We have played multiple games and very seldom have we found the barricades worthwhile? I'm not sure if we are using them wrong. Maybe I'm just not seeing the value of it. The first time we played cycle of eternity we barricaded the front door. Later we found out that this does nothing. Once or twice we struck a shelf up but usually because someone can't think of anything else to do.

I'm buying some doors and possibly some plastic models barricades from etsy. I might skip the barricades.

Thoughts?

I find barricades to be useful when you have a monster chasing you on one end while your goal is getting to the other. Sometimes getting bogged down in a fight isn't the right move. A well placed barricade does really help to buy time before the monster breaks it. I wouldn't suggest putting up a barricade just because you have nothing left to do.

Most scenarios don't really support barricades being great. Every now and then they can be put to good use. Play Dearly Departed without using them, and you're probably in for a Bad Time.

At first I thought the same way you do right now but I've seen some useful cases after a few more plays. Especially buying time when easy monsters are following you can be of worth.

I think it depends on what monsters you are up against.
As said by centralx, Dearly Departed relies quite a bit on barricades as zombies have a hard time breaking through. I imagine they could be useful vs cultists too.

But if you are facing ghosts or big monsters, pushing a bookshelf against the door wont be of much help.

Never used a barricade in my whole 2nd edition life. To this moment. I'm 34-3, so, I'd say it's perfectly fine if you don't use them

2 hours ago, Julia said:

Never used a barricade in my whole 2nd edition life. To this moment. I'm 34-3, so, I'd say it's perfectly fine if you don't use them

I'm with Julia on this one. The couple of times we've used a barricade, the monster(s) have broken through them immediately. Our dice seem to hate us. We basically just ignore them.

totgeboren is also right though. Dearly departed makes considerable good use of barricades, though you don't need to use them. They are pretty useless if the enemies had even halfway decent brawn, but against the little guys, they can buy you many turns. I think it took 5 turns for a zombie to breakthrough a single barricade in one game. Sometimes you get unlucky rolls though, and it ends up being a waste of an action.

More often than not, ignoring them is the right call, but it's fun when it actually works.

Hmm seems like the fragile barricade and scenario design is the problem. I've had them either last for a few turns or fall over when the first zombie bumps into it. I like the strategic concept of the barricade but am not fond of how it actually works. If I make them stronger the zeds will never get through. It makes the 2X4 special power sort of Meh!!

9 hours ago, Aaron Foss said:

Most scenarios don't really support barricades being great. Every now and then they can be put to good use. Play Dearly Departed without using them, and you're probably in for a Bad Time.

I agree with Aaron here. The major issue is that the scenarios don't really feature or make use of them. Being able to block the front door on Cycle of eternity sure would change things. The cult of sentinel hill has one in the starting room that if you push in front of the door it locks you in long enough to wait the 20 or so turns and die? Im not even sure why it is there? Maybe an item that bolsters a barricade and a nice adventure where blocking doors and running before intro gets you is more part of the game mechanic.

My team and I are talking about changing the barricade rules just a tiny little bit but so far we doing know how to make them slightly stronger without margin them impossible to break. We talked about giving them two hit points. (Meaning creatures have to get two cumulative successes to break them)

19 hours ago, Bibbles said:

My team and I are talking about changing the barricade rules just a tiny little bit but so far we doing know how to make them slightly stronger without margin them impossible to break. We talked about giving them two hit points. (Meaning creatures have to get two cumulative successes to break them)

Is hit points equal to the number of players too much? It might be.

Or maybe just make it so that moving barricades doesn't take an action if you don't move? This way, you could still use a component action, cast a spell, or investigate something close to the door.

For me, it's the cost of an action that kills the likelihood of us bothering to use them. They can be useful as they are right now, but it's a gamble that seldom pays off as your actions are limited. Also, maybe consider having the barricade stop the enemy who breaks it from attacking that turn rather than getting an attack if he breaks it down.

If the barricades removed the monsters ability to attack even if they tear it down, then you would know that you get at least some use out of your action (it would be a defensive action really, trading one action for taking no damage from a monster, provided the monster is close enough).
As Soakman said, that it takes a whole action to to put one up, and then often just ends up doing exactly nothing means it seldom is of any use. But I have had some use out of it in Dearly Departed at least... until the maniacs and so on show up... :/

The only time I used a barricade, which I think was the first scenario, it held the monster for 5 rounds before it broke through. You never know, it might be useful, or it might be a waste of an action...

On 2017-08-14 at 6:42 AM, Soakman said:

Is hit points equal to the number of players too much? It might be.

Or maybe just make it so that moving barricades doesn't take an action if you don't move? This way, you could still use a component action, cast a spell, or investigate something close to the door.

For me, it's the cost of an action that kills the likelihood of us bothering to use them. They can be useful as they are right now, but it's a gamble that seldom pays off as your actions are limited. Also, maybe consider having the barricade stop the enemy who breaks it from attacking that turn rather than getting an attack if he breaks it down.

Wow Soakman that might have bee a great power for the handyman free barricading. I kinda like the steals an attack run too, makes it have some possible value, maybe it should eat the move and the action. Then that would probably make it worthwhile?

One hitpoint per player would probably stop the zombies forever. We are going to try some of these house rules next game and see how they work.

Barricades have been the difference in winning and losing a few games for us. They have held cultists for several rounds in the first scenario and blocked a deep one hybrid in Insmouth for the rest of the game(using a 2x4). I remember my wife and I discussing it for several mins trying to decide if we should use it as a barricade or not. We made the right call. It bought her time to solve the puzzle and escape.

We messed up the first mission "cycle of eternity" rules and barricaded the front door. That was super valuable and totally not within the rules....

In "Dearly Departed" the barricade held off several zombies for a multitude of rounds.

We've had some good luck with barricades. One barricade once held off a shoggoth for three full rounds! (Yes, we got lucky.) Other times, the monster has just waltzed right through.

I definitely like the idea that smashing a barricade should stop the monster's attack and further progress into the room. Actually, what do y'all think of this house rule?

• Barricades: If a monster rolls 2+ successes on its Brawl roll, the barricade is removed at the end of the mythos phase. Thus, a barricade will keep even the strongest (corporeal) monster from walking through a door for at least a single turn.

has anyone tested that house rule? Looks great for big monsters but might make the little guys a joke? We've started using the breaking a barricade ends the creatures turn and it has improved them quite a bit. You always wreck one creature's turn even if they get through on the first go. I bought some 3D barricades so I'm going to see if them being more visually impressive would help.

I haven't tested the suggestion but a barricade ending the monsters' turn actually sounds like a very neat mechanism.

We don't have barricades end the monster's turn, but we do play that "breaking through a barricade" (successfully or not) counts as the monster's movement. The distinction is important, as sometimes a monster moves twice. In such a case, it's possible for the monster to successfully break a barricade (which means they stay where they are) and then move "again" on their turn (in which case they actually do move through the door).