Sunday, June 3, 2012

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, January 28, 2012 ...later



Headline: "How 'Bout Nyarlathotep?  He's Always Fun." - Rob

Ancient One
Nyarlathotep

Investigators
Roland Banks, the Fed - Susan
Lola Hayes, the Actress - Rob
Hank Samson, the Farmhand - Robbilee
Luke Robinson, the Dreamer - Denis


End of Game
We won!
I'm pretty sure we ended up fighting the A.O.  We assumed that with a short doom track, we'd have to fight him, and then the game ended up giving us Mythos cards that didn't add doom tokens.

House Rules/Game Setup
See the post headline for how we chose the A.O.

We were dealt random investigators and chose one from the 4 we were dealt, since we chose the A.O. specifically.  We found it amusing how we went from a "smartypants" theme (see the game we played before this) to the ones we were dealt.  It seemed that there was a theme to the 4 we each got, and that each set of characters would make an interesting movie:

Susan got an action movie:  Fed, Private Eye, Gangster, Bounty Hunter
Rob got a romantic comedy:  Bootlegger, Dilettante, Actress, Scientist
Robbi got a documentary, or possibly gay porn:  Farmhand, Astronomer, Doctor, Magician
Denis got a Russian Soviet-era independent film:  Gravedigger, Handyman, Dreamer, Spy

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
* Roland couldn't get past a warlock.
* Roland's encounter in The Dreamlands:  Space 1 - gained 2 sanity, space 2 - went to the Hospital and gained 4 stamina.
* Roland escapes devouring several times, two of which were in a row.
* We constantly got Mythos cards that had a gate opening at the Unnameable and a clue appearing at the Woods.  Again, several times in a row.
* Hank's encounter in the Other World:  "You inadvertently summon the Haunter of the Dark to carry you through the void.  You must lose sanity equal to your current stamina, or stamina equal to your current sanity, but gain 2 clue tokens for each monster in the sky."
* With 2 doom tokens needed to fill the doom track, we assumed the game would be over any time.  "There's no time to seal gates!" ...2 hours and at least 10 turns later, we won.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Headline: "Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here"

Ancient One
Yibb-Tstll   

Investigators
George Barnaby, the Lawyer - Susan
Monterey Jack, the Archaeologist - Rob
Norman Withers, the Astronomer - Robbilee
Mandy Thompson, the Researcher - Denis

End of Game
We abandoned the game at 6 out of 11 doom tokens, with no gates closed or sealed in 1 hour of play.  Two rumors came out (one at a time), and there were plenty of clues for Yibb-Tstll to use against us.  However, there was no way to pick up the clues, due to the mummies in our environment (see below).

House Rules/Game Setup
Other possible headlines: 

"A Bunch of Brains Can't Save You!" (lawyer, archaeologist, astronomer, researcher)
"This Game Continues to Suck." - Rob
"Yibb's Secret Band of Mummies Keep Investigators from Fighting Back" (get it? "band"? lol...)

We most likely chose an Ancient One at random, but it's possible that Denis chose this one, since he hadn't played in a while.

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

* The game began in a promising way, with unique items and skills during Arkham encounters.
* Rob toasts and shows off an actual glass of whiskey:  "I'm preventing sanity loss."
* Mummies are worse than rumors!  Due to a "clothing drive," we could barely move for 3 full rounds at the beginning of the game.

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