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, April 23, 2016

Headline:  "Bokrug, we will come back for you!"

Ancient One

Bokrug

Investigators (in the order they were chosen)

Lola Hayes, the Actress - Justin
Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist - Susan
George Barnaby, the Lawyer - Rob
Jenny Barnes, the Dilettante - Justin
William Yorick, the Gravedigger - Susan
Kate Winthrop, the Scientist - Rob

End of Game

We got tired.  6/12 or 13 doom tokens, and we were pooped.

House Rules/Game Setup
Justin selected Bokrug because we had never played him before.

Rob randomly selected 6 investigators, and we took turns selecting two each, ala gym class.
This was a fun, new way to choose the investigators.

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

[none]

Highlights

  *  Hound of Tindolos was the first monster drawn...
*  Due to the monster trophies he starts with, Yorrick was able to complete his personal story on the first turn by being blessed.
*  My lawyer is tainted, wanted and his allies get devoured... I think he is Better Call Sal.-Rob

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Headline:  "Gates or Death?"

Ancient One

Tsathoggua

Investigators

Wendy Adams, the Urchin - Susan
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle
Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Rob
Diana Stanley, the Reformed Occultist - Justin ("Or so she claims!")

End of Game

6 gates sealed, 9/13 doom tokens

House Rules/Game Setup
Rachelle selected Nyogtha because we had never played him before.We randomly selected the AO and decided to keep it.

Each player chose his/her own character.

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

[none]

Highlights

  *  The Hound of Tindolos is ridiculous!  Don't mess with that.
  *  Patrice had a lot of friends riding on the motorcycle with her.
  *  Diana had 9 monster trophies (monsters, not toughness) by the end of game.
  *  Wendy had 4 gate trophies by the end of game.
  *  We discarded a second rumor, and the first never was activated.
  *  There's a really sucky card that gets rid of all of the clue tokens on the board.
  *  There's a really cool card that would let you summon the AO and lower the number of doom tokens on its track.

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Headline:  "Ellie's First Arkham Horror Game"

Ancient One

Nyogtha, Tendrils from Below

Investigators

Akachi Onyele, the Shaman - Susan
Darrell Simmons, the Photographer - Robbi (left after several turns)
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle (did you have to ask? ;) )
Ursula Downs, the Explorer - Young James (started on 3rd turn)
Wendy Adams, the Urchin - Rob
Silas Marsh, the Sailor - Justin (started on 4th turn)

End of Game

1.  Silas Marsh passes his personal story, seals the last gate, and is devoured.
If we kept playing...
2.  Ursula comes back from The Underworld and closes and seals the gate.

House Rules/Game Setup
Rachelle selected Nyogtha because we had never played him before.

Each player was given 4 investigators to choose from.

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

[none]

Highlights

  *  Susan was the first player on the first turn.  She encountered a Leng Spider, used all of her skills and cards, and couldn't beat it (needed 2 successes, had many dice, used Patrice's clues, ultimately did not succeed).  Got injured.  An auspicious beginning...
  *  Rob, to Robbi:  "Injuries are fun!  Just ask Susan..."
     Susan:  "What?  I can't hear you."  (Hearing Loss Injury)
  *  Silas Marsh, monster curbstomper extraordinaire, made a very lovely fingerpainting while recovering at the Asylum. It inspires children to this day.
  *  Ursula learned from being lost in Atlantic City of the Great Race and found Find Gate!
  *  Wendy Adams hung out in the Woods a lot and finally achieved their goal of becoming a bona fide gang member
  *  Committing an act of benevolent terrorism, Wendy Adams' bomb spectacularly failed to explode. At all. Due to the other investigators totally stealing the glory
  *  Wendy placed her time bomb, called a cultist to get killed by it, and gave Ursula the Elder Sign on her way into The Underworld (Ursula was on her way out).  They had a touching interaction, discussing female badassery, and Wendy stole a bunch of Ursula's shit (derringer and kerosene).
  *  4 hour game

Friday, January 3, 2014

Headline:  "A Midwinter's Night Dream" or "We whipped it, we whipped it good"

Ancient One

Zhar

Investigators

Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Susan
Amanda Sharpe, the Student - Rob
Joe Diamond, the Private Eye - Justin 

Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle
Mandy Thompson, the Researcher - Robbilee
Gloria Goldberg, the Author - "Young" James

End of Game

We closed and sealed 6 gates, with 10/11 doom tokens on the track.  That was a close one!

House Rules/Game Setup
Robbi randomly selected 3 Ancient Ones, and James selected Zhar from those three.  

Since this is James's first Arkham Horror game, and some of us are very tired (we're starting at 9pm), we elected not to use Heralds, Guardians, or Institutions.

We each chose a character of our choice, once we realized how tough Zhar was going to be (why do the new players always choose such tough AOs?).  Then we determined relationships:

Luke and Amanda:  Business Associates
Patrice and Mandy:  Socially Connected
Joe and Gloria:  Collectors

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

[none]

Highlights

  *  The game started with Justin and James dropping all of the little tokens on the floor.
*  Then Justin spent ~1 hour describing every aspect of the game to James in great detail.
*  Due to the rumor drawn on the 2nd turn, the 1st player ends up having to draw Innsmouth Look cards.  When it's Rob's turn, he has to draw THREE of them.
*  Rachelle's and Robbi's relationship comes in really handy - they end up getting a lot of Allies. It's pretty cool to be Socially Connected.  Rachelle had 3 allies in the end:  Anna, Ruby, and some other dude.
*  Rob exclaims "I'm just a sexy student, all I have is a professor!" in reference to how much money someone had during a play. All he has is professor Morgan.
*  For an extended period of time, we had the Environment (Mystic) Mythos card "Noden's Favor," which made it cost 2 fewer clue tokens to seal gates.  Woohoo!
*  Robbi wins the game as she rolls to close and seal the final gate.  Patrice gave Mandy a few clues to help out at the end.  Also of note, Robbi allowed Greta to sit on her lap for the final roll.  :)
*  While waiting around for the last few investigators to return to Arkham and close and seal the final gates, Luke and Gloria blessed a few other investigators.
*  Susan actually went insane from her bad luck, consistently missing horror check rolls.
*  "It was a wonderful experience," notes James.
*  "I'm sleepy," notes Rob.

Saturday, November 16, 2013

Headline:  "Goat Game."

Ancient One

Shub-Niggurath

Investigators

Ursula Downs, the Explorer - Susan
Roland Banks, the Fed - Rob
Carolyn "Tell Me About Your Mother" Fern, the Psychologist - Justin 

Marie Lambeau, the Entertainer - Rachelle

End of Game

We tried to seal gates, only got 5 (we were one turn away), and Shub woke up.  
We fought hard and lost good men and women along the way.  
Roland Banks was the first to go, being tired after single-handedly defeating the Dunwich Horror.
Ursula followed, screaming "Take Me Instead!"
The only memory remaining of Carolyn Fern were patrons of Hibb's Roadhouse who complained she was a sore loser, having threatened them with a flamethrower rather than paying up at a card game.
Marie saved the day, with one final possible dice throw that had the one necessary success.

House Rules/Game Setup
Rob specifically chose Shub-Niggurath and the corresponding Herald, Black Goat of the Woods.
Based on that, Justin and Rob chose Hypnos as Guardian and The Bureau of Investigations as Institution.

We each chose a character from four dealt at random.  Then we determined relationships:

Ursula and Roland – Take Me Instead

Carolyn and Marie – Hunted

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

Black Goat of the Woods
Hypnos
The Bureau of Investigations

Highlights

It was a tough game, with lots of twists and turns.  It looked bleak for a while, but there was always a glimmer of hope, as Rob reminded us.

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Headline:  "Rubble Rubble"  [ala Hamburgler]

Ancient One
Shudde M'ell

Investigators
Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Susan
Vincent Lee, the Physician - Rob
Jacqueline Fine, the Psychic - Justin
Mandy Thompson, the Researcher - Rachelle

End of Game
We fought and defeated Shudde M'ell

House Rules/Game Setup
Rachelle randomly chose 3 AOs, and we picked Shudde M'ell, since we hadn't played him in a while.

We chose Investigators out of 4 random ones 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. 

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
Rachelle chose these at random:
Tulzscha, The Freen Flame
Hypnos, Lord of Sleep
Miskatonic University, Academic Institution

Highlights
*  Rob's character's story required him to discard 5 clues.  He started with the spell "Vision Quest," which allows him to pick up clues from an entire neighborhood, which sped up the process of passing the personal story!

*  Rob's guy's special ability is to restore stamina.  However, he constantly won items, etc., that allowed him to get MORE stamina.
*  Susan's guy was about to sacrifice the ally Basil Elton to the AO to skip an attack, but she didn't need to.  The investigators beat Shudde.  Basil!  It's summertime currently, with really great basil.  ;)

Monday, April 1, 2013

Headline:  "We won!  APRIL FOOLS!"

Ancient One
Cthugha

Investigators
Ursula Downs, the Explorer - Susan
Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist - Susan  (exciting people doing exciting things!)
Anges Baker, the Waitress - Rob
Daisy Walker, the Librarian - Rob  (both strong, magical people)
Norman Withers, the Astronomer - Justin
Minh Thi Phan - Justin  (academic theme!  Norman's special skill is sweet, and Minh is his secretary )

End of Game
We lost the final battle.

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 Cthugha 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
Father Dagon
Bast
Bureau of Investigations

Highlights
*  Minh's synergy is doubled with the VOICE OF RA.
*  Norman and Minh got pulled through a gate during a mythos phase.  Norman came back due to his other world encounter and Minh then used find gate to follow him back.  They closed and sealed the gate the turn after they were pulled through.
*  We were only able to get rid of 8/13 doom tokens, even with Norman's special Personal Story removing 2 of them at the start of battle.
*  Agnes and Daisy were Book Club members (relationship card), making it possible for Agnes to read anything Daisy read, and Daisy could read tomes without losing sanity (librarian).

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...

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Headline:  "Strange Sightings!  An Ancient One Fights Back!"

Ancient One
Rhan-Tegoth

InvestigatorsLily Chen, the Martial Artist - Susan
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle
Usrula Downs, the Explorer - Rob
William Yorrick, the Gravedigger - Justin ("I knew him well!")Mandy Thompson, the Researcher - Robbi


End of Game
We fought and defeated Rhan-Tegoth.  It was a relatively short game, with doom tokens adding on quickly. The "Sealing the Beast's Power" Mission made the end battle much easier!

House Rules/Game Setup
Robbi chose Rhan-Tegoth out of 6 or so AOs that we don't normally play (based on frequency of certain labels).  She said he looks like he's not too bad when he's slumbering.

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
*  many "Strange Sightings"!  drawn 2x in 3 turns.

Usrula Downs, the Explorer - RobWilliam Yorrick, the Gravedigger - Justin ("I knew him well!")

Mandy Thompson, the Researcher - Robbi

we fought 'em.  we beat 'em.  "end of story." - Rachelle

Miskatonic Horror

*  rumor drawn and discarded on first turn!  no mistrust!
*  no gate opened on the actual first Mythos card in play.  this actually happened a few times during the game - no gate opening.

*  William and Lily both lost a turn on the first turn - Justin cuz he had to go to City of Great Race and have an encounter, and Susan cuz she chose to select a reward.

*  Gladiuos of Carcosa x 3!!!!

*  AO actually "fought back" with his attack against the best stamina and then turning it into a bounce-back type action.

*  luckily, Justin's character drew a mission that made the AO's combat rating lowered by 2: "Sealing the Beast's Power"

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Headline:  "You're drunk, Cthulhu, go home."

Ancient One
Cthulhu

Investigators
Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Susan
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle

Silas Marsh, the Sailor - Rob
Rex Murphy, the Reporter - Denis

Tony Morgan, the Bounty Hunter - Justin

Dexter Drake, the Magician - Heather

Wendy Adams, the Urchin - Chris

Akachi Onyele, the Shaman - Robbi

End of Game
We sealed 6 gates, and Cthulhu's doom track was filled 9/13

House Rules/Game Setup
Chris specifically chose Cthulhu, since he is new to the game. Seeing as we'd probably lose, we each picked our own Investigator out of the whole lot.  Our strategy: close and seal gates.  Use Patrice's ability to give clues to others and Wendy's starting Elder Sign to that end.

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

Miskatonic Horror

Highlights
* During the first turn, we missed out on getting 3 allies through Arkham encounters!  (Rob, Denis, Chris)  Finally, Rachelle got an ally through an encounter a little bit later on (her first ever ally).

*  Silas had a dream that he went to the administration building and tried to sell them a photograph.  (a Kingsport encounter sent him to the Dreamlands for 1 encounter, which sent him to the Administration Building for an encounter)

*  Denis:  "Dexter doesn't suck as much as expected."  Dexter kicked some monster butt!

*  Patrice had been giving Akachi clues to avoid losing all of her stamina, and after 2 fails in a row exclaimed "Roll better!"  Immediately afterward, Akachi got a success.

*  Rob draws 5 Innsmouth Looks cards and comes out Blessed!
*  Denis tries to get Rex un-Cursed by hanging out at the church, which doesn't end up working out (Luke un-Curses him with a gate trophy).  Later on, Rex gets Blessed, but he loses the Blessing soon afterwards.
*  We voted on whether or not to let a rumor trip - "World Torn Asunder" (again?!).  We decided as a group to solve it, even though it meant that no one would become Deputy of Arkham in the end.  In hindsight, it was a good decision. (Rob says, as he reads what , "I think we would have been okay the other way, too... We would have had more trophies and more bad-ass people.")
*  Patrice gave people lots of clues - very helpful/"inspiring".
*  Silas kept Kingsport's rifts and Innsmouth's monsters under control - very important, and enabled other investigators to focus on closing and sealing gates.  He also had a few special moments with Gladys Pickman of Kingsport.
*  Dexter kicked monster booty.
*  Luke sealed 2/6 gates.
*  The street rat and magician proved helpful additions to the game.  Who knew?

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Headline:  "Call Hastur, Maybe?"

Ancient One
Hastur

Investigators
Leo Anderson, the Expedition Leader - Susan
Zoey Samaras, the Chef - Robbi
Agnes Baker, the Waitress - Justin
Harvey Walters, the Professor - Rob

End of Game
Harvey used the "Call Ancient One" spell to awaken Hastur when he only had half of the doom track filled.
Then we kicked Hastur's ass.

House Rules/Game Setup
Justin randomly chose Hastur. Then we shuffled and dealt 3 investigators to every player. We discussed strategy, then selected 1 investigator each. Our strategy: control the # of monsters in Arkham (keep the terror track down), increase your luck with allies, spells, & unique items, gain many magical weapons, 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
* Robbi got rid of a rumor by discarding a Blessing and a Skill @ Misk U: the "World Torn Asunder" rumor
* Rob quote: "Susan makes more retroactive decisions than Romney."
* Harvey has a really slow speed and never really leaves the administrative building @ Misk U, except when he went to the Dreamlands and got a clue. (or just fell asleep?)
* Leo keeps hanging out at the newspaper (hoping to get a job and buy unique items). But he spills ink and gets annoyed that his book reading keeps getting interrupted.
* After kicking major ass, Harvey uses the spell "Call Ancient One."

Justin's storytelling of the game:

It was a warm September afternoon in late 1931. Professor Harvey Walters leaned back in his wooden rolling chair in the 
great empty wooden lecture hall at Miskatonic University. He had been looking up references regarding the latest trend that 
was enthralling the city: a new play known as the King in Yellow. Other than some uninformative but enthusiastic reviews, it seemed
that no one knew of who its author was nor even the publisher. Truly a curiousity.

It would be several hours before the first class of the semester. So Professor Walters decided to open the book and begin 
reading. The first scene was almost entirely unremarkable except that it had a mesmerizing meter to it. Between that and the 
warm stuffiness of the lecture hall, the professor felt his eyes getting heavy. The play took a turn toward the fantastic with 
one of the characters singing,

"Along the shore the cloud waves break,
The twin suns sink behind the lake,
The shadows lengthen
In Carcosa"

The professor closed his eyes a moment, imagining such a place. He moved his glasses down his nose and pressed on his itchy eyes.
Sparks of green relief swirled around the image of a beach on a distant planet. He felt as though he were slowly sinking backward and smiled as the dream overtook him,
never noticing the glowing green portal that had formed in the floor beneath his chair, tipping him back into the great unknown.

--

"Hastur!," shouted Zoey Samras, her cleaver neatly slicing an onion. The rest of the kitchen staff stared at her.
She had occasionally had these outbursts since she was a little girl. She knew that it was God talking to her. Her
father insisted that it was just a way to scare away husbands. That's how she became a chef.

"What did I say?" she demanded of the line cook.  "You said 'Hastur', ma'am."  
She shoved an onion wedge in his mouth. "You watch your mouth!". She dried her hands on a towel. "Mind the stew, there's something I need to take care of."

--

"Are you sure?," growled the weather-beaten face of Leo Anderson as he stabbed the remains of some meatloaf. 

"Quite sure," snapped Zoey, poking at her tuna melt. Her tone was irritated but her eyes were darting around the diner like some terrified woodland prey.
"Something horribly wicked is coming this way and we will need the very grace of God to stop it!"

Leo snarled. He wasn't a particularly religious man. Especially not since his last trip to the Yucatan, which he drank 
heavily to forget. What he found there were portents that the end of the world was coming in September. Had it not been 
for the ghastly things he saw, things that murdered his fellow expedition mates, he would have called Zoey crazy and have been
done with it. Instead he took her with the utmost seriousness.

"I'll let the others know. Stay out of trouble!"  He grabbed his hat and headed out the door.

--

Agnes Baker collected the tip, such that it was, and watched Zoey leave out the door to Velma's Diner. Her sixth sense,
as she was coming to call it since reading up on her heritage, was informing her that this was not just some idle talk amongst townsfolk.
She jotted some notes on her order pad and glanced at the electric clock on the wall. Her shift would be over in an hour.

Agnes had recently discovered her heritage as a witch while changing a light bulb not long ago. She paid a week and a half's wages
for some moldy old book on the occult which supposedly told how to cast a spell of withering. It looked simple enough.

She caught a toad and tried the spell on it, mortally embarrassed to even be attempting it. When the creature shrivelled to the size of a prune she knew
she felt a burning need to know more about her past lives. She was sure that's what was calling her. It was herself from eons long ago. 

Whatever Leo and Zoey were talking about was connected to something that killed her before. She knew she had to be careful though. 
The last thing she needed was to alert the evil of her presence. Or worse, to burn at the stake if some zealot like Zoey found out about her powers.

As her shift ended, Agnes collected her time card and purse. Where would one even look for information about something like this, she wondered.
At a bar, she reasoned. She said good night to her coworkers and headed out to Hibbs Roadhouse.

--

Zoey made the sign of the cross on the altar at the South Church. Father Michael read aloud a prayer and blessed her.
Her visions worsened since coming over from the diner. Whatever it was came from beyond space and time. It thrived on terror.
She felt that's what its goal was, it was going to seduce the city into some maddening terror somehow. She wished she knew how she even knew that.

The priest finished his benediction and she clutched at her cross, reluctantly rising from the altar.
There was only one way to get these godless liberals of Massachusetts to listen and it was going to take drastic measures to get their attention.
 
--

Professor Walters stared at the magnificent terrain. Sheer plateaus of red rock towered above him with streams of almost purple
water streaming off its edges. An enormous ringed moon hung in the greenish afternoon sky. Some kind of winged reptile flew in the distance.

Despite the arid climate he felt comfortable and almost weightless. It was quite pleasant. He continued on a path through the wilderness until he
turned a corner and happened on a monstrous winged bug -- it looked almost like a crab with housefly wings made out of fungus. It was clawing at a book.

The Professor felt the urge to kill the horrible thing, and looked around for a weapon. He wished for a gun and was puzzled to feel a sudden weight inside his jacket.
He reached inside and pulled out a pistol. He took aim and fired at the creature, who shrieked in surprise. He fired again and it slumped over.

He picked up the book it was clawing at. It had a strange yellow symbol, like three question marks around a point. He flipped open to the first page but heard a tearing sound.
The bug's skin swelled and pulsed at a mound on its back. The professor stood horrified as the hump split open to reveal the hilt of a sword.

He carefully reached out and grabbed at it, using his foot to draw the blade out of the carcass. He shook his head at the sight and continued on the strange path.

--

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Headline: "i think we did alright..." - suz, 7 months later

Ancient One
Bokrug & his beings of IB

Investigators
Skids O'Toole, the Ex-Con - Susan
Silas Marsh, the Sailor - Rob
Tommy Muldoon, the Rookie Cop - Bryan
Ursula Downs, the Explorer - Robbilee
Rita Young, the Athlete - Rachelle
Lola Hayes, the Actress - Justin

End of Game
This is being posted significantly after-the-fact, and I don't remember. Maybe Justin remembers and will comment.

House Rules/Game Setup
Again, I do not recall, but I vaguely remember that we played because "hey! Halloween is tomorrow! we should totally play Arkham Horror!"

So we might have gone through and chosen an Ancient One that we had not used very often. There were a bunch of them that were new from the latest expansion that we hadn't used yet. If someone remembers better, please let me know.

Investigators were most likely chosen from 4 possible randomly dealt investigators, after finding out the Ancient One's abilities and discussing winning tactics.

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
This is all that I wrote:
"Robbi bought lots of stuff. That's pretty exciting." - Rob

Friday and Saturday, July 8-9, 2011

Headline: "Eihort Sealing Gates ♥"

Ancient One
Eihort

Investigators
Zoey Samaras, the Chef - Susan
Marie Lambeau, the Entertainer, then Lola Hayes, the Actress - Rob
Patrice Hathaway, the Violinist - Rachelle
Finn Edwards, the Bootlegger - Justin
Wilson Richards, the Handyman - Robbilee

End of Game
We closed and sealed 6 gates. We had one or two spots left on the doom track. Patrice's generous clues were again very helpful, and Lola's "Find Gate" spell sped things up.

House Rules/Game Setup
Robbi narrowed the choice of Ancient Ones, and Rachelle made the final choice of Eihort. Justin laid out 8-10 investigators from which we each chose our characters. No Herald, no Guardian, no King in Yellow. We all got very tired, having started the game late Friday (9ish), and we put the game on hold at about 1am. Luie and Greta left it alone, so we finished Saturday night.

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 - although there were no Heralds/Guardians
The Black Goat of the Woods
Innsmouth Horror

Highlights
* On the first turn, Rob was the first player. He summoned a Shan and got devoured. Poor Marie!
* On Rob's second turn, he jumped into a gate, looking forward to using "Find Gate" and beating Susan's character back to Arkham to get Blessed due to a Mythos card. However, he got lost in time & space, due to an other world encounter.
* Finn's ability to move when a moon monster moves was pretty cool.
* Lola became deputy. :)
* Justin's character again quells the rifts by spending quality time in Kingsport.
* Patrice had many admirers: Eric Colt, Anna Kaslow, etc.
* Just as she was about to get out of jail, Patrice got lost in time & space. That was a busy spot on the board this game.
* Patrice also got banned from Miskatonic U, just like when Robbi played Patrice in our last game.
* A lot of people got injuries and madnesses: Finn suffered hearing loss, Zoey had double vision (put the knife down!!), Patrice was delirious (too much practicing?), and Wilson had necrophobia.

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.

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'!

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."

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Headline:  "Dexter Drake's bad luck doesn't hamper Joe Diamond's grappling skillz!"

Ancient One
Yig [specifically chosen, shortest doom track (weeknight)]

Investigators
Amanda Sharpe, the Student - Susan
Leo Anderson, the Expedition Leader - Rob 
Joe Diamond, the Private Eye - Justin 
Dexter Drake, the Magician - Robbilee 

End of Game
successfully defeated Yig, even though 3 out of 4 investigators were cursed.

House Rules/Game Setup
Ancient One chosen specifically, because we wanted a quick game for a weeknight.
Investigators chosen from 3 possible random investigators, after finding out the Ancient One's abilities and discussing winning tactics.
Expansions in play: 
Dunwich Horror
Kingsport Horror - this time we tried out a Guardian for the first time:  Noden
Curse of the Dark Pharaoh
The King in Yellow
Black Goat of the Woods


Highlights
*  Noden was a cool Guardian.  We will do a Herald next time.
*  Dexter had a ton of awesome shit, but shitty luck.  He raised the terror level on the first turn and closed the bank on the second turn.
*  We let a lame rumor run its course:  investigators in the streets would have been devoured
*  Leo, the expedition leader, was always "not invited."  (The other 3 investigators were often in one location, and Leo was in the complete opposite direction - by chance, of course.)
*  Joe, cursed, but with grapple, lead the fight against Yig with Dexter's shotgun.  Go Joe!

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.