Time to return to Arkham for my last game in the Black Goat of the Woods cycle. This time the Herald’s helped by Shub-Niggurath herself; against them, Mark, Darrell, Diana, Monterey and Jim. As usual, AH, DH, KH, BGotW and MH in play. Setup is pretty awesome, with several decent to good weapons arriving and more importantly, the Greater Banishment spell for Diana, meaning that at some point in the game, we’ll be able to get rid of all hex monsters without need to fight them. The opening Mythos was Happy Days are here again! , opening a gate at the Woods (Elder Thing & Dark Young) and spawning a second clue at the Historical Society.
Round 1 Mark moves to the Historical Society to grab the two clues and be ready to jump into a gate; he then encounters a taxidermist’s trick and gains a free Night-gaunt trophy. Darrell moves to the Unnamable for clues, and joins forces with Ali Kafour; Diana makes her usual gambit, going to the Silver Twilight Lodge for a clue and an Inner Sanctum encounter, providing her with a free partially accomplished Mission (Wave of Destruction). Monterey goes shopping and gets a Warding of the Yellow Sign (monsters cannot appear at a location) which is immediately placed on the Witch House; and finally Jim goes at Hibb’s for a quick drink and he’s instead ambushed by a Chthonian and sent immediately to the hospital with several broken bones.
Mythos: Contagion kills life in Blasted Heath ; the gate (City of the Great Race) opens at the Witch House but no monsters are spawned thanks to the just placed Warding.
Doom 2, Seals 0
Round 2 Darrell goes to the Library for one clue, and Diana gets her fifth at the Black Cave. She’s lucky enough that the following encounter has her drawn through the gate (Plateau of Leng). Monterey at the Curiosity Shoppe pulls an Elder Sign Pendant to prevent 1 monster surge. Jim uses Summon Shantak to bypass the Elder Thing parked in front of Saint Mary’s Hospital and lands at Independence Square where he meets with Anna Kaslow. The seer allows him some scrying into the Mythos deck, so that we know the next one is at the Unvisited Isle. It’s a decent Mythos, so, we put it back on top of the deck. Mark has a free route to the Witch House so that he enters the gate there. His first encounter in the OW forces him to stare at the face of madness, but he rolls three successes, laughing at the maddened gods.
Mythos: City Gripped by Blackouts ; Lost Carcosa opens at Unvisited Isle
Doom 4, Seals 0
Round 3 Diana recovers from being delayed in Leng; then she hears some terrible rumbling from beneath the ground, like huge creatures were eating the dullen soil from the inside. She fails the Sneak check and suffers a d6 Stamina damage; fortunately, she rolls a ‘3’ and survives easily the encounter. Monterey moves to the Merchant District to kill a ghoul; Jim uses Summon Shantak to reach Yuggoth’s gate at the Woods; Mark moves to the 2nd area of the City of the Great Race and survives the bizarre encounter with a plant trying to partially digest him alive. Darrell fetches 2 clues and the Powder of Ibn-Ghazi from the Science Building
Mythos: Lodge Members Held for Questioning ; which is a monster surge, promptly negated by means of the Elder Sign Pendant. The STL members release 2 deep ones in a forbidden experiment, but Arkham’s almost at the monster limit, so, one goes into French Hill, the other one in the Outskirts.
Doom 4, Seals 0
Round 4 Monterey defeats the Elder Thing that moved on him from the Unvisited Isle, which means the path is now clear for Darrell who dives into the gate. The OW encounter results in Darrell being delayed. Mark returns to Arkham and seals the Witch House. Diana and Jim move to their OW’s second areas.
Mythos: A New Dawn : the gate opening bounces on the Witch House’s just deployed seals
Doom 4, Seals 1
Round 5 Jim returns from Yuggoth to the Woods and seals the location; Diana returns from Leng and seals the Black Cave. Mark moves to the French Hill streets where he find a monstrous problem: he kills another Elder thing and a Witch, but is forced by his low Sanity to evade the Deep One. In the meantime, Darrell finds in Carcosa a spear of light able to bring him back to Arkham; unfortunately he fails the check, so, he’s forced to stay there a little bit longer. Monterey investigates in Kingsport to keep a dangerous rift under control.
Mythos: Tongue-tied Teacher Taunted : the Silver Twilight Lodge has a gate opening (City of the
Doom 5, Seals 3
Round 6 Diane casts Greater Banishments, removing a forest of Dark Youngs from play. She then gains a clue and resolves an encounter at the Graveyard. Mark is still covered in (new) monsters: he kills a Fire Vampire, but then he literally loses his mind and he’s sent to the Asylum with his PS failed. Addiction is his reward. Darrell painfully advances to the 2nd area of Carcosa, while Monterey peeps at what happens at the Newspaper only to see a man losing his arm into the press. He wisely moves back to the street. Jim moves to the Science Building to cache in his gate trophy and restock clues
Mythos: Bizarre Dreams Plague Citizens : a moving gate to Another Dimension opens at the Science Building, forcing Jim to go back immediately to the OWs.
Doom 6, Seals 3
Round 7 Darrell seals Lost Carcosa at the Unvisited Isle; Diana goes to Hibb for a drink; Monterey shops for an Eler Sign; Jim is still in Another Dimension’s first area, but gains a Lucky Cigarette Case; Mark buys Nameless Cults to save money for later
Mythos: Horrifying Sight! , a gate (Unknown Kadath) opens at Wizard Hill, and the moving gate moves. Monterey suffers 3 Sanity damage, goes insane and moves to the Asylum for a Madness
Doom 7, Seals 4
Round 8 Diana moves towards the Science Building. Monterey moves to French Hill, passes his Personal Story by clearing the path for Mark. Mark moves, grabs the Elder Sign from Monterey and dives into the City of the Great Race at the STL. Jim moves to the 2nd area of Another Dimension; Darrell takes one for the team, by killing the Dark Druid on the moving gate and being consequently forced into Another Dimension as well.
Mythos: Bank Targeted by Grifters a gate opens at Cold Spring Glen (Unknown Kadath, again), and of course, the rumor hits Arkahm. Two monsters are about to leap into vortices in Dunwich, which would mean the awakening of the Dunwich Horror
Doom 8, Seals 4
Round 9 Monterey and Diana go to the Science Building, to cash trophies for clues; Jim returns to Arkham, but opts not to seal the gate to avoid Darrell going LiTaS. Darrell and Mark both move to the 2nd areas of their OWs, but Mark is lucky with the encounter and is returned directly to Arkham
Mythos: Feds raid Arkham : the gate opening bounces against a seal, and all monsters in the street areas are returned to the cup, resulting in Dunwich being safe again
Doom 8, Seals 4
Round 10 Jim moves to the Train Station hoping for a good encounter (which he has not); Darrell returns and closes the moving gate, passing his Personal Story; Diana moves towards the Train Station; Monterey shops for a copy of the King in Yellow; Mark uses his Elder Sign to seal the City of the Great Race gate at the STL.
Mythos: Strange Lights on Campus ; the gate bounces on the Woods’ seal; Darrell’s corruption Nightmarish Visions activates, granting him 2 clues and an opening to pass the ongoing rumor
Doom 7, Seals 5
Round 11 Mark goes towards Kingsport; Darrell becomes Arkham’s new Deputy. Diana lands in Dunwich (still far away from a possible gate); Monterey dashes to the Station to give Jim the King in Yellow and then moves back to the Curiosity Shoppe where he buys an Alien Device. Jim reads the King in Yellow for 4 extra clues, then moves he casts Summon Shantak and is able to reach the Unknown Kadath gate at Wizard’s Hill (also thanks to Fellow Travelers). He enters Kadath for a first, harmless encounter.
Mythos: Horns of the Black Goat , a lovely Mythos card that boosts Dark Youngs toughness by +1 (for a total of +5 considering Shub’s power) AND is a gate burst at Unvisited Isle. So, major setback in our investigations. The gate opening reveals a gate to the Dreamlands, guarded by a Goat Spawn and a Tcho-tcho priest
Doom: 7, Seals 4
Round 12 Darrell goes to the Bank, where he spends 3 clues and passes Bank Targeted by Grifters (first time in my Arkham life!). Diana enters Kadath, failing an encounter allowing her to return to Arkham. Jim, who just moved to Kadath’s second area, pulls a nefarious encounter forcing him back to the first area. Monterey shops for Milk of Shub-Niggurath and earns his 5 th clue. Mark enters Kingsport and visists the Artist Colony to prevent a rift from opening. He then falls asleep for a while, visiting the Dreamlands.
Mythos: Another Time, Another Space , a gate burst that removes the seal at the Woods, and opens a double gate to Yuggoth and Another Dimension
Doom 7, Seals 3
Round 13 Diana and Jim moves to Kadath’s 2nd area; Monterey drinks the Milk of Shub-Niggurath to clear the gates in Arkham: all monsters go to the Curiosity Shoppe (now finally rich in real curiosities), and he’s driven insane. Mark moves back to Arkham to block the monsters at the Curiosity Shoppe: by stationing in the streets in front of the Shop, he’s defending Monterey’s path for the Unvisited Isle for the next round. Darrell patrol wagons to Gardner’s Place for 2 clues and an extra corruption
Mythos: Goat-like creatures spotted in the woods ; Independence Square opens
Doom 8, Seals 3
Round 14 Mark’s blocking action worked properly so that Monterey has a free route to the Unvisited Isle; he moves there and dives into the Dreamlands. Mark’s able to fend off a Child of the Goat and a Goat Spawn. Diana and Jim seal their gates in Dunwich, and Darrell moves to the Unnamable for extra 2 clues
Mythos: Dunwich villagers drive out undesirables ; Independence Square surges for a +1 doom
Doom 9, Seals 5
Round 15 Jim investigates Dunwich to gain a few more clues; Diana goes to Bishop’s Brook Bridge, but the encounter forces her to move to Independence Square and resolve an encounter there, which means she’s sent to Another Time. Monterey moves to the Dreamlands’ 2nd area; Mark painfully kills a Ghast; Darrell dives into Another Dimension at the Woods
Mythos: Police offer reward for information ; the gate opening bounces at the Witch House
Doom 9, Seals 5
Round 16 Monterey returns from the Dreamlands; everybody else stalls to avoid interferences; Monterey seals the 6th gate and wins the game
Victory by sealing gates in 16 Mythos cards