My first look at Ghatanothua tonight, the last of the ancient ones I had yet to play with. I like to stretch out new things. The Moon was full and shining through my open bay windows, light directly hitting the board, I just couldnt help but notice it. I have yesterday returned from a really amazing trip to the UK and had missed my Arkham. So maybe there was some weird puppy dog thing going on, as Arkham and Innsmouth just rolled over and showed a white underbelly for rubs. And I played pretty recklessly, never shying from spinning the barrell and pulling the trigger.
There were countless conspiracies going on. Here are some of the more strange and inordinately fortunate things that occurred in the game:
- The first UI - Norman draws an elder sign in startup. I am using all UI cards. I shuffle obsessively and ritualistically every game.
- Michael gets alhazreds lamp and marksman skill to match his tommy gun on startup
- Mandy draws a press pass on startup. Charlie gets Ryan Dean and a shotgun. Ryan gives him the courier run so he can buy off the newspaper and win re-election.
- Mandy is blessed on turn 3 and retains it all game.
- Nodens favour turns up on turn 3 and hangs around long enough for 3 seals to be put down under its favour.
- Norman elder signs number 4 on turn 7.
- Turn 8, Mandy puts her hands in a tapestry at the Unnameable, rolling 4 successes (a single failure would have devoured her, and this was not a skill check so her research could not apply). Ghatanothua loses a doom token and a seal appears at Y'ha-Nthlei.
- Turn 9, Barnabus Marsh appears in an otherworld, and is annihilated by Kanes shotgun. Ghatanothua loses his 3rd doom in a row.
- Mandy relentlessly abuses the press pass, and misses being petrified every time. She amasses over 20 clues in a deadly dance of cat and mouse throughout the whole game, avoiding Ghatanothuas visage 9 times in a row. Nobody succumbs at all to his slumber ability.
- No mi-go or lloigor appear. Never any real threat from quantity or quality of monsters drawn from the cup. No rumours or truly malicious environments
- Norman grabs the first double clue at the science building, after Arkham is gripped by blackouts on startup. He avoids gazing on Ghatanothua, but the encounter at the science bulding begins "You turn a corner and come face to face with a hideous beast!" Its a statue from the Legacy of the Pharoahs exhibit.
- Mand bags a second find gate spell from Wizard Whately.
- Michael called in the feds and despite a gate on devil reef turn 1 that stayed open all game, no real threat from Innsmouth, even though it would have filled without McGlen blowing the whistle.
- The turn Michael called the feds in (a rare thing for me), He has an encounter at falcon point. Horrified onlookers watch as something rises up from the sea behind him. Michael has to run at speed 2 to avoid being dragged to devil reef by the deep ones.
- The turn after the feds arrive, hes in the Gilman Hotel. The desk clerk stops him. "This just came in for you." The telegram reads "GET OUT OF INNSMOUTH STOP YOU KNOW TOO MUCH STOP". He ignores it, of course but it sent chills down MY spine.
- Around turn 12, Mandy has failed her quest "...the sequence of events is already unalterable". That mythos, The story Continues. I obsessively thoroughly randomise all the mythos cards. Then, I draw the blackout card, the same as startup.
- Ghatonuthua burst open a gate the mythos before Mandy was to make seal 6, but then he turned out to be allowing Norman to pass his personal story before the game ended.
- 7th seal placed with Ghatonothua on 4 Doom. Only 2 open gates. Would have been 3 doom had the burst not happened just in time.
All in all, I really like Ghatanothua, the russian roullette is really fun, and quite suspenseful.
