Leder games Oath chatter

Gary Sax wrote: I see you in the Discord sidebar, so I think you're already in my discord. I'm leaving Wednesday to be with my in-laws but most days where we aren't doing anything I'll probably be able to turn around some files reasonably. And I always have access to Discord chat for any battleplan questions, etc.

I never use Discord, so could you remind me what channel this is, please?

Meserve et al Tabletop Server is the name - it has a picture of the "This is Fine" meme as the icon. I've also DM'd you a link to the message on Discord itself

Yeah, sorry. I'm out. I should stop volunteering for these things when a) I really don't have time to both learn a new game and relearn an app (Vassal) and b) I've latterly discovered that I just dislike the idea of playing these games online. I guess I just need to be in the room with people when playing a board game or something like that. I've found myself utterly unmotivated to learn a ruleset for a game that's still somewhere in the mail for me (Oath) when I'm still trying to set up gaming times with newly-vaccinated friends for the things I already have sitting on the shelf.

So, apologies for adding to the background static. Proceed without me.

Sorry to hear that Jackwraith but I completely understand, no worries at all. If you feel up for it in later games let us know!

Not sure if this has been shared to this thread, but this video is great for learning the game:

I watched that and then read the playthrough booklet and I feel like I can easily teach this game to my group now. We're playing next week for the first time and I think I will do what Cole did and limit the starting supplies for the first round.

I still need to read the actual full rulebook to make sense of some small details. Fuzzy on how to setup the first game if not playing the tutorial (should I still use the walk-through via the grouped cards?)

That video is great and features Cole himself doing a teach so you can't go wrong but if your friends are the type to watch the rules ahead of time this video is only 30 minutes and is a good overview of the rules:
After watching several, this is currently my favourite video overview.

The rules are somewhat ambiguous about default setups as they only explain setup in the context of the Chronicle already existing; however, I think there are three broad ways to carry on:

1) Keep going with whatever chronicle you've set up after your walkthrough game
2) Partially reseed the walkthrough but play a semi-random game
3) Reseed the walkthrough and continue after it ends

The intial deck is great for new groups/players as some of the wilder cards are not present which would need further context to understand, let alone use. This shouldn't be a huge deal as after your first walkthrough game, assuming you completed the chronicling, only six cards will be "new" and so the overall impact should be minimal.

Leder games has posted the default deck list such that you can easily reseed the walkthrough and that is generally considered the default setup. A common variant in TTS/Vassal is to take the starting faceup sites from the tutorial (Plains, Mountains and Rocky Coast) as well as their associated advisers (Longbows, Taming Charm and Elders) put those out faceup for the Chancellor and then randomise the rest of the sites from the box, and randomise the world deck using the default card list. This is a bit of a compromise where the powers are not too crazy but you don't need to follow the walkthrough.

A third option that I'd personally recommend is that you go through the walkthrough (again) with your group present for your first game and continue playing from where it ends. This isn't necessary if you're confident in your teaching abilities.

I'm super jazzed to see people playing Oath out in meatspace!

It kind of depends on your audience, I think. For players who don't mind exploring a game without winning in their first game, I think it's sufficient to explain all the actions and the end point.

I think Oath is somewhat hard to teach, but *really* hard to teach to people who want to be making strategic winning decisions knowing every implication from their first move.

Very curious to see where you fall on this, charlest. Such a love it/hate it game.

spacebiff.com/2021/05/25/oath-2/

Dan Thurot posted his review... got my own tracking notice today. His take as Oath as an anti-civ game is quite interesting.

A question for those who have played this already. My main gaming partner is coming over tonight to play a 2 player learning game. The next time we play will include my wife. Is there any harm in continuing the same chronicle with her or should we start over from the beginning?

I think hearing what happened to shape the current game state might be a hook for her.

You'll be in for a longer teach in that second game if you're not following the walkthrough. Other than that, nothing wildly game-breaking is going to happen in one game and she'll be able to pick up from there. But...

You know your people better than I do, but the first few teaches of this game can be pretty hard and lengthy. The game also doesn't really shine at 2 (I haven't spent much time with the bot, but it's more rules to handle in Game 1 if you're trying).

My recommendation would be to hold off on the 2p game and play a 3p learning game from scratch. Then you can all fumble through the rules together. One of the difficult factors in Oath is that it can be hard to get started, because the options are broad and early moves aren't at all obvious.

I appreciate that response. Gonna be hard to wait though...

I got my copy and it's a stunning production. An interesting bit that struck me is how big your boys are. Playing the TTS version gives you a really particular sense of the relative size of everything which the physical production doesn't have. Your pawns are fricking HUGE.

Against good advise I played a 2 player game last night and had a great time. I think it is incredibly difficult for one exile to oust the chancellor in a 2 player game but we had a blast learning it.

It is extremely hard to win but it's a great way to learn the core rules without the complicating factor of politics.

bendgar wrote: Against good advise I played a 2 player game last night and had a great time. I think it is incredibly difficult for one exile to oust the chancellor in a 2 player game but we had a blast learning it.

Bah, it's only good advice if it works. That's why I prefaced with "you know your people". It's totally possible to fumble through a first game and love it, but Oath has enough blind curves that I can see it being a box-sweeper in the wrong circumstances. It is super hard for an Exile to win in a 2p game, especially in the stock starting scenario of Supremacy. If people are really wound up about "equal chances to win" or something it's going to go badly. (but then Oath will probably go badly anyway...)

Genuinely glad you ignored me and had fun, and here's hoping you can carry that enthusiasm into your second play. There should be plenty of space in a 3p game for a new player to pick up the game.