Divinity: Original Sin – The Board Game Update #21

This month’s development update for Divinity: Original Sin – The Board Game shows off a number of sample miniatures, shares a playtesting update, goes over the game’s boss design, and highlights some fresh artwork. To start things off, here’s the video part of the update:

And a few paragraphs on the game’s bosses:

Boss Design

As you storm through the game’s adventure, regular enemies will surround you like troubling thunder, while boss enemies will be the striking lightning. A huge amount of time goes into the design of these boss monsters, so check out Kieron’s and Dylan’s chat in the update video to get all the glorious details. But for those in a rush, here’s the breakdown:

Stage One

During the design process, each boss falls into a specific category or ‘theme’. These categories give an overall impression of how the boss functions. For example, the Ghoul Boss is a front line fighter, meaning it’s a versatile opponent, imposingly tough, vicious when faced in close quarters.

Stage Two

Once the category is chosen, we think: what makes this boss special? These unique qualities can be implemented through the visual aesthetics, the tactical mechanics, and the way the story presents each boss.

The Ghoul Boss is a hulking behemoth, all claw, needle-thin teeth, and dripping saliva. It’s also undead, which means that Deathfog, a cloud of smoke that instantly kills living things, has no effect on it whatsoever. Tactically, this beast wants to be up close and personal, and only the most daring of adventurers would charge to meet it…

Stage Three

Delving into mechanics a little more, we track what level the group will be when it encounters a boss. As you progress along your journey, your characters grow in strength, and so do your foes! Each of the game’s many boss fights are tailored to give you a richly rewarding challenge.

Stage Four

Lastly, keeping in mind the overall theme and the unique aspects of each boss, we create the combat action cards. These cards represent the variety of attacks and abilities the boss can bring to bear in your battle.

Each card has a different Action Point cost. Here are the core features of each deck:

Unpredictability: Some cards have the same Action Point cost. Your foes are spontaneous, dynamic, and they’ll surprise you if they can!

Variability: Bosses have a terrifyingly diverse suite of options when it comes to combat. Some of them can even heal.

Reliability: Unless the players manage to cleverly hamper or obstruct the boss, their Action Point system and cards work together so that they can do at least one awesome thing per turn.

So, Aside From The Ghoul Boss, Who Else Is Out To Get Me?

You might ask: how many bosses will I fight in my adventure?

The answer is: it depends!

The adventure has six unique endings, with various paths that split and interweave. Those paths are linked directly to the choices you make.

Owing to the fact that your journey is so singular, you’ll likely encounter new bosses every time you play the game. There are twelve bosses in total, but on an average playthrough you’ll only encounter about three of them. While it’s possible to avoid a huge amount of combat, you’ll still encounter at least two. On the other hand, the most aggressive of players could face up to five bosses in a single playthrough!