The RPG Duelling League
RPGDL Games => Forum Games => Topic started by: AndrewRogue on August 19, 2009, 08:42:29 PM
-
Have you heard the news? You ain't? Well pick up a paper, boy!
Things are going straight to hell in this country, I tell you. Straight to hell. We got all these "wizards" and "witches" round Arkham now... not to mention all the disapperances and the crazies they have to keep dragging off to Arkham Asylum. No sir, now they've got some crazy pagen cult down in Dunwich. Crazies, the lot of them. Running around in the woods naked, fornicating, orgies... I even hear there's been some sacrifices, and not just the kind with chickens, no sir. The police ain't doing nothing about it either. If this mess don't clean up soon, we God fearing Americans are going to have to go down and fix them up but good. I don't want no crazies coming up here to Arkham. Bad enough already.
---
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, to round 2 of Let's Play Arkham Horror! With the DL fresh off a victory over the Unspeakable One, I think it is time to up the stakes a bit.
We're going to be adding in some expansions this time! So, this time around, we shall be playing with...
Arkham Horror
Dunwich Horror (Board Expansion)
The Black Goat of the Woods (Card Expansion)
Epic Battles (Chunk from the Kingsport Horror Board Expansion)
Personal Stories (Chunk from the Innsmouth Horror Board Expansion)
...so please feel free to brush up on the rules to these expansions over at http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_minisite_sec.asp?eidm=6&esem=4
Things are going to be largely the same as last time. Turns will be broken into Upkeep/Movement and Encounters and deadlines to finish your actions will be 48 hours (and STRICTLY enforced this time around, no fooling). I'm going to limit the game to 6 players this time to try and help things flow a little smoother (8 really is a lot, especially on the boards) and, as an added bonus, this time each player will get to choose their investigator from a pool of two. Yay options!
In the interest of getting more random exposure, the investigators will be fully random from any expansion (unless they REALLY depend on having their core expansion in, such as having a power that is utterly useless in the game as it stands. If an item is needed or something, I'll dig it out), as will the GoOs. I'll be redrawing Azathoth or Hastur if they show up. Beyond that, I might swing the difficulty up or down one step depending on how evil the investigators/GoO you get are. GoO and Herald (should I choose to use one) will be posted AFTER investigators are chosen, so chooooose wisely. <3
Priority will be given to those who weren't in the last game at all, then those who came in late and then those who got to play fully. Game start time will be determined once I have a full roster of players, but I can't imagine it is that far away. Please only sign-up if you really think you can manage the game, keep your attention around and think you can make the deadline at least 95% of the time. If you have any questions or comments, you know where to reach me. With any luck, Ashley wil Co-Mod for me again so you can possibly direct questions at her as well.
Our Intrepid Investigators
1. Smashy
2. RC
3. Snow
4. Yoshi
5. Bardiche
6. Tal
The Thousand Young
Sopko, Shale, Yakumo, Strago
-
Clearly the solution is to throw a nade at the gates.
(/in)
-
In diddly in.
-
I'll jump onto the list of Dark Young.
Also, I don't think whoever drew Shub-Niggurath had ever actually seen a goat before.
-
I have no objection to dying horribly to creatures that are beyond my meager understanding.
-
Oh, by the by. Are individual plots for the investigators in?
-
You know what? Sure thing. Personal Stories are awesome too, so might as well include them.
-
I'm in this junk. Never played Arkham before, don't care if I learn by exploding.
-
I'm in if there's room.
-
I'd play~
-
Guess I'm going to try this even though I don't know how to play. Because why not.
-
Guess I'm going to try this even though I don't know how to play. Because why not.
-
Oh man me please.
-
And that gives us exactly 6 brand new players, with four players sitting in the wings. Fun times. Fun times.
Thousand Young, since there are four of you, would you guys mind helping me out with guiding new players along and filling in if anyone drops/misses their turn repeatedly?
Other than that, I'll dish out investigators tonight or so, barring any major disruptions, and we'll get started in a day or three.
-
Gladly.
-
Hm. Already full? Farfegnugen.
-
You can choose from the two investigators below your name. Please post your choice. Feel free to discuss the matter here or at #rpgdlarkhamhorror. If you have any rules question, hit me up or review the rulebooks, please. Thanks!
Our Intrepid Investigators
1. Smashy
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Daisy_Walker
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Gloria_Goldberg
2. RC
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Jim_Culver
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Kate_Winthrop
3. Snow
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Leo_Anderson
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Lily_Chen
4. Yoshi
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/%22Ashcan%22_Pete
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Joe_Diamond
5. Bardiche
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Dexter_Drake
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Wilson_Richards
6. Tal
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Tony_Morgan
http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/George_Barnaby
-
I wish I wasn't at work so I could munch on people for debatery on who to choose. ;_;
(Granted, off a glance, looks like I know who I'll pick, but my kneejerk could be entirely mistaken)
-
Interesting choices... on the one hand, going with Jim and the power of jazz will likely allow me to be able to make a horror check once in a while, but I run the risk of raising the terror level every time I die or go bonkers, and I don't think undead are common enough to make instagibbing them worth it. On the other hand, Kate and the power of SCIENCE gives me a fairly good shot at closing gates, plus fairly good sneaking ability to avoid the monsters that would likely leave the poor girl a gibbering wreck... hmmm... leaning Kate on this one, but I could be swayed.
-
Let's see... From what it looks like, this is a choice between less costly spellcasting and tome reading, and easier Other World exploring, since they're about even in all other aspects. Victory via gates should be more possible this time since we're guaranteed to not get Hastur, so I'm leaning towards Gloria, but I'm still open to sugestions.
-
Don't discount how awesome -1 sanity costs can be; you may want to review a list of the spells and see just how many have a cost of 1.
-
Hm... I'm thinking I'll want to go with Ashcan Pete, but if anyone can help me out with this choice, it'd be appreciated~
-
For those who aren't familiar, Personal Stories are essentially character quests. If you meet the Pass requirements first, you get the green card (Success!) and if you meet the fail requirements first, you get the red card (Failure!).
-
Don't discount how awesome -1 sanity costs can be; you may want to review a list of the spells and see just how many have a cost of 1.
... Didn't realize there were tuns of 1-cost spells out there. Leaning towards Daisy for now, but I still wouldn't mind playing Gloria.
-
Hmmm. Which of the investigators should I pick? Anderson has a more attractive loot list than Lily, but Lily's skill could be really useful and she does have superior stats and her starting loot is acceptable. I keep having the notion that Lily would be better in a campaign where we go to kick ancient sealed evil in the face and may be lacking otherwise, but Leo... doesn't impress me much.
-
Punching out the Ancient One might not be a viable option, though? I mean, getting rid of two doom tokens for free would be nice... if she doesn't die or go bonkers first. Granted, Lily still looks like the better pick regardless, but on the other hand, Leo gets a free ally, maybe you could luck into starting off with someone good? I dunno.
-
When we played at DLCon, Lily's PAWNCH did in fact come into play. It's not easy to avoid dropping in combat for an entire game, but it's possible.
-
Huh, that'll teach me to question these things.
-
DLCon lacks a certain being that hates us about as much as the GoOs do: Hatbot.
-
Believe me, normal die are just as spiteful and sassy as Hatbot is.
-
But are normal dice actively evil?
Also, I'm going to go ahead and choose Daisy Walker.
-
But are normal dice actively evil?
Yes. Yes they are.
-
Hmmm, I guess I'll bite the other way and pick Leo Anderson. The PS ability actually looks good, and his skills is pretty useful. Lily would be nice in a decidedly combat-oriented endgame, but I have no faith in my ability to avoid the failure condition and stat-wise, she isn't significantly better than Leo outside the Stamina/Sanity flexibility.
-
Posting to confirm that I'll be going with Kate Winthrop.
-
Wise fwom youw gwave
-
Alrighty then. I'm gonna go with Joe Diamond~
-
Game will be starting once we have all the investigators locked, or on Tuesday, whichever ends up being easier for me. If you have not chosen an investigator by then, you will be replaced. Thanks!
-
So guys. Considering.
Dexter Drake has Shrivelling, and I have a bit more options with spells. His Lore is pretty good, too, as is his Speed, so I could get around a little fast. His ability 'Sorcerer' doesn't sound to be too difficult to unlock: two tomes to reduce all San cost for spells by 1! His negative situation isn't also too bad: chuck one spell. I start with 3.
On the other hand, Wilson can earn money instead of having encounters, and I start with a Motorcycle and Shotgun: both pretty good, I gather from last game. He also gets 2 Unique Items, and an Elder Sign is Unique? Unlimited Focus makes it ezpz for me to adjust to situations, and none of his stats look too bad. If I can get $15, I can even disable three Terror Track movements, and the negative one can be circumvented by spending/giving away my Clue Tokens before it happens.
Clearly I'm not aware if Personal Stories can have both Pass and Fail occur, but both my choices look decently good to me. I'm leaning towards Wilson because Motorcycle + Shotgun + 2 Unique Items appeals to me, and spells feel a little risky since you need to first pass a spell and then a combat check rather than just straight-on combat-check successing.
Thoughts?
-
Hm, on looking at my choices closer, leaning Tony Morgan now.
While I like George Barnaby's unique ability, I noticed he doesn't actually START with any Clue Tokens. How does one get those anyway? If it's relatively easy that may be a better choice than I thought. Passing his PS gives a mediocre reward from what I can tell and failing it looks like it hurts, and is relatively easy to do. So basically the only advantage I see is that awesome unique ability.
On the other hand, Tony Morgan's unique abilities look solid too, and his PS things... look okay. I'd much rather fail it I think? In which case it looks pretty good. And he actually starts with some Clue Tokens.
Actually, I'm not really sure which is better overall having never played the game. Any thoughts, opinions, important things I overlooked?
---
Bardiche, I'd honestly say Wilson looks better as well? Though I can see either way. Granted, never having played before, etc., so I could be horribly wrong.
-
At the beginning of the game, Clue tokens are randomly dropped on a few different locations, and another one is put on a random location every turn. Anybody who ends their movement at a location with a Clue gets it. You can also get them through encounters, and from some items and monsters. You can't count on picking one up every turn, but they're not that hard to get. You can also trade dead monsters for them at the Science Building.
Bear in mind that you can't share Clues with other characters. Your clues are yours and no one else's, unless there's a special ability or effect in play that says otherwise.
-
I... really don't know. Neither looks that great to me, though this is probably my Horror check paranoia talking. Overall, though, Drake probably has the better PS if you can manage it? Probably easier to drive insane if he has to rely on spells to pass combat checks, though. Plus I can't deny that I'd find it hilarious to have two investigators that died last game kicking around. Wilson is... eh... it'd be nice to have some insurance against the vorticies in Dunwich sucking up monsters and raising the terror level, but $15 seems like it'd be pretty hard to come by in time, and you can't just get a bank loan and pay the money either. So yeah... I'm not really sure what you should go with here.
-
On another note... Cultists tend to suck, unless we draw someone like Eihort for our GoO (In which case they still suck but argh Brood Token), so unless a Cultist hangs out with another mob George's PS shouldn't be too hard to get a quick pass on.
-
Random opinions from the sidelines:
- Shotgun/Motorcycle are really good items to start with. Wilson's starting equip loadout is insanely awesome.
- You can't trade clues, but you CAN trade money, so any personal stories requiring money should be easy to pass with a little cooperation.
- Clues aren't too hard to come by, but it'll take a few turns to gather 5 of them in a six player game.
- Terror level is mostly irrelevant since you're guaranteed to not get Hastur. Don't worry about the Dunwich vortices raising terror, worry about them waking up the Dunwich Horror.
- Daisy's already been picked, and is good at tomes and spells. Depending on how you play she might either synergize with a Dexter pick, or they'd get in each other's way resourcewise, depending on how many tomes and spells come out. Latter is probably more likely, sadly.
-
Mod Reminder: Game is set to begin tomorrow evening. If you have not chosen an investigator by 6pm PST on Tuesday (or provided me a doctor's note on why you could not), one of the Thousand Young will be taking your place. Thanks ^_^
-
Eh, I'll go Wilson then. -nod-
Shotguns worked for Alex last game, so they should work for me this game.
-
Hm, guess I'll go with Tony Morgan unless someone convinces me otherwise before Andrew starts!
-
Best PS failure ever~
-
Random Possessions are as follows:
Daisy/Smashy
Lucky Cigarette Case, Alien Statue, Red Sign of Shudde M'ell, Bravery
Kate/RC
Dynamite, Ancient Spear, Flesh Ward, Mists of Releh, +1 Sneak
Leo/Snow
Flamethrower, Motorcycle, Bravery, Richard Upton Pickman
Joe/Yoshi
.357 Magnum, Map of Arkham, Grapple
Wilson/Bard
Ritual Blade, Cultes Des Goules, +1 Luck
Tony/Tal
Moltov Cocktail, Powder of Ibn-Ghazi, Dodge
Add these to your fixed possessions and you have your starting character. Be sure to keep track of your items and post your character sheet at least every upkeep. You may see what items do here: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Main_Page
Game topic will go up soon, so please get your character sheets arranged.