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Fake Ghost Pirate

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Posts posted by Fake Ghost Pirate

  1. Posted

    A storm knocked out our power for a week, but I still had a full battery on my tablet. So I figured I'd brighten an otherwise horrible day with a game of Elder Sign: Omens...


     


    NOPE!


     


    It insisted that I no longer owned the game, even though I bought it (and the expansions) a long time ago. It demanded that I connect to the appstore- how do I connect to the appstore when my entire town is without power or internet and so are the 3 towns surrounding it?!? (This was the worst storm I've ever seen) And WHY must I constantly prove that I still own the game? This happens nearly every time I try to play it offline!!!


     


    And WHY won't FFG fix this problem? There's no update or bug fix or anything.


  3. Posted

    A storm knocked out our power for a week, but I still had a full battery on my tablet. So I figured I'd brighten an otherwise horrible day with a game of Elder Sign: Omens...

     

    NOPE!

     

    It insisted that I no longer owned the game, even though I bought it (and the expansions) a long time ago. It demanded that I connect to the appstore- how do I connect to the appstore when my entire town is without power or internet and so are the 3 towns surrounding it?!? (This was the worst storm I've ever seen) And WHY must I constantly prove that I still own the game? This happens nearly every time I try to play it offline!!!

     

    And WHY won't FFG fix this problem? I'm hesitant to buy any FFG apps in the future because of this problem. If they cared, they would update it to fix this problem.

  4. Posted · Edited by Fake Ghost Pirate

     

    If Lovecraft had lived within the past 20 years, would he have written pigeonholed stereotypes?

     

     

    The experts (S.T. Joshi etc) say he softened his bigoted views a lot towards the end of his life, so no, I don't think he would have stereotyped nearly as much had he lived. It's not just minorities who are pigeonholed: I believe he used the phrase "white trash" in at least one story, and his protagonists are usually from the same anglo New England caste- just as stereotyped as anyone else. 

     

    The sad truth is, I think people were pigenholed into certain roles in real life back in the old days. Would a real-life Lili Chen have even existed? Cause I don't think the Far East was big on training women in martial arts back in those days. Lili would be an unlikely, remarkable person, almost a superhero- the more ordinary characters seem the most Lovecraftian to me. Jim Culver rings truer to me, cause there were Jazz musicians everywhere back in the Jazz age. I don't see where he's a stereotype, but if he is he's a positive one. 

     

    I agree with the post about Amanda Sharpe- she should be a male grad student instead. Daisy Walker should remain female, probably cause I'm used to female librarians.

  5. Posted

    Wow you're lucky! You're at the start of a HUGE adventure.

     

    I'd say add the expansions one at a time, I really don't think they were designed to use all at once- I gather that's what Miskatonic is for, to retro-fit things for people who insist on throwing in all expansions at once. Let the others sit there like books on your shelf, future chapters of the series beckoning to you...

  7. Posted

    Norman Withers seems Lovecraftian for much the same reasons as Harvey Walters- he's an elderly scholar. 

     

    Silas Marsh (of course, he's a Marsh)

     

    Darrell Simmons and Rex Murphy seem like the sort of news people who'd get mixed up in all this.

     

    George Barnaby, Vincent Lee, and Tony Morgan all strike me as Lovecraft characters- maybe because they're such weak Investigators. They're the type of protagonists who end up as raving lunatics or otherwise torn to shreds...

     

    Leo Anderson should have been in Mountains of Madness!

     

    Roland Banks (the Feds play a part in some of the stories)

     

    Zoey Samaras- because she's crazy!

     

     

    There aren't too many typical Lovecraft protagonists among the Investigators. No half-mad students of the arcane with weird family histories, unless that's what led Luke Robinson to the Dreamlands- and only two scholarly old antiquarians. 

  8. Posted

    I missed "Ghouls" and started with "Bones of the Yopasi" (to get the Elder Sign card) It's not bad, but not great either. It's good enough that I want the 3rd one to find out how it ends.

     

    The characterizations are very good, it just seems like the author missed some great opportunities- maybe cause it's a sequel. Too much time was spent re-capping book one. Trying not to do a full review, but it should have started with the title scene in which the "Bones of the Yopasi" actually appear and focused more on that mystery.

  9. Posted

    Wow- that really makes me ache for the place we used to have around here, "Murphy's Loft". It was an old barn retro-fitted into a used bokstore without any regard to zoning laws or building codes. Their Sci-Fi section was unbelievable, with full runs of magazines going back to the 40s! Can't seem to find another place like it in NJ :-(

  10. Posted

    Lovecraft was racist. Lovecraft was actually pretty racist for his own time and place. It's something we quietly ignore to enjoy the games based off his otherwise quite fascinating work, but let's not kid ourselves that the man wasn't a bigot.

     

    By today's standards (and certainly by my own standards) he was terribly bigoted, but I've read that in his later years he grew out of it. Oddly enough most of his "racism" seemed focused on Russian immigrants rather than non-whites. 

     

    And remember, there's some pretty degenerate white people in his stories too; I can think of several white families in HPL's stories who in-bred till they became little more than animals. Has there ever been a worse case of "white trash" than the Whateley's? Lovecraft focused plenty of ire on his fellow caucasians. 

     

    Other than the Cthulhu Cult can you think of a Lovecraft villain who's not white? 

  11. Posted

    Ha! I love your idea of a "crossover" with Arkham/Mansions/Elder Sign! (Or Pandemic too...) It's never too early for custom content if you have a good idea.

     

    I think Eldritch components would take a lot more play-testing than Arkham components, especially Mysteries because they pretty much shape the course of the game.  I'd pick an obscure Ancient One to do as a custom- chances are the first "legit" expansion will have Nyarlathotep and/or Hastur. (Ithaqua's already represented as the "Wind Walker") I'd like to see a Chaugnar Faugn scenario, it's an excuse to visit the Wilderness more. 

     

    Luke's ability could be when he closes a Gate he can close any Gate on the board and move to that space. But that'd be a passive ability, not sure what he'd do as an Action. 

  12. Posted

    I made the Clue mistake early on too, throwing spent Clues back into the bag. The other downside of that mistake is you don't get to have the wonderful Sea and Wilderness Encounters. All the really cool stuff seems to happen outdoors. I just love being at Sea, those are some of my favorite Encounters- though the only strategic reason to linger at Sea is to pick up a Clue.

     

    I agree that they need more cards in the Research decks. Also in the general City/Sea/Wilderness Encounters deck. 

     

    My main complaint is the game's way easier with 2 Investigators than with 3, cause most Mysteries only require one success to solve (1/2 number of players) Maybe the Lost Mystery card should only be used in 2 player games? 

  14. Posted

    Golden Scarab is one seriously screwed up expansion (in a good way)

     

    With some fan-made expansions, I put the new monsters in a separate cup and roll a die to see which cup the monster's drawn from. This isn't necessary with "The Arkham Nightmare" or "The Vermont Horror" cause they have really clever work-arounds for most new components.

     

     

    The "Slenderman" is a different Mythos, don't think it has anything to do with Lovecraft. I like most of the art the guy has used, but it's more modern-era than 1920s. It looks pretty awesome though.

  19. Posted

    According to the Hitchiker's Guide- I mean, Wikipedia- Batman first appeared in 1939. The question arises, how old was Bruce Wayne when he first donned the Cowl? Probably at least 18-21 (I doubt Alfred would have let him fight crime till he came of age) Young master Bruce probably trained as best he could as a lad, then intensive training when he turned 18 (yes I'm going somewhere with this)

     

    So... by 1939 he could have been as young as 18 but was more likely 25-30.

     

    Which means....young master Bruce could have been old enough to have his own adventures in 1926 Arkham! By my reckoning he'd have been somewhere between 8-20 yrs old in '26. He'd certainly have been as old as Wendy Adams the urchin. No need for the cowl- young Bruce Wayne can go ahead and save Arkham anytime he wants!

    Julia reacted to this

  21. Posted · Edited by Fake Ghost Pirate

    Black Goat was my first Expansion and I still love it. But yeah, without the Herald it really doesn't amount to much. I'd randomly pick someone to start with a Cult Membership, otherwise you're not likely to ever join the Cult. (And I hate to sound negative towards it, but some of the Cult Encounters are pretty banal)

     

    One way to jazz up the Corruptions is to make the mistake I made early on- remove half of them from the decks. I thought I had doubles of each (didn't realize there were supposed to be 2 of each: one activates on black, the other on white) This'll get you to the Red Corruptions and bring you close to the brink of Doom real fast!

     

    I've never used Summon Monster, but it could come in handy if you need some Trophies to trade for Clues/Allies etc and don't wanna kill a Hex-symbol Monster. I have actually used "Call Ancient One" a few times...

  23. Posted

    Roland Deschain can show up anywhere, in any time or universe- so he could stop in Arkham to help our world with our little problem, on his way to the Dark Tower.

     

    His Fight and Will would be incredible- but his Luck would be awful. I'd give him 7 Stamina and 3 Sanity, but he'd always reduce Sanity losses by one. Anytime he draws a monster, keep drawing till you get one with at least 2 toughness (because bad things always happen to Roland)

     

     

    Batman could fit into Arkham- the name "Arkham Asylum" was borrowed from Lovecraft- he's a dark character. But what equipment would he have in the 20s? Batman never uses guns, there were no crime computers or Batmobiles back then. He'd rely more on his own skills than equipment.

    Parhaps there'd be a permanent curfew out on the masked vigilante- like the "Martial Law" in Innsmouth, but only for him. No Allies allowed except for Ruby Standish (who's practically Catwoman) He's faced Mythos horrors already in the comic books.

    Julia reacted to this

  24. Posted

    Can't believe how this is going over like a lead balloon with my fellow Arkham inmates....

     

     

    Not thrilled by the artwork at first glance. COC RPG fans might like the style of artwork, the paper rail and boat tickets etc, but it's very different from the lush style of A-H.  On first seeing the board I thought "Bleh- it looks like Fortune&Glory and Risk had a kid"- but then I watched the video a 2nd time and realized the board design is brilliant. Photos tacked to the map!! Hope there's a lot of secret locations (like Rlyeh) cause the simple board will start to look cooler with each added token.

     

    Did you notice there's Brains and Hearts again? I like Brain and Heart tokens...

     

     

    Not sure what sets it apart from A-H, cause you move around a board with roughly the same number of locations (if you don't count seldom-visited places like the Bank) fight enemies and have encounters at locations. But it looks simpler to learn and a lot less fiddly so it should draw in some non-Arkham players. The world-wide setting fits the Mythos theme: all this forbidden knowledge pieced together from remote places across the Globe, leading to some sort of shocking revelation and/or confrontation (Sure sounds Lovecraftian to me) We do plenty of globe-hopping in A-H via the Other Worlds; looks like in "Eldritch" we have to travel the hard way, by sea and rail. 

     

     

    So I refuse to have my excitement dampened by all the nay-sayers. This preview could not have come at a better time (this has been a very bad week for me, personally, and I sorely needed cheering up) My coin jar should be full by the time it comes out, so we'll see how it holds up in the next couple previews- but right now those coins are burning a hole in my pocket. Can't wait to see how the various characters fare in a new setting- that's one thing I love about Elder Sign, seeing the new Investigators and AO's in a totally different setting (still haven't tried "Mansions" yet)

    player1761766 reacted to this
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