Call of Cthulhu : Old Ones Origins. Cthulhu Wants Your Area. Forbidden Stars Reimplementation
Transcript
At last, after countless eons of slumber, I, the architect of ruin, have awakened to claim dominion over all creation. [cough]
Uh excuse me.
What?
Hm?
So what?
You're Cthulhu.
Boo-hoo. I had some crumb calamari for lunch, and your cousins were delicious.
Ooh, crumb calamari. I mean, how dare you?
Want some?
Yes. I mean, no. I'll have you know I've been squatting on some of these stars for several millennia. Therefore, they are now forbidden.
Forbidden stars?
Well, forbidden for you.
You think it's your call, Cthulhu, but I'm breaking your seal and invading your star.
That is incredibly rude.
We're engine gods. That's basically on brand. Call of Cthulhu: Old Ones Origins plays two to four players with mechanics such as area majority, action programming, and 4X. The game is of heavy complexity. In Call of Cthulhu: Old Ones Origins, each player is an ancient Eldritch god who has emerged to battle for control. It is a re-theme of 2015 game Forbidden Stars with a few mechanics differences, such as a new phase scheming with scheming cards, game length options, and so on. But in this video, we'll focus on the Old Ones Origins. In the game, you'll be spreading influence across the cosmos, building structures, summoning creatures, and solving disagreements through the traditional diplomatic process known to us as massive interdimensional battle.
Just a normal Thursday for an Eldritch god. Everyone thinks they should be the only one ruler, which is a problem. The game length can be modified if you want a shorter game or longer game with standard games winning condition being to obtain victory points equal to the number of players. Yes, that means two measly VP in a two-player game. The way to gain a point is by breaking, which is removing, another player's seal from the board. More on that later, but yes, guard your seal with everything you have. Each player picks an asymmetric faction. The board is the cosmic universe with four areas in each region.
Each player starts by seeding the boards using their asymmetric starter cards, then the game starts. First phase, scheme. Everyone simultaneously picks a scheme card to play. This determines play order and some effects this round. Then, plotting phase. One player at a time places one of their influence markers on an empty intersection, face down, where they have presence in at least one of the areas or already have an influence marker in any of one of the region slots. After each player places five influence markers, it goes to the influence phase, which is the meat of the game. In turn order, choose one of your unrefilled, uncovered influence markers, announce the influence marker action, do the action, and take back your marker.
If the marker is in the center of a region, resolve action in that region. If it's in the corner slot, choose one of the four regions, place the marker in the center, and resolve it. If there's already another player's marker there, place yours face down at the bottom of the stack, which means you'll resolve it later after other player resolves and remove theirs. Or you can take back your marker instead of resolving to gain a wild resource. Once all influence markers are gone, then it goes to the end phase where you refresh and reset. There are four different types of actions. One, dominion. You collect uncovered resources in the areas you control. There are three basic resources.
Then break one seal. Yes, if this is the opponent's, that's one VP for you. And they get an ancient sign resource, the hardest resource to get. You can break your own seal if you were it someone else will break it and to uncover a resource for future resource gathering action. No VP for yourself there for breaking your own seal. Yes, I'm talking to you, the usual strategizer while listening to the rules folks. At end phase, the player with the most seals on the board gets an ancient sign though. So, risk and reward. Two, conjuration. You powerful ancient god you conjure stuff from thin air. Well, you still need to pay the cost.
You can summon one unit, then one structure in that order. Summon to an area you control or empty area, not a void area unless applying unit, not contested area unless a subtle unit. There's almost always exceptions in this game. Each unit type has special powers and most are asymmetrical to each player. Structure gives you bonuses during conflict. Summoning structures also unlocks more spaces to hold resources. Three, ascension. That's your upgrade action. Shop away your heart and resources. Again. There are four types of upgrades and you can buy one each. Structure, pay cost, gain the upgrade like summoning extra units.
Unit, pay cost. Congrats, your units are now promoted to be stronger and more useful. Influence, make your future actions more powerful. And conflict card, pay cost, add to your deck and shuffle, and this is for invasion. For invasion, kick your neighbor out, preferably where they have a seal. It all starts innocently. Move your unit to another area. Okay, everyone. We must stop here. Stop number five. This is where the lazy Cthulhu is sleeping.
Hey, used to be sleeping.
Right.
What are you doing?
Right, right, yeah. We sightseeing.
They're armed.
Rough neighborhood.
You all just stopped in my area.
They really like it here. Find invasion. Move your units until something blocks your movement,
like an area you don't control or area with an enemy seal. Pick one contested area and battle. Defender with only one unit in the area can surrender, return the unit to their board, and get one basic consolation resource. Otherwise, it's battle time. Each player rolls dice based on their units. The result could be attack, defend, or magic, which is tracked in their battle dials. Then each player draws five conflict cards. Each picks one, reveals and resolves instant effects, and does it one more time. Each player also has the opportunity to cast the spells from conflict cards, paying magic. You can also use magic for psychic damage blocker caused by cards or fractures in the area where the battle takes place.
Then resolve combat. One unblocked attack kills one unit. You can exhaust a unit laying it down to generate magic or one block. Then add fractures per player still there. At the end of the round is the end phase. Check if someone wins. If not, refresh units. Each player move a rift based on turn order and their scheme card. Then discard scheme card from the game. These rifts interfere with movement and players must place one of their seals next to the rift they just moved. The game then goes to the next round. You're constantly planning several moves ahead with those hidden influence markers, choosing schemes for both their effects and initiative, developing faction specific upgrades, juggling multiple resources, and keeping a suspicious eye on your opponents.
There's a lot to think about, but that's exactly what makes the game so satisfying. The ancient sign resource is a world resource, but can also be spent to change your action when you declare your influence marker action. Or spend them to upgrade your avatar. Wakey, wakey, Cthulhu. They're not easy to obtain, so use sparingly for when you really need them. The faction asymmetry is also a major part of the game. Each represents a different old one with its own strategies, abilities, and play style. Hello?
Yes, hello. I'm calling regarding your recent invasion.
New phone, who dis?
It's the Cthulhu.
Shh, everyone. It's the call of Cthulhu.
Hello?
Yes. Why are you harassing me now? You broke my old phone, broke my seal. What do you want now?
I want you to back Call of Cthulhu: Old Ones Origins on Crowd Finder.
You called me to
Yes.
That's a little desperate.
I'm an ancient cosmic horror. Marketing is new to me.