time which will allow you to customize your Oathsworn miniatures with every weapon type you can pick up during the game using a no glue, quick swap, push fit system made possible by using HIPS plastic.
Prize Draw #4 Winner
For the last 4 months there has been a chance to win a copy of Oathsworn: Into The Deepwood and this months draw winner is:
Matt Draw
Congratulations Matt we'll be in touch. We'll be running more competitions and prize draws through out the year.
Rolling the Bones
Rolling the Bones is the place you'll find information on the game mechanics that make up Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood. In this issue we're looking at - Solving Problems
Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood has a lot bells and whistles; the new mechanics, the story, the mystery and the models but we wanted to talk about a less glitzy but equally important aspect of the game, the user experience. O:ItD is a big beast, we believe it is currently the largest single game ever made (component wise), so we have been very sensitive to the dangers of setup and campaign management that could arise. Today we wanted to cover how we are solving some of these common problems.
Problem 1 - Setup Time
With so many moving parts, large campaign games often take a long time to setup and strip down afterwards. In O:ItD we wanted to make that process as streamlined as possible. The answer we came up with was three-fold.
Firstly, you only ever need a small portion of the game for each chapter as much is hidden away in the archive or the locked boxes/envelopes. This means as we approached the box design we laid it out so that players won't need to remove all the content of the box to get to what you need. Allowing you to just remove what you need when you need it.
Secondly, custom inserts and trays will allow you to really cut down on organising tokens, cards and other component that are common to chapters meaning less time de-bagging and re-bagging.
Thirdly, character setup in games like this are often an issue as they have several elements that need to be tracked. To address this you have a set of save bags that will allow you to store all character information between plays cutting down on setup time as you just empty the bag on the table and begin playing.
Problem 2 - Group Changes
We've probably all experienced a campaign game falling apart as someone stops turning up or a new player wants to join and its just too much effort to bring them up to speed. Both of these are covered by the quick swap and quick levelling system. If someone stops turning up but you don't want to play their character, you can grab a new character from the box and level them up to join your Free Company by making a series of quick choices on the character card. You level up every chapter in O:ItD (You deserve it if you survive those fights) so you know at chapter 10 you are a level 10 Free Company. Making it easy to know what you need to do to bring in a new character.
If your friend comes back you just take their character bag from the box and level them up to rejoin you. If a new player turns up the same process applies. Even if everyone stops turning up you have the companion system that allows you to collapse the full characters that your friends were playing into some easy-to-manage but equally powerful Free Company members controlled by 2 cards. Whatever happens, you're covered with a process that takes only a couple of minutes.
Companion Cards
Problem 3 - Game Length
Epicness is a hallmark of this type of game but also a danger. Grandiose Campaign games can often run into 4+ hour marathons that mean the group finishes the session but feels bad about the fact they are only getting 5 hours sleep before work tomorrow. This often leads to the game being pushed to the 'all day' slot which is harder to arrange and can end up scuppering the campaign in the long run as the group become demotivated.
To address this O:ItD is specifcally designed in two parts, the Story and the Encounter. The Story section takes 30-45 minutes and the Encounter takes 90-120 with it being realistic to get a whole session into a 3 hour period, about the length of a weekday game night. If that 2-3 hours is hard to find however the game is designed to be split in two so that the Story is completed in one session, culminating in the reveal of the big mystery box and encounter within, and the Encounter can be completed in the next session. This means the game can be comfortably completed in 1-2 hour blocks if you choose, or you can get a whole chapter done in an evenings gaming so that time should not be an issue for any gaming group.
Problem 4 - Not into The Story
The Story of O:ItD is a high class, professionally written epic tale, narrated by James Cosmo. That said, it may not be for everyone and if that is the case we wanted to give people a chance to get into the fray immediately and have only the briefest summary of the journey and perils you would experience in the full story. This is called Instant Action mode. Here the game reverts to a more traditional template with a brief description of your situation, a few choices and checks and then into the encounter proper. The perfect way to play for all those with itchy blades.
Summary - Play your Way
Whether you like cards or dice for resolution, reading or being read to, instant action or rich story you can play your way here. Got little time, or a likely to have group changes? You're covered. You even have a dedicated solo system to make life that bit easier as we believe its going the extra mile with these considerations that make a game artisanal.
Free Company Corner
Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood has an array of characters that can form a Free Company. Each character is thoroughly unique with their own ability decks and special attributes. Each month we are going to look a little closer at these individuals, this month much feared Witch is up.
There are many horrors in the shadow of the Deepwood, but few compare to the fear humanity has of the malefic. Tales abound of the night hags, the dream crawlers, and the blood twisters. For, where the beasts of the woods are held at bay behind high walls and the watchful eye of the Free Companies, the malefic are amongst us. Both male and female, witches are believed by the common folk, to take delight in all manner evil. Boiling the blood in your veins, snatching children using a glamour of a loved one and even controlling the minds of others to perform horrific acts. Many of the these tales are attested to by fablemen who, for some iron, will speak of the demons with human faces who take their power from the witchlight that illuminates the night once a moon. Are the stories true? Perhaps. The Wardens know but they do not share the things they have seen. One thing is certainly true, those witches found by the inquisition are powerful. So much so that Wardens are known to drag witches into the Deepwood, to the feet of the great beasts. Caught between death and the Deepwood the witch has no option but to fight for their life using sheets of lightning, raging fires and telekinetic forces.
On the battlefield, Witches have a vast array of extremely powerful abilities beyond the potency of mundane iron. Witchcraft requires the elements though, a witch cannot conjure fire and water from thin air, she must draw it forth from her surroundings. The witch has a special ability to use her water skin and flaming torch to begin placing elemental hexes. Once the first hex of an element is placed she can spread the element to other hexes. Manipulating osmotic potential and sparks of flame she can build up a reserve that can be consumed to unleash reality warping effects on her enemies. However, she must consider how these tiles are placed and nurtured as, if she wanders too far from them, she will find herself unarmed. Unable to manipulate the elements. Those witches that do have access to the elements are a deadly storm as dangerous to their Free Company as they are to their foes. The witch must be careful to not decimate their allies along with their enemies or they would find the Warden's justice swift and final.
Community Coverage
We'd like to thank everyone who reached out to us over the last month with offers to share the word about the O:ItD. We really appreciate how you have taken the game to heart. From that we have had a huge amount of new videos released.
The King of Average - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood Preview Review!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkHBMWqlJrI
Rolling Solo: Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood | Kickstarter Prototype Overview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYvERLAShB0&t=308s
The King of Average - Kickstarter Update! October 2019
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imATGzjxqQ0&t=67s
The King of Average - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood Preview OCD Unboxing!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVtis6CrwRc
Gaming Rules! - Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood - How to Play - Part 1: The Campaign
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRA46nBa6_U&t=87s
On Table Top - Let's Play: Oathsworn - Story Mode (Beware Spoilers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAPuV1TLgiU&t=546s
On Table Top Weekender: Interview starts 20;30ish
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r6aTrE31cY&t=1234s
Rob's Tabletop World - Oathsworn into the Deepwoods Live Demo And Q&A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FHijoujwEg&t=7572s
The Esoteric Order of Gamers - Action Points #01
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3O80TBkJcMs&feature=youtu.be
For our Germans Fans
Fettes Brett - Oathsworn Into the Deepwood - Kickstartervorstellung - Brettspiel
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mS6Tv1UbMUw&feature=youtu.be
1440p Wallpapers
We've added the witch to our wallpaper lineup this month.
You can find the full resolution 1440p files here
Witch - https://imgur.com/1ZlHJuL
Warden - https://i.imgur.com/6TH1RKv.jpg
Ursus - https://i.imgur.com/yM7xZun.jpg
Ranger - https://i.imgur.com/ol7qAe5.jpg
Exile- https://i.imgur.com/ZwmxUrD.jpg
Deepwood - https://i.imgur.com/S89iOsL.jpg
Fableman's Tales
In an ale-soaked tavern in the fortress city of Bastone, Fableman Tarren is still telling fables for a fleck of iron. If you have any questions on life in the Deepwood, go buy him a round and you might find what you're looking for.
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2210850/fableman-tarrens-table
So this is it, the blades are sharpened, armour forged and leather waxed. All that stand between humanity and whats on the other side of that gate is you. All our hopes are with you now. See you on the other side!
Kickstarter is Live October 8th 11AM EST/4PM UK