[Pod 0] Ozuul (Eldrazi Ruiner) - Playtesting

[Captain Stupendous]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_King

Real quick - are we sold on "Accretio"? Over time it's rubbed me the wrong way. It sounds like a musical term.

I'd mentioned this idea earlier in the thread, but I don't think anyone responded at the time.

What would you all think of changing Ozuul's species to Outsider? The miniature certainly shares several characteristics of the previewed Outsider faction miniatures from the upcoming c3v faction. Even the "two arms branching out into two more arms" thing he's got going on is seen in another unreleased unit of this faction. Of the units revealed, he'd have some synergy with the Children of the Dark Star, but without access behind the c3v curtain its hard to say in what other ways he'd tie in to the faction's synergy. I think it is just a possible way to tie Ozuul and the Scions (and this master set, by extension) into the greater heroscape canon thematically. You could even make his class "Herald" or "Harbinger" and then develop the story of the set so that he is the first of the Outsiders to arrive on Valhalla.


For reference, here's the links to some of the other outsider miniatures that have been announced in the c3v Public Miniature Information thread:

https://i.imgur.com/8Xv38Yq.jpg

https://cdn.paizo.com/image/product/...71244-8-24.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HzSh6aW.jpg

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachmen...552/image0.jpg

[Pumpkin_King]

I'm not sure I'm sold on making him an Outsider - completely understand the thematic similarity between them, and the argument of tying him into the fan-canon is compelling.

However I would be concerned about limiting/stepping on the toes of an in-development faction. It might be something I'd bring to them if enough people on this end wanted it.

[All Your Pie]

I'm agreed with PK on not liking Accretio, and I apologize for not voicing that earlier.

The only thing I dislike about making this unit an Outsider is that it lacks a d20 ability to be boosted by the Children's Spirits of the Void. The more I think on it, though, that may not be a dealbreaker. It actually benefits us if Ozuul doesn't mesh with the children quite so well, considering they aren't being designed with him in mind anyway.

I think, however, that testing would become tricky. We would need to keep Ozuul on hold within testing until the Children are finalized, at which point we could still only have the C3V sanctum members among us actually run tests on the Children/Ozuul army. That is something perfectly within reason for us to do, it's just a little complex and uncertain.

[flameslayer93]

Not being within the C3V means I don’t know the intents behind the Outsider faction, such as their roots or general intended playstyle. If the Outsiders are intended to be played together and with heavy synergy webs, it might seem off putting here when Ozuul doesn’t match. If the Outsiders are supposed to feel Lovecraftian, I suppose we can put a Lovecraftian spin on him, but we can’t do that without trade secrets. And obviously we have to factor in the Children of the Abyss who aren’t released yet.

I’m not saying we shouldn’t go with Outsider, just that we need to really have to know what we’re doing before we do it. Calling Ozzy a generic made up alien race ignores that, and still lets us drive his backstory into whatever flavor we want/need it to be.

But, Accretio is fine by me. Outsider can be fine too, with a more sufficient argument than “c3v made it up”.

[Pumpkin_King]

The Lovecraft universe is wide enough that we really don't have to do anything to spin him. Coming from a black hole is enough.

[flameslayer93]

I guess I should point out that I know next to nothing about Lovecraftian-ness so that’s the main reason I’m not directly opposed to it.

[All Your Pie]

To be clear, the Eldrazi are themselves fairly lovecraftian in design and inspiration. We obviously don't have to stick to that completely, but that through line will always be present in the design of the miniature.

[Pumpkin_King]

We've gotten a tenative go-ahead on making him an Outsider. What's our general feeling on Outsider Harbinger/Herald?

[Astroking112]

Accretio was never my favorite species, but it doesn't particularly bother me. There were several suggestions back around that time that we could fall back on if needed.

What does Ozuul being an Outsider bring to the design? We can certainly tie it into the story of the set and market it as him being a Harbinger of the upcoming Outsider faction, but I don't really see much other benefit here. Ironically, he is unlikely to be released before any of the Outsiders (given that we're going for a mass release of the set), his unpainted nature conflicts with them visually, and he doesn't play particularly nicely with them.

Without spoiling anything about the upcoming C3V faction, the main potential for synergy would be in the Children of the Dark Star currently in Public Playtesting. There's some potential for the Order Marker Sign of the Outer Gods mechanic for sure, but Ozuul has no D20 ability and a relatively low threat range but high collateral damage makes juggling turns between the two of them less appealing.

I'm not particularly opposed to making him an Outsider here, but these are all things that we should keep in mind.

[Pumpkin_King]

Originally Posted by Pumpkin_King

Species:

Voidlord, Voidwalker, Betweener, Horizonist, Gravituum, Accretio.

Let's go back to this list I posted. If not Outsider, I still like Gravituum.


Some others:
Neutronian
Voidspawn
Quasaran
Singularion

[NecroBlade]

If Outsider, I actually kind of like that Ozuul doesn't maximize synergy. In the fan era, there is a tendency to button everything up neatly, and it's OK not to do that 100% of the time. That said, despite the Lovecraftian influences, I think I agree that his unpainted-ness sets him apart (makes him an Outsider even among the Outsiders). I'm fine with Outsider with C3V's blessing and if that's the way we want to go. But for right now I think I lean Voidspawn (thinking on it, I actually don't think we're doing ourselves any favors by coming up with a wtf species name here for its own sake).

[Pumpkin_King]

Voidspawn is a good one, leaves open design space.