Prize Draw #1 Winner
Each month there is a chance to win a copy of Oathsworn: Into The Deepwood and for our first months draw the winner was.
Kevin Gibbard
Congratulations Kevin we'll be in touch
Prize Draw #2
This month another copy of the game is up for grabs, you don't need to do anything to enter just High 5 your past self for signing up to the Oathsworn Newsletter. We'll be revealing the winner next month
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 Monster AI.
A Free Companies primary purpose is to hunt nightmares. The pay is good, the survival rate...not so much. Each monster or encounter is its own challenge. Each one has a unique multi phase AI deck that really digs deep into the marrow of creatures nature. We won't ruin any surprises but we can say that each will bring in new mechanics the Free Company needs to quickly adapt to.
A encounter's AI comes in the form of 3 phase decks of 5 cards, the 15 cards are unique to each encounter and by dividing them into 3 decks the creature behaviour can change specific to triggers in the fight. This could mean swapping AI decks when a certain amount of hit points are lost, a certain level of debuff has been reached or an amount of civilians have been eaten etc. In this way encounters ramp up in intensity and are visceral fights that change with what is happening.
How does one draw these encounter cards you ask? Well, this happens in two ways, after the Oathsworn phase the encounter gets a phase to draw a card and resolve its effects and then there are also 'reactions'.
A 'reaction' is what happens when an encounter gets hurt. Each encounter has multiple locations, arms, legs, heads, tails, wings etc. Loping off said body parts (destroying the last hit point on that spot and removing the dice there) will cause the monster to go into a vengeful rage and draw a phase card immediately, focusing its effects on whoever thought hitting it was a good idea.
You can expect a lot of pain but you are not without guile, we'll talk next month about what the Oathsworn can do about 3 tons of spiky meat baring down on them...
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 the Adendri Ranger is up
The Adendri Ranger
The Adendri Ranger is a lethal ranged combatant. Her marksmanship makes her perfect for inflicting heavy damage on specific targets and her special ability 'tree run' allows her to always find just the right position to take the shot. When it comes to defence the ranger prefers to never let the blow land rather than lean on armour or toughness to see her through. Using abilities like Child of the Forest and Trip Wire she can lay down snares and camouflage herself among the trees disappearing from sight.
Community Coverage
This month we have had some encouraging coverage from the community. If you haven't seen these check them out.
Board Game Opinions
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=onciDca0iXI
Beast of War - Discussion on Story Mechanics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=763r_uByGew&t=1659s
Conventions - The Dice Tower Con and Grid Con
Paul Grogan from Gaming Rules! https://gaming-rules.com/ has been helping us with our rule book development and been doing a fantastic job.
He took a copy of Oathsworn to his local con called Grid Con to do some blind play testing. Also Toby found his way to The Dice Tower Con to share the Broodmother pestilence with some hapless souls. No one Survived!
The next time Oathsworn will be able to be played in the flesh will be at GenCon in August Booth 2853 https://www.gencon.com/
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
We're all gearing up for the big one now...GenCon. If your around come, find us at Booth 2853, we'd love to meet you and discuss the best weapon to kill a giant Wyrm. For now keep one hand on the wire road and one on your sword.