Tips for Starting Out

[CEOWolf 46]

Hey so Tuesday I'll be able to get Arkham Horror. I was wondering for someone who doesn't have money beyond getting it what are ideas for Token Bag(I may or may not have an actual pouch for them) and storing the game? Also what are newbie tips for playing the game? I'll be Daisy Agnes Wendy and Skids Roland interests me bupkiss.

[ParinorB 30]

I just used a cup as "token bag" for the first game. I also had a bag from Arkham Horror Boardgame which I don't use anymore. I guess any linen bag (for a few dollars/pounds/euros/lira etc.) would do.

 

The most important thing I misunderstood/misjudged during my first game were the rules and the power of evading and the rules about enemy engagement. There were a few other things which I cannot think of right now but will write if I do.

[CEOWolf 46]

I just used a cup as "token bag" for the first game. I also had a bag from Arkham Horror Boardgame which I don't use anymore. I guess any linen bag (for a few dollars/pounds/euros/lira etc.) would do.

 

Wait what?!?! Wouldn't seeing them via like a cup or bowl kinda literally defeat the whole purpose of them thematically? :s

[Noccus 324]

Why would a cup or bowl be less thematic then a bag?

Unless you buy one of those special Cthulhu head bags I don't see a difference.

It's all about practicality.

Bowl is easiest to use.

Bowl wins.

Edited December 10, 2016 by Noccus

[CEOWolf 46]

Why would a cup or bowl be less thematic then a bag?

Unless you buy one of those special Cthulhu head bags I don't see a difference.

It's all about practicality.

Bowl is easiest to use.

Bowl wins.

But.. your kinda seeing the tokens aren't you? Which kinda beasts the whole mystery tension/horror bit.

[Robin Graves 6,054]

I use one of the many cloth dice bags from the dice master colector boxes I have lying around.

 

A bowl works, just close your eyes, reach in and hope you don't pull the tentacle .

 

Also people should use this as a bowl.

 

[CEOWolf 46]

Haha nice bowl.

[Hawkstrike 5,410]

A coffee cup works great as a makeshift token bag; just remember not to drink out of it.

A long card box from a game store makes for good storage and can be picked up for a couple of bucks.

[CEOWolf 46]

Oh yeah! A mug be really good and be so small be hard to really dig around and hope you get something

 

Also what are mechanically wise good tips? Like rules that are easy to confuse?

[ParinorB 30]

 

I just used a cup as "token bag" for the first game. I also had a bag from Arkham Horror Boardgame which I don't use anymore. I guess any linen bag (for a few dollars/pounds/euros/lira etc.) would do.

 

Wait what?!?! Wouldn't seeing them via like a cup or bowl kinda literally defeat the whole purpose of them thematically? :s

 

Well, that depends on the height of the table, the chair, the mug, the distance between mug and eyes etc. I have not had a problem.

 

But yeah - you should def make sure you don't accidently pour tea into the cup

 

In terms of rules - def. double check evasion and engagement, that is what I got wrong. If you have been following the forum, all questions that I remember cropping up during my first game have been tackled in some form or another here. Otherwise, here are some things, that were not necessarily clear to me right from the start:

 

0) I got confused about the test result of zero: if you have a negative value in your modified skill test (i.e. your skill value, plus all the skill cards committed, plus/minus the chaos token), then it gets treated as a zero value. Thius, it follows that if you have a test with difficulty zero (for example, investigate a location with shroud = 0), it always succeeds EXCEPT if you draw the tentacle

1) You cannot discover clues if there aren't any (thus, cannot use Rolands ability etc.), but you CAN investigate if there aren't any clues (e.g. for Burglary)

2) enemies that are not exhausted engage as soon as a viable target presents itself/as soon as they ready.

3) enemies that have retaliate cannot attack when they are exhausted, same for attacks of opportunity - not possible for exhausted enemies: therefore, first thing = evade, then beat them or go to a different location

4) When an enemy wants to spawn in a location that is not on the board, it gets discarded (the location can however, be unrevealed and the enemy can spawn)

5) If you redraw a token via Wendies ability for example, it counts as if it hasn't been drawn at all (e.g. Baseball bat doesn't have to be discarded)

6) Doom ANYWHERE on the board counts toward the agenda. Thus, doom on enemies or on player cards are summed together with the doom on the agenda deck (before I understood this, I was kinda puzzled by that Mystic ally that comes with a doom...)

 

All I can think of for now. I only actually played twoce, with two players, scenario 1 so I am not the most experienced either

Edited December 10, 2016 by ParinorB

[ParinorB 30]

And I forgot to say: Have Fun!

[iGniGhted 113]

just remember, whenever there's a monster in the same area with you, that monster should engage you. if the monster hunts to your location, it engages you. if you leave the area with the monster without evading him, the monster stays engaged with you and follows you to that location. remember your doom tokens, and remember to keep them in an easily identifiable area so you know how many you have at all times.

 

i agreed initially with your assessment of Roland, so i started off with Daisy Walker. snatching up all the clues was no big sweat at all, but she can't fight a used napkin, and shouldn't. *minor spoilers. in the first scenario, i was able to evade a ghoul in the attic, get the necessary clues to move on to the next act, but had to resign from the scenario or assuredly be killed by another big baddy who showed up. Roland, while seeming quite dry, wasn't actually too bad, and even tho i barely did, i made it to the final scenario, where i failed miserably.

 

good luck, and enjoy!

[Samea 141]

Personally I very much prefer cups to bags, I find them easier to handle with one hand while holding my cards with the other. For Eldritch Horror, Elder Sign etc. we've always used the lid of the box as "monster well" to draw tokens from. Really great to give the tokens a good shuffle. Just don't peek while drawing, you'd just cheat yourself.

Invest in card sleeves, if a single card is recognizable from the back because of some bend or scratch it might spoil your game and getting a new one could require buying the whole core set again. And player cards will be used a lot. Even inexpensive "penny sleeves" will go a long way to protect them.

If a second core set is not within budget, you might still want one in the long run to explore more deck options. Or find someone else who owns the game to play with and borrow cards from. Especially if you are interested in playing Agnes or Daisy.

You probably want some small ziploc bags to put the tokens in. Alternatively use match boxes of the right size or the little tin boxes they sell mint lozenges in (also gives your tokens a pleasant minty scent if not washed), you can pick the tokens right from the box during games.

You can store the cards in the core set box with ziploc bags (that is the way they are shipped) or you can use scissors and a bit of duct tape to build a more practical divider from that cardboard inlay thing inside. In time you'll want deckboxes, storage boxes or binders to store, organize and transport your game. You can buy those or craft them yourself, there are lots of ideas and instructions on the intetnet to do that.

Prepare some nice royalty free music for atmosphere. I myself sometimes like cognac and cigars with that, but a nice hot, calming chamomile tea also goes great with the game.

[CEOWolf 46]

Thanks I can't wait to get this game and I wanna buy the crap out of it xD I want Carnaval and the entire Legacy series. (three out of six been revealed ) Also I wwas going to just live with only 1 core set then buy expansions to supplement my options. I could probably live with it. And I don't LIKE MELEE dudes!!! I wanna be more a literal interpretation of investigator like Rex or Daisy.

[Gaffa 673]

just remember, whenever there's a monster in the same area with you, that monster should engage you.

 

Unless it is Aloof, or if it is a Prey Only and you are not its Only.

 

Otherwise, good points!

[CEOWolf 46]

 

just remember, whenever there's a monster in the same area with you, that monster should engage you.

 

Unless it is Aloof, or if it is a Prey Only and you are not its Only.

 

Otherwise, good points!

 

 

Wait if it's prey does not apply to me and I'm the only investigator it totally ignores me?!!??

 

*unholy demon from hell walks in and sees Daisy whose not really it's style* "Hey how ya doing?" "Good just trying to kill your master." "Well I'd love to kill you badly for that but your a girl so... Ionly like muscular hard hitting guys so see ya."

[Network57 561]

just remember, whenever there's a monster in the same area with you, that monster should engage you.

 

Unless it is Aloof, or if it is a Prey Only and you are not its Only.

 

Otherwise, good points!

 

Wait if it's prey does not apply to me and I'm the only investigator it totally ignores me?!!??

 

*unholy demon from hell walks in and sees Daisy whose not really it's style* "Hey how ya doing?" "Good just trying to kill your master." "Well I'd love to kill you badly for that but your a girl so... Ionly like muscular hard hitting guys so see ya."

There are a few monsters that will attack only a certain investigator; currently I think it's only a few of the basic weaknesses that say "Bearer Only". Otherwise, Prey just means given a choice, who it engages; otherwise it will engage whoever it can if its prey is unavailable.

[CEOWolf 46]

Darn

[Gaffa 673]

Wait if it's prey does not apply to me and I'm the only investigator it totally ignores me?!!??

No, if a Prey instruction includes the word "only", then the enemy will only Prey on that target (and if it's a Hunter, it will only Hunt that target).

 

If the Prey is anything else (like a generic "Most Wounded" or "Highest Combat") then if you're the only target in its location, it will still attack you.

[CEOWolf 46]

I meant if a card has only and it doesn't apply to my invesitagator then I can ignore it?

[Noaloha 25]

A card with 'Prey: X only' will move and engage as if non-X investigators don't exist. It'll still attack a non-X investigator if they engage it and incur AoOs and/or still have it in enemy phase.

[Xenu's Paradox 40]

don't pull the tentacle .

Good advice for nearly every situation.

[Xenu's Paradox 40]

I just used a cup as "token bag" for the first game. I also had a bag from Arkham Horror Boardgame which I don't use anymore. I guess any linen bag (for a few dollars/pounds/euros/lira etc.) would do.

Wait what?!?! Wouldn't seeing them via like a cup or bowl kinda literally defeat the whole purpose of them thematically? :s

Well, that depends on the height of the table, the chair, the mug, the distance between mug and eyes etc. I have not had a problem.

But yeah - you should def make sure you don't accidently pour tea into the cup

In terms of rules - def. double check evasion and engagement, that is what I got wrong. If you have been following the forum, all questions that I remember cropping up during my first game have been tackled in some form or another here. Otherwise, here are some things, that were not necessarily clear to me right from the start:

0) I got confused about the test result of zero: if you have a negative value in your modified skill test (i.e. your skill value, plus all the skill cards committed, plus/minus the chaos token), then it gets treated as a zero value. Thius, it follows that if you have a test with difficulty zero (for example, investigate a location with shroud = 0), it always succeeds EXCEPT if you draw the tentacle

1) You cannot discover clues if there aren't any (thus, cannot use Rolands ability etc.), but you CAN investigate if there aren't any clues (e.g. for Burglary)

2) enemies that are not exhausted engage as soon as a viable target presents itself/as soon as they ready.

3) enemies that have retaliate cannot attack when they are exhausted, same for attacks of opportunity - not possible for exhausted enemies: therefore, first thing = evade, then beat them or go to a different location

4) When an enemy wants to spawn in a location that is not on the board, it gets discarded (the location can however, be unrevealed and the enemy can spawn)

5) If you redraw a token via Wendies ability for example, it counts as if it hasn't been drawn at all (e.g. Baseball bat doesn't have to be discarded)

6) Doom ANYWHERE on the board counts toward the agenda. Thus, doom on enemies or on player cards are summed together with the doom on the agenda deck (before I understood this, I was kinda puzzled by that Mystic ally that comes with a doom...)

All I can think of for now. I only actually played twoce, with two players, scenario 1 so I am not the most experienced either

Exhausted enemies can't make AoO? Where is this rule? Edited December 10, 2016 by Xenu's Paradox

[ziggy2000 169]

Exhausted enemies can't make AoO? Where is this rule?

 

Rules reference, page 5:

"Attack of Opportunity Each time an investigator is engaged with one or more ready enemies and takes an action other than to fight, to evade, or to activate a parley or resign ability, each of those enemies makes an attack of opportunity against the investigator, in the order of the investigator’s choosing."

 

Emphasis is mine. "Ready" means not exhausted.

[Phoenix1988 0]

May be a stupid question, but also a newbie here: is the intention that section in a campaign accumulated health/horror/resources are maintained? I.e. If you end scenario 1 with 3 health lost, you begin scenario 2 with 3 health lost? If so what happens to cards in play etc?

Also, can cards like Physical Training be triggered more than once per skill test?