So, I just ordered a single core for my wife and I to check out. I know this game is story-driven, so beyond that core in what order should I buy stuff?

Any other things I should know going forward?

Next I would buy the box for whichever story you want to play through.

Play the core first to make sure you enjoy it, then you can start with either the Dunwich campaign cycle or the Carcosa campaign cycle. The Dunwich cycle is completely released, though I don't know how difficult it will be to get ahold of all the mythos packs. The Carcosa campaign only has two mythos packs left to be released. One of them is next week, the final one will probably be in a month or so after. Each cycle has a deluxe expansion and six mythos packs.

You can also buy the two standalone scenarios for some fun on the side.

Another route is to get a stand alone scenario. I would recommend Curse of the Rougarou.

I would also recommend to play the core first - and do not get frustrated if it doesn't work out well the first time (especially scenarios 2 - 3). It can a few games to get the timing of the game right and gets easier with experience.

Then, all the options that were mentioned are good ones. The thing to know about standalone scenarios is, that they do not come with additional player cards - and they can be pretty challenging with just one core set. Therefore, I would probably go with buying a deluxe expansion (either Dunwich Legacy or Path to Carcosa) first to expand the card pool. I have not started Carcosa yet, so I cannot speak to that campaign, but Dunwich was extremely fun. As mentioned above, check how easy it is to get these packs these days. They will all certainly be reprinted if they are OOP but it may take a moment, and I would definitely advise to play the packs within one campaign in order.

The other option that was not mentioned yet is to buy a second core set to get all the relevant cards twice, and to have more deckbuilding options. I would definitely do that, if you want to play the standalone scenarios first. There are a lot of discussions about whether or not two cores are a good or a bad way to go, and you can find a bunch here on the forum. I personally like to have two copies of all cards (for that you need two cores, but only one copy of all other boxes) but it is certainly not necessary, especially once you get more player cards from other packs.

I would personally try a run through with a single core first, to see if you like the game. Play on easy, and consider allowing a second draw if you pull a 'bad' token. -IF- you enjoy the game, buy a second core and do it again, but with more strict rules. My feeling is the game is balanced around having access to two cores; stay with 'easy' mode while solo. Buy the scenarios in order after that. The more challenging levels are best left to multi-player... bad luck averages out over 3-4 people, but solo - it ends the game too quickly.

I personally use a house rule you can swap out any 'new' cards into your deck for no exp cost. Older cards have to be purchased normally.

Don't read ahead, the game is best experienced taking it as it comes. Easy mode is your friend at first; once you have an idea what is coming, bump it up a bit.

The stand-alone scenarios are best played with friends, and when you don't know what is coming.

#1 piece of advice: DON'T BE AFRAID TO HAVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE PLAY WITH SEPARATE CHAOS BAGS

new players get easy bags... and let them make mistakes.
experienced players get the hard bags to keep it interesting.

On 2/13/2018 at 5:21 PM, ColinEdwards said:

I would personally try a run through with a single core first, to see if you like the game. Play on easy, and consider allowing a second draw if you pull a 'bad' token. -IF- you enjoy the game, buy a second core and do it again, but with more strict rules. My feeling is the game is balanced around having access to two cores; stay with 'easy' mode while solo. Buy the scenarios in order after that. The more challenging levels are best left to multi-player... bad luck averages out over 3-4 people, but solo - it ends the game too quickly.

I personally use a house rule you can swap out any 'new' cards into your deck for no exp cost. Older cards have to be purchased normally.

Don't read ahead, the game is best experienced taking it as it comes. Easy mode is your friend at first; once you have an idea what is coming, bump it up a bit.

The stand-alone scenarios are best played with friends, and when you don't know what is coming.

#1 piece of advice: DON'T BE AFRAID TO HAVE DIFFERENT PEOPLE PLAY WITH SEPARATE CHAOS BAGS

new players get easy bags... and let them make mistakes.
experienced players get the hard bags to keep it interesting.

I like the idea of a separate Chaos Bag for games of mixed experience levels of the players. I would prefer a harder challenge for my investigator, while another player who has just started or a new learner(s) has an easier bag. I will most likely try that the next time. Good idea!

I really like the multiple chaos bags idea. Having played through everything released up until this point, I can't think of a single reason why this would cause any mechanical game issues. I may have to raise this possibility to my gaming group. We recently inducted a new member for Path to Carcosa.

I was sold on this game once I played the second scenario. Play on easy the first time because your limited cardpool and the annoying way the core set only supplies a single of each player card makes the game a lot harder.

If you like it then I do recommend a second core set to begin with.

Then just pick either Carcosa or Dunwich and work your way through that cycle, one or two scenarios at a time.

The one-shot scenarios aren't musts but I really like them.

Thanks for the advice!

One more thing. Hard is actually hard, and very very hard to do with just the core set. So think of hard as something to do when your collection and experience grows.