I would love to see more story driven expansions for Eldritch Horror. Most of the encounters and story elements are more or less random in EH and don't form an overarching storyline, so they could make POD expansions / scenarios which include new decks for locations with events that are directly tied to those scenarios. Research encounters cards could reveal new parts of the story and lead the players towards the correct locations and events and Mythos cards would drive the game towards investigator's loss if they're not progressing fast enough.

They could also introduce a separate deck with numbered cards so encounter/Mythos/research cards could reference those cards and have different outcomes if the investigator’s have the correct items or certain Mysteries solved. This way the outcomes wouldn't be spoiled before the investigator's meet the requirements.

I’m sure all this could be easily incorporated to Eldritch Horror with current mechanics and give the game a totally different feeling. At least I would happily buy them even if they wouldn’t have as much replay value as normal EH expansions.

Something similar should be granted by the AH LCG game experience (in case you're interested in another game related to the Mythos)

The biggest problem with making scenarios with a more linear story is that you are relying on the story to be the motivating factor for the session. Once the story is known, the scenario would lose a lot of the replay value presumably. One of the reasons Eldritch hits our table so often is because it is so unpredictable. It's the constant need to adjust your strategy to meet unknown elements that lures us back. Very excited for the Dreamlands.

I'd like to see Rumors enter the game that are less disruptive (so you aren't essentially forced to do them) and more costly to complete, but the investigators are rewarded somehow for their efforts. Perhaps something that forces investigators to take damage when closing a gate, but if dealt with perhaps investigators would receive an improvement each or something of that sort. I'd like to see a bit more reward for actions so that when accomplishing something you get a "reward" instead of a "I guess the world isn't quite so horrible now, maybe" feeling. I just wouldn't want it to affect the overall game balance.

I would love to see more story driven expansions for Eldritch Horror.

I agree 100%. I was hoping that FFG would expand upon their Adventure rules to create a wider variety of story-driven adventures for this game. Ones that branch out depending on the players success would add to the replayability. Considering that there are plenty of people that are willing to pay $50 for single-play games like Seafall or TIME Stories, a $12 POD expansion seems reasonable even if replayability suffers a little.

You could add a single themed adventure for each GOO or even make a new GOO that can only be defeated by completing a series of adventures. I'd like either one. Heck, I'd buy a pack of random adventures unrelated to the current GOO.

But, it seems like very few people actually like the adventures in this game.

So... just got done at Arkham Nights. They did have a beta copy of the Dreamlands there for play, with a printout of the sideboard and both Ancient Ones. I didn't actually play it, so I don't remember much about the Ancient Ones (and I won't spoil what I do recall), but I do recall a couple tidbits for you guys:

Minor spoilers (but not enough to warrant hiding them, I think)

*The sideboard can be reached from portals that are placed randomly around the board at the beginning of the game, and can move. Alternatively, when you take a rest action, you can spend a clue to go to the sideboard. Getting out isn't nearly as easy.

*Waaaay more interesting tidbit: They had no new investigators there... BUT... they had a printout of the rulebook, which clearly showed our friend Kate Winthrop as the example Investigator card on the contents page. I remember her Observation was 4, and I believe her Strength and Will were both 2s. However, I really liked her abilities... her active ability is: "Action: if you are on a space with a Gate, you may discard one monster with toughness less than your Observation" (again... she starts with a 4 Observation). Her passive, unsurprisingly, is very similar to her AH one: "If a gate would spawn on your space, discard the gate and gain 1 clue".

Interesting stuff KBlumhardt

Did you notice if there were gates for dreamlands locations? If so, that would make Akachi and Luke far better at moving between the two boards (which makes a lot of sense).

Interesting stuff KBlumhardt

Did you notice if there were gates for dreamlands locations? If so, that would make Akachi and Luke far better at moving between the two boards (which makes a lot of sense).

I don't remember if they had the new gates at the event, but I'm pretty sure there were new gates shown in the book. It seems like there would be, since the other sideboards have them (although gates opening in the Dreamlands seems a bit weird, thematically).

One other little tidbit: The locations are classified by type like on the UtP sideboard (The Moon is a wilderness space, for instance) so this expansion will not come with sideboard research cards like Antarctica had.

So with Dreamlands released what is next? If we follow the regular procedure the next expansion will be a small one, meaning 1 AO and 4 investigators and no new board. Actually IMHO it's more time for a kind of EH-"Miscatonic expansion set". I am quite sure that most players are midwhile desperately waiting for some new cards for those decks which have not been expanded so far, especially new mystery cards for all AOs are definitely necessary and also the AO related special encounters and research encounter cards.

But if they go with the regular expansion procedure we will get a small expansion like FL, SR and SoC. Which new AO will we get? There are still several HPL AOs missing, including Nyarlatothep, Tsathoggua and Ghatanothoa.

Ghanatoa (I know) is present as an Epic monster from a Rumor, so he probably won't be featured as a full fledged ancient one.

Ghanatoa (I know) is present as an Epic monster from a Rumor, so he probably won't be featured as a full fledged ancient one.

Spinner of Webs and Wind-Walker would like to have a word with you.

There are still several HPL AOs missing, including Nyarlatothep, Tsathoggua and Ghatanothoa.

I would be happy to see any of these or Glaaki, or Eihort.

I think with the Dark Pharaoh out there in the Pyramids expansion, we won't see Nyarlathotep here. But who knows.

I'm taking a shot in the dark and thinking it's going to be a "Fungi from Yuggoth" type thing as the next expansion. So maybe a Mi-Go invasion like we saw "The Rise of the Elder Things" being an AO in the Antarctica expansion.

As for big boards, Europe seems like the most likely in my opinion. The cities are diverse and culturally distinct. Paris encounters will feel different from Vienna, which in turn would feel different from a peasant village in the shadow of the Carpathians, which would feel different from Moscow. Horror on the Orient Express is the most likely source text to draw from here.

A board which covers Asia linking in with the Himalayas that riffs off of Lost Horizon might be nice angle too, plus you can link up to Tunguska and the Russian Steppes, and include Bombay. The last days of the British Empire in India make an excellent backdrop for pulp adventures, as evidenced by Indiana jones and the Temple of Doom .

The Americas doesn't jump out at me nearly as much. Arkham could be expanded, but we've got Arkham Horror for that. It's not impossible, you could stress organised crime in Chicago or New York, cultists in the Louisiana bayous in New Orleans, the early days of Hollywood in Los Angeles, the frontier spirit in Juneau, and shamanistic mysticism being eroded by progress in Mexico City. Similarly Canada and Alaska might have a little Ithaqua action, (but as Ithaqua has already been covered, it seems unlikely that we'd go down that path...) It's also tough to think of an overall theme that would particularly unify the board in the way that the Orient Express or Silk Road might unify Europe or Asia.

Likewise, I can't see that much to work with in South America. Outside of the Day of the Beast scenario in Peru, the excellent Children of the Yellow Lake (set in Manaus, but we've had Hastur already), and a very brief (and optional) trip to Chile in Shadows of Yog-Sothoth , most CoC scenarios set in South America run along the lines of find a hidden temple in the jungle, then survive / kill / escape. That's fine as a singular location, but it'd going to be hard to make an entire map from that alone.

I think with the Dark Pharaoh out there in the Pyramids expansion, we won't see Nyarlathotep here. But who knows.

I'm taking a shot in the dark and thinking it's going to be a "Fungi from Yuggoth" type thing as the next expansion. So maybe a Mi-Go invasion like we saw "The Rise of the Elder Things" being an AO in the Antarctica expansion.

The Dark Pharaoh is not Nyarlathotep

I think with the Dark Pharaoh out there in the Pyramids expansion, we won't see Nyarlathotep here. But who knows.

I'm taking a shot in the dark and thinking it's going to be a "Fungi from Yuggoth" type thing as the next expansion. So maybe a Mi-Go invasion like we saw "The Rise of the Elder Things" being an AO in the Antarctica expansion.

The Dark Pharaoh is not Nyarlathotep

Yeah I know, technically it's a "mask" of N., but FFG hinted at Masks of Nyarlathotep in an early release, then released UtP. Then they hinted at the Dreamlands, and released The Dreamlands. So I'm thinking it's not something we've seen before in some partial or full form.

It's not a mask either or an avatar, he was just a human who was driven to insanity by the shining trapezohedron. He is just like the protagonist in The Haunter of the Dark only he happened to be a Pharaoh instead of a writer. Why he is an AO in Eldritch Horror is a mystery to me but I guess FFG sees him as something else so maybe you're right. It's not what Lovecraft intended though.

As a British player I'd love to see a British Isles sideboard, with a couple of the British based AOs, like Glaaki or Eihort, featured. If they can make it into Arkham Horror it'd be nice to see them feature closer to their original homes, with mysteries that tell more of their stories.

It'd be kind of cool to see Brichester and the rest of the Severn Valley in a board game. I'm not sure whether they're available as intellectual properties for the purposes of a boardgame, but it'd be great to see some of the British Mythos represented. The creepy Shub Niggurath cultists of Goatswood, the Azathoth worshiping Shan, the Revelations of Glaaki. Even horrendous Y'golonac.

It's not a mask either or an avatar, he was just a human who was driven to insanity by the shining trapezohedron. He is just like the protagonist in The Haunter of the Dark only he happened to be a Pharaoh instead of a writer. Why he is an AO in Eldritch Horror is a mystery to me but I guess FFG sees him as something else so maybe you're right. It's not what Lovecraft intended though.

I haven't read the story but in the Arkham Horror files universe (which isn't identical to the universe created by Lovecraft) Dark Pharaoh is one of the Masks. Although Eldritch Horror acts agnostic and nicely understates this.

Either way, can't a man become possessed through the Trapezohedron, and this way become a vessel for Nyarlathotep and basically another Mask?

I have an idea for an exciting new expansion mechanic. Completely new idea in Eldritch Horror:

Pummel investigators with monsters.

Monsters in Eldritch Horror feel quite passive. They may as well be called Gate Guardians. 90% of them spawn on the gate location, the rest are mostly monsters who go to a specific hardcoded location, like Mummy who goes to the Pyramids. It's pretty easy to gear up so monsters become windshield kills - very un-Lovecraftian! There are even artifacts and spells which let you skip monsters. And even then it doesn't seem to make much of a difference, because what REALLY threatens you is the time limit (Doom track) and mythos cards. Hell, often you don't even want to close the gate, but just *a* gate. Closing any gate with the same omen will have the same effect, and blue omen gates are usually preferred as they trigger twice as often.

What I'm saying is that monsters very rarely pose an existential threat in Eldritch Horror . Dying to one is similar to throwing yourself onto barbed wire. It can only happen if you're careless or in a big hurry. Monsters might advance doom track sometimes, but again it's indirect threat via time limit.

No, Shub Niggurath doesn't count ! Her monsters don't threaten investigators, you only want to kill them because they speed up the time limit. Yig is the same case, time runs out faster if you don't kill enough monsters. Abhoth is another Ancient One which is about pest control.

Ideally, this AO's mechanic would also come in a prelude form, so it can be tried with older Ancient Ones.

----------------------

Ideas for mechanics (not necessarily all of them at the same time):

* whenever you spawn a clue, spawn a monster on that location. (This would make combat/sneaky investigators more valuable. Weak investigators would often feel cornered and with no place to hide.) Nice idea for a rumor or a prelude, I think.

* whenever you gain or spend a clue, a random monster ambushes you and stays on your location! (More thematic version of the above. A great Ancient One may not necessarily care about 4 curious mortals, why should he/she/it hunt them ? This variant punishes investigators for messing with stuff beyond their comprehension. It also catches tricky investigators like Norman Withers and Trish Scarborough who generate clues.)

* Reckoning effect: for each monster on the board which doesn't have its own reckoning effect, it moves 1 location towards the nearest investigator. Naturally, the Lead Investigator solves ambiguous cases like "which investigator is closer ?".

* Monster power: when you defeat this monster in a combat encounter, lose your least expensive weapon. (This would make combat feel more desperate, as an investigator is less likely to kill multiple monsters like that).

* Monster power: when you defeat this monster other than in combat encounter (ritual spell, Tokyo...), lose 1 spell or impair a skill of your choice.

* Monster power (Astral Sight): whenever you cast a spell, this monster moves to your location and ambushes you.

* Whenever an investigator is defeated, if there's no monster on his location, a new monster is spawned on that location.

* Reckoning effect: for each defeated investigator on the board, advance the Doom Track by 1.

* Awakening effect: each turn, the Ancient One teleports to a different investigator and ambushes him. As usual, investigators killed after AO is awakened are Devoured and it's Game Over for that player. But this time, the AO seeks out investigators and goes after them directly. There's no going to Heart of Africa or some other location to fight him. HE/SHE/IT will go to your location and fight.

* Awakening effect (alternate): Ancient One spawns as an epic monster along with a ton of monsters on surrounding locations. It can fight and greatly damage investigators, but can't be killed (classic Lovecraft way). You have to avoid the AO, kill only as many monsters as necessary and complete something before they literally overwhelm you. Sort of like Horde Mode, and you're doomed to fall unless you act quickly. Tougher investigators survive longer.

* Mysteries: except the Final Mystery, no mystery would be "Kill X monsters" or "kill that epic monster". It's deliberate, to escape that videogame/RPG feeling where monsters are not the guardians/obstacles but the actual treasure. Instead, mysteries could involve visiting locations and collecting clues, and monsters would just assault them along the way. The more they discover, the more they meddle, the harder they hit. So perhaps more ambushes with each solved mystery ?

The bottom line: an Ancient One which makes players feel like monsters are out to get them !!

17 hours ago, tsuma534 said:

I haven't read the story but in the Arkham Horror files universe (which isn't identical to the universe created by Lovecraft) Dark Pharaoh is one of the Masks. Although Eldritch Horror acts agnostic and nicely understates this.

Either way, can't a man become possessed through the Trapezohedron, and this way become a vessel for Nyarlathotep and basically another Mask?

Nothing like this in Lovecraft stories . There are no "masks" there wasn't a lot of consistency in his writing since he was just writing creepy stories and not really concerned about a "mythos" but since the games have made him into something else I suppose they're doing whatever they want with him. but really it just boils down to the fact that Nephran-ka is no replacement for Nyarlathotep and I am sure he will be his own AO at some point. He is too popular not to.

4 hours ago, Meretrix said:

but really it just boils down to the fact that Nephran-ka is no replacement for Nyarlathotep and I am sure he will be his own AO at some point. He is too popular not to.

I envy your certainty. Six expansions in I only have a tiny glimmer of hope left.

4 investigators left for the next small box expansion.

The interesting thing is that the Arkham Files universe has 4 new investigators (introduced in Mom 2nd e.) and they all in the Investigators of Arkham Horror book. So I consider them upcoming investigators for EH as well.

However there is only 4 new investigators. Does this means that

- the next small box will have 4 investigators, and after that a big box will have the 4 new investigators (instead of the usual 8)

- the next small box will have 0 investigators and after that a big box will have 4 + 4 new investigators

- the next small box will have 4 investigators and after that, again a small box with the 4 new investigators

Still there are questions remaining after the next small box, if there will be a proper big box expansion or just a Miskatonic-style, where they expand the expansions.

In the Dreamlands expansions there are no obvious clues. If there are they hid it very well. That's worrying.

21 minutes ago, Perignon said:

4 investigators left for the next small box expansion. (...)

You're not the first one who's concerned ;-)

2 hours ago, Perignon said:

4 investigators left for the next small box expansion.

The interesting thing is that the Arkham Files universe has 4 new investigators (introduced in Mom 2nd e.) and they all in the Investigators of Arkham Horror book. So I consider them upcoming investigators for EH as well.

However there is only 4 new investigators. Does this means that

- the next small box will have 4 investigators, and after that a big box will have the 4 new investigators (instead of the usual 8)

- the next small box will have 0 investigators and after that a big box will have 4 + 4 new investigators

- the next small box will have 4 investigators and after that, again a small box with the 4 new investigators

Still there are questions remaining after the next small box, if there will be a proper big box expansion or just a Miskatonic-style, where they expand the expansions.

In the Dreamlands expansions there are no obvious clues. If there are they hid it very well. That's worrying.

Yes, very interesting. I'm guessing you're right, we'll see some new MoM2 Investigators in next release.

For some reason I felt the space-filler on the back page of the Dreamlands expansion might have also alluded to Yuggoth playing a role in another expansion. I'm sure it could do with a sideboard....all the other planets in the Mythos would make for good content.

I'd like to see an England side board since Cyaegha and Eihort haven't yet made an appearance in EH, and both are in England. Cthugha and Yibb-Tstll also haven't been introduced into the game yet. I'm not holding out much hope for Cyaegha since that AO hasn't been in any previous Arkham games, but the others have. If Eihort appears as an AO and not an epic monster, I can see him appearing as part of a large expansion with a second AO and an England side board. Cthugha will most likely be an epic monster, and not an AO I believe. As for Yibb-Tstll, if she appears as an AO and not an epic monster, she would be a good second AO to place with Eihort in a large expansion.

1/27/17: I almost forgot about Glaaki, another Ancient One based in England. So, there's the two AOs for an England expansion: Glaaki and Eihort.

They need something like Forbidden Lore that boost the pervious set. We need something that adds mysteries to existing AOs, adventure cards and conditions. If they worried that giving mysteries to people that might not have those expansion perhaps they can instead offer such an expansion online, small deck per AO. They offer mail in for cards for arkham so why not Eldritch???