I never had the impression of anything being bogged down because of there being, say, a few more artefacts or encounters in a stack.

16 minutes ago, Eldan985 said:

I never had the impression of anything being bogged down because of there being, say, a few more artefacts or encounters in a stack.

Agreed... having more cards in each deck slows down shuffling, I guess, but that's it. I have no idea why anyone would take the time to separate the cards back out once they were shuffled in.

1 hour ago, hengst2404 said:

I am always fascinated that some folks play with so many different expansions. My group generally does the base box and one expansion only per game. Sometimes we have added Forbidden Lore to complete the main set, but that and one is it. Anything else and we feel like it bogs things down too much. Guess everybody approaches things differently.

You said it right there: Different people, different approach.

For my group, while we are trying to win (obviously), it is more about the way than the goal
itself. Every game is an adventure and having all expansions in means every time we play
is gonna be totally different and will have its own story that is just waiting to unfold
around every corner.

You'll never know what will happen next, you can't be sure what will be important
and what won't.

Also, the game (for the most part) never feels repetitive because all the cards are in the card pool.

---

Back on topic: Didn't expect to see the painter in EH this soon, but I'm glad she'll be joining our team.

Wonder who else is hiding behind those masks...

It looks like this is going to be a big box because it's going to have a lot more cards. It will need it's own Mystic Ruins Encounters, these new Personal Stories for Investigators, and whatever a "Resource" is.

Hopefully, it will be 8 Investigators, with the four from Mansions, Sefina, this Daniela, and two others.

Calvin Wright could be the 7th investigator.

That would leave 1 unknown other for now.

On 10.10.2017 at 2:47 PM, hengst2404 said:

I would think the campaign mode would add life to the game and as long as folks are still buying the expansions, that FF would keep making them. I am always fascinated that some folks play with so many different expansions. My group generally does the base box and one expansion only per game. Sometimes we have added Forbidden Lore to complete the main set, but that and one is it. Anything else and we feel like it bogs things down too much. Guess everybody approaches things differently.

You mean you don't even shuffle in the mythos cards and three city encounter card decks from other expansions?

I don't expect a new board in this expansion. Although we definitely see the Shanghai skyline (from the 1920/30ies of course!) there is not a single tale of Lovecraft that plays in China or even East Asia. We had Mountains of Madness because of the novel of the same name, we had Under the pyramids for the same reason, there is a HPL short story "Imprisoned with the Pharaohs", the Dreamlands inspired by the Dreamlands cycle (there is even a map in the tales). There is no "China"-tale. Possible big expansions could follow with either New England (THE EH board IMHO), the South Pacific/Australia and/or perhaps also Europe but I don't see any connections between Lovecraft and China. We will probably see TONS of cards, new mysteries for all AOs, new special encounter cards etc.

Eldritch Horror and the Arkham Files in general have gone beyond Lovecraft.

Shanghai and the East are a good setting for Temple of Doom like adventures, such as the Tales of the Gold Monkey series.

Yeah. Plus we have the Tcho-tcho and the Men of Leng, both of which are at least sometimes placed in Asia. Though they are a bit... yellow-peril-ish and racist.

Racist against goats maybe. The men of Leng are Satyrs.

On 10/10/2017 at 8:47 AM, hengst2404 said:

I would think the campaign mode would add life to the game and as long as folks are still buying the expansions, that FF would keep making them. I am always fascinated that some folks play with so many different expansions. My group generally does the base box and one expansion only per game. Sometimes we have added Forbidden Lore to complete the main set, but that and one is it. Anything else and we feel like it bogs things down too much. Guess everybody approaches things differently.

That's how we play, too. It makes cleanup a lot simpler.

hi there!

on the pre-order page for MoN on boardgamegeneral.eu is a little 'more' information on the title...

dunno where they got it from, but sounds nice nevertheless ( my bold ):

Quote

Key Selling Points

• The newest expansion for hit adventure game Eldritch Horror
• Campaign mode provides a framework for greater challenges and an enriched narrative experience for players
• Personal Stories provide all of the Investigators with unique goals that can have great benefits or terrible consequences
• New Resource tokens allow a new way to heal and increase your chances of passing tests
• Features new Mystic Ruin cards for the first time since their introduction
• 7 new investigators and 2 new Ancient Ones, as well as new Adventures, Unique Assets, Prelude Cards, Mythos Cards, Spells, Artifacts, Assets, Epic Monsters, and more!

Preorder. Expected to release in December 2017 .

So, any speculation about what the other mystic ruins might be, other than Pnakotus? I'd assume there'd be another four. Now, Pnakotus is obviously not a real world thing, but a mythos location. So, the interesting question becomes, what other big mythos ruins are there on Earth? It can't be the Elder Things, they are covered by the Antarctica sideboard. K'n-yan and G'harne are covered by encounters, so probably not those either.

It could be the Nameless City from the story of teh same name, but honestly, it's not a very good story or that interesting a location. (It does have ties to Abd al-Hazred though). Plus, Arabia has no board location, so it would probably default to the Pyramids, which are well covered.

Apart from that... I can't think of much covered by Lovecraft himself. Anything by other authors?

5 hours ago, chemkid said:

hi there!

on the pre-order page for MoN on boardgamegeneral.eu is a little 'more' information on the title...

dunno where they got it from, but sounds nice nevertheless ( my bold ):

Thank you very much, and welcome.

Unless we see something else, it looks like the four from Mansions, Sefina, Daniela, and Calvin are what we get. And two Ancient Ones? Wonder who the other might be.

On 10/13/2017 at 9:25 AM, chemkid said:

hi there!

on the pre-order page for MoN on boardgamegeneral.eu is a little 'more' information on the title...

dunno where they got it from, but sounds nice nevertheless ( my bold ):

7? How odd...

3 hours ago, Soakman said:

7? How odd...

Maybe there's a certain process they have to go through for the Investigators, and they didn't have time because they were on a deadline.

Excited about campaign mode, personal stories, the new resource mechanic, and 7 new investigators. However, I am bummed that this big box expansion is NOT themed around Lovecraft Country (i.e. Arkham and its surrounding towns and locales). If this is the last big box expansion, it is a huge missed opportunity for some fantastic theming and fun. I agree with Soakman that 7 investigators is quite odd and makes me somewhat concerned that this may be the last expansion. I certainly hope not.

On 12.10.2017 at 0:50 PM, cheapmate said:

Eldritch Horror and the Arkham Files in general have gone beyond Lovecraft.

Shanghai and the East are a good setting for Temple of Doom like adventures, such as the Tales of the Gold Monkey series.

I am only talking about EH here, not the entire franchise. And concerning AOs yes, concerning storytelling, lore and stuff not really. All major expansions were of EXPLICIT Lovecraftean origin (Mountains of Madness, Under the Pyramids and the Dreamlands) and this is a major expansion. I would be VERY surprised to find an East Asia board in this set before New England or other more mythos-based areas like e.g. Oceania/Australia have been covered with other major expansions. An Australia/Oceania board could have entries via Sydney and 3 and features Easter Islands, Mu (from "Out of the Eons"with the island with the temple of Ghatanathoa), Nan Madol, Tahiti, the City of the Great Race in the Australian desert and of course R'lyeh! A New England board could have Innsmouth, Dunwich, Providence, Boston, Devils Reef, some location in Vermont and Arkham as entry. What do you have in East Asia with an even remotely Lovecraftian background? Shangri-La? Some mysterious monastery in the Himalaja? I also don't remember that Derleth, Howard or Smith have settings there. Tcho Tchos are a race, not a location and they are already in the game as a normal monster (not even epic). And the Plateau of Leng is part of the Antarctica board already. I don't see enough material for an entire East Asia based board in a major expansion.

On 13.10.2017 at 4:04 PM, Eldan985 said:

So, any speculation about what the other mystic ruins might be, other than Pnakotus? I'd assume there'd be another four. Now, Pnakotus is obviously not a real world thing, but a mythos location. So, the interesting question becomes, what other big mythos ruins are there on Earth? It can't be the Elder Things, they are covered by the Antarctica sideboard. K'n-yan and G'harne are covered by encounters, so probably not those either.

It could be the Nameless City from the story of teh same name, but honestly, it's not a very good story or that interesting a location. (It does have ties to Abd al-Hazred though). Plus, Arabia has no board location, so it would probably default to the Pyramids, which are well covered.

Apart from that... I can't think of much covered by Lovecraft himself. Anything by other authors?

None of the present mystic ruins locations are mythos locations, Chichen Itza, The Great Wall, Stonehenge and Easter Islands are all real. It seems that they add mythos locations now (Pnakotus which is in the Australian desert and will be the wilderness field connected to Sydney, forgot the number) but that doesn't necessarily mean that all new locations are mythos-based. Problem is, they have to be connected to some fields on the board and there are not so much that are fitting for more "mystic ruins". I don't see a field that could cover Nan Madol for example, a location that would be perfect.

There is an image of the Antediluvium GOO card on board game geek, which seems to show four mystic locations linked by mystical portals. One is clearly Pnakotus. One shows what seems to be an American pyramid, so that might just be Chichen Itza again, though it doesn't exactly look like it. Interestingly, one shows what seems to be a Ziggurat with plants around it, so speculation is running to the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.

THe interesting thing about it is that there's really no good space for it on the main board. Istanbul might be the closest for a Ruins of Babylon location. Babylon would fit well anyway, given that the city is mentioned a few times here and there offhand in Lovecraft.

What also speaks against a sideboard is that neither Nyarlathotep nor Antediluvium require one during setup.

3 hours ago, Eldan985 said:

What also speaks against a sideboard is that neither Nyarlathotep nor Antediluvium require one during setup.

Oh my... you're right! I haven't processed that bit. So it's really likely that there won't be any damned sideboards this time. I already love this expansion.

Okay, new approach. Which spaces don't have ruins yet, and what could be there? Can be both named and unnamed spaces.

Spaces where I can't think of anything big and old:

1: Alaska.

2: North Pacific

4: Canada

6: Southern US/Northern Mexico. Too far north for Aztecs or Maya, and we have Chichen Itza.

8: Carribean

Buenos Aires...

9: Greenland. Unless they go for something from the Hyperborean Age, I have nothing. And that's covered by Ithaqua
11/12: South Atlantic.

Antarctica: done by sideboard

14: Scandinavia, mostly Finland. I'm not aware of anything monumental.

15 and Heart of Africa: I don't know enough about it to say.

16: Russia.

18: Indian Ocean. Are any of the sunken continents there?

19: Siberia. Too far from Mongolia to cover Karakorum or anything like that, I have no other ideas.

Ideas:

5: Central US. K'n-yan is already covered. Cahokia?

The Amazon: there are some big structures there,but as far as I'm aware not much is left of some of them. Could conceivably be extended to cover the Andes and therefore the Incas.

10: West Africa. Mali? I don't know much about Mali, really, but it's a big and important culture. My first thought was that it would be a bit old, but Chichen Itza is not that old, either.

Istanbul: plenty, depending on how far you stretch this. If Shanghai is all of China, Istanbul could well cover all of Anatolia (plenty of old stuff, including some of the very oldest cities known). Could stretch to, say, Palmyra, Babylon, Ur, Petra...

The Pyramids: Might cover Arabia under the same assumption. Several of those mentioned under Istanbul.

17: India. Too many to mention.

What if it's the first sideboard that you don't need a certain ancient one and/or prelude for?

I doubt they'd make some sideboard that you have to use just because it's there. There could, of course, be a prelude-only sideboard, but I kinda doubt it.

On 17.10.2017 at 5:02 PM, Eldan985 said:

Okay, new approach. Which spaces don't have ruins yet, and what could be there? Can be both named and unnamed spaces.

Spaces where I can't think of anything big and old:

1: Alaska.

2: North Pacific

4: Canada

6: Southern US/Northern Mexico. Too far north for Aztecs or Maya, and we have Chichen Itza.

8: Carribean

Buenos Aires...

9: Greenland. Unless they go for something from the Hyperborean Age, I have nothing. And that's covered by Ithaqua
11/12: South Atlantic.

Antarctica: done by sideboard

14: Scandinavia, mostly Finland. I'm not aware of anything monumental.

15 and Heart of Africa: I don't know enough about it to say.

16: Russia.

18: Indian Ocean. Are any of the sunken continents there?

19: Siberia. Too far from Mongolia to cover Karakorum or anything like that, I have no other ideas.

Ideas:

5: Central US. K'n-yan is already covered. Cahokia?

The Amazon: there are some big structures there,but as far as I'm aware not much is left of some of them. Could conceivably be extended to cover the Andes and therefore the Incas.

10: West Africa. Mali? I don't know much about Mali, really, but it's a big and important culture. My first thought was that it would be a bit old, but Chichen Itza is not that old, either.

Istanbul: plenty, depending on how far you stretch this. If Shanghai is all of China, Istanbul could well cover all of Anatolia (plenty of old stuff, including some of the very oldest cities known). Could stretch to, say, Palmyra, Babylon, Ur, Petra...

The Pyramids: Might cover Arabia under the same assumption. Several of those mentioned under Istanbul.

17: India. Too many to mention.

Alaska is the location where Rhan-Tegoth comes from, who is still missing as an AO (only in the game as epic monster) mentioned in "The Horror in the museum" and there could be definitely a (fictional) mythos location there as they mention "cyclopean ruins" in the story, so this is definitely possible.

Field 2 - North Pacific is standing for Mu in a rumor card but actually a tad to much in the north to cover the presumed location of this mythical "lost continent"

Field 3 - South Pacific however is VERY hot and could be not only the Easter Islands but also R'lyeh or Mu, with the already mentioned island of Ghatanothoa, another missing AO. Perhaps they add more Mystic Ruins so you can play with different locations instead of adding them to the existing ones and then field 3 is not the Easter Islands but Mu/R'lyeh.

Field 4 - North Western Canada? No idea.

Field 5 - US Midwest - Errrm...Mall of the Americas? Sorry, just kidding. No real or fictional mystic ruins here and the K'n-yan field is actually Nr. 6 (Southern US) so, no idea. Whats Cahokia?

Field 6 - Already used in the game as K'n-yan in the Yig special encounter cards, also in a rumor.

Field 8 - I only say Bermuda Triangle and ATLANTIS! Fictional ruins under water could mean new challenges and dangers and need new assets.

Amazon - Sorry but in the real world there are no big structures here, only the mystic city Z which was built out of wood and is completely gone by now. Z is mentioned in an expedition card BTW. But they used Shanghai for the Great Wall, if you consider the actual distance between both you for example can take the Amazon for Machu Picchu or other precolumbian ruins without overstretching it.

Buenos Aires - No fictional or real monumental ruins in Argentina or the south of South America, all interesting stuff is in the North.

Heart of Africa - The only monumental ancient ruins there mentioned in the mythos were inventions of Lovecraft and other authors that do not exist in reality. There are no mentionable ruins in the entire Congo and surrounding territories whatsoever, the natives there never developed stone architecture, G'harne is purely fictional but could be a mystic ruin.

Istanbul or Egypt - There are many ruins in Asia Minor and Istanbul or Egypt could stand in for The Nameless City. Very fitting indeed.

Fields 11 and 12 - South Atlantic, nothing here than the waters of the big and wild Atlantic Ocean. No locations whatsoever, actually a waste of space if you consider that they only placed one field in the entire South Pacific which is of highest importance in the mythos.

Field 13 - Arctic Ocean - This would be the location of Hyperborea and that's mentioned in the stories and mythos a lot.

Field 14 - Scandinavia has no real ancient ruins and also plays no role in the mythos, highly unlikely.

Field 15 - South Africa the same as 10 - West Africa, no real important(!) ruins in reality and also no role in the mythos with fictional places. if there is something going to be in Africa it's in the heart.

Field 16 - Central Siberia - Some shamanistic rites of the native tribes (Jakuts, Buryatsks etc.) but nothing important, neither in reality nor in fiction, the same for Tunguska BTW.

Field 17 - India - Yes a lot of ruins and a lot of mystic stuff too, but nothing I would connect to the mythos strong enough to justify a location. India is also mentioned very rarely in the stories.

Field 18 - Of course there is another "lost continent" placed in the Indian Ocean, Lemuria! Of course this would be another location under water, because in opposite to Mu or R'lyeh, there is never any island mentioned that is above the sea level, not even temporarily like in "Out of the Eons" or "Call of Cthulhu". But still interesting.

Field 19 - Eastern Siberia - The same like Central Siberia.

Field 20 - Indonesia (Why did you leave it out?) - Quite a lot of ruins here but nothing mythos related, Field 20 could however be used to represent Nan Madol if you take into consideration that the map is sometimes very warped anyway (Istanbul lies in South Russia e.g.) although it lies several 1000 miles to the East. Nan Madol is mentioned several times in the books and the only real monumental architecture in entire Oceania, to be more precise Micronesia.

Field 21 - Already kind of confirmed, City of the Great Race - Pnakotus.

Tokyo plays no big role in the mythos and ruins are rare in Japan, due to the earthquakes and culture they have very few ancient buildings and Yamato (ancient Japan) had no monumental architecture too. No mentioned mythos locations too. Very unlikely again if they don't use Japan for Micronesia and there we are again with Nan Madol.

And that's about it. Pheeewww....