If he ticks down to 0 he goes to the second form, right? Also, with no initial shield, you get an actual shot at that 10,000! I mean, it's worth a shot, right? :-)
The group where I play Sentinels most frequently has decided on the following house rules for games of Oblivaeon, and so far the games haven't been long:
1. Skip his first form and shield entirely.
As I mentioned before, this actually makes the game harder, as you'll have less turns to complete missions, and are less likely to have incapacitated hero cards in your play area (Oblivaeon's First Form '+H damage to all attacks' usually wipes out a few players early on). Counter-intuitively, in games of Oblivaeon, you want to die once in the first few turns, for the incapacitated abilities.
2. Don't add 'inevitable destruction' tokens for zones having more Scions than heroes.
This is to balance the increased difficulty from skipping his first form. Also, with less time to get prepared, defeating his second form is only possible if you ignore at least some of the enemy Scions.
The overall results have been good, not too easy and not too hard. I recommend it, at least as an option. It's the only way I've found to keep games under 2 hours.
It's been right around 4 hours in the four or so group games I've done so far. When I've soloed, it's been a tad longer - probably five on average the three or so times.
I'm still trying to get enough Sentinels Loving friends together so I can actually RUN the darn game... OblivAeon is the one mode I'm afraid to run solo on...
I too was trying to work out ways to make the Oblivaeon event a little more casual and approachable (seeing as my gaming group likes to play Sentinels on a slow business day at one of our local pubs).
The idea about skipping phase 1 and Shield sounds great to shave some time. To make up for the reduced time, each player could start with their choice of incapacitated hero?
My first swing at a custom, faster, easier ruleset was:
Starting Shield is only either "The Ceasless Ruin" or "The Effusion of Pain"
<<i.e., starting Scion is either Nixious or Borr>>
Remove Progeny, Aeon Master, Voidsoul, and Rainek Kel'Voss from the game
<<no difficulty 3 Scions, less Scions>>
Bottom of Scion reserve is shuffled Sanction, Faultless, Empyreon. Shuffle remaining Scions and put them under the Scion reserve card
<<easiest Scions first, then harder>>
At the start of game giving each player 2 Objective Cards, choose one to put on the bottom of the Mission Deck, flip the other Objective Card
<<i.e., everyone starts with a free reward>>
Remove Oblivaeon's "replace a Scion" rules, instead playing the top card of the Aeon Men deck in that Battle Zone.
<<This reduces the threat and complexity but you can't let all those Aeon Men build up in case Oblivaeon blows them up and lands a bunch of Devastation Tokens or other nasty effects.>>
If a Villain One-Shot card puts the bottom card of the Scion Reserve into play, remove that Villain One-Shot card from the game.
<<Between the Scion deck and the Oblivaeon deck, there are 5 One-Shots that put a new Scion into play. If you get rid of Oblivaeon's "replace a Scion" rules, this means you'll see max 7 Scions>>
This was a solo fight with 4 heroes ... we did pretty well. Only lost 1 environment actually. Maybe 9 incapicated heroes total? Perhaps too easy but it was faster! I actually forgot to do the thing where I played extra Aeon Men instead of replacing Scions, so that might have complicated matters more.
Permutations I'd try next are not limiting the starter Shield, either random or The Primary Objective. Not gifting a free Reward. Maybe something where a Battle Zone can't be Scion-free so either move a Scion to hassle there or play a new one if there is only one in play. Still limit the Scion deck to 7 total.
That sounds really easy to me. But I know easy for one player can still be a challenge for another.
Strangely enough, I'd say as long as the players aren't new to the game, Oblivaeon isn't top tier difficulty, like Iron Legacy or Dreamer, but closer to mid-tier, like La Capitan.
The rule variants here are not to make him easier, but a faster and more enjoyable gaming experience.
I'd agree with that assessment of his difficulty level. Which is why I'd hate to see any rules variations make him too easy. That said, I've played him as is about half a dozen times now and I'll probably just stick with that! :-)