Saturday, March 30, 2013

Headline:  "Eihort Sealing Gates, Part Deux <3"

Ancient One
Eihort

Investigators
Gloria Goldberg, the Author - Susan
Akachi Onyele, the Shaman - Susan  (she chose women for Women's History Month)
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rob
Jim Culver, the Musician - Rob  (he chose both musicians :))
Dexter Drake, the Magician - Justin
Hank Samson, the Farmhand - Justin  (one magical investigator, one physical investigator, first time with Hank)

End of Game
Sealed gates.  No bursts.

House Rules/Game Setup
We chose Investigators based on their anticipated balancing of abilities and skills, and based on their "Personal Stories."  We're using both the Personal Stories and the "Relationship" cards this time. 

Justin selected Eihort as AO at random.

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

Heralds, Guardians, and Institutions
Dunwich Horror
Nodens
Organized Crime

Highlights
*  We started off with the "Clothing Drive" Environment, which had caused us to lose in a previous game, so it was not a good sign.  However, since we had Organized Crime going on, we were still able to buy Unique Items no matter where we were.
*  Gloria, the author, continually draws tomes (while hoping to draw weapons).
*  Gloria also pulled an Ayn Rand and refused to donate money to a needy family in front of the bank.
*  There were many retainers due to the organized crime, and near the end there were also many blessings.
*  It was a relatively short and straight-forward game.  We did not have to change strategies.
*  No one used their relationships.
*  Only half of the investigators passed their Personal Stories.  None failed.
*  Dexter's skill was "Criminal," which combined nicely with the Organized Crime institution...

Friday, April 15, 2011

Headline: "An unlikely bunch of investigators narrowly escape Cthulhu's awakening"

Ancient One
Cthulhu

Investigators
Norman Withers, the Astronomer - Susan
Lola Hayes, the Actress - Rob
Akachi Onyele, the Shaman - Denis
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Robbilee
Wilson Richards, the Handyman - Justin
Jim Culver, the Musician - Boston

End of Game
We closed and sealed 6 gates. There were 12 doom tokens out of 13 on on Cthulhu's doom track.

House Rules/Game Setup
It's been a while since we've fought Cthulhu, and we've won several of the last games we've played. We were looking for a tough game. So we specifically chose Cthulhu as the Ancient One, and then we discussed winning tactics and chose investigators from all possible cards. (Hence all of the lore-heavy, mystic-types.)

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, since it was Boston's 'first time.'
The Black Goat of the Woods
Innsmouth Horror

Highlights
* There were several expressions of doubt in Boston's ability to win a particular skill check. He had one die to roll. He says, "I only roll 6's" and then proceeds to roll a 6.
* Norman became deputy in 5 turns - he started with Find Gate, Wither, Golden Sword of Y'ha-Talla, Tommy Gun, and Strong Will. flippin' sweet.
* Denis suddenly loses all of his character's stamina, and Rob turns to him and says, in a spirited manner, "Injuries are fun!" But Akachi suffers a concussion and loses all focus.
* Everyone chooses spiritual investigators, to get through Other Worlds more easily and to help close and seal gates. However, Justin says, "I'm Wilson Richards, bitch." Someone's got to stay home and clean up the streets.
* There is a mysterious rash of thefts... and Jim is implicated. He then falls into a coma and stays at the hospital for the remainder of the game.
* Patrice made a lot of allies through encounters - 3 total.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Headline: "This is the game that never ends, yes it goes on and on, my friends..."

Ancient One
Glaaki [randomly chosen by Rachelle]

Investigators
Jim Culver, the Musician - Susan (chosen for the "Dead Man's Stomp," to stomp Cultists)
"Ashcan" Pete, the Drifter - Rob (chosen to select from unique items, to find magical weapons for the end fight)
Joe Diamond, the Private Eye - Justin (twice in row... time to branch out ;))
Amanda Sharpe, the Student - Robbilee (¡skillz!)
Mandy "Tits McGee" Thompson, the Researcher - Rachelle (chosen for the re-roll option, of course)
Harvey Walters, the Professor - Denis (¡sanity!)

End of Game
We successfully defeated Glaaki, and no Servants of Glaaki ever entered play (Praise Lovecraft!).

We intended to fight Glaaki from the beginning, rather than trying to control gates. Having 6 players rather than our usual 4, the limits were different from "normal," and this seemed to be the best way to go.

However, the game was dragging on, with many gate surges and no new gates, as well as rumors that diverted our resources and efforts. We were all getting tired, so we decided to just end things in Arkham and the Other Worlds and wake Glaaki up. Yes, this is illegal. There were only 8 out of 12 doom tokens on at the time. We had few magical weapons, but slowly and surely we hacked away at Glaaki, shriveling him, and then attacking him with an Elephant Gun. The Terror Track got pretty high, but we made it with rounds to spare.

House Rules/Game Setup
Ancient One chosen randomly by Rachelle, since she isn't always in town when we play.
Investigators chosen from 3 possible randomly dealt investigators, after finding out the Ancient One's abilities and discussing winning tactics.
I forget how we chose the Guardian and Herald...

Expansions in play
Dunwich Horror
Kingsport Horror - this time we tried out both a Guardian (Bast) and a Herald (Tulzscha)
Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
The King in Yellow
Black Goat of the Woods

Highlights
* Due to Glaaki and Tulzscha, Cultists were complicated.
* "Ashcan" Pete was barred from Miskatonic U for burning books. ("Ashcan"! ha!)
* Mandy got sucked through to Another Time and stayed there for a good 4-5 turns. (not exactly a 'highlight,' but something of note..)
* Several of us went to get a Bank Loan to pay off the Mad Bomber, and hoping to have leftover cash for Magical Weapons, and ended up defaulting. There was a lot of meeting up and hastily handing over all items before defaulting.
* No one wants the Milk of Shub-Niggurath. Who would?
* There were a lot of Allies. Not enough weapons, but plenty o friends. Too bad we weren't fighting Atlach-Nacha.
* There were lots of double-entendres. Amanda Sharpe caught John LeGrasse "playing with a bone." She then "pumped Eric Colt for information."
* There were lots of double-encounters. "Go to X location and have another encouter there."

Friday, January 14, 2011

Headline:  "World Saved by Daring and Affluent Adventurers!"

Ancient One
Yibb-Tstll [specifically chosen, never played before]

Investigators
Wendy Adams, the Urchin - Susan [chosen for Elder Sign]
Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist - Rob [chosen for "archaeology"]
Jim Culver, the Musician - Justin [chosen for "strange luck"]
Darrell Simmons, the Photographer - Robbilee

End of Game
6 gates were sealed
Doom Track only reached 7

House Rules/Game Setup
Ancient One chosen specifically, because we hadn't played it before.
Investigators chosen from all possible investigators, after finding out the Ancient One's abilities and discussing winning tactics.
Expansions in play:
Dunwich Horror
Kingsport Horror
Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
The King in Yellow
Black Goat of the Woods

Highlights
*  Darrell's retainer lasted almost to the end of game.
*  Wendy, the Urchin, became Deputy.
*  "The Great Ritual" Rumor was easily dispelled.
*  Another Rumor passed while "The Great Ritual" was still out.