Oath: Clockwork Adversaries | Preview

This expansion is very much still in development, but I wanted to give y'all a taste of what Ricky and I are working on! We'll also have a designer diary out next week. I'm glad to have you on this journey with us. KS Campaign: www.kickstarte...

[@DanielRedMoon]

Personally, I think a straightforward solution will not fit Oath. As the AI actions need to take available supply in mind, amount of warbans in play, current location and desired objective for the turn (get x, stop y player, continue to build on z like Banners or Defenses), etc. And even if you bypass the logic and ruling of the game (getting Favor from a specific suit as shown on the AI card), which is quite sensible, it won't matter if it fails to adapt to player's current state. Also, there's no real way for an automata to properly interact with and activate Denizen effects (the core of the game)! So, I don't see the advantage of emulating human player Actions. I wonder if they've considered creating a new role for this.. like the Inquisitor character that goes against Player's hidden visions, or a Bandit Legion that targets most populated sites (taking resources and even displacing Denizens around).. or even an Imperial that constantly taxes players or tries to slow them down, so the regime continues (ending the game by the roll)!! You know, emulating a living world that reacts and responds, instead of another Exile or Citizen explicitly! In fact, one Automata turn could be comprised of actions from all these elements! Such a system in place will require a LOT of testing.. hopefully 1+ year will be enough.

[@mreed7947]

This is a very interesting idea

[@johngralewski439]

Fully agree! I was saying this exact thing to my wife while thinking about bots in general. The bandits are already in the game; give them something to do other than take up space. They can be leveraged as an anarchy faction or warlords that exert control over small fiefdoms as small as one site or as large as a whole region (but I think no larger). The live players would then need to, at times, work together in an uneasy alliance until it was no longer mutually beneficial for stretches of the game as it’s currently designed to work anyway. These local warlords could also be hired by either player and there wouldn’t even need to be extra rules for it - simply pay them the way you’d pay for any other denizens, with their payments going to a separate bank that gets claimed after defeating them in a campaign action. If they get large enough they burn secrets and infiltrate the denizens at sites and “remove” them from the sphere of influence. It would be thematically very rich.

[@BenjaminH_48]

Very interesting idea. Plus, it coulsld also lead to a coop version of that could also interesting. Trying to protect the kingdom from bandits? Exiles battling two fronts against chancellor and bandits?

[@vliaskov]

Liz, you and Ricky are an inspiration! Excited to see this being developed!

[@user-cw4zj6kc8u]

Simplifying into a deck is great. I've gotten used to the flow chart but it does take up space. So the deck should be a much more elegant design. Can't wait. I play Oath solo almost exclusively so I'm looking forward to this.

[@RynoKenny]

Thank you for sharing, Liz!

[@stephenowen9382]

Hi Liz, Richard (aka RR) has suggested I contact you regarding testing for the Clockwork Adversaries. I tested Oath and the Clockwork Prince and together with my friend tested Root Marauder and the Arcs Campaign at 2 on TTS. Thank you Steve.

[@BeyondSolitaire]

Can you email me or message me on Discord? (Beyondsolitaire)

[@dereksimmons5877]

Big Cole fan that only really plays solo. This is the only game that collects dust. Thank you for designing what I could not. That said, it does feel like this is a 2p patch and not optimized for solo.

[@BeyondSolitaire]

You should check out my designer diary! Ricky and I are on this as part our next design phase. boardgamegeek.com/thread/3312256/clockwork-designer-diary-1-the-queen-is-dead-long

[@trackerholmes6720]

It's so sad to hear the Kickstarter launched and they don't even really know if this is going to work in the end. Hopefully it won't be as awful as the automata for low player counts. From what has been shown, I'm not particularly enthralled.. particularly because : - Too many icons on the AI deck, and references to a automata sheet. Oath doesn't really need more overhead (or one player learning even more rules). Automate should resolve easily. - Designing the automata to behave like a normal player would. Same actions, same objectives.. same resolution? Except @13:43 where it doesn't have to pay the wake cost? Seems super arbitrary.. - Focusing on interfering against a specific Player's actions? The whole "changing moods" doesn't bode well if too many changes occur and just end up wasting it's actions.. on top of doing its own thing. ! - From everything that was shown, the only thing I like is @15:58. Simple and elegant. Hope it ends up working, but seems quite straightforward and simplistic. A bit lacking in "innovation" or a more suitable solution to this specific project, aside from doing what is expected.

[@alfacentauribeing]

You complain about added overhead and iconography (there are exactly three new icons added: servant, the moon and the star), yet in the same breath you see the design as simplistic. If it's sad for you to hear that the Kickstarter and its feedback is a part of the development, no one is forcing you to back it.

[@esbenarildrasmussen5973]

Hi Liz, I recently bought a used copy of Oath mainly because I heard you and Ricky Royal were gonna design a solo mode. The video was great but I understood very little since I haven't tried it yet. Can you recommend a rules / game play video to learn the game?

[@BeyondSolitaire]

I didn’t learn from KZbin but I know Heavy Cardboard and Tom Teaches have done vids.

[@ErictheCleric-RPG]

So glad that you and Ricky Royal are doing the new solo mode for Oath! 🤩 I’m sure it’s going to be fabulous!!

[@alfacentauribeing]

Thank you for the preview! The changing moods reflect how players would react to visions revealed and supremacies snatched really well. It would be interesting to see how this mood system integrates with the expansion's new set of smaller goals that each player can strive for, but for the original game, I can see this working very well.

[@Corroyeur]

I've rarely clicked on a video this fast!

[@giacomobreschi2316]

if I wanted to play against the chancellor and the exile both as automatons, the exile has his deck of cards but what about the chancellor? Does he keeps the old flow chart? Thank you

[@BeyondSolitaire]

This mode is separate from the old flowchart. You might be able to run 2 automata from the same bot deck, which I have been experimenting with, but we will see!

[@giacomobreschi2316]

@@BeyondSolitaire Did you find positive differences compared to the old flow chart or is the real player's simulation closer tona multigame using the deck of cards?

[@BeyondSolitaire]

I'm not sure I understand this question. But I prefer a deck to a flowchart in general which is why we're moving that direction.

[@Table.Fables]

Really excited for this solo mode from you and Ricky- both legends! Just to say that imo the best automa I’ve ever seen is in Gaia Project; playing two cards on each automa turn with one dictating the action taken and the other dictating how the action was carried out (sometimes based on end game objectives) helped keep the games unpredictable and also helped mimic a human player… might be an idea to consider for this too?

[@ishotweb]

I am BEYOND excited for this.

[@BeyondSolitaire]

We are, too!

[@monoludico6166]

Marvelous! ❤ Wherle's games are sooo groundbreaking and unique. I have Root (+everything), Pax Pamir and John Company. I've been in the fence about getting Oath, but seeing the new KS campaign... Well, I'm not sure if I can hold back anymore!

[@jcw59able]

Really excited to see this getting made. Hopefully you and Ricky have an opportunity to work on a solo and/or co-op mode for Arcs base and campaign

[@drewkennewell4267]

I saw Ricky post about this on twitter this morning. Love the work you guys do for the solo community

[@BeyondSolitaire]

Ricky is one of the reasons I became a part of the solo community, so it's a real blast to work with him!

[@arkadybogdanovich]

Liz Davidson, Ricky Royal, Cole Wehrle, Patrick Leder all working on the most original game I've ever played 😍😍😍 I'm so glad, I played once with my brother and my wife and they weren't half as enthusiastic about it as I was (they enjoyed it, but personally I can't wait to play another game) :/ With the better bots, a door to a whole new world is opening to many of us Oath fans!!!

[@samuelrieger]

My family won't play Oath with me anymore, I am very excited for this!

[@BeyondSolitaire]

They are missing out! (But we are here to help.)

[@rockfyre3095]

If it's similar to Root's clockwork expansions, I am so in.

[@LeTrèsVilain]

Very excited about this!

[@Pokephantom]

You rock! Thanks!

[@jackgonz6580]

This is really awsome! Do you know if this solo/servant mode will also work with the new Oath foundations?

[@BeyondSolitaire]

That is absolutely the goal. We are planning to work parallel with the development of the other part of the expansion to make sure we're incorporating it.

[@jackgonz6580]

@@BeyondSolitaire Great! Well you just convinced me to go for the 90 pledge 😂

[@giacomobreschi2316]

Please, i Hope you create multiple automas so a solo Human can play vs 3/4 bots in every combination. Actually i play multihandling 3 players, sometimes 4/5 and i love It. Hope to find a Deep solo mode. 🙏

[@matslarsson6919]

This looks very promising. Would have been nice to see a couple of more turns. Will the mood change after the Servant got a Vision out? Will the Servant ever use abilities on denizens and relics or would that be too complicated? What about battle plans? Excited to learn more about this in the coming weeks.

[@chiproush7480]

suns and moons, with just enough meanness. Really glad that you and Ricky are working on this. I assume the new PNP will focus on the Servant & her actions, but the campaign stuff will come later?

[@BeyondSolitaire]

Correct. We have to synch up with what the New Foundations team is doing.

[@cedricelling21]

Nice ! What is your current feeling about the flexibility of the solo mode after the development is finished ? Do you believe there is a 90% chance that the final version will still work with multiple player counts, or do you think the chances that it might end up as solo players only are high ? A new 2p mode would help us so much to play with my wife as the Clockwork prince gets stale after a few games !!!

[@BeyondSolitaire]

We don’t know exactly how things will look in the end but the goal is to offer compelling solo/co-op and to create a bot that can easily be added to 2+ player games.