Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood

2022

Oathsworn is a riveting 1-4 player game, combining narrative choices, challenging AI-driven encounters, and a unique combat system in a struggle for humanity's survival.

90
minutes

1 - 4
player(s)

14+

Medium Heavy

About the game

Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood is a cooperative, story-driven board game that transports players into a rich, immersive, and dark fantasy world. The game’s primary setting is the Deepwood – a sprawling forest filled with eerie creatures, hidden mysteries, and thrilling adventures. The game’s narrative is deeply engaging, with an unfolding story that is directly impacted by the choices players make throughout their journey.

In this game, players take on the roles of unique characters, each with their own abilities, backgrounds, and play styles. These characters are part of the Free Company, a group of mercenaries venturing into the Deepwood to combat the terrifying creatures that threaten their world.

Game components Unboxing the fun!

Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood is a rich and immersive game with numerous components. Each one serves a purpose to enhance the gameplay and player experience. Here are the components included in this game and their respective roles:

1. Game Board: This is the primary space where the adventure unfolds. It represents the world of the Deepwood. Players navigate through this board, encountering various challenges and events.

2. Character Miniatures: Each player has a miniature to represent their character in the game. These miniatures move across the game board and their position can influence the outcome of encounters.

3. Enemy Miniatures: The game includes a variety of enemy miniatures. They are placed on the board at specific points and represent the foes that the characters must overcome.

4. Encounter Cards: These cards detail the events and challenges that players face during their journey. They add an element of unpredictability to the game, as they are drawn at random.

5. Character Cards: Each player has a character card that shows their character’s abilities, health points, and inventory. These cards are crucial for strategic decision-making in the game.

6. Dice: Dice are used to resolve encounters and challenges. The number rolled on the dice can determine success or failure in various situations.

7. Tokens: Tokens are used to track various game elements such as health points, turn order, and the progress of the adventure.

8. Storybook: The storybook guides the narrative of the game. It contains detailed descriptions of encounters and outcomes that vary depending on the players’ decisions.

9. Ability Cards: These cards provide special abilities that can be used during encounters. They are drawn at random and can be used once before they are discarded.

10. Equipment Cards: Equipment cards provide items that the characters can use during their adventure. They can provide a variety of benefits, such as increased damage, better defense, or healing.

11. Terrain Tiles: These tiles represent different types of terrain on the game board. They can affect movement and encounters.

Each component interacts with the game in a different way, and understanding each one is crucial to mastering the strategic elements of Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood.

Game setup Lay it out, line it up, let’s go

Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood is a cooperative story-driven board game that takes you on a journey into a dark and mysterious forest. Follow this guide to understand how to set up the game for your next adventure.

Step 1: Set Up the Game Board

Begin by unfolding the game board and placing it in the center of the table. This board represents the Deepwood, the enchanted forest where your adventure will unfold.

Step 2: Prepare the Encounter Deck

Shuffle the Encounter cards and place the deck face down next to the game board. These cards hold the challenges you will face in the Deepwood.

Step 3: Sort the Item Cards

Sort the Item cards into separate decks by type (Weapons, Armor, and Miscellaneous). These cards represent the equipment your characters can acquire during the game.

Step 4: Assign Player Roles

Each player chooses a character to play. Each character has a unique set of skills and abilities that can be used during the game. The roles include:

The Knight: A strong and courageous fighter.
The Ranger: A stealthy and agile hunter.
The Sorcerer: A powerful magic user.
The Alchemist: A wise and crafty inventor.

Step 5: Distribute Initial Resources

Each player receives a starting set of resources according to their character. This typically includes some basic items and a number of coins. The exact amount and type of resources are indicated on the character sheets.

Step 6: Prepare the Enemy Deck

Shuffle the Enemy cards and place the deck face down next to the game board. These cards represent the creatures and villains you will face in the Deepwood.

Step 7: Set Up the Random Elements

Several aspects of Oathsworn are randomly determined to ensure each game is unique. This includes the layout of the Deepwood, the encounters you will face, and the items you can acquire. To set up these elements:

Draw a certain number of Encounter cards (as indicated in the game’s rulebook) and place them face down on the corresponding spaces of the game board.
Draw a number of Item cards from each deck and place them face up next to the game board.
Shuffle the Deepwood tiles and randomly place them facedown on the game board to create the forest’s layout. The exact number of tiles used depends on the number of players.

With these steps, you are now ready to embark on your adventure into the Deepwood. Good luck!

Game flow Round and round we go

In the game of Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood, players take the roles of heroic characters who embark on an epic quest into a dark, dangerous forest. The game is divided into two main phases: the Story Phase and the Encounter Phase. Each phase offers a different type of gameplay and requires various actions from the players.

The Story Phase:

This phase is narrative-driven, focusing on exploration, interaction and decision-making. Here’s what players do:

Read the narrative: One player reads out the narrative text from the campaign book or app. This text sets the scene and outlines the challenges that the characters face.
Make choices: Based on the narrative, players make decisions that affect the storyline. Choices might include which path to take, how to respond to characters they meet or how to deal with obstacles.
Perform actions: Depending on their choices, players may need to perform actions such as rolling dice, playing cards or moving pieces on the board. The outcomes of these actions can change the course of the story.
Resolve consequences: The choices and actions that players make lead to consequences, which can be positive (like gaining items or allies) or negative (like triggering battles or losing resources). These consequences are resolved by following the instructions in the narrative text or on the cards.

The Encounter Phase:

This phase is combat-focused, requiring tactical thinking and teamwork. Here’s what players do:

Prepare for battle: Players set up the encounter by placing their characters and enemies on the board. They also draw and equip their characters’ action cards, which determine what actions they can perform in battle.
Take turns: Players take turns in order, with each player performing one action per turn. Actions can include attacking, defending, using items or special abilities, or moving on the board.
Resolve actions: After each action, players resolve the effects by rolling dice, comparing numbers or following card instructions. If a character’s health reaches zero, they are out of the battle.
End the encounter: The encounter ends when all enemies are defeated, when all characters are defeated, or when a specific victory condition is met. The outcomes of the battle affect the ongoing story, such as through rewards or penalties.

These phases continue in alternation throughout the game, creating a rich, immersive experience of storytelling and combat. The decisions that players make in the Story Phase can significantly affect the challenges they face in the Encounter Phase, and vice versa. This interplay between phases gives Oathsworn its unique, dynamic character.

Players'turn One turn to rule them all

In ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’, a player’s turn revolves around the execution of several key actions and strategic choices. These steps have a significant impact on the overall gameplay and can dramatically influence the outcome of the game.

Action 1: Choose and Play a Card

At the start of a player’s turn, they must choose a card from their hand and play it face down. This card represents the action they want to perform during this turn. The strategic choice here lies in picking the right card that aligns with the current game situation, considering the player’s objective and their team’s overall strategy.

Action 2: Reveal and Execute the Card

Next, all players simultaneously reveal their chosen cards. The player with the highest initiative number on their card goes first. The card execution involves performing the action depicted on the card, which could be an attack, a special ability, or a movement. The strategic decision here depends on the player’s position on the board, the state of their teammates, and the potential threats from enemies.

Action 3: Resolve Conflicts

Conflicts in ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’ are resolved through combat sequences. The player whose turn it is will roll dice corresponding to their chosen card’s action. The results of the dice roll, combined with any bonuses or penalties from the card, will determine the outcome. The right choice of card and a bit of luck can make a big difference in these conflicts.

Action 4: Movement

After executing their card’s action and resolving any conflicts, the player may choose to move their character on the board. The number of spaces they can move is typically dictated by the card they played earlier. Strategic movement is crucial for positioning characters for future turns, avoiding enemy attacks, or reaching objectives.

Action 5: Draw Cards

To conclude their turn, the player draws cards up to their maximum hand size. This replenishes their options for the next round. The decision of which cards to keep and which to discard can be a strategic one, as it shapes the player’s potential actions in the following turns.

Overall, each turn in ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’ is a mix of tactical decisions and strategic planning, with each action potentially having a profound impact on the game’s progression and outcome.

End of the game All good games must come to an end

Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood is a cooperative board game that involves a group of characters on a mission to rid the Deepwood of the monstrous creatures that inhabit it. The game ends under two primary circumstances.

1. Victory through Objective Completion:

The game ends in victory for the players if they succeed in completing their mission. This typically involves defeating a specific enemy or enemies, achieving a certain target, or surviving for a predetermined number of turns. The specifics of the mission objectives are detailed in the mission briefing at the start of each game.

Defeating Enemies: Players must eliminate certain creatures. The type and number of creatures to be defeated will be stipulated in the mission briefing.
Achieving Targets: Players must reach or accomplish certain goals. These might include reaching a specific location on the board, or collecting a certain number of specific items.
Surviving Turns: In these missions, the objective is to stay alive for a certain number of turns. Players must ensure that at least one character survives until the end of the final turn.

2. Defeat through Total Party Kill:

The game ends in defeat for the players if all characters are killed. This can occur if the characters’ health points are reduced to zero, or through specific game events that result in instant character death.

Before the final scoring, players must take the following actions:

Calculate Objective Points: Depending on the mission, players may have been collecting objective points. These are tallied up at the end of the game.
Assess Survival: Any bonus points from character survival, especially in missions where survival is not the primary objective, are calculated and added to the score.
Check Bonus Conditions: Some missions may have bonus conditions, which if fulfilled, contribute extra points to the final score.

The team’s final score is the sum of all these points. In the case of a victory, the score can be used to measure the degree of success. In the case of a defeat, it can be used to gauge how close the team came to achieving their mission.

Scoring Did you outsmart your rivals?

‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’ is a cooperative, narrative-driven board game that does not utilize a traditional point-based scoring system. Players work together to progress through the story, making decisions and battling enemies as a team. The game does not end with a tally of points to determine a winner, but rather with the resolution of the narrative based on the players’ choices and outcomes of battles.

In ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’, players take on the role of unique characters and must make choices and take actions that will affect the story’s progression. The outcome of the game is determined by the cumulative results of these choices and actions, rather than through a traditional scoring system. However, there are several elements that players can track as a measure of their progress and success in the game:

Character Development: As players navigate the game, their characters will gain new abilities and items which can make them more powerful and effective in battle. This character development is a key indicator of progress in the game.
Battle Outcomes: The results of battles against the various creatures encountered in the game can also be seen as a form of scoring. Victories in battle will often reward players with new items and abilities, while defeats can stall progress and may require players to replay certain scenarios.
Story Progression: The advancement of the narrative is another important measure of success in ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’. The choices players make will shape the story and determine the challenges they face. Reaching the conclusion of the narrative can be considered the ultimate ‘victory’ in the game.

Since ‘Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood’ is a cooperative game, there is no need for tie-breaking rules. The game is won or lost as a group, and the focus is on shared storytelling and collective decision-making, rather than individual scoring and competition.

Particular Cases and Exceptions Wait… is that legal?

Oathsworn: Into the Deepwood is a rich and immersive board game with a unique narrative, combat, and exploration system. While most of the rules are straightforward, there are a few special rules, exceptions, and clarifications that players should be aware of.

1. Combat Preparedness: Typically, players can freely choose their combat cards before a fight. However, in some scenarios, the game might stipulate that players must enter combat unprepared, meaning they cannot set up their combat deck before the battle.

2. Heroic Dice Actions: Usually, players can perform a heroic dice action once per round. However, certain special abilities or in-game events can allow players to perform additional heroic dice actions.

3. Item Usage: Some items in the game, especially rarer ones, can only be used a limited number of times or under specific conditions. Players should pay particular attention to any restrictions noted on the item card.

4. Enemy Respawn: In general, defeated enemies do not respawn. Nevertheless, certain scenarios or in-game events may cause enemies to reappear, often with increased difficulty.

5. Solo Play: While Oathsworn is designed for cooperative play, it can also be played solo. However, the solo player will need to control multiple characters, and some rules will be slightly adjusted to accommodate this.

Rule Clarifications:
When a character is KO’d, they are not out of the game. Instead, they are temporarily incapacitated and can be revived by other players.
In combat, players draw 5 cards from their combat deck. If the deck runs out, they do not reshuffle the discard pile unless a game effect allows it.
The game ends when the party either completes their objective or all characters are incapacitated.

Special Rule Exceptions:
Some enemies have abilities that trigger when certain conditions are met. These abilities ignore the standard rules for activation and instead follow the rules outlined on the enemy card.
Some scenarios feature unique rules that only apply for the duration of that scenario. These rules supersede the standard rules and are outlined in the scenario booklet.