Jump to content

MrBody

Members
  • Content Count

    286
  • Joined

  • Last visited


Reputation Activity

  1. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from allenkwest in Planet type+tech specialty icons very easy to confuse   
    They have red/blue/green vague symbols to denote planet type yet also use the same colors (with different, but still vague symbols) for planet tech specialty. The only real way to easily tell them apart is the planet type symbol is next to the planet name while tech symbol is next to the resource value. They really should have made it clearer. Either use different colors, have a colored letter 'T' for tech specialty, or something. Instead of colored symbols for planet type, use a picture of a factory for industrial, a city for culture, and a volcano for hazardous.
    Constantly running into confusion with new players thinking the planet type icon is a tech specialty. It would be a welcome improvement if any eventual reprint addresses this.
  2. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Mephisto666 in Shortest investigator lifespans ever   
    Whoops!
     
    It did make for funnier train wrecks though!
  3. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from tsuma534 in House rule: Further difficulty scaling for # of investigators   
    I usually play 2 investigator games. I've noticed that the game is noticeably harder the fewer investigators you have, and that a lot of the difficulty scaling based on # of investigators doesn't do a great job compensating, something I thought Arkham Horror did a better job on.
     
    For example, clue spawning and costs increase at the same rate the more investigators there are. No changed difficulty there. But then only twice the number of gates spawn in an 8 player game compared to a 2 player game, and it's always only one monster per new gate.
     
    Then there's things that don't scale at all. Shub-Niggarath's monster spawning is deadly to a low player game, trivial to a high player count. The 2 clue cost of undoing Agreement conditions is unthinkable in a two player game, dirt cheap in an eight player game. Mysteries with a fixed cost like Crown of Serpents are ludicrously impossible for 2 players.
     
     
    So we came up with a house rule to deal with this: treat the cost of all such instances as balanced for a 4 investigator game then scale off of that.
     
    Examples;
     
    Shub-Niggarath's "if there are 10 or more monsters during a reckoning, advance doom by 2" becomes "if there are (14 - (# of investigators)) or monsters during a reckoning, advance doom by 2"
     
    Agreement condition's 2 clue cost becomes "half (# of investigators)"
     
    Crown of Serpents....gets thrown into the garbage 
     
     
    We've found this to result in much fairer games for low investigator count teams, and more of a challenge for large teams.
  4. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from desocupado in What we like about the expansion, and what we don't   
    The most obvious: adding more cards to some of the shallower decks that really needed it. 6 mysteries for each ancient one really makes a difference.
     
    Yig has an interesting reckoning mechanic: forcing investigators to trot the globe tracking down cultists gathering at roving expedition sites.
     
     
    Now, what we don't like.
     
    The fact that they kept the turn skip mechanics was one of the biggest complaints about base Eldritch Horror. So why does the expansion double down on this by bringing back Lost in Time and Space? Heck, they TRIPLE down on it since some LiTaS cards make you miss TWO turns. Are they intentionally trolling people who don't like turn skipping?
     
    Eldritch makes a lot of improvements over Arkham Horror that I've sung praise for. The fact that there were almost no encounters that screwed you as bad as "a gate and a monster appear", and that you can move away from monsters you can't survive a fight against. So what happens in Forsaken Lore? Lost in Time and Space cards that read: "skip a turn, get dumped into a monster surge, become delayed to lose another turn, get killed by monsters you can't run away from".  It's like someone read all my positive reviews of Eldrtich and set out to undo every positive change by having a single new mechanic bring back every unwelcome part from Arkham Horror.
     
    Another great change Eldritch made? Severely cutting back on negative skill tests. The majority had no modifier, -1s were rare, and -2s were almost unheard of. Investigator stats were then changed from 0-6 in Arkham to 1-4 in Eldritch. Everyone now had a chance of passing any test, but the max values were lowered to compensate. It seems like Forsaken Lore wants to do away with this too and crams in tons of negative skill tests. We saw more -2 skill tests in a single FL game than in over the last dozen base games. So many instances of impossible zero dice skill tests. Why so hell bent on bringing back all the frustrating Arkham stuff?
     
    Finally, while Yig himself feels fun and new, his research encounter deck is not. So many encounters where you can't possible get the clue, even if you succeed! "-2 observation test or become poisoned, gain an artifact and discard clue if you succeed". Artifacts are nice, but you need clues to solve mysteries. "Take a dark pact to discard the clue and gain an artifact, lose 2 sanity and 2 allies if you refuse". We lost a game solely because the vital clue we needed next to the final mystery had us draw 3 research encounters in a row where it was impossible to acquire the clue. It would be one thing if Yig's mysteries didn't require clues, but they do. That is not a good design. Clues are vital and players spend many turns traveling to them. To have research encounters yank them away from you even if you succeed the tests is aggravating.
     
     
    So to sum up: new cards good, Yig fun, turn skipping bad, ugly Arkham Horror flaws being reintroduced. Please realize what made Eldritch an improved streamlined, less frustrating (while not being less difficult) form of Arkham Horror and stop trying to turn it back into Arkham Horror. Our group on the verge of house ruling out all "you can't get this clue" research encounters and tossing Lost in Time and Space cards to the bottom of the basement closet next to the New Caprica board, never to be brought out again.
     
    I better not see money and monster-blocking brought back next expansion.
  5. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from jlhorner1974 in Biggest hail mary victories?   
    2 players. Azathoth ancient one. Final mystery: close a gate and spend a clue. An investigator is in position to pull it off, BUT...the rumor that prevents gates from closing is in play. The investigator #2 manages to solve the rumor but now we have a new problem. The doom is at 2 and the next mythos card is guaranteed to advance the omen to the green comet which has no gates open but 2 eldritch tokens on it, so 100% chance the doom will go down 2 and Azathoth will destroy the world before the end of the mythos phase before the final mystery is officially solved at the end of the mythos phase.

    The investigator on the gate closes it and spends the clue to put a token on the mystery, which will be solved IF we survive the mythos phase which we won't because the omen track will cause the doom at 2 will go down 2.

    2nd investigator moves from the Arctic Sea to London and figures a London encounter isn't going to help so he takes a generic city encounter.

    "Pass an influence test to gain 1 random service asset from the deck."

    Crappy influence, test barely passed.

    Searching the asset deck for the first service...searching...searching...

    ...searching...

    ...Silver Twilight Ritual! Retreat doom by 1!

    Doom to 3, mythos knocks it down to 1. Final mystery solved.
    Inform other investigator that they can be your wingman any time.
  6. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Devon Greatwolf in Biggest hail mary victories?   
    2 players. Azathoth ancient one. Final mystery: close a gate and spend a clue. An investigator is in position to pull it off, BUT...the rumor that prevents gates from closing is in play. The investigator #2 manages to solve the rumor but now we have a new problem. The doom is at 2 and the next mythos card is guaranteed to advance the omen to the green comet which has no gates open but 2 eldritch tokens on it, so 100% chance the doom will go down 2 and Azathoth will destroy the world before the end of the mythos phase before the final mystery is officially solved at the end of the mythos phase.

    The investigator on the gate closes it and spends the clue to put a token on the mystery, which will be solved IF we survive the mythos phase which we won't because the omen track will cause the doom at 2 will go down 2.

    2nd investigator moves from the Arctic Sea to London and figures a London encounter isn't going to help so he takes a generic city encounter.

    "Pass an influence test to gain 1 random service asset from the deck."

    Crappy influence, test barely passed.

    Searching the asset deck for the first service...searching...searching...

    ...searching...

    ...Silver Twilight Ritual! Retreat doom by 1!

    Doom to 3, mythos knocks it down to 1. Final mystery solved.
    Inform other investigator that they can be your wingman any time.
  7. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Julia in Biggest hail mary victories?   
    2 players. Azathoth ancient one. Final mystery: close a gate and spend a clue. An investigator is in position to pull it off, BUT...the rumor that prevents gates from closing is in play. The investigator #2 manages to solve the rumor but now we have a new problem. The doom is at 2 and the next mythos card is guaranteed to advance the omen to the green comet which has no gates open but 2 eldritch tokens on it, so 100% chance the doom will go down 2 and Azathoth will destroy the world before the end of the mythos phase before the final mystery is officially solved at the end of the mythos phase.

    The investigator on the gate closes it and spends the clue to put a token on the mystery, which will be solved IF we survive the mythos phase which we won't because the omen track will cause the doom at 2 will go down 2.

    2nd investigator moves from the Arctic Sea to London and figures a London encounter isn't going to help so he takes a generic city encounter.

    "Pass an influence test to gain 1 random service asset from the deck."

    Crappy influence, test barely passed.

    Searching the asset deck for the first service...searching...searching...

    ...searching...

    ...Silver Twilight Ritual! Retreat doom by 1!

    Doom to 3, mythos knocks it down to 1. Final mystery solved.
    Inform other investigator that they can be your wingman any time.
  8. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Pseudonym in Biggest hail mary victories?   
    2 players. Azathoth ancient one. Final mystery: close a gate and spend a clue. An investigator is in position to pull it off, BUT...the rumor that prevents gates from closing is in play. The investigator #2 manages to solve the rumor but now we have a new problem. The doom is at 2 and the next mythos card is guaranteed to advance the omen to the green comet which has no gates open but 2 eldritch tokens on it, so 100% chance the doom will go down 2 and Azathoth will destroy the world before the end of the mythos phase before the final mystery is officially solved at the end of the mythos phase.

    The investigator on the gate closes it and spends the clue to put a token on the mystery, which will be solved IF we survive the mythos phase which we won't because the omen track will cause the doom at 2 will go down 2.

    2nd investigator moves from the Arctic Sea to London and figures a London encounter isn't going to help so he takes a generic city encounter.

    "Pass an influence test to gain 1 random service asset from the deck."

    Crappy influence, test barely passed.

    Searching the asset deck for the first service...searching...searching...

    ...searching...

    ...Silver Twilight Ritual! Retreat doom by 1!

    Doom to 3, mythos knocks it down to 1. Final mystery solved.
    Inform other investigator that they can be your wingman any time.
  9. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Fenyx in Biggest hail mary victories?   
    2 players. Azathoth ancient one. Final mystery: close a gate and spend a clue. An investigator is in position to pull it off, BUT...the rumor that prevents gates from closing is in play. The investigator #2 manages to solve the rumor but now we have a new problem. The doom is at 2 and the next mythos card is guaranteed to advance the omen to the green comet which has no gates open but 2 eldritch tokens on it, so 100% chance the doom will go down 2 and Azathoth will destroy the world before the end of the mythos phase before the final mystery is officially solved at the end of the mythos phase.

    The investigator on the gate closes it and spends the clue to put a token on the mystery, which will be solved IF we survive the mythos phase which we won't because the omen track will cause the doom at 2 will go down 2.

    2nd investigator moves from the Arctic Sea to London and figures a London encounter isn't going to help so he takes a generic city encounter.

    "Pass an influence test to gain 1 random service asset from the deck."

    Crappy influence, test barely passed.

    Searching the asset deck for the first service...searching...searching...

    ...searching...

    ...Silver Twilight Ritual! Retreat doom by 1!

    Doom to 3, mythos knocks it down to 1. Final mystery solved.
    Inform other investigator that they can be your wingman any time.
  10. Like
    MrBody got a reaction from Saint7x in Hate the game? Suck it up, buttercup.   
    I like Eldritch Horror better because it's a lot more about long term resource planning (the resources being your actions in terms of items you need, movement, and pushing low health before sacrificing actions to rest) whereas Arkham was more about luck of not drawing a card that totally screws you over. There are very, very few cards in Eldritch that approach the "screw you" level of a gate burst or "a gate and a monster appear!". You know you might lose 1 or 2 health in an encounter, you know what you stand to lose in one round of fighting a monster. It's all about pushing your luck trying to complete things as fast possible versus playing it safe to rest and get more items.
     
    I don't understand where anyone is getting that Arkham had more freedom. By comparison, Arkham had you spend half the time stuck in the otherworld, stuck in the hospital/asylum, or stuck in a spot by monsters you couldn't defeat. If you weren't stuck, you camped the science center for clues or the item shop.
     
    There's so much more to do in Eldritch that we've never had anyone say, "I can't do anything." during a turn. In Arkham it's rare to hear that phrase any less than half a dozen times.
×
×
  • Create New...