Azathoth vs the World!: an Eldritch Horror AAR
I'm attempting my first tabletop AAR. I'm trying to put the pictures on flickr and link them in. We will see how that goes.
Eldritch Horror is a board game in the H.P. Lovecraft Universe, so there should be a lot of killing, insanity, and magic in the game. This is my first game of Eldritch Horror so this might be a comic-disaster.
The game is very well constructed and all of the pieces punched out without even a minor tear. "Clipping" this heavy of a card stock would be difficult to say the least.
I'm following two recommendations for this game. First, I'm playing against Azathoth as suggested by the rule book for a first opponent. Second, I'm running four investigators as suggested by a forum member.
It took me about two hours to set up the game. There are a lot of different decks and all of the pieces had to be punched out and sorted.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141130441@N06/shares/G41wi8
As seen in the picture, the board is an abstract representation of the globe. The Carolina Cup holds all of the monsters that can be randomly selected. A Carolina Cup full of monsters is in honor of Brant and his nightmares about UNC Basketball vs. Moo U.
The players are set up on the left and Azathoth is set up on the right. All of the regular decks are immediately below the game board.
The game comes with four cosmic horrors. I'm against Azathoth "the idiot god at the center of all things spreading madness and death. Its seeds descend from the stars threatening to crack the world in half."
Each cosmic god has different victory conditions. Some can be defeated even after they manifest on Earth. If Azathoth appears the world is eaten. If you buy expansions you get more cosmic gods, monsters and what-not to combat.
My characters have to solve three mysteries before the doom counter goes down to 0 and Azathoth arrives on Earth and game over. As I start the game there is one open gate in Buenos Aries with a ghoul guard. There is an expedition going on in the Himalayas.
The doom clock is set at 15 to start with Azathoth. Supposedly the doom clock can actually get better instead of clicking down to 0 and lights out.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141130441@N06/shares/78G5Gt
The game is for 1-8 players and the product description and game reviews state that it works for solitaire play.
There are 12 potential characters that you can use. Ominously, the rules state that when your current character goes insane or dies that you can choose one of the remaining characters and start playing them. However, if all of the characters are dead or if the elder god has arrived you cannot start a new character.
If a character is merely killed all of its possessions are dropped where they died. But if the character is "devoured" then all of the possessions are destroyed. Looks like monster digestive systems can handle anything. The elder gods don't need Tums.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141130441@N06/shares/100q8t
Not knowing any better, I selected my four characters to have a balance of skills. My first selection is Lily Chen – The Martial Artist. She was selected first because she is a kung fu queen making a dramatic hand sign.
Lily starts out with 6 health, 6 sanity, a protective amulet and a lucky rabbit's foot. She has 2 lore, 2 influence, 2 observation, 4 strength and 3 will. She also has the special power to spend any number of health or sanity and then recover an equal number of health or sanity – whatever that means. When Lily improves a skill she may immediately improve her skill again.
She starts in Shanghi.
May my Kung Fu Queen kick evil's ass.
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Jim Culver the musician is character 2. He starts in the US South and has 3 lore, 3 influence, 2 observation, 2 strength and 3 will. Each investigator on his space recovers 1 sanity and also roll an additional die when resolving tests during combat encounters. He seems like a good person to have in a team-up. He starts with 7 health, 5 sanity, 1 Shriveling Spell and 1 clue.
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And I'm out of time. My wife wants to see Thor tonight. I might get the other two characters posted before going to bed.
Hopefully doing this AAR will get me to think through my turns a little better than I usually do on a tabletop game.
Charlie Kane is the stogie sucking politician. He is physically weak (4) but has an iron will (8). His scores are 2 lore, 4 influence, 3 observation, 2 strength and 2 will start in San Francisco with his Personal Assistant. He can grant another investigator 1 additional action. When he performs an Acquire Assets action he may allow other investigators to gain any cards he purchases.
In the game if you have train or ship tickets you can move an additional space. My plan is for Charlie to acquire all of the assets and spend the influence needed to keep the other characters going.
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Diana Stanley "the Redeemed Cultist" is my fourth character. She has the power that if there is a Cultist Monster on your space, discard all Monsters on your space or move the Cultist Monster to any other space. She also reduces the horror of Monsters she encounters to 1. She has 7 health, 5 sanity, 4 lore, 2 influence, 3 observation, 3 strength and 1 will. 1 will is bad, but she can take a max horror of 1 from a monster encounter which makes this problem less of an issue. She starts in Central America.
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To win I must solve three mysteries before the Doom Meter hits 0. To solve the first mystery I need four clues. Two clues are currently visible: Cape Town and Scandinavia. Both are far away from my characters. Jim Culver currently has 1 clue.
The more gates that are open the more monsters spawn and the faster the Doom Clock ticks. 3 investigators are close to Buenos Ares. I also need to get one or more characters to London to spawn more clues which happens pretty frequently if characters are in that spot.
Plan: Charlie Kane: aquire assets and prepare to move towards London. He is designated lead investigator.
Lily Chen – move towards the Himalayas expedition and in the general direction of the Scandinavia clue.
Jim Culver – move towards the Buenos Ares gate.
Diana Stanley – move to Buenos Ares and attempt to close the gate.
Following!
I've always wanted to check this game out. It looks like it could be a lot of fun with another person or 2.
Thanks for doing this. O0
Action Phase:
1] Charlie Kane rolls to acquire assets. He has 4 influence and +1 reroll for his personal assistant. With 4 die and 1 reroll I get 2 successes. He buys the .45 automatic and uses his special powers to mail it to Jim Culver. Another item card is drawn from the deck – bandages; and put in the open resource pile. Charlie then prepares to travel by purchasing a rail pass.
2] Diana Stanley prepares for travel by ship (hence forth known as buys a ticket) and moves to the Buenos Ares gate.
3] Lily Chen fails to acquire an asset (2 die) and then moves to the expedition in the Himalayas.
4] Jim Culver moves to Central America and buys a boat ticket.
Encounter Phase:
1] Charlie Kane got the opportunity to improve his observation in China Town. He succeeded spotting cult activity which gave him a +1 observation on his card! Unfortunately, he found a cultist temple and had to navigate a hex on the door. He was fortunate to roll a success (2 die used) so he did not lose health or sanity.
2] Diana Stanley must encounter the Ghoul at Buenos Ares before she can attempt to close the gate. I'm showing a photo of this to illustrate combat. Diana must first resolve a will encounter and she has only 1 die – but she was lucky and got a success and passed. On to the combat. Instead of a strength test she casts a Wither Spell. If she passes a lore check on this she gets a +3 strength from the face of the card. She has a +1 tome so this is an easier test for her. She rolls four die and gets two successes. The Wither Spell card is flipped and on the back it states that she can reroll 1 die on the strength combat check because she cast an unusually powerful incantation. So now she has 6 die to roll the strength test (instead of 3) and she can reroll one result. The 6 die give her 2 successes. The monster strength is two so you subtract the monster strength from the number of successes and get 2-2 = 0 so no damage to Diana. The monster cannot withstand two successes and the ghoul is destroyed.
Ghoul Encounter & Wither Spell - Click Picture at the end of this report.
Having beaten the ghoul Diana gets one more optional encounter on that space so she tries to close the gate. This is a complex multi-part encounter. The gate is the "City of the Great Race" – You find others who, like you, have had their consciousness pulled into alien bodies from throughout time. You try to convince them to share their knowledge (influence check). Diana rolls two die and gets a success! "Their stories are highly illuminating. Gain 2 clues. They remind you of a ritual you researched that may provide you with a solution (lore -1 check). Her lore is very good and she has a tome so with 3 die she gets one success. The gate is closed!
Diana can only spend one clue per research success to solve the mystery and she does so. Only 3 more clues needed to solve the first mystery.
3] Lily Chen goes to the Himalayas and attempts the Expedition.
The passage into the mountain is very twisty-turny and she passes a 2 die test to continue. She then has a Will test which is a 3 die + 1 for her amulet plus 1 reroll for her rabbits foot. She had 1 success out of 4 die and the reroll but that is enough. She gained 1 artifact – the Silver Key. The next expedition is – in the Himalayas again so the expedition counter is not moved to a different square.
4] Jim Culver is in an unnamed city so he draws from the general encounter deck. The police tell him that people are being abducted by a monster in the sewer. Wandering through the sewers Jim is attacked by a Deep One and must pass a strength test. Unsure what exactly to do here (pass a regular strength test or a deep one strength test) I pull a deep one from the monster cup and use it. It says the strength test is minus 1. Jim has 2 strength + 3 for the .45 automatic that Charlie Kane sent him - 1 for the penalty = 4 die. He rolls one success which is a pass in the random encounter. This gains him one random ally rescued from the sewer. I take the first ally card in the resource deck and get a Lodge Researcher which states that defeating any monster during combat gains a sanity and a clue – awesome!
The encounter phase is over and it was very successful. I got a couple of lucky rolls when the odds were not great. I got minimum successes (which was all that was needed) when the odds were heavily in my favor. So the rolls largely evened out statistically, but they were spaced for maximum advantage. By the end of this Charlie has +1 observation; Diana closed a gate, put a clue towards solving the mystery plus gained an extra clue and defeated a ghoul; Lily gained the Silver Key; Jim now has a .45 automatic and a Lodge Researcher.
Those rolls. :o
You're far better at rolling in this than I. This game brutalizes my characters, due to my consistently bad rolling, every time. :hide:
Mythos Phase:
What Windi and Pete Dero keep claiming will happen is triggered by Azathoth. There is a Global Heat Wave. Old people and children die. Each investigator takes three points of health damage. This is a very serious issue for Charlie Kane since this leaves him with one health point. Changes will be made in a lot of plans for next turn.
Quote from: Nefaro on November 19, 2017, 05:46:16 PM
Those rolls. :o
You're far better at rolling in this than I. This game brutalizes my characters, due to my consistently bad rolling, every time. :hide:
Lets talk probability! In Eldritch Horror you get a success on a roll of 5 or 6. That means each die you roll gives you a 1:3 chance of success without any modifiers. If you roll 3 die you should get an average of 1 success.
If you get to reroll one die, your chances of success now balloon to 1:3 plus 1:3 since these are independent events. Getting to reroll something is much better than getting an entire extra die because you only reroll if you get a loss.
If you look at my overall rolls, they were pretty close to average. The difference was that I kept getting one success when I rolled 4, 5 or 6 dies (with rerolls) but got lucky with successes when one or two die were rolled.
If the die are fair (they came with the game) then everything will even out close to the mean probability over time.
But......
in this game if you roll a fail the results can be catastrophic. You can go insane, lose an entire turn, or even die from physical damage. If you pass, most of the time nothing bad happens. After all, this is Lovecraft based.
Turn 2
This starts with every investigator down three health. For Charlie Kane this is very serious because he has 1 health point remaining. But no gates are open.
Action Phase:
A] Charlie Kane is again named lead investigator. He rests and gains 1 health. He attempts to gain assets (d5 + 1 reroll) and gets 2 successes. He takes bandages and keeps them.
B] Diana Stanley – Rests and gains 1 health. Travels spending a ship token to South Africa where there is a clue.
C] Lily Chen rests to gain a health and moves to India.
D] Jim rests to gain 1 health and uses a ship ticket to move to Arkham.
Encounter Phase:
A] Charlie Kane goes into the tunnels, sees the husk of a squid-like creature (-1 will save) and fails his roll. He injures his leg (a condition).
B] Diana – Research encounter attempting to gain the clue. Initially fails but burns her clue to get a reroll which passes. She gains the clue and adds it to Occult Research giving 2 of the 4 needed to solve the first mystery.
C] Lily – has an influence test with a criminal syndicate and passes. Gains a random service, "Sanctuary" which allows her to discard 1 condition.
D] Jim fails a 2 die observation test in a Black Cave abandoned by cultist. He spent his clue to gain a reroll which passed. He gained an Incantation Spell "Instill Bravery."
Mythos Phase:
2 clues are spawned – Istanbul and the Ocean off of South Africa – which is one move away for 2 investigators!
A rumor is spawned in Moscow and this is terrible. There are 4 mythos tokens on the rumor card. If a future Mythos Phase has an action symbol, then all 4 value assets are pulled from the draw stack and 1 mythos token is removed. Then 3, then 2, then 1 if the rumor is not squashed. This could easily wipe out all of the future assets from the board. Yikes! Worse, to kill the rumor an observation test is needed and Charlie (who has 2 health and a hurt leg) has by far the best observation. He is also in San Francisco. This really stinks.
Even worse, I now realize that there were symbols on the previous mythos phase card that I did not put into play due to an oversight on the game rules. Instead of "only 3 damage on everyone" we also get a gate opened in Sydney, Australia by a cultist (monster). I add these now.
:pullhair:
So at the end of Turn 2 we have every character down health (bad), an open gate in Sydney (bad), my weakest character with a bum leg (bad), and a horrible ticking time bomb rumor in Moscow. On the bright side, the doom clock has not advanced, cultists are weak gate guards, the first mystery is 50% solved, and three of the four characters have additional spells, weapons or items to aid them.
Quote from: airboy on November 19, 2017, 05:55:27 PM
Quote from: Nefaro on November 19, 2017, 05:46:16 PM
Those rolls. :o
You're far better at rolling in this than I. This game brutalizes my characters, due to my consistently bad rolling, every time. :hide:
Lets talk probability! In Eldritch Horror you get a success on a roll of 5 or 6. That means each die you roll gives you a 1:3 chance of success without any modifiers. If you roll 3 die you should get an average of 1 success.
If you get to reroll one die, your chances of success now balloon to 1:3 plus 1:3 since these are independent events. Getting to reroll something is much better than getting an entire extra die because you only reroll if you get a loss.
If you look at my overall rolls, they were pretty close to average. The difference was that I kept getting one success when I rolled 4, 5 or 6 dies (with rerolls) but got lucky with successes when one or two die were rolled.
If the die are fair (they came with the game) then everything will even out close to the mean probability over time.
But......
in this game if you roll a fail the results can be catastrophic. You can go insane, lose an entire turn, or even die from physical damage. If you pass, most of the time nothing bad happens. After all, this is Lovecraft based.
Oh, yes. Don't I know it.
So many times in EH, I'm rolling 3,4, even 5 dice, and come up with zero successes.
Usually by the third turn all my characters have some negative effect on them, sometimes multiples.
I get some long shitty rolling streaks, and they end up having broken legs, paranoia, and worse. :crazy2:
Wait for my turn 3 post tomorrow. I've not had that many bad rolls but Azathoth keeps wrecking havoc. >:D
don't worry - azathoth awakes, swallows you whole with dice, planet and everything and the memories of your poor dice rolls will be like... 'tears in the rain'. :-\
cheers! ...and good job on the AAR. :)
chem!
Turn 3
Action Phase
- Charlie Kane moved with the train ticket from San Francisco to Arkham and rested. He successfully overcame the leg injury condition while resting. Health up to 3.
- Diana - rested to recoup health and moved to an ocean hex East of South Africa where there is a clue.
- Lily - rested and moved to Istanbul where a clue awaits.
- Jim - Used a train ticket to move to Scandinavia where a clue awaits.
Encounter Phase
- Charlie was tested by the Silver Twilight Lodge in Arkham and passed an easy knowledge test (+1) and obtained the Shriveling spell. Given Diana's experience with this spell, if Charlie tries to cast it things will probably go wrong.
- Diana - Failed a research roll on the Southern Indian Ocean which advanced the Doom clock by one. It is now at 14.
- Lily - On the research to obtain the clue she has 2 die and 1 reroll. The reroll was successful. She observed a trephination of a human brain and spotted an insect like creature in the brain. This gives her 2 clues, one of which she spends to solve the mystery (now 3 of 4 clues to close).
- Jim - He has to pass a strength test to resist the strange energy emanating from a stone associated with the disappearance of several geologists. Since this is not a combat roll, he cannot apply his .45 automatic and has 2 die. He fails. He then rerolls one die by burning his clue and passes. He gains the clue which is spent to solve the Occult Research Mystery!
With The Occult Research mystery solved the next mystery becomes active. This is The True Name of Azathoth. Two random eldritch signs were placed on the map. One is in the Amazon and the second in India. I have to obtain Eldritch Signs (have to look up how to do that) to solve this mystery.
Mythos Turn (aka Azathoth rampage)
- Omen is advanced.
- Resolve Reckoning Effects - And that Rumor in Moscow comes into play. All +4 Assets in the deck, discards and reserve stack are removed from the game. Three awesome level 4 assets are removed. Aargh!
- Gate is spawned in Shanghai by a cultist.
- And every character with a spell takes a blow to the gut - "Sitting down for a simple meal in a restaurant, it strikes you how alien the people around you seem. After everything you've seen and all the arcane secrets you have learned. , can you truly think of yourself as one of them? The maître d asks you to please stop carving into the table with your knife." reads the Treacherous Magic Card.
Each investigator may discard any number of spells. Then they lose 1 sanity for every Spell they retain. Each investigator that lost sanity from this effect gains a Madness condition.
Lovely.
Lily my kung fu queen has no spells, so she is unhurt.
Charlie Kane has a spell he is afraid to cast, so he forgets it and does not go mad.
But my two spell casters cannot drop their spells without becoming combat ineffective.
Diana the reformed cultist gains the Paranoia characteristic and loses sanity.
Jim gains Amnesia and loses sanity.
The Sanity losses for Jim and Diana are critical because neither is very sane to begin with (they are spell casters after all). So both Jim and Diana are crippled until they can recover sanity and/or lose their Paranoia or Amnesia.
Recap at the end of Turn 3.
The picture will help you visualize what is happening.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141130441@N06/shares/n82WCP
There are two gates open: Australia and Shanghai. Each gate is guarded by a cultist. Leaving the gates open will spawn monsters and eventually cause the doom countdown to accelerate.
There is a rumor mill in Moscow. If I don't shut that down then all of the assets will vanish. The level 4 assets are already banished from the game.
The doom clock is at 14 (it started at 15).
I win the game by solving three mysteries. One is solved. The current mystery requires obtaining elder signs. One is in the Amazon and the other is in India.
My two spell casters have been struck by Madness. One has Paranoia and the other Amnesia. Both are barely hanging on there with 3 sanity.
Charlie Kane has the best chance to shut down the Moscow Rumor, but he is (at best) two moves away. He also needs clues and has none.
Diana is probably best able to shut the gates since she can render cultists ineffective. She is also one move away from Australia and two moves away from Shanghai. But she is suffering from Paranoia and has marginal sanity.
Lily is the only character who has a clue. 2 clues are needed to solve the rumor mill in Moscow.
Jim has madness in Scandinavia.
There is a lot of badness out there and the pressure is mounting.
Plan:
1] Diana will not attempt to get the Southern Indian Ocean clue. She will rest, hopefully become sane, and move to the Australian gate and attempt to close it.
2] Charlie Kane will move to London and attempt to acquire assets. London spawns clues and he needs at least two to shut down the London rumor.
3] Lily my Kung Fu Queen will move to Rome to hand off her clue and gain a rail pass so she can get to the India elder sign.
4] Jim will move to Rome to rest and obtain a clue from Lily. He will be in a position to move to the Amazon for the 2nd elder sign if he can regain his sanity.
Nefero:
My rolls have been pretty good so far. But two of my characters have madness conditions and have very marginal sanity. There are two gates open. That horrible rumor mill in Moscow could prevent me from strengthening my characters if I don't shut it down. I don't have the tools necessary (clues or elder signs) to shut down the rumor mill or start solving the 2nd mystery.
Every time Azathoth acts the whammies slam the entire world.
Seems to mirror what you are talking about around turn 3-4. :-\ :crazy2: >:D
Turn 4
Action Phase
- Diana is designated lead investigator. She rests, gains sanity and moves to Sydney. On the rest she cured her Paranoia.
- Lily Chen - Moved to Rome, tried to acquire assets again. Failed on all 3 die.
- Jim - Moved to Rome and rested. Gained Sanity & health but is still suffering from Amnesia.
- Charlie Kane - Moved to London. Attempted to acquire assets and failed (4die & 1 reroll).
Out of this, 10 rolls and 1 success.
Encounter Phase
- Diana attempts to get rid of the cultist and fails taking one health damage. Cultist is discarded to the monster cup.
She then tries to close the Sydney Gate. She is surrounded by ghouls after passing through the gate. She manages to pass an influence test. The ghouls take
her to the Tower of Koth in the city of the Gugs. A big Gug approaches her and she failed a will test. She lost a point of sanity and the gate remains open.
- Lily - She found an abandoned witch lair in Rome. She took a gamble and drank a potion which she used to increase her observation skill. She passed the bad
thing check.
- Jim - While in Rome he intervenes with fascist blackshirts who were accosting a priest. She passed a 3die influence test and gained a blessed condition from the
priest. This means 4s, 5s, and 6s are all now successes!
- Charlie - He got the opportunity to examine the John Dee translation of the Necronomicon and took it. This delays him (no action phase for him next turn) but he
gets the two clues needed to solve the Moscow rumor.
Mythos Phase
- Omen Advances.
- Monsters spawn if they have gates matching the Omen symbol. Fortunately, the two gates open do not match.
- A clue spawned in Greenland and the Amazon. The Amazon has a mythos symbol and a clue so somebody needs to get there.
- There was a health loss to each character if the gates corresponded to the omen counter. They don't. As a result, the omen counter advances again.
So nothing bad happened during Azathoths phase. But next turn if the Omen counter advances (it will) there are two gates on that spot. Not good.
Turn 5
Action Phase
- Jim Culver - went to London and bought a ship ticket.
- Charlie Kane - ended his delay
- Diana - rested, gain assets - success picked up a Vatican Missionary.
- Lily Chen - went to London. Tried to get assets and failed again. She stinks at shopping.
Encounter Phase
- Jim Culver - went into debt condition to obtain 2 clues.
- Charlie Kane - Decided to attempt to steal a clue from a Scotland Yard investigator. He fails a 2d strength test and is arrested and delayed again.
- Diana - Gate Encounter. Passed the first phase. Had 4d to pass the second test and got one success, the Sydney gate is closed.
- Lily Chen - passed an observation test and found a clue in a London tabloid.
Mythos Phase
- Omen advanced to a space with an open gate marker. Doom clock got worse (13). Still, if Diana had not closed the gate it would be 12 instead.
- Ghoul Spawned at Shanghai gate. It now has a ghoul and a cultist.
- 2 clues spawned: Alaska and West Africa
- Monster effect with red comet. Only the cultist on the map had this, but it had no effect.
Again, a pretty easy mythos phase.
Lily, Jim and Charlie each have 2 clues so (hopefully) they can end the rumor and pick up the two elder signs to solve the 2nd mystery.
Turn 6
Action Phase
- Charlie - overcomes being delayed for the 2nd time.
- Diana - buys a boat ticket and goes to Shanghai
- Lily - goes to Rome and buys a train ticket.
- Jim - Travels to Arkham and uses boat ticket to get to Buenos Aries
Encounter Phase
- Charlie - goes to an asylum in London and is asked about the Yellow Sign. He passes (4d) and gets 2 clues.
- Diana - Choses to encounter the cultist at the gate first. She passes a will test (2d) and the cultist is eliminated. She then encounters the ghoul. She passes her horror test (3d) and uses the Wither spell on the Ghoul which is a 5d lore test. Passes with 3 successes. This gives her a 6d strength test with one reroll and she gets 3 successes on the 7 rolls. Ghoul is killed by the spell and Diana takes no damage. The gate guards are destroyed so she passes through the gate. The gate takes her to the Great Hall of Celaeno. The book Diana is searching for is not on the proper shelf and she passes a will test (2d & 1 reroll) and locates the tome. She follows the instructions on the tome and passes the lore test (4d with 1 success) and closes the gate!
- Lily - 2d influence test at the Vatican to see a forbidden book. She passes and improves her Will score.
- Jim - has a 3d influence test in Buenos Aries (where a 4, 5, or 6) would work and fails all of them.
Mythos Phase
- Omen is advanced
- Monster Surge. Since no gate is open a new gate is spawned in Istanbul with a Mi-Go guardian. This is very bad because Mi-Go have a huge strength advantage.
- Clues spawned in San Francisco and the Antarctic Sea.
- 1 Monster is spawned where there are cultists, but Diana has killed the only live cultist above ground so there is no monster spawn.
Next turn (I think) I automatically solve the next mystery. It takes 2 clues to obtain an elder sign. Lily and Jim both have 2 clues and can reach the elder sign next turn. As advertised, London gave me a ton of clues.
Turn 7
Action Phase
- Lily - shopped and failed again. She cannot shop to save her life. Moved to India.
- Jim - Rested and successfully recovered his memories on a 4 (being blessed makes this work). Moved to the Amazon.
- Charlie Kane - Moved to Rome and bought a train ticket.
- Diana - bought a train ticket and rested.
Encounter Phase
- Lily - traded 2 clues for an Elder Sign to learn part of Azathoths true name.
- Jim - traded 2 clues for an Elder Sign to learn the 2nd part of Azathoths true name. Mystery solved. One mystery left to thwart Azathoth.
- Charlie - In Rome visited a Magnificent Cathedral and gained 1 will. He noticed something very disturbing on a mural which he had to pass with will -1, but he did.
- Diana - In Shanghai a Crime Lord offered to show her his occult library, but Diana lacked a clue to trade for a benefit.
New Mystery - Omen of Devastation
"The Nemesis Moon appears in the night sky, visible to all and heralding an imminent doom."
When an investigator closes a Gate that corresponds to the current Omen, he may spend 1 clue to place 1 Eldritch token on this card. At the end of the Mythos Phase, if there are Eldritch tokens on this card equal to half the investigators (2), solve the Mystery.
This mystery will not be easy to solve. There must be a gate open corresponding to the current omen. Next, an investigator must both close the gate while having a clue. If they do this, they get an Eldritch Sign which can be used to solve the mystery. So I have to have an investigator (or more) at a gate when the omen clock is right who closes the gate while carrying a clue. This is a lot more conditions than the two earlier mysteries.
Mythos Phase
- Omen advanced. Gate corresponded with the Omen so Doom advances to 12.
- Conditions Strike. Jim is carrying a debt which has a condition. Jim got the loan from shady characters and they sent hit men to collect on the debt. Jim is really good at fighting with his handgun, so this is a straight 5die strength combat test. Jim passed so the debt condition is gone.
- Gate opened in London, which is also the easiest place to get clues - rats.
Before Turn 8
I've got good things and bad things. You can see this visually by clicking the link:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/141130441@N06/shares/j3cA5Q
On the bright side, my characters are all in good shape. Charlie has 2 clues, Jim has two clues and is also on a space with a clue.
On the bad side, Charlie needs to spend his two clues to shut down that rumor mill in Moscow before all of the good assets vanish. Lily and Diana have no clues and are not close to any. An London is the great clue spawning machine but it has a gate and a witch there.
Lily and Diana really need to get a clue. Charlie will need clues after he shuts down the rumor mill. Jim has a clue but is far away. I also have a timing issue now with closing gates and have to take mythos card hits every single turn until a gate matches with the doom clock.
Lily is the only person who could potentially get to London with a clue. Lily has to go to Liberia and win the clue and then move to London. Hard to make that work.
Jim cannot get to London in two turns. Diana is clueless and needs one.
Turn 8
Action Phase
- Jim - moved to Central America. Shopped (3d) for 1 success. Lowest item was 2 successes so he put a 3 value item into the deck.
- Charlie - Used train ticket to go to Moscow and shopped. Got 1 success (5d) and kept a bullwhip.
- Diana - Got boat ticket, shopped with 1 success and bought a derringer
- Lily - Got a boat ticket and moved to Liberia.
Encounter Phase
- Jim - Investigated a grisly crime scene and passed a 3d test. A clue was spawned in the Heart of Africa
- Charlie - Burns 2 clues and resolves the Moscow rumor.
- Diana - failed 2d test to persuade an Occult scholar to help her.
- Lily - Discovered that the element Radium is connected to Azathoth and got the clue.
Mythos Phase
- Clues spawned in Hawaii and London
- The omen counter did not advance, so Istanbul lowers the doom clock to 11. The doom clock not advancing was a big surprise.
- The really bad thing is complex. If an investigator on space 19 (Vladivostok) defeats a monster they can spend a clue to place the monster on the new rumor card. If the total toughness of the defeated monsters (with a clue) = 4, the rumor is solved. But if an event occurs, a monster is spawned in Vladivostok. If there are ever 4+ monsters on space 19, then the Doom clock goes to 0 and Azathoth returns.
So it ends up, I have yet another way to lose the game if enough monsters spawn on space 19.
Turn 9
Action Phase
- Lily - Moved to Rome and bought a boat ticket.
- Jim - Bought a boat ticket and moved one space to Arkham.
- Charlie - Attempted to acquire assets, 3 successes gave a rifle to Lily. Bought a train ticket
- Diana - Moved to Tokyo and bought a boat ticket.
Encounter Phase
- Lily - Passed a d4 will test and improved her will to 5.
- Jim - Option to delay to obtain two spells in Arkham and passed on the opportunity.
- Charlie - Entered a high stakes poker game, passed a d4 test and gained a random ally - a cat burglar.
- Diana - Encountered one non-epic monster from the board & chose the London Witch.
Passed the Will test with the witch (1d & 1 reroll)
I envision this as Diana has a world-wide reputation as a spell slinger who has taken out monsters and closed gates. The Witch of London takes a boat to Tokyo and challenges Diana to a magical duel. Diana accepts and shoots the Witch with her hidden derringer and kills her. [in game terms: Chose a straight strength test. She has d3 - 1 for the witch which gives her 2die. But the derringer improves her roll. She got one damage.
the witch causes one damage so Diana is unharmed and kills the witch.]
Mythos Phase
- Omen is advanced
- Conditions strike. Jim is able to stay blessed. But the Mi-Go in Instanbul flies to London, kills the individual with the clue and now guards the London gate (Istanbul gate is now ungarded). Space 19 Rumor generates a monster which is a cultist.
- Gate is spawned in Arknam and a Ghoul guards the gate.
- The rest of the card is a positive. The Silver Twilight Society offers aid. Each investigator can gain 1 clue, 1 asset or 1 spell. Charlie and Diana each take clues. Lily takes the Dynamite active asset. Jim takes the clairvoyance spell.
Was keeping watch on this one! :-\
Hopefully after the Christmas season it'll return.
Quote from: JasonPratt on December 13, 2017, 08:40:30 AM
Was keeping watch on this one! :-\
Hopefully after the Christmas season it'll return.
I'll try to finish it up before I have to go visit relatives.
Turn 10
It has been a while since we last saw our heroes. Three of them were closing on the London Gate - then silence. [I knew I had one turn left, the suspense was gone and I had trouble getting motivated. Plus deaths of my wife's parents, going back to work after my sabbatical. Yes, cry me a river].
Lily Chen our Kung Foo Queen moves to London first, rests, and then encounters the gate. The rest gives her one more sanity.
The London Gate leads to the City of the Great Race. She does not have one clue for the pass effect so she immediately goes to the Fail Effect.
"Bursting up through an opening in the floor, a flying polyp attacks. If you pass, the grateful Yithians help you close this Gate. If you fail, the encounter leaves you bruised and shaken: lose 1 Health and 1 Sanity."
And for the first time the game itself fails me. I look in the moster cup for a Flying Polyp. Nada. I look again - Nope. I look to see if I did not punch it out - Nay Nay. I go online and find out that for Eldritch Horror the Flying Polyp is in the Mountains of Madness expansion and is not included in the core game. Knash teeth! But thanks to the Internet, I can look up the combat properties of a Flying Polyp.
As feared, this is a bad one. The Horror Test is at Mind -1 and you need two successes not to have a sanity hit. The Damage Test is physical -2, it does two damage and has a toughness of 4.
Through past successes Lily plus her assets give her a 6 will. At -1 this gives me 5 die. I roll 3 successes (5 or 6) which is greater than the 2 horror. So Lily steels her mind against the Flying Polyp and loses no sanity.
The Polyp attacks attempting to crush Lily. But Lily has a carbine which gives her +5 strength per round.
Lily's Strength = 4, plus the carbine (+5) - 2 = 7 die. Plus Lily has a lucky rabbits foot which allows one die reroll per round.
Lilly rolls: 6,5,4,5,2,3,3 and rerolls one for another 2. This is three successes which is greater than its 2 damage. Lilly is unscathed and does three damage on the Flying Polyp.
Physical Round 2 Lilly rolls 4,5,6,5,4,1,2 and a reroll of 3. This is 3 successes which downs the Flying Polyp.
The grateful Yithians help Lily close the gate. This gets a Mythos Token for Lily. Two Mythos Tokens are now on the Omen of Devestation Mystery which solves it.
The group has gone all over the world, solved three mysteries, so Azathoth is Prevented From Eathing the World - at least for a while. :bd:
Go Airboy! Another AAR is Finished!
Was only slightly disappointed that Lily didn't get to Kung Pow the boss.
Quote from: airboy on July 07, 2018, 11:20:09 AM
Through past successes Lily plus her assets give her a 6 will.
And a -6 will to men she is trying to Persuade!
>:D
Quote from: JasonPratt on July 07, 2018, 11:30:17 AM
Was only slightly disappointed that Lily didn't get to Kung Pow the boss.
IIRC, when Azathoth eventually enters, due to failure in closing the gates in time, his effect is something like "Azathoth eats the world. Everything is gone. You're F'd."
Auto-loss, unlike the other GOOs which have some ridiculously high & nearly impossible to beat stats when they enter.
My review of Eldritch Horror can be found at:
https://www.armchairdragoons.com/feature/armchair-dragoons-reviews-the-eldritch-horror-board-game/