Alright, ladies and gentlemen, I'm leaving this puzzler up to you:
Ghatanothoa vs. Rex, blah, blah, bla...it doesn't matter.
Rex starts as First Player. Pre-Game Mythos: Strange Sightings. Assume Rex has the worst luck in the universe.
What happens?
Did I do anything wrong?
Did I have any other options?
Oh... so Rex gained a clue token, boosted to two because of his special ability, then Gathanoa chomped down on him?
Rough! Doesn't seem to me like he had any chance. He really is cursed!
I think you pulled that right.
If there are no gates for any monsters to surge from, I'd say there is no surge.
How this would affect AOs whose abilities are dependent on monster surges, I don't know. I suspect those wouldn't work either, becase there is "no surge."
Tibs said:
If there are no gates for any monsters to surge from, I'd say there is no surge.
How this would affect AOs whose abilities are dependent on monster surges, I don't know. I suspect those wouldn't work either, becase there is "no surge."
I'd say still kicks in (Shudde). BGotW Herald would still add 1 doomer 
. It's just more of a below the surface kinda surging 
.
Tibs said:
How this would affect AOs whose abilities are dependent on monster surges, I don't know. I suspect those wouldn't work either, becase there is "no surge."
Surge doesn't matter for Ghatanothoa. It's the "FP gains one Clue." There's no "may" there. Rex GETS a Clue. There is no "may" in his special ability. Rex WILL gain two Clues.
The only thing that would stop this chain is if "Strange Sightings" is disallowed as an opening card. I looked. HARD. Everything I have found has been a House Rule. The only official rejection is if the opening card is a Rumor. It was not.
So the inevitable cascade came down to...ONE IN EIGHT.
Rex...chose POORLY. (Graksnor pegged it.)
I didn't have a stopwatch, but best guess estimate from drawing Rex as an Investigator to returning him to the box...FOUR MINUTES. Coincidently, that's about the same time it took me to stop laughing hysterically.
Quickest devouring ever (before the game even started!!!). Ghatanothoa ROCKS.
jgt7771 said:
The only thing that would stop this chain is if "Strange Sightings" is disallowed as an opening card. I looked. HARD. Everything I have found has been a House Rule. The only official rejection is if the opening card is a Rumor. It was not.
More of a house ruling/ interpretation:
The mythos card will indicate an unstable location
where a gate and monster appear.
I am planning on reading this that the Mythos card MUST indicate an unstable location. If you put out a Strange sightings than you are not fulling the requirement or at least description of what the first Mythos card does, ie, indicate an unstable location.
The reason the Rumor is specifically mentioned is, well I don't know, but I am planning on thinking that even though a rumor usually indicates an unstable gate, its just a difficult or boring or confusing beginning as is Strange Sightings.
14. DRAW AND RESOLVE
MYTHOS CARD
Finally, the first player draws the top card of the mythos
deck and resolves it as described in the Mythos Phase
section of the rules. If a Rumor is drawn, discard it and
draw again until you draw a mythos card that isn’t a
Rumor. The mythos card will indicate an unstable location
where a gate and monster appear. Remember, unstable
locations are identified by red diamonds on the game
board. For more information on resolving the Mythos
Phase, see page 9.
Important: Remember to place a doom token on the
Ancient One’s doom track after the first gate opens.
After the mythos card has been completely resolved, the
first turn begins, starting with the first player.
jgt7771 said:
The only thing that would stop this chain is if "Strange Sightings" is disallowed as an opening card. I looked. HARD. Everything I have found has been a House Rule. The only official rejection is if the opening card is a Rumor. It was not.
That and Next Act Begins cards.
Honestly, I'm fine with starting with a non-gate card. I don't start with a rumour, because of that rule, but other than that, I think anything's fair game. Double doom cards give you enough problems, of course, and I think drawing an Act card on the first turn is terrifying enough. (This is from the guy who has lost 8 or so games to the Third Act.) I would let Intermission go, as well. Strange sightings is the only exception I would make, and on the one game where we drew that on the first turn, I believe we played that we got a brief reprieve. No gates meant no monster surge. It was against the Black Goat, so I don't think we should be blamed for that opinion, either.
Congratulations on the pre-game devouring! Nothing on the pre-game losses possible against Rhan-Tegoth or during the league, but a fun accomplishment nevertheless.
flamethrower49 said:
Honestly, I'm fine with starting with a non-gate card. I don't start with a rumour, because of that rule, but other than that, I think anything's fair game. Double doom cards give you enough problems, of course, and I think drawing an Act card on the first turn is terrifying enough. (This is from the guy who has lost 8 or so games to the Third Act.) I would let Intermission go, as well. Strange sightings is the only exception I would make, and on the one game where we drew that on the first turn, I believe we played that we got a brief reprieve. No gates meant no monster surge. It was against the Black Goat, so I don't think we should be blamed for that opinion, either.
Intermission against Glaaki, KiY or Dagon Heralds is a scary prospect as an opening Mythos (well, Dagon dependant on whether your investigators all have 2 Clues to begin with or not).
jgt7771 said:
Tibs said:
How this would affect AOs whose abilities are dependent on monster surges, I don't know. I suspect those wouldn't work either, becase there is "no surge."
Surge doesn't matter for Ghatanothoa. It's the "FP gains one Clue." There's no "may" there. Rex GETS a Clue. There is no "may" in his special ability. Rex WILL gain two Clues.
The only thing that would stop this chain is if "Strange Sightings" is disallowed as an opening card. I looked. HARD. Everything I have found has been a House Rule. The only official rejection is if the opening card is a Rumor. It was not.
So the inevitable cascade came down to...ONE IN EIGHT.
Rex...chose POORLY. (Graksnor pegged it.)
I didn't have a stopwatch, but best guess estimate from drawing Rex as an Investigator to returning him to the box...FOUR MINUTES. Coincidently, that's about the same time it took me to stop laughing hysterically.
Quickest devouring ever (before the game even started!!!). Ghatanothoa ROCKS.
Question is, would it have made differences in the long run?
Say he wouldn't have gained a clue token via the first mythos card... still, every time he gains a clue token during a game against Ghatanothoa, he'd still have gained two. Pick up a clue at a location; you're good as dead. Have an average encounter... good bye.
All together, Ghatanothoa can be considered Rex' absolute Nemesis ;D
Wow, that's what I call luck! You're allowed to "retire" Rex in a game against Ghatanothoa before anything important happens, and the only disadvantage is that you cannot keep the clue(s) from the mythos card. Being Montery Jack when you play vs Cthulhu + Dark Pharaoh herald hurts more (hard to believe, but true). ^^
HëllRÆZØR said:
Wow, that's what I call luck! You're allowed to "retire" Rex in a game against Ghatanothoa before anything important happens, and the only disadvantage is that you cannot keep the clue(s) from the mythos card. Being Montery Jack when you play vs Cthulhu + Dark Pharaoh herald hurts more (hard to believe, but true). ^^
Ah! I start to remember why I didn't like Montery Jack...
Maybe I just had the wrong start with him...
Vitus_Prem said:
Ah! I start to remember why I didn't like Montery Jack...
Maybe I just had the wrong start with him...
Depends. Was it against Cthulhu and the Dark Pharoah?
jgt7771 said:
Ghatanothoa ROCKS.
Ghatanothoa makes you Rock!
Ity uis a new bumper sticker. order now from FFG or Chaosium.
-Mariana the ex-nun cultist
flamethrower49 said:
Honestly, I'm fine with starting with a non-gate card. I don't start with a rumour, because of that rule, but other than that, I think anything's fair game. Double doom cards give you enough problems, of course, and I think drawing an Act card on the first turn is terrifying enough. (This is from the guy who has lost 8 or so games to the Third Act.) I would let Intermission go, as well. Strange sightings is the only exception I would make, and on the one game where we drew that on the first turn, I believe we played that we got a brief reprieve. No gates meant no monster surge. It was against the Black Goat, so I don't think we should be blamed for that opinion, either.
Congratulations on the pre-game devouring! Nothing on the pre-game losses possible against Rhan-Tegoth or during the league, but a fun accomplishment nevertheless.
I'm reminded of the old SciFi RPG Traveller which a friend owned. In the character generation rules the odds on a "scout" character surviving until the actual start of the game were minimal, something like a 1 in 20 chance IIRC. So you would go through all the steps of stat generation etc etc then oops, sorry my guy just died. I think there were later editions of this game, no idea if they stuck with this rule.
- Mariana the (old) ex-nun cultist
To: Mariana the Ex-Nun Cultist:
A friend and I have recently started a Traveller campaign using the rules adapted by Mongoose Publishing. Apparently, they've taken all of the really good "house rules" from the past 25 years and developed an impressive character generation, etc. based upon the original two six-sided dice mechanic. If you're into Traveller, I highly recommend it.
The Professor
The Professor said:
To: Mariana the Ex-Nun Cultist:
A friend and I have recently started a Traveller campaign using the rules adapted by Mongoose Publishing. Apparently, they've taken all of the really good "house rules" from the past 25 years and developed an impressive character generation, etc. based upon the original two six-sided dice mechanic. If you're into Traveller, I highly recommend it.
The Professor
Thanks Dam, but I leterally only played once and that was over 25, probbaly approching 30, years ago 
(see that smiley to the left, that smiley is me realising just how long ago this was 
)
- Mariana the ex-nun cultist
Lol, it wasn't me. Stupid Matrix cloning avatars 
!
Dam,
Only over the past couple of weeks have I noticed how often you 'publish' on these threads ~ you obviously have very good taste in avatars!
Mariana,
Believe me, I know the feeling!
The Professor