On 3/15/2017 at 7:12 PM, Julia said:

in Eldritch, in one single round you can either sail across the whole Pacific Ocean or travel by train from L.A. to San Francisco.

This is simply not true. Aside the fact that traveling by sea was faster than land in the 30s There is no LA location and you are making the mistake of assuming every round encompasses the same amount of time.

26 minutes ago, Meretrix said:

Which is why FFG's investigators are a silly joke meant to pander to every demographic.

You say, "a silly joke meant to pander," I say, "inclusive story choice."

You, know. Po-ta-to, po-tah-to.

PS. Pimps pander. The term's defition has specific connotations that I doubt you intend. Or hope you don't, anyway.

2 minutes ago, Meretrix said:

This is simply not true. Aside the fact that traveling by sea was faster than land in the 30s There is no LA location and you are making the mistake of assuming every round encompasses the same amount of time.

Yes it is true. From Sidney to Buenos Aires it's one travel action boosted by a ticket; from San Francisco to space 6 (if it's not Los Angeles, then it's a nearby city) it's still one travel action. Travelling by ship might even be faster, but an ocean compared to what? 500 miles? Seems a bit of a stretch. And why rounds shouldn't encompass the same amount of time? The game's structured on a timer (doom track) and each investigator receives the same amount of actions to do his duty: saying that one investigators spends one year travelling while another one spends ten minutes fighting is seriously improbable.

When we create a game we define a serious of functions that transform something (resources, money, whatevs) into other stuff; this process needs compromises, and a non-realistic representation of the reality. The game may be dripping with theme, but it's almost never actually realistic, and Eldritch is no exception to this. Play the game how much as you want, enjoy it how much as you want (it's a nice little game, with some great ideas and some messy outcomes), but don't pretend it's something that actually describes a realistic experience of any sort.

55 minutes ago, Julia said:

Yes it is true. From Sidney to Buenos Aires it's one travel action boosted by a ticket; from San Francisco to space 6 (if it's not Los Angeles, then it's a nearby city) it's still one travel action. Travelling by ship might even be faster, but an ocean compared to what? 500 miles? Seems a bit of a stretch. And why rounds shouldn't encompass the same amount of time? The game's structured on a timer (doom track) and each investigator receives the same amount of actions to do his duty: saying that one investigators spends one year travelling while another one spends ten minutes fighting is seriously improbable.

When we create a game we define a serious of functions that transform something (resources, money, whatevs) into other stuff; this process needs compromises, and a non-realistic representation of the reality. The game may be dripping with theme, but it's almost never actually realistic, and Eldritch is no exception to this. Play the game how much as you want, enjoy it how much as you want (it's a nice little game, with some great ideas and some messy outcomes), but don't pretend it's something that actually describes a realistic experience of any sort.

Turns do not represent time they represent actions taken and choices made. Some may take an hour while others months.

1. Space 6 is Houston not LA, so whats 1500 miles? are you serious?

2. Are you really comparing 2 travel actions to 1? That is my exact point. A turn does not represent a timeframe. Someone with 2 travel actions during their turn has most likely spent more time than an investigator who just stays put and goes shopping. (but not necessarily. When you perform a rest action to heal your broken legs it could be months during that one action)

3. The Doom track has nothing to do with time. It represents the progress the AO and it's cultists have made to awaken it.

2 hours ago, Meretrix said:

They are nothing like Lovecraft protagonists who were made up largely of educated professionals.

... and often fainted or got eaten/insane during the first encounter. That would not be very fun to play in a game.

Why are we arguing over realisim in a game where you battle monsters that would make Godzilla pee his pants?

9 hours ago, Meretrix said:

Which is why FFG's investigators are a silly joke meant to pander to every demographic. They are nothing like Lovecraft protagonists who were made up largely of educated professionals.

How dare people want to play as characters who look like them?!

You do realise that Lovecraft had a somewhat *interesting* attitude to women and people of other ethnic backgrounds, right? All of his protagonists are basically a version of himself, personally I am very glad they pushed the envelope on who to include as characters. Are you seriously suggesting that every single playable character should be a well educated, middle class, white Protestant male?!

Lovecraft was hugely racist and playing as a bunch of well off/educated white dudes would be boring. God forbid there's some black folks and people from various backgrounds to choose from!

5 hours ago, General Zodd said:

Are you seriously suggesting that every single playable character should be a well educated, middle class, white Protestant male?!

Yes. I play these games because I am a fan of Lovecraft and want to experience adventure in his stories. If they didn't want to include Lovecraftian type characters in their game they should have chosen a more pc setting on which to base their game instead of butchering an existing one.

8 hours ago, CEOWolf said:

Why are we arguing over realisim in a game where you battle monsters that would make Godzilla pee his pants?

Cthulhu was killed by a guy in a tugboat. Godzilla would wipe the floor with these "gods".

15 hours ago, Meretrix said:

Which is why FFG's investigators are a silly joke meant to pander to every demographic. They are nothing like Lovecraft protagonists who were made up largely of educated professionals.

Considering that a selection more closely mirroring Lovecraft's fiction would feature a cast of (mostly) old, (exclusively) white men, I'm more than happy with the direction they've taken in character design.

3 hours ago, Meretrix said:

Yes. I play these games because I am a fan of Lovecraft and want to experience adventure in his stories. If they didn't want to include Lovecraftian type characters in their game they should have chosen a more pc setting on which to base their game instead of butchering an existing one.

It's not like there's a lack of educated WASPs in Arkham Files. You've got Harvey Walters, Norman Withers, George Barnaby, Charlie Kane, Luke Robinson...

Besides, Lovecraftian stories are larger than Lovecraft himself. Even before Derleth took over after Lovecraft's death, Lovecraft peppered his work with references to other Weird Fiction authors, and vice-versa. If you think that Roland Banks doesn't count because he's a law enforcement officer instead of a professor, then you're tossing out Robert Barbour Johnson's "Far Below" (not to mention Lovecraft's own "The Horror at Red Hook").

3 hours ago, Meretrix said:

Yes. I play these games because I am a fan of Lovecraft and want to experience adventure in his stories. If they didn't want to include Lovecraftian type characters in their game they should have chosen a more pc setting on which to base their game instead of butchering an existing one.

Well, fortunately for you, there is also a selection of educated, white, professional men. No one's making you play characters you dislike.

5 hours ago, Meretrix said:

Yes. I play these games because I am a fan of Lovecraft and want to experience adventure in his stories. If they didn't want to include Lovecraftian type characters in their game they should have chosen a more pc setting on which to base their game instead of butchering an existing one.

Then I would suggest sticking to reading his books instead of trying to play a game that triggers you by daring to have something other than white male characters. Life would be so boring if adaptations of works were not allowed to expand on, or even improve upon existing material. They've taken the original source and made it their own instead of slavishly recreating the original, which is exactly how it should be.

Call of Cthulhu sequel set in New Orleans. With special guest star Inspector Legrasse.

11 hours ago, Hedgehobbit said:

Cthulhu was killed by a guy in a tugboat. Godzilla would wipe the floor with these "gods".

That is not dead which can eternal lie,

And with strange aeons even death may die.

On 3/18/2017 at 3:39 PM, Hedgehobbit said:

Cthulhu was killed by a guy in a tugboat. Godzilla would wipe the floor with these "gods".

Quote

Then, bolder than the storied Cyclops, great Cthulhu slid greasily into the water and began to pursue with vast wave-raising strokes of cosmic potency. Briden looked back and went mad, laughing shrilly as he kept on laughing at intervals till death found him one night in the cabin whilst Johansen was wandering deliriously.

But Johansen had not given out yet. Knowing that the Thing could surely overtake the Alert until steam was fully up, he resolved on a desperate chance; and, setting the engine for full speed, ran lightning-like on deck and reversed the wheel. There was a mighty eddying and foaming in the noisome brine, and as the steam mounted higher and higher the brave Norwegian drove his vessel head on against the pursuing jelly which rose above the unclean froth like the stern of a daemon galleon. The awful squid-head with writhing feelers came nearly up to the bowsprit of the sturdy yacht, but johansen drove on relentlessly. There was a bursting as of an exploding bladder, a slushy nastiness as of a cloven sunfish, a stench as of a thousand opened graves, and a sound that the chronicler could not put on paper. For an instant the ship was befouled by an acrid and blinding green cloud, and then there was only a venomous seething astern; where - God in heaven! - the scattered plasticity of that nameless sky-spawn was nebulously recombining in its hateful original form, whilst its distance widened every second as the Alert gained impetus from its mounting steam.

Probably not killed.

On 3/16/2017 at 8:19 AM, BD Flory said:

It's obviously early to generalize about multiple cycles, as we aren't even halfway through the first. At least so far, though, the card game seems significantly more grounded than is predecessors.

My suspicion is that the more globetrotting stuff is aimed at the PoD scenarios rather than core products.

If those are incredibly successful, maybe FFG rolls the dice and tries standalone campaign boxes that are complete, but have no player cards. If I'm not mistaken, if Zealot were packaged this way, we would get about as many scenario cards in that box as we got in total (including player cards) in Dunwich.

But taking player cards out of such a product eats away at your market, because there isn't much incentive at all for multiple players in a group to own it. You only need one for four players. So again, PoD sales would have to back this play, and it would probably be marked up over deluxes due to economies of scale.

Could be pretty cool, though. I wouldn't mind getting the occasional campaign you can power through in one sitting like Zealot, even though I'm loving the box/cycle canpaign format so far.

I could see something sort of like what they did with Lord of the Rings. You have your main series taking place in a certain timeframe, but then you have the Saga and Hobbit Saga boxes taking place at different times, though still completely compatible. Game mechanics-wise, I can have Frodo and Gimli participate in the Battle of Five Armies, or have Thorin and Beorn help the Fellowship through the Mines of Moria. However, there are also enough options that those who care more for consistency in storylines can hold to Heroes who were around at the times in question.

Similarly, I could see a division in Arkham Horror, not of time but of geography. They could have a series of "Arkham Horror Abroad" boxes, each as a full story (no Mythos packs, probably) with suitable investigators, but still allowing people to use other investigators if they so choose.

Thinking of it now, maybe one of these cycles will send us to the Shire, for an epic Lovecraft-Tolkien crossover!

I definitely think the next Cycle will be Innsmouth. It is one of the bigger stories. I don't think we will leave New England until the 4th cycle at the least.

I don't think they need a unique box to go overseas, just release it like a cycle.

9 hours ago, Radix2309 said:

I definitely think the next Cycle will be Innsmouth. It is one of the bigger stories. I don't think we will leave New England until the 4th cycle at the least.

Undimensioned and Unseen says that "you'll have traveled far from the familiar comforts of Arkham." I don't see the need for an entire Cycle to take place outside of New England, I certainly think that there will be scenarios outside of New England in most cycles. There's no reason not to do it.

While Innsmouth is the logical choice, I'm hoping for something more unexpected.

The last scenario or 2 might not even happen in our world.

13 hours ago, Radix2309 said:

I don't think they need a unique box to go overseas, just release it like a cycle.

They do seem to pay attention to travel in a cycle. We spend a scenario on a train just to get to another county in Dunwich Legacy. PoDs seem less concerned with such things, and a campaign in the PoD style could take that globetrotting approach.

Of course, it's very early to judge what a campaign can and can't do with any certainty. But the fairly grounded narrative focus of the campaigns (compared to say Eldritch Horror) doesn't really lend itself to easy globetrotting. The PoDs embrace it.

I doubt that promo article is referring to anywhere on Earth when it says how far we've gone, btw.

If we're visiting Yog-Sothoth's realm, I hope every investigator remembers to bring a blanket to wear over their heads. That's how Yog-Sothoth rolls, yo.

(That is literally how we next see Yog-Sothoth when we next meet it after the events in Dunwich Horror; sitting around with a blanket over its head. Yog-Sothoth is too cool for words)

7 minutes ago, Gaffa said:

Yog-Sothoth is too cool for words

Quote

Imagination called up the shocking form of fabulous Yog-Sothoth—only a congeries of iridescent globes, yet stupendous in its malign suggestiveness.

According to "The Horror in the Museum" he sounds like an evil bubble bath...

7 hours ago, Hedgehobbit said:

Undimensioned and Unseen says that "you'll have traveled far from the familiar comforts of Arkham." I don't see the need for an entire Cycle to take place outside of New England, I certainly think that there will be scenarios outside of New England in most cycles. There's no reason not to do it.

While Innsmouth is the logical choice, I'm hoping for something more unexpected.

Dunwich is outside of Arkham, it could be referring to that. Or possibly another dimension we enter. I agree we may leave New England in a cycle, but not for most of campaign, maybe just a scenario.

3 hours ago, BD Flory said:

They do seem to pay attention to travel in a cycle. We spend a scenario on a train just to get to another county in Dunwich Legacy. PoDs seem less concerned with such things, and a campaign in the PoD style could take that globetrotting approach.

Of course, it's very early to judge what a campaign can and can't do with any certainty. But the fairly grounded narrative focus of the campaigns (compared to say Eldritch Horror) doesn't really lend itself to easy globetrotting. The PoDs embrace it.

I doubt that promo article is referring to anywhere on Earth when it says how far we've gone, btw.

I think travel could work for say an expedition. Not globetrotting all over the world, but perhaps an excavation in Egypt, or a trip to Antartica. We start in Arkham then leave on our journey.

Example:

1. Arkham, have reason to go determine what happened on the expedition to Antartica. Perhaps a specimen was brought back.

2. Arkham docks as we are departing, perhaps recruit some allies to help us along the way. End of Deluxe

3. On the ship near the coast of Antartica, encounter a sea monster and try not to shipwreck and lose many of our resources and allies.

4. Arrive at the base camp and prepare for our expedition. Monsters attack in the night.

5. Cross the frozen wastes. Find Lake's campsite.

6. Trek through the perilous mountains.

7. Arrive in the city of the Elder Things and explore.

8. Final confrontation against the horror that was awoken by the expedition beneath the city.