Just curious as to what people think are the 4 investigators that work the best together.

Whichever random 4 I draw, they better work together . No cherry-picking for me, always random, even if that means in 23 games with IH so far, I still haven't drawn Zoey (and Harvey saw first play time today).

Patrice, Wendy, Daisy and Mandy. Utterly disgusting. If not using IH board, Kate Winthrop probably takes Wendy's place.

Ken on Cape said:

It depends on what expansions you're using I'd say.

It also depends on whether your goal is to win or have fun. A lot people like playing with Joe, or even Mary. My wife like playing with Agnes.

avec said:

Yeah I'm a stickler for Joe Diamond. Always play him.

I'm also in the camp of playing for fun and, when going solo, I try to build around a theme.

Which raises tweaked question of what sort of themed teams of four have people thought up?

(ok, some of these work in my head... If you don't get it after thinking on them for a while, just don't worry about it )

The Musician, the Entertainer, The Bootlegger, someone else... (the Actress, if I had KH)

The Professor, The Student, The Astronomer, The Scientist

The Nun, The Chef, The Redeemed Cultist, the Farmhand

The Fed, The P.I., The Rookie Cop, The Athlete

The Researcher, The Handyman, The Dilettante, The Student

The Psychologist, The Psychic, The Shaman, The Redeemed Cultist

The Archaeologist, The Professor, The Explorer, The Shaman

(I should really stop now...)

....

Ok, maybe those won't make any sense to a lot of people, but I can see a cool story brewing for each of those.

I suppose if you take any four it would end up working out as pretty cool storywise.

....

Did I just make a redundant post?

Interesting. What are some your rationales for those teams? I think I get the Professor, Student, Astromoner and Scientist. But the Nun, Chef, Redeemed Cultist and Farmhand have me confused.

I've never tried it, but it might be fun to use the Professor, Astronomer, Lawyer and Politician. It would be Attack of the Old Farts.

Or maybe the Musician, Entertainer, Shaman, and Martial-Artist as Team Racist Stereotype.

avec said:

Nun = Christian; Chef = christian nutcase; R.C. = redeemed (religious overtones... and the initials could be construed as an in joke); Farmhand = hillbilly (religious right? Yeah, it's a stretch...)

avec said:

Ugh! I tried it with the first three. Soooooo sssllllloooooooooooowwwww! Maybe paired with the Athlete? Which neatly brings me to...

avec said:

Yeah, team minority . If anything I view Rita as the heavier black stereotype, really, but none of the black investigators hit any nerves of mine (well, maybe Rita sliiightly but she's a lot of fun to play!). The east asians are a bit worse off, though. Thing is, with a 1920's USA setting, they mostly work out pretty logically. Except Lily. She's just silly (though still kinda cool, I gotta admit... I just frickin love kung-fu). At least they didn't bring out a shoeshine boy!

Akachi confuses me, though. Igbo (nigerian) first name, no idea about the surname's origin, her portarait looks more native north american than african... What the heck is her ethnicity meant to be?!? ( Ha! I've never had the opportunity to be the poser rather than the recipient of that question!! )

Mylo said:

Rita actually never bothered me that much. She seemed like a normal person who had the misfortune to born into a racist time. Is it because she's black and does track and field?

I think Akachi is supposed to be from the Caribbean. Like a Haitian voodoo shaman or something.

avec said:

The Rita thing: cross reference the whole Black Lightning thing out of that wack cartoon Minoriteam. But then we're really making an Everest out of a sandgrain.

I can't really see the voodoo link with Akachi... But vodun's kinda close to my heart so I'm liable to be a fastidious nitpicker right there.

Um...

More team suggestions, anyone?

Mylo said:

Well, I'm not sayiing she's done well, or accurately. I just had the impression that she was supposed to be Caribbean.

Fair. Actually, when I really think about it, I'm cool with the ambiguity. Rather than if they called her "Mama Shango" or some overly-contrived Native American name.

Yeah Ive thought about themedteams. Mostly as a way to make things harder, like choosing all low sneak spellcasters against shub. Sort of like picking your team to target the AOs weaknesses, but in reverse.

I like the artists team too - Jim, Marie, Lola and (shudder) Patrice.

See, I know Patrice is meant to be one of the "best" characters in terms of trying to win, but I simply cannot find a way to justify her special ability storywise and so can't bring myself to put her in any team.

Read The Music of Erich Zann if you havent already. Patrices music is otherworldly. It drives back the mythos.

Music can also contain coded messages. Perhaps the others hear her music in their heads and it speaks to them. If Jim can raise the dead with a trumpet, why not?

Just to be clear, I dont really like Patrice either but neither do I scorn her use. To me, its in how you play the game. Some want to win. I want to tell myself a story.

I enjoy playing with Finn. He's good at sneaking around, but he's not overpowered like Wendy. You need to balance him out with a strong fighter though. Finn and Michael would probably work well together.

The Musician, the Entertainer, The Bootlegger, someone else... (the Actress, if I had KH)

The Speakeasy "Employees". Michael might work well with this group.

The Professor, The Student, The Astronomer, The Scientist

Miskatonic Extracirricular.

The Nun, The Chef, The Redeemed Cultist, the Farmhand

Hmmm. Not sure. If you're going with Diana being a shopkeeper...the Working Stiffs.

The Fed, The P.I., The Rookie Cop, The Athlete

Street Justice...if you're playing off of Rita's "vigilante" Personal Story.

The Researcher, The Handyman, The Dilettante, The Student

Charlie's Angels! Jill, Bosley, Sabrina, and Kris. Kelly would be the Actress. I think Trish the Spy would work with this group as well.

The Psychologist, The Psychic, The Shaman, The Redeemed Cultist

Again, not quite sure. Mind Games? (Diana's throwing me off the theme...)

The Archaeologist, The Professor, The Explorer, The Shaman

World Travelers. Hand-picked by Leo for his Expedition.

I will add:

The Salesman, the Dreamer, the Professor, the Musician, the Secretary -- Ghostbusters.

The Drifter, the Urchin, the Handyman, the Bootlegger -- the Vagabonds. Could possibly add the Sailor or the Ex-Convict.

The Dreamer, the Politician, the Nun, the Gravedigger, the Soldier, the Student -- Hamlet!

I love this game.

Sneakabouts: Wendy, Finn, Trish

The last game played included Ashcan Pete, Bob Jenkins, Kate Winthrop, and Monterey Jack. Despite the fact that few of the investigators used any of their special skills/abilities, we concluded the game, defeating Hastur by sealing six required gates after 36 turns! Great group of investigators!

When my group of four plays with Joe Diamond, Michael McGlen, "Ashcan" Pete and Darrel Simmons (each of our fav characters), we ALWAYS WIN.

Knuckles Eki said:

I saw one game logged with a red Result box . And after those initial 2 closing gates wins, it's all final combat. Joe + final combat = very hard to lose, but I prefer a win to a draw . You posted sessions also seem to have Nyarly 3 times and Yig once, being on the bottom of the combat difficulty chart as well.

To be fair, the rules is the rules. While Joe is probably one of the better AO destroyers and Nyarly and Yig are super easy compared to the others, beating them is still a win. Of course, most of that win is probably from Joe, but McGlen's high Fight doesn't hurt either.

For me 'winning' in final battle is just a measure of having spared the rest of the world, no investigator can live with having faced the Ancient One, they fade away and are never heard from again, commit suicide, or go mad. Thus: draw.

dj2.0 said:

That makes some sense... but only some of the Ancient Ones have that sort of effect, and the Mythos has plenty of examples of characters who come face to face with Ancient Ones and live to tell the tale. The Final Battles in AH presumably represent things like the climax of The Call of Cthulhu, when the last sane sailor turns the ship around, rams Cthulhu, splatters Him, and then sails away. Cthulhu is driven back into slumber and the world is spared. The sailor is traumatized, but isn't dead or mad.

Really it doesn't matter though because I don't see why a "win" is determined by the perspective of the investigators rather than from the perspective of the whole world! The reason it's a "win" is that the fight is over and the human race still exists; it's not all that important what happened to the poor saps who did the actual fighting. When I celebrate a win in AH I'm cheering that the Earth has been saved, not that Rex Murphy has been saved.

Anyway dj2.0, you're the one who thinks Quachil Uttaus can be beaten in the final battle... are you really so jaded that you'd only call that a draw?

thecorinthian said:

Is a ship a one handed weapon or two?