Greetings, Adventurers. Ready to disrupt the Malagaunt’s next scheme? Think you can stand against the Corrupter? Oblivion’s Maw is the first narrative expansion for Maladum: Dungeons of Enveron.
It comes with a fresh campaign of quests and rules to run it, and is packed with new cards, miniatures, and a bunch of fun things to use in the campaign and beyond. Even outside the campaign, some of these elements will start creeping into your regular sessions, changing the way you play Maladum.
Okay, so let’s unpack all of that and have a closer look at it all…
Why does that door have eyes?
Oblivion’s Maw comes with a new set of miniatures for your party to test their fortune against. First of all, we have Cursed Vestiges, which are formed when energy from the Corrupter’s dimension fuses with objects on Mesa. They arrive in packs and will cause you all sorts of problems. Although they’re rarely deadly, they will cost you valuable time.
More dangerous are the Cursed Portal and the Cursed Chest, larger objects that have been infected by the same energy from that dark dimension.
And then, of course, the star of the set is the Corrupter itself. In game, the tentacles are detachable so that they can be deployed separately whenever the rules require. They are all labelled so you know which one goes where when you need to reattach them. It’s a proper monster, and your Adventurers will know it when it shows up.
The great thing about these models is that they are not restricted to this expansion, so you can drop them into your other games of Maladum whenever you like.
They are also brilliant, if you’re a Dungeon Master or Games Master who runs other fantasy roleplaying games. These models are perfect to add a nasty surprise for your players or to act as a challenging boss fight.
Play your cards right
This expansion comes with a fresh set of cards. First up is the campaign log, similar to the one from Dungeons of Enveron. Just like the Dungeons of Enveron Campaign, this is a handy way to keep track of how you’re doing in the campaign and any effects your actions have had.
The Corrupter adds a set of unique rules, so it comes with a useful reference card included to save you flicking through the book in the middle of a game.
As you’ll know from playing the main campaign, the Event deck plays a key role in adding flavour and unpredictability to your Quests. This expansion comes with 15 new cards that are themed to suit its campaign, but they can also be added to regular Quests to keep you on your toes. These include the potential to unleash new Wandering Beasts, spawned as otherworldly energy leaks through dimensional breaches, alongside thematic events, and more location agnostic effects such as new traps and environmental hazards.
If you have the Ale and Adventure expansion you can benefit from a new Side Quest card and a Hidden Location card. The Side Quest adds a lingering effect to your games until you complete it. Once picked up, you’re going to be trying to control the extra energies that are flowing because of the Corrupter’s presence on Mesa. You’ll be racing against a countdown, fending off Otherworldly creatures, and deactivating arcane pillars and portals to bring things back under control.
And finally, there’s the Mysterious Gateway, a new Hidden Location. It shows up as a portal, and if any Adventurer steps through, they gain an experience point. Presumably because they’ve witnessed something deeply unsettling and are now wiser… or traumatised.
Venture into a new battlefield
The expansion includes four sheets of new terrain. Multi-level layouts were first introduced to Maladum in the Beyond the Vaults expansion, but this is the first time they’re used as part of a narrative campaign, and you don’t have to buy the Fantasy Dungeon Terrain. Alongside the raised platforms and walkways, you’ll find interactive elements like secret doors, plinths, and arcane pillars, all playing a key role in the new Quests.
The new terrain reflects the setting of the campaign, Hyberia, located in the freezing north of Enveron. Its six new Quests take advantage of the gameplay options provided by the new terrain elements and, as with the main campaign, have a branching structure to maximise replayability.
The campaign focuses on the actions of the Malagaunt again, and this time he is focusing his energy on bringing in extra powers from dark dimensions. Your job as a party is to stop him from getting his hands on a set of talismans that he needs, and ultimately leads to boss fight against the Corrupter.
What makes this campaign stand out is how its effects spill over into the rest of your games. Once it starts, weakened dimensional barriers mean Otherworldly creatures can show up in any Quest, anywhere in Enveron. So it’s worth dealing with the problem quickly, before it spreads too far.
Trying to avoid oblivion’s maw
The Corruptor is unlike anything you’ve faced in Maladum so far. It doesn’t always appear all at once, sometimes it only partially manifests with just its tentacles breaking through. Those are tough enough, but when the full creature eventually turns up whole, you are going to have to be prepared. The Corrupter hits hard, and you’re going to have to remove all the tentacles before you can even get to the main body. Sometimes those tentacles will regenerate, all while you’re facing other adversaries at the same time too.
You also want to be very careful when you stood next to it because, not only is it throwing a lot of dice at you, but if you’re Stunned or Defeated, it will eat you whole. That removes the victim from the game forever, so taking on this foe should be a memorable challenge!
Luckily, there are some interesting new rules that can help you out, which also help to bring this expansion to life. Your party are going to have to take advantage of the strategies available to them with the multi-level terrain, if for no other reason than to keep their distance from the Corrupter. There are also rules for the Portals that open during the campaign, the talismans you’ll need to collect, and the Wandering Beasts that stalk the icy ruins.
Some rules will present more of a challenge to your Adventurers, such as the Hazardous rule which means an item can hurt you when you use it if you’re unlucky. Similarly, the new dice that are used whenever you face the Corrupter, or its tentacles, make those encounters unpredictable, and deadly.
There are two new die types: the Maw die and the Tentacle die. The Tentacle die can potentially apply status effects such as Bludgeoning and Sharp, or remove items from your inventory. That’s sure to make facing the tentacles unpredictable and interesting. Then there is the Maw die, which is either going to do more normal damage, or more interesting things, like summoning creatures from other dimensions to fight against you.
New Loot
One of the most fun things about an expansion like this are the new toys you get to play with, so you’ll be pleased to hear that there’s a whole set of new tokens for your Adventurers to find.
Some of them will be helpful in this expansion specifically, such as a rope to help you move between levels or items that aid you against the types of enemies you’ll face in the Quests. This could be more mundane items like the Titanbane that gives you the reach to keep the Corrupter at a distance, or Relics like the Abyssal Trophy which gives you an edge against Otherworldly creatures. There are also some interesting new gear to craft and the materials to create them. This includes the Astral Arbiter, a powerful axe that also lets you fire bursts of energy, and the Liberator of Souls which is a staff that you can Channel to cut though the armour of Revenants. There is even some footwear, the Skystriders, that help you jump further and higher, which will be very useful moving around these new multi-level arenas.
Dive into the action
That’s Oblivion’s Maw expansion. As you can see, there’s lots of new content and exciting new ways to play. Hopefully that’s given you a taste of the fun that’s coming, and you’re excited to get stuck into it.
Until then, make sure you double-check that chests and doors are really what they appear to be…
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