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Arkham Horror: The Card Game |OT| Cards of Cthulhu
- Thread starter XShagrath
- Start date
They absolutely allow you pump as many resources as you're willing to pay.this does remind me.
we weren't able to clearly find in the rulebook if you can spend multiple resources on cards like that to boost your check more. we assumed you could but I might as well ask
e: limitations (typically exhaust the card) for the lightning symbol triigers'll be noted on individual cards, Forbidden Knowledge as an example.
One Foul Note
Member
this does remind me.
we weren't able to clearly find in the rulebook if you can spend multiple resources on cards like that to boost your check more. we assumed you could but I might as well ask
Yeah, you folk were right. Their is no limit on the number of free actions you can take in a trigger window, so if you have the resources to spend you can jack your stats up to any desired level. Certain other cards do have a limit on use (say something like once per skill test) in which case you can only use them once, but if it doesn't say then you can use a free action endlessly as long as it makes sense.
coolio. that is what I figured as it made the most sense. but it never hurts to check with an arkham game given how hard they typically are
IlGialloMondadori
Member
Love, love, love this game. I've played Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, Elder Sign, and Mansions of Madness v2.0, but I think this is my favorite. Mansions is great, for sure, but this just plays super fast and it feels just as narratively rich.
I have the core set (which I've played a few times) and all the Dunwich cycle stuff (which I have yet to touch).
I really like it, and I only play it solo, single-handed. I've had a small issue with the sheer number of mythos deck groups, which quickly outgrew the number of dividers in the storage solution I bought. Having so many small groups of cards really prolongs the setup of each chapter, because I have to shuffle for ages to get them well mixed together. It's a mild annoyance but it has, more than once now, stopped me from bothering when I otherwise would have played it.
It also feels like Night of the Zealot is impossible to get the "good ending" on solo. The Midnight Masks chapter is brutal, and doing poorly in that really fucks you in the finale.
I really like it, and I only play it solo, single-handed. I've had a small issue with the sheer number of mythos deck groups, which quickly outgrew the number of dividers in the storage solution I bought. Having so many small groups of cards really prolongs the setup of each chapter, because I have to shuffle for ages to get them well mixed together. It's a mild annoyance but it has, more than once now, stopped me from bothering when I otherwise would have played it.
It also feels like Night of the Zealot is impossible to get the "good ending" on solo. The Midnight Masks chapter is brutal, and doing poorly in that really fucks you in the finale.
One Foul Note
Member
So what are peoples team looking like? Are you finding success with your particular team compositions.
I am currently on a two player Dunwich game with Zoey (me) and Rex which is fun. We are both super focused towards our monster hunter and clue gathering respective roles and largely sticking fairly close to one another in mission. That combo seems to be working almost comically well, their are more then a few times when the game has thrown a massive curve ball at us only for us to solve it in a single action and go back to milling around. I'm also on a four player Dunwich game with Jim (me), Trashcan Pete, Roland and Daisy which is a little more interesting cos we've all assumed very supportive roles so they is a lot of cross play with skill checks and healing and the like. Although generally Trashcan or Roland will take the lead exploring and killing while Jim and Daisy will follow one or the other clue gathering and providing other support.
I'm also technically on a solo game with Agnes, but it's been a while since I was her so I might retire her and start a new game once the Yellow King campaign launches.
I am currently on a two player Dunwich game with Zoey (me) and Rex which is fun. We are both super focused towards our monster hunter and clue gathering respective roles and largely sticking fairly close to one another in mission. That combo seems to be working almost comically well, their are more then a few times when the game has thrown a massive curve ball at us only for us to solve it in a single action and go back to milling around. I'm also on a four player Dunwich game with Jim (me), Trashcan Pete, Roland and Daisy which is a little more interesting cos we've all assumed very supportive roles so they is a lot of cross play with skill checks and healing and the like. Although generally Trashcan or Roland will take the lead exploring and killing while Jim and Daisy will follow one or the other clue gathering and providing other support.
I'm also technically on a solo game with Agnes, but it's been a while since I was her so I might retire her and start a new game once the Yellow King campaign launches.
Anyone got some recommendations for storage of the game? FFG in their infinite inverse wisdom thinks its fine to pack a expandable core game into a tiny box where you'll never be able to fit much more than maybe one or two extra scenario packs while packing a single expansion into the largest possible box they could find that was not the Twilight Imperium box:
Really need some alternatives to use. Preferably something that can be bought inside Europe for cheaper shipping.
hydrophilic attack
Member
How well does this game play solo?
Can be a challenge with a single investigator because of the amount of stuff you have to cover, I find it works nicely two-handing two investigators though.
To quote my earlier post:
This ships out from http://oplaser.co.uk/shop/themed-storage.html in the UK
IlGialloMondadori
Member
Great. Doing a single handed solo run of the core set right now. First two scenarios went very well.
Player cards by class then alphabetically, scenario cards by encounter set.
Saw that one earlier, very nice box, didn't know you could get it in Europe.
Might go for it I think before it runs out of stock. Hopefully the shipping isn't too steep to Sweden.
Looks like the thread's a success so far. Great to see so much interest and support for a really amazing game. I started tracking my plays on 1/1, and I've got 24 plays so far, which is way beyond any other analog game I've played this year
My only Dunwich campaign right now is Jenny and Duke (I mean Pete). It's going fairly well, but could be better. Now that my partner has a better grasp on the game, we'll build decks together for the next run. I think that is our biggest problem. We didn't coordinate who should be doing what, so both of our decks are a little watered down in trying to be able to handle every situation.
I've always been partial to just using cardboard storage boxes (like you'd use for M:TG or sports cards). My reasoning is that since the game is going to keep growing, I'd outgrow any more elaborate solution and have to figure something else out. I found a store that sells these cardboard boxes in different colors (black, blue, green), and should have some black ones coming soon. I'll print out some art and spruce them up a little bit.
The other option I see a lot of people using are the wooden briefcases. Something like this artist case from Hobby Lobby, with an additional insert from Broken Token or Go7Gaming. This exact solution probably isn't found in Europe, but I'm sure you could find something comparable.
Lastly, there are some videos on the Arkham Chronicle youtube page (in the OP), which have a few other storage solutions. He's based out of the UK, so you shouldn't have a problem getting anything reviewed there fairly quickly.
There are almost an infinite amount of options out there for a chaos bag. I use FFG's tentacle dice bag. It's a cheap thematic solution. Others prefer something that's self-standing, and I've seen a lot of people heap praise on these bags from etsy (there's another version he makes with tentacles).
I'll get that question updated in the OP a little later today. Ideally, you're at two cores per player. LCGs are sometimes referred to as "lifestyle games" where each player supplies their own cards. I know that's not the case for a lot of people. For example, I supply everything for my group (usually 1-2 players). I would say 2 cores for 2 players is fair, and 3 cores for 3-4.
I haven't seen this one yet. I'll watch it later today and possibly add it to the OP.
Mansions is a great game that supplies a wonderful story. The LCG works even better, in my opinion. It seems to be more directed, and gives richer decision making.
One of the great thing about the LCG is its variable difficulty. The chaos bag can be seeded at four different levels. I started out playing on Easy, based on my experiences with other Arkham games, as well as LOTR. It still wasn't a walk in the park, but it was definitely doable. After getting a grasp on the game's mechanisms and deckbuilding, you can start working your way up the difficulty levels.
This is much more stream-lined than the original Arkham Horror board game. The first scenario does a very good job of walking you through the basic actions you will be taking through the game. You can fit all of the basic game information and actions on a small reference card (supplied with the game), rather than the massive flowcharts needed for OG Arkham.
There are a number of divider options available that can be found on BGG, which might help. I agree that set-up can be a bit of a pain when you've gotta grab six different encounter sets. I've taken to proxying the additional cards I need with the color printer at work. This allows me to have all my scenarios pre-built.
I've run numerous campaigns through Zealot, but have only been successfull with my Zoey and Rex decks. Solo Wendy was also a success (but I missed quite a few rules, so it's not counted). Wendy/Roland with a friend was a disaster, as was my Jenny and Rex solo (one-handed) runs.
My only Dunwich campaign right now is Jenny and Duke (I mean Pete). It's going fairly well, but could be better. Now that my partner has a better grasp on the game, we'll build decks together for the next run. I think that is our biggest problem. We didn't coordinate who should be doing what, so both of our decks are a little watered down in trying to be able to handle every situation.
There's probably as many storage solutions out there as there are chaos bags.
I've always been partial to just using cardboard storage boxes (like you'd use for M:TG or sports cards). My reasoning is that since the game is going to keep growing, I'd outgrow any more elaborate solution and have to figure something else out. I found a store that sells these cardboard boxes in different colors (black, blue, green), and should have some black ones coming soon. I'll print out some art and spruce them up a little bit.
The other option I see a lot of people using are the wooden briefcases. Something like this artist case from Hobby Lobby, with an additional insert from Broken Token or Go7Gaming. This exact solution probably isn't found in Europe, but I'm sure you could find something comparable.
Lastly, there are some videos on the Arkham Chronicle youtube page (in the OP), which have a few other storage solutions. He's based out of the UK, so you shouldn't have a problem getting anything reviewed there fairly quickly.
You can play "true solo" with only one investigator, but it will be fairly difficult. On easy, it's still a fun and challenging experience. The more common solo option is to play "two handed," and emulating a two player game. This allows you to make the two decks more focused and reliable. Since each player is only controlling one character, it's not that difficult to keep track of everything. That's a far cry from LOTR, where two players would be controlling six characters (and eating up a LOT of table space).
I would really put a huge asterisk on your statement. On easy, or maybe normal difficulty, that is true. On hard or expert you absolutely need to build a deck around the scenario, and likely at least two (or more) investigators to synergize. But yes I would agree on easy and normal (though core set normal is really freaking hard right out of the box) deck building isn't much of an issue.
When playing a campaign, there's really no way to build a deck around a scenario. I guess you could take two copies of Adaptable, but that's only going to work when playing rogue (or a core set investigator that can take rogue cards).
One thing that I've just started to come to grips with in this game is to not treat games as binary win/lose. No matter what happens, the story still progresses and you make your way to a resolution at the end of the campaign. Yes, there are "good" and "bad" outcomes, but there are also a lot in the middle. The story that evolves from the ups and downs of your travels makes for a wonderfully rich story experience.
Yeah, having the double cards for each player is what it boils down to in the ideal situation. It's just that that ideal can get a bit costly as the player-count rises.
I definitely recommend players get even just that single extra box for their group whatever the group-size (no need to rush out for fa sackful of cores to satisfy your group of four), but I assume the common approach for most groups is they start off with the bare minimum and then add the extra expenditure if (when) the game grabs them and they're salivating over wanting double Shriveling for Agnes, etc.I guess the larger point I was making was that, given two hypothetical groups, a duo with a single core and a foursome with two cores (these being the absolute minimum requirements for both), if I had a single spare core set to give away I would absolutely give it to the duo, since I think it would make a greater difference to their options. There's really hardly any deck building at scenario start for that pair. The group of four have at least some wiggle room for focused decks.
One Foul Note
Member
Heeeey, my two player with Roland and Wendy was a complete disaster too. We failed to beat the boss for the first Zealot scenario and he popped up again in the second. Although I got him that time he did enough time wasting damage to ensure we had no chance going into the final scenario. Although me and my mate did have quite a long heartfelt conversation about the pros and cons of blowing up the hospital with dynamite so it wasn't all bad.
Yeah I found this out also. Ironically it took Imperial Assault for me to come to terms with "defeat is an option", and realize that even Resigning is built into the game so that the story goes on. I LOVE that FFG makes that as an option.
On the whole number of sets question, I already have two cores and know that is needed for a full play set for a single player.. how many boxed expansions and/or mythos packs are needed for a play set? I currently only have one of each but have played hardly any of Dunwich.
One Foul Note
Member
You will only need one copy of each expansion for solo play. Every boxed game they put out other then the core set gives you two copies of each player card.
outunderthestars
Banned
thread just made me buy a copy of the game.
Past the core set, every expansion contains a full play set for a single player (2 copies of each card). So, you really don't need to double down on anything past that.
Is anyone really good at deckbuilding yet? If someone wants to write up a short primer at some point, I'll throw a link in the OP. I'm definitely not there yet.
A good rule of thumb to start a deck is 12 assets, 10 events, and 8 skills. Other things to be very aware of are card costs, as you don't want a lot of expensive cards you might not be able to pay for.
A good rule of thumb to start a deck is 12 assets, 10 events, and 8 skills. Other things to be very aware of are card costs, as you don't want a lot of expensive cards you might not be able to pay for.
TerminalDogma
Member
This topic showed up at the perfect time! Me and a friend were really into this game back around December-January. Played through the core set 3 times, and one time added in Curse of the Rougarou. I started a new job just as the Dunwich Legacy came out and unfortunately didn't have much time to play. That job is over for the season, and me and my buddy have been itching for some more Arkham. I noticed Dunwich Legacy itself is still readily available and I just put in an order for it today from Cool Stuff Inc, however it seems all the smaller expansions following it are out of stock. The OP states that they never go out of print, but I'm just curious if anyone knows about when I could expect to see them in stock again? I've tried finding them on Ebay but the prices are all insane, $20-30 or more plus shipping.
Also, is Cool Stuff Inc generally the best place to purchase these from online? I used to have a local board game/hobby store, but they recently really downsized their board game selection and tend to charge a bit more over MSRP.
Also, not sure why I never thought of this, but I'm happy to see people mention making proxies for a second core set. I held off on buying a second for awhile just due to the cost, but this is a perfect work around. Definitely going to get on that.
Also, is Cool Stuff Inc generally the best place to purchase these from online? I used to have a local board game/hobby store, but they recently really downsized their board game selection and tend to charge a bit more over MSRP.
Also, not sure why I never thought of this, but I'm happy to see people mention making proxies for a second core set. I held off on buying a second for awhile just due to the cost, but this is a perfect work around. Definitely going to get on that.
-tetsuo-
Unlimited Capacity
I can't wait for the card pool to get bigger so the decks can get way out there lol
thread just made me buy a copy of the game.
Made a good choice. Game is fun and easy enough to learn even if you really haven't played any card or board games.
According to FFG's Upcoming page, Miskatonic Museum, Essex County Express, and Lost in Time and Space are "On the Boat," which means they'll probably be arriving in stores in a month or so? That means the only one missing would be Blood on the Altar, which may still be in stores some places.
It depends. CSI, Miniature Market, and a couple other online stores probably have the best prices overall, but you also have to factor in shipping, which usually isn't free until around the $100 mark. Team Covenant does a subscription service for the mythos packs, which might also be an option, depending on where you live.
Our "all-star" alpha team is Roland (mostly for fighting and cleanup/rush investigating), Agnes (just a crazy powerful character that can do everything well, especially with expansion cards -- also has access to best-in-set type cards like Scrying and a ridiculous ability), and Daisy (indispensable support character who can also vacuum up clues like it's nothing, as long as she has one of the other two with her to protect her or we're just Scrying her out of physical threats since our build of her can't evade or fight).
We also did a core runthrough recently with Jenny (who I loved...omg...copying my play with her from the old thread below), Jim (who was OK, but kind of a weaker Agnes we felt), and Daisy (lol, can't let go).
-----
We're all caught up on Dunwich now but haven't played much with the new investigators, so decided to build Jenny, Jim, and Daisy decks (we just like Daisy too much to ditch her
) to try to get a perfect on the base-box campaign, including playing four Delve Too Deeps. 
Wound up with 12XP after surviving by the skin of our teeth thanks to my Jenny pulling out an 8-damage Backstab on the Ghoul Priest with Lita and Double or Nothing in Play (assisted by Hard Knocks of course).
So so fun and tense. The combo pieces:
If I had drawn a tentacle there I may have literally cried.
This is my go to game and has been for a while now. I feel like it is a perfect melding of card game and rpg, and I love the theme. They can do so much with this design. It was hard to get a feel for what they were going for until I played a few scenarios and consequences start to add up. I have a solo Agnes, Wendy, and my favorite, the blood crazed cook. A note that this game plays excellent as a solo game either with a single deck (prepare to deckbuild a good bit though. not easy.) or playing 2 hand.
Edit: As seen above, Jenny is also an amazing character. She is great to play solo as well.
Edit: As seen above, Jenny is also an amazing character. She is great to play solo as well.
TerminalDogma
Member
Thanks so much for the quick reply! That Covenant subscription service actually seems perfect, went ahead and just subscribed to that. I should probably go ahead and order Undimensioned and Unseen now before it sells out, even though I wouldn't be able to use it for a bit, shouldn't I?
One Foul Note
Member
I feel so sorry for my partner in crime, he is Rex and his weakness has come up on average once, usually twice every scenario we've done. My core weakness in comparison has only come up once in six separate scenarios.
Ok, you have my interest... Supposing that I'm buying for two people to play, roughly what sort of cost am I looking at to buy into the game and make any deck with enough cards to support both players. Also what sort of a competitive scene exists for this game?
After reading a bit more... I guess there isn't a competitive scene because competitive play isn't really supported. That's interesting. Now I've just got to wrap my head around throwing X dollars at a game that's played against itself rather than an opponent.
After reading a bit more... I guess there isn't a competitive scene because competitive play isn't really supported. That's interesting. Now I've just got to wrap my head around throwing X dollars at a game that's played against itself rather than an opponent.
piratepwnsninja
Member
How many of the expansion boxes does one need? I have two core sets, but haven't purchased any of the expansion content yet.
NeckToChicken
Unconfirmed Member
My first run through the introductory campaign had my partner draw Roland's weakness right at the end twice. On a side note, it seems Roland/Wendy is an oddly common starting team going by this thread. We got wrecked on the last one after doing fine on the first two, mostly because of the brain damage bringing Roland to a hot 3 max sanity.
This is more akin to a PvE game than a PvP one. If you wanted to push yourself (or your friend) you could play the hardest difficulty which is just brutally cruel. You'll be delighted to be getting *only* -2 to your skill checks.
Alternately, the competitive scene is you firing your shotgun at an enemy and hitting your ally for 4 damage then using dynamite blast "because you really need to smite the wicked".
One Foul Note
Member
No rule bending, you are perfectly allowed to take future investigators and player cards back into older content. In fact when you are picking the basic weakness for your deck the rules do state that you should draw a random basic weakness from your entire collection, not just the weaknesses that existed before the campaign did. So if you own them you are bound by rules to officially use them.
Decided to go with a box from e-raptor instead. The cost for that fancy Arkham box was too high for me.
The instruction book recommends Roland/Wendy for your first play through
Yeah, base damage is 1, +2 for Backstab, +1 for Lita (vs. Monster), then Double or Nothing lets you resolve the effects of the successful test twice. Then yeah pump a bunch of money into Hard Knocks to beat the 8-difficulty Evade test to land the Backstab.
holy crap!?!?!?! Too engrained in Destiny!! I didn't realize that you can do free actions unlimited!!!
Two core sets and one each of the expansions will give you a full playset of cards, as long as you don't each want to run the same class (which probably isn't a good idea anyways). This should be sufficient for two players, but moving up to three and four players, you'll probably think about getting a third core, at the very least.
LCG expansions always contain a full playset of player cards in all of their expansions. The reason that core sets do not work this way is a matter of efficiency. FFG wants to give the most variety and content at a certain price point. If the core set had two of each player card, that would drastically increase the number of cards in each set and turn a $40 box into a $60-70 purchase, which would be off-putting for a lot of people.
There are a plethora of decks posted on ArkhamDB that use some/all of the expansion cards, and also two core sets.
Haha do you mean just that you can pump up talents as much as you want? If so, yeah that's the whole value! Although to be fair I've found only Jenny is rich enough to make use of it reliably. People like Roland and Daisy are usually broke af.
NeckToChicken
Unconfirmed Member
Huh, well that explains that. Wonder if that's why we picked that pair and I just forgot.
I am now imagining how my past runs would have gone had I thought I could only pump a stat once through talents. Outlook? Seems grim. Respect to any of you who beat campaigns like that.