Saturday, December 31, 2016

Headline:  "I've never had this much money in this game" or "Amanda Sharpe, anime folk hero!"

Ancient One

Atlach-Nacha - looks the most like Trump!

Investigators 

Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Suz (In honor of Rachelle, who is too sick to play :(  )
Amanda Sharpe "The Co-ed", the Student - Rob
Joe Diamond, the Private Investigator ("And in this one, he's a little crooked") - Justin

End of Game

We beat the AO!  It took a very long time for him to awaken.  We only attacked twice, and he attacked us only once, taking an Ally.

House Rules/Game Setup
New setup on the table!  I'll try to post a picture.

AO specifically chosen because he looks like Trump.
Herald, Guardian, and Institution all chosen to suit the President-Elect.

We chose any investigator we wanted, out of all investigators.  
We think we'll end up fighting him, since sealing gates will be too difficult.  Justin holds out hope that we can close all of the gates.

Expansions in play
Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
Dunwich Horror
The King in Yellow
Kingsport Horror
The Black Goat of the Woods
Innsmouth Horror
The Lurker at the Threshold

Heralds, Guardians, and Institutions

Chosen to align most closely with the impending Trump administration:

Herald:  Father Dagon (fishy, untrustworthy, and has "plans in motion" - "the Putin of the spirit world," according to Justin)
Institution:  Organized Crime (duh)
Guardian:  Hypnos (is this all a bad dream?)

Highlights

  *  Roll to see who'd go first:  1-Rob, 2-Suz, 3-Justin
  *  Patrice and Amanda go shopping at the Curiositie Shoppe because their personal stories both require them to draw Unique Items (Patrice - 2, Amanda - 3)
  *  We are all doing very well with money (thank you, Organized Crime)
  *  Patrice ends the game with 27 clue tokens.  She gives them all to Amanda, who grapples the AO and empties her shotgun into it.
  *  We were in Other Worlds at the same time often, even benefiting from not being in Arkham for a negative Mythos effect.
  *  A rumor came and went, thanks to our Egyptian artifacts.
  *  MANY (3-4?) Mythos cards came out that only caused monster surges and no gates/doom tokens being added.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Headline: "TEAMWORK and Good Luck Save Us All!"

Ancient One

Atlach-Nacha

Investigators
Leo Anderson, the Expedition Leader - Susan (chosen because he's good all-around, and helpful)
Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Susan (chosen so we could have someone go to Other Worlds)
Lola Hayes, the Actress - Rob (chosen for skills)
Silas Marsh, the Sailor - Rob (chosen for mobility)

End of Game
We fought Atlach-Nacha, and he ate all but 3 of our allies (we had 8 total).  We kicked butt.  In 3 hours.

Of particular help in the end fight:  

• Luke used the Library Use skill and Storm of Spirits spell, along with some help from Prof. Armitage (so much for your Magical Resistance, Atlach-Nacha!).  He didn't fight much in the game, and pretty much went wherever Lola went, but in the end, the dreamer was one of the best fighters - because he used his Lore instead of his Fight.
• Lola had mad skillz.
• Silas had  Richard Upton Pickman (so much for your Physical Resistance, Atlach-Nacha!)
• Leo had lots of tasty allies.

House Rules/Game Setup
It had been a while since we played, so I suggested that we choose our favorite Investigators, without knowing who the Ancient One would be.  Then I shuffled the A.O.s, fanned them out, and Rob chose one at random.  Our strategy, once we chose Atlach-Nacha:  gain allies and fight him.

Expansions in play

Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
Dunwich Horror
The King in Yellow (we use the new cards from this, but we never have actually had the 'play' enter play)
Kingsport Horror - we left out Heralds and Guardians
The Black Goat of the Woods
Innsmouth Horror

Highlights

* We had a nice day and a tasty dessert before the game, so we were feeling good and the game was surprisingly kind to us.

* We started with a good number of weapons between the 4 Investigators - nothing huge, but a good amount.

* Lola "Called a Friend," Luke, to her underwear - I mean, the Underworld.  Since Luke had the Gate Box, he could be called to an other world and return through any gate.  We almost closed all of the gates at one point.  Due to all of the closed gates, it was easy to buy allies.

* Leo used clues in order to defeat a Yithian monster.  I expressed that it was a funny/lame way to win, and Rob said, "Leo read a book that said 'if you ever meet a Yithian, kick it in the knee cap.'"

* Leo gained an ally at the start (Duke), and at least one or two more in encounters.  For example, in Independence Square, he helped someone fight a Child of the Goat that popped up (shwing!), then rolled the success from combat to get an ally.  

* Silas is an "able seaman," so any female investigators in his area gain pregnancy and lose movement.  (Actual special ability:  "Movement: When in an Aquatic location, Silas may pay 2 movement points to move to any other aquatic location. Silas also gains a +2 bonus to all skill checks in aquatic locations.")

* Leo had a Carcosan Page, who delivered stuff and helped people share.  Good job, expedition leader.

* It's worth noting again that the Library Use skill + Storm of Spirits spell = awesome.

Saturday, March 26, 2011

Headline: "Exciting new adventurers make many delicious friends"

Ancient One
Atlach-Nacha

Investigators
Anges Baker, the Waitress - Susan (chosen for being a badass)
Silas Marsh, the Sailor - Rob (chosen to travel easily between boards, what with 3 board expansions and all)
William Yorick, the Gravedigger - Denis
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Robbilee (¡cluez!)
...latecomers:
Ursula Downs, the Explorer - Justin
Roland Banks, the Fed - Rachelle (Rach asked Susan to choose for her - never running out of clues or $)


End of Game
We successfully defeated Atlach-Nacha, and no investigators were sacrificed.
However, all allies were sacrificed. We would like to observe a moment of silence for:

...Tom "Mountain" Murphy...
...Erica Carlyle...
...Professor Armitage...
...Terrible Old Man...
...Professor Rice...
...Ruby Standish...

House Rules/Game Setup - We just bought the Innsmouth Horror expansion
Ancient One chosen randomly, after the new AOs from Innsmouth Horror were added [Rob shuffled the deck of AOs, Susan drew Glaaki, but we had him last time, so our second card was Atlach-Nacha]
Investigators chosen from 4 possible randomly dealt NEW (Innsmouth) investigators, after finding out the Ancient One's abilities and discussing winning tactics.
Rachelle and Justin entered the game around the 7th doom token.

Expansions in play
Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
Dunwich Horror
The King in Yellow (we use the new cards from this, but we never have actually had the 'play' enter play)
Kingsport Horror - we left out Heralds and Guardians this time, so we could learn the additional IH rules
The Black Goat of the Woods
Innsmouth Horror

Highlights
* Silas became both the Captain of the White Ship and the Deputy. Fitting, since he's a sailor and wins for "well-traveled."
* Denis optimistically took his character to the Woods first, like Justin had done a few times recently, and had a bad encounter, like Justin always does there.
* Patricia ROCKED, and was very Inspiring throughout the game.
* Patricia was also often sent to the streets to busk after being kicked out of locations due to band encounters. 4 times in a row!
* Agnes had 3 Wither spells!
* Ursula cleaned up the rift openings in Kingsport with the tommy gun but didn't get to use it!
* We all earned skills right at the end, thanks to defeating the rumor The Terrible Experiment. Agnes, Silas, and William went to Misk U, kicked @$$ and took names - I mean, monster trophies. In particular, Silas took out a Leng Spider with a toughness of 4 due to Atlach-Nacha, Agnes took out a Ghost and a Dark Young, and William took out another Dark Young and a Deep One. Rockin'!