Aberration: Oblivion's Embrace Preview - Corruption Eats At the Heart of the World
Transcript
Hey there gamers, welcome back to the Board Game Co. channel. And today we have a preview of Operation Oblivion's Embrace. Hey there gamers, it's Professor Meg here and welcome back to the Board Game Co. channel. Today we have a preview of Operation Oblivion's Embrace. Now this is an expansion for Operation by Ghost Fire Gaming. This is a current crowdfunding campaign so you can check out the link down below for everything that they have planned. This is a sponsored preview and this is a prototype copy in front of me so all rules, components, things like that are subject to change. And if you'd like to see exactly how this plays out, you can check out a game play on the channel between Alex and I so you can see exactly how this plays through. Because in Operation, this is going to be a tower defense game at heart where you are trying to defend your village from these different aberrations. So there are monsters that are going to be showing up first as shadows and then they're going to be uncovered to find out what monster they are and you're going to try to take them out before they reach your central village to do damage to it. And you're going to be doing this with a bag building to build your bag with certain actions that will also power up those actions and then you're going to use what you draw for your actions each turn. Now in this expansion, players are going to be able to play through campaigns. So there are two five scenario campaign arcs players are able to play through and this is going to add even more to the game. So you're going to have a sense of progression with the chips that you're adding into your bag at the beginning of each of the scenarios, getting more and more powerful as you progress. And you're also going to have artifacts that
players are gaining throughout the game that are going to make you stronger and stronger. So as you are searching out these different artifacts and then gaining them, you're able to give them to different players to use in the following scenario. Now there are also these story decks that you're going to be playing through and instead of this being a normal objective from the base game, you're going to have these stories that are kind of a thematic and leading you through a story of what exactly is happening and what your players are trying to do. Now to go through Aberration itself, as I said, it's going to be a tower defense game where you are protecting your central village here. So, your village is going to ultimately take damage, which will increase your fear as the monsters are able to enter into this area. So, the monsters are going to start off as these different shadows, and for example, when this one moves into this fire, it would be revealed. So, there are also actions that players are able to use to reveal these shadows. But, when they are revealed, they're going to have a different on them. So, for example here, you can see that this one is a two, and that's going to relate to this monster over here, meaning that that would spawn this monster on this current spot when that is revealed. Now, they also have these different keyword abilities that are their traits, and for example, this one is influence. Now, influence is how the board is going to ultimately start shrinking, and it's very bad. So, with influence, that would be one of these tokens over here. And it would be placed here because this is a number six. So, you're going to start with the highest number, and then work your way down. So,
once this influence is here, the next influence added to this tile would be over here, and this shadow would move in. Now, this can be very dangerous because not only is it blocking off movement for players because this spot essentially does not exist anymore, it is impassable, but when any of the map tiles are completely filled, then players would have lose the game. So, if this map tile here was completely filled with influence, players would lose. And the different map tiles are going to be your different map orientations. So, we have north, east, south, and west. So, it's going to be this piece here when I mean a map tile. Now, throughout the game, players are going to be taking actions based on their ability board here. So, depending on the player that you start with with their starting attributes, you're going to have certain chips in your bag. And at the start of the game, players are going to be able to, depending on the scenario, put chips into their bag, which is a change for this expansion. So, for example, if this is scenario two, you're able to take two of two of these chips, any two that you would want, and you would put them into the bag. Now, as you can see, this is uncovering certain things under these spots, which say item card. So, in this instance, I would be able to draw an item card for each of those unveiled, but there are also ones such as higher numbers, and that's how you're going to increase your abilities for these different actions. So, for example, this is going to have players drawing four chips at the beginning of their turn instead of three, and that's also going to relate to any time that you would roll based off of your intellect. So,
that is how players are going to be upgrading their different abilities and trying to work towards certain things based on the traits that they have, because these are the actions that players are going to be able to take, but it's going to differ depending on each of the different roles that players are using. So, for example, this is the monster hunter, and for them, the intellect token is laying a trap, where they're able to place out a trap token, and then eventually they'll be able to roll to do damage against monsters when they enter that trap. But, the noble over here, instead, for their intellect token, would have acquisition, draw one item card. So, you can see where those are very different, depending on what you are playing as. Now, ultimately, players are going to have similar actions in the sense that all players are going to be moving around the map and doing ranged or melee attacks to try to take out these different monsters.
And when you are doing an attack, you're going to be rolling dice based on the attribute. So, for example, here, where our strength is two, if we had spent a strength chip for this action, we would roll two dice, but as you can see, there are different number successes. So, we rolled a blank and a one, but there is also a two. So, that's going to determine how many dice you are rolling, but then you're going to have to roll to find those successes to do damage to the monsters. Now, they are going to have different effects as well, such as armor. And armor means that the monster is only able to take two damage, no matter how much you do. So, they are going to have these different effects that will come into play. Sometimes you need to do ranged attacks, sometimes you need to do melee attacks. And that will all be determined by the effects that that monster can do.
Now, that is a brief overview about Aberration itself and how you're going to go through the general gameplay loop, where you're going to be trying to protect this village in any way possible with the different chips you're able to use for your actions. But, if you'd like to see exactly how this plays, as I said, there is going to be a gameplay on the channel. So, you can check that out to see the nuances of the different actions that you're going to be taking, because it really depends on the role that you have. They're all very unique to the different characters that you are playing as. So, as I said, everyone is going to have this same common goal of trying to protect the center from the different monsters that are coming out toward it. And you're going to be using this by maneuvering around the board, doing different types of attacks, perhaps setting things like traps, and using item cards that are also going to be advantageous for you as well. But, with that now we're going to dive into the expansion and what that is going to change for players. Now, in Aberration, there are villagers and you're going to be able to place these out for certain actions. So, you are able to guide them to assign them to certain areas and have them activate those things. So, for example, this spot here is guide, and that means that when you assign someone there, you'd be able to use them to place a hero on any map tile spot. So, that's how you're going to be executing these, but there are also these allies now. For example, you have this one over here, and he has a special ability. So, instead, when these allies are used, So, going to activate that as well as whatever you're using to guide them. So, for example, this one is after you place this villager, one hero may heal one
damage. So, that's going to be very helpful, especially as you are assigning them over and over again, you're going to be able to heal more damage. And these are going to be added throughout the campaign. Now, the story that I mentioned is going to be this deck over here, but this is going to have prompts that players are going to have to go through. So, for example, this one is schemes in the dark story deck, where you would start this and read through the different flavor, and then it's going to have certain things for you to do. So, I'm not going to read this so that you can go check out the gameplay for you to learn more about the actual story that is happening. But just to give you an example, you would go through to this side here, and for this, at the start of the first village phase, a draw story card two. So, you can see this is one that's going to have something specific happen, but moving on to another card, stop when this objective is complete, draw story card three. So, this one instead is giving players a specific objective that they have to work toward. And so again, to see exactly what this is going to be, you can check out the gameplay, but it is going to have players completing certain things around the map. For example, they would have to take out a certain number of aberrations, or perhaps you are activating certain areas, or you are saving certain villagers. So, that is a few things that are prompts that could happen throughout the story deck, but players are going to need to go through this entire thing to reach the resolution to be able to win the game. Now, another thing that they'll need to do to be able to win the game is to advance this track up here
for survival. So, players are going to be able to gain points for this depending on certain actions, and you will need to have both that as well as the final objective card revealed for you to reach a victory. So, as I said with the final objective card, you'll reach a certain point where you read through to a final ending, and then you'll find out what happens at the end of that particular arc of the story. Now, after each scenario, depending on whether you won or lost, players are going to either draw a doom or a hope card. So, here you can see this is a doom card the players drew because they won the first scenario, and this one is add one shadow to the highest numbered space on the South map tile. So, that's something that's going to affect players, but another thing that was gained is this sacred artifact over here. So, we have Ulmer's Eye over here, and this is going to add an ability that players are able to access. So, for example, this is avoid fate. When the players are instructed to place an influence token, you can add a token to your bag instead and return that token to the supply. So, you are able to stop the influence from happening, but instead you're going to have to add one of these tokens to your bag, which is going to have a negative effect because whenever this is drawn from your bag, it does deal a damage to players, and additionally, it's only able to be used for certain things. So, you are able to use it for investigate here because this one can use any color, but as players reach these red spots on their health bars, they're going to draw these
transformations as well, showing that they're also transforming. So, for example, this is ghastly wings, and this is an action players would be able to use to uh use a speed action instead. So, you can see where these will add some flexibility that they're able to place these for actions. Now, those two things are due to the first scenario, but here you can see there is an artifact over here. So, this is something that players are also attempting to gain this artifact, and in order to do so, when they're at this spot, they're attempting to shoot different targets. So, you would have to spend this token here, meaning that you'd have to have one of these speed tokens when you draw for the turn, and you would spend that, and then roll dice depending on your speed hoping to hit that many successes. So, for example, one success, two success, and then three successes. And then finally, once players are able to unlock that, walk in and gain the artifact, they would then gain this for future scenarios. So, that is something that's also going to be introduced with the campaign that players are playing through. Now, there is also the villain, and that's going to be this track over here, and that's going to be some of these tokens. So, when you flip these over, some of them are going to say Harold. And when that happens, you're going to roll. So, where this is the first one uncovered, we would be rolling only two dice. And on the three successes, we Harold would be summoned. So, this is only two successes, they would not be summoned.
But going forward, you would be rolling a three, three, four, and then five dice, meaning that it's more and more likely for them to come out onto the board. And that is going to be this guy over here, the altered apostate, the antlered apostate. So, this is one of the villains that are able to be summoned, and they're going to have a specific arrival effect. For example, spawn a number of shadows equal to the number of heroes starting in the east. And then players are going to have to make a resolve check to try to get rid of them instead. So, instead of trying to do a damage and attacking them with an attack, with the resolve action, you're going to be rolling based on your command and hoping for successes to remove them in that way instead. Now, there are also these decay tokens that are going to be placed out among the board as well depending on different effects. So, when a decay token is placed out, it's going to do one damage to all of the heroes on that map tile.
So, if there was a hero on that particular tile, they would take a damage. But when a new decay token is placed out, all of the heroes on that tile would take two damage instead. So, it will increase for every tile every token that is placed there, meaning that if there's three, it would do three damage, four would do four damage. So, as these are increased, they're going to be very deadly for the heroes on the board. But, there are some effects that are going to allow players to remove these as well, such as the Shaman who is going to be able to remove a decay token. Now, being a tower defense game, players are going to be fighting off against waves and waves of enemies. So, where you may may feel that you're able to take out certain aberrations, they are constantly going to be showing up and they're going to be shadows at first.
So, you're not even going to be sure exactly what enemies you're going to be fighting off against until you are able to reveal them. So, this is going to be a game where players are working cooperatively together, where every single chip is going to matter with the different actions that you choose to do, and even how you set up each other for certain actions. Because, you only have so much time that you're able to go through this story deck. So, players are going to be scrambling to work together to make the best decisions possible, potentially using all of your chips in a turn, or perhaps you'll even choose to save one for the next turn have a more powerful turn. So, this is going to be a game where players are constantly trying to not only fight off the different enemies, but now you're trying to complete the story deck as well. So, you're going to be going through these different objectives that are pulling you through the story, and you're trying to do all of this together within a certain amount of time. So, as I said, if you'd like to see exactly how this game plays, there will be a gameplay on the channel with Alex and I. You can check out the link down below for everything that Ghost Fire Gaming has planned. This has been a preview for Aberration Oblivion's Embrace. I've been Professor Meg. Thank you all for watching the Board Game Co. channel, and I'll see you next time. Bye.