House Rule: "Murderer!"

By Criswell, in Arkham Horror Second Edition

Came up with a small yet dastardly new rule last game to a) increase the incidence of being arrested (which happens maybe once every 100th game in my experience) and b) make a few of those bothersome 1-toughness monster draws like cultists and maniacs a little more interesting...

Whenever an investigator kills a human(oid) monster* in combat, s/he must then pass an Evade check against said monster's awareness modifier or be Arrested. The rationale being that even if the miscreant you just killed was a bloodthirsty acolyte of a gibbering transcosmic abomination, the law would still likely want a word with you after your having blown him a third corn-chute with your unlicensed 12 gauge.

* Monsters potentially affected: Cultist, Maniac, Tcho-Tcho & Tcho-Tcho Priest, Deep One Hybrid, Warlock, Witch, Werewolf (reverts to human form upon death?), Barnabas Marsh, Dark Druid, High Priest, Priest of Dagon, Wizard Whateley.

Sounds like a good start for a new herald, if you know what I'm thinking.

Criswell said:

Came up with a small yet dastardly new rule last game to a) increase the incidence of being arrested (which happens maybe once every 100th game in my experience) and b) make a few of those bothersome 1-toughness monster draws like cultists and maniacs a little more interesting...

Whenever an investigator kills a human(oid) monster* in combat, s/he must then pass an Evade check against said monster's awareness modifier or be Arrested. The rationale being that even if the miscreant you just killed was a bloodthirsty acolyte of a gibbering transcosmic abomination, the law would still likely want a word with you after your having blown him a third corn-chute with your unlicensed 12 gauge.

* Monsters potentially affected: Cultist, Maniac, Tcho-Tcho & Tcho-Tcho Priest, Deep One Hybrid, Warlock, Witch, Werewolf (reverts to human form upon death?), Barnabas Marsh, Dark Druid, High Priest, Priest of Dagon, Wizard Whateley.

I like your rule. Played some similar to that some months ago. I was a bit tougher. When a human was killed, the investigator took the Wanted and a barred card. If another player already had the Wanted card, he replaced it with the Harried card (even if another player already had it). If he already had the Wanted card, he took a temporary Madness card. (He could get rid of this madness card by rolling a 1 during upkeep). You could also get rid of one of those cards for each human turned in a the Police station (and having an encounter there).

Nobody much liked it though. My group is really quite blood thirsty and wasn't interested in restraints to their blood lust. :)

Humans included Goat Spawn for me. Look closely, she's defintely mostly human. I didn't include the Werewolf, but I would now based on your description.

If I played it again, I'd probably give handcuffs a pass on taking the cards (since they are only captured). Which you may be doing based on your wording. Another rule I'd probably add is that if a human is defeated without using a weapon or spell, he's only captured not killed.

BTW, I don't think the "killed" is ever used in our game. It's (almost) always "defeated". So defeating a humanoid is not necessarily killing them, though using a shotgun makes it sound suspiciously like that.

Joining a cult is not a capital offense. Until it is, humans should be protected by the laws! :)

You really ought to design a custom herald for this to put on the heralds page. Ditto to Knuckles.

What's the name of the Judge in Arkham? That'll make the best name for this herald.

1 word OUCH , nice idea though sorpresa.gif

I have an omen card like that (remember omen cards?)

Strange Witness:

Investigators who have any of the following monster trophies must make a Will (-1) check or be arrested: Barnabas Marsh, Cultist, Deep One Hybird, High Priest, Maniac, Priest of Dagon, Warlock, Witch, or Wizard Whateley.

I have the impression that tcho-tcho's can't be mistaken for human. Werewolf is a good idea, except I don't own Kingsport. I don't know what the goat spawn are supposed to be. I try not to think about it. The female gamers in my group have informed me (nicely) that the goat spawn are insulting and gross (the witches are okay, tho).