I am at looking at playing, and am not quite sure which expansions to get.

From what I have seen, Forsaken Lore is considered the first essential buy. Why is that?

Also what do each of the expansions add to the game? Stuff like miniboards, special rules, tokens, etc.

The reason Forsaken Lore is considered the essential buy is because it adds things directly to the main game. More Mysteries for the original bosses and such. Yig is also a fast playthrough in case you don't have much time.

Mountains of Madness adds the Antarctica side board. Under the Pyramids adds the Egypt side board. The Dreamlands adds the Dreamlands sideboard.

Strange Remnants and Masks of Nyarlahotep adds the Mystic Ruins Encounter, which are like Expeditions.

Mountains of Madness first adds Focus, but any expansion will give it to you.

Strange Remnants first introduced Glamour spells, but several other expansions like Under the Pyramids, The Dreamlands, and Cities in Ruins will give them to you.

Signs of Carcosa first introduced Talents, but The Dreamlands, Cities in Ruin, and Masks will also give them to you.

Cities in Ruins adds the Disaster mechanic

Masks adds the Resource and Personal Stories mechanics.

Under the Pyramids adds the impairment mechanic, which will reduce your skills.

If you ask me my opinion, Forsaken Lore is the one I would get first. Followed by Strange Remnants, it also adds plenty while still being easy to manage, and it has some of the best investigators. After that, I would go for a big box. Mountains has the best investigators, but Under the Pyramids has better Mysteries, while The Dreamlands is more thematic to the Mythos. Cities in Ruin is a lot of fun, but it only has one Ancient One. Signs of Carcosa is a lot of fun as well, but it's a bit more involved, I notice games of those take longer.

I would advise against starting with Masks, it will overload a new player.

3 hours ago, Matt620 said:

The reason Forsaken Lore is considered the essential buy is because it adds things directly to the main game. More Mysteries for the original bosses and such. Yig is also a fast playthrough in case you don't have much time.

Mountains of Madness adds the Antarctica side board. Under the Pyramids adds the Egypt side board. The Dreamlands adds the Dreamlands sideboard.

Strange Remnants and Masks of Nyarlahotep adds the Mystic Ruins Encounter, which are like Expeditions.

Mountains of Madness first adds Focus, but any expansion will give it to you.

Strange Remnants first introduced Glamour spells, but several other expansions like Under the Pyramids, The Dreamlands, and Cities in Ruins will give them to you.

Signs of Carcosa first introduced Talents, but The Dreamlands, Cities in Ruin, and Masks will also give them to you.

Cities in Ruins adds the Disaster mechanic

Masks adds the Resource and Personal Stories mechanics.

Under the Pyramids adds the impairment mechanic, which will reduce your skills.

If you ask me my opinion, Forsaken Lore is the one I would get first. Followed by Strange Remnants, it also adds plenty while still being easy to manage, and it has some of the best investigators. After that, I would go for a big box. Mountains has the best investigators, but Under the Pyramids has better Mysteries, while The Dreamlands is more thematic to the Mythos. Cities in Ruin is a lot of fun, but it only has one Ancient One. Signs of Carcosa is a lot of fun as well, but it's a bit more involved, I notice games of those take longer.

I would advise against starting with Masks, it will overload a new player.

Wow thanks. That is really good.

Should I get base with Forsaken Lore right away? Should I get Remnants as well? Or wait a bit for it?

Forsaken Lore - like Unseen Forces for Elder Sign - adds to all the existing decks and fleshes out the game. It gives you more replayability. It's the only expansion that doesn't have new investigators. All small box expansions add 1 new AO (Ancient One), while the big box expansions add 2 (I don't know about Masks of Nyarlathotep). Forsaken Lore doesn't add new rules (minor ones, I guess).

If you're wanting to see the things each expansion adds, the Rules for each are on the EH home page.

Mountains of Madness adds Focus action:

Quote

[Mountains of Madness] expansion introduces a new action that can be performed by any investigator. As an action, an investigator on any space gains one Focus token.

* An investigator may spend one Focus token to reroll one die when resolving a test. ere is no limit to the number of Focus tokens he can spend to reroll dice.

* An investigator cannot have more than two Focus tokens.

I would definitely get Forsaken Lore, since it improves the existing Ancient Ones and all the other decks. In fact I wouldn't even play the game at all without it.

After that I would get Cities in Ruin because its the most fun mechanic, and then Strange Remnants for having an interesting AO.

Those would also be the cheapest expansions.

Then I would consider the larger ones. I got Mountains if Madness first because I love stories set in Antarctica, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Under the Pyramids or Dreamlands.

Sorry guys several questions regarding the expansions, eager to get them as i only have the base game.

What exactly is the difference between big box vs forsaken lore etc(do these have a catergory term?)

Secondly, how flexible can the expansions be matched? big box + big box / big box + non big box / non big box + non big box?

Also, by browsing the forums I see mentions about sideboards??

Would really appreciate the explanations

18 hours ago, happiehappie said:

Sorry guys several questions regarding the expansions, eager to get them as i only have the base game.

What exactly is the difference between big box vs forsaken lore etc(do these have a catergory term?)

Secondly, how flexible can the expansions be matched? big box + big box / big box + non big box / non big box + non big box?

Also, by browsing the forums I see mentions about sideboards??

Would really appreciate the explanations

The superficial difference is the size of the boxes the expansions come in - the "big box" expansions are the same size as the box for the base game, the "small box" expansions come in a box quite a bit smaller.

The meaningful difference is in amount of content. The big box expansions have more additional investigators, more new Ancient Ones and usually more new cards and components overall. And with the exception of Masks, they all also include a sideboard - the sideboard is an additional board that gets put on the table detailing a new area. For Mountains it's an expanded look at Antarctica with 6 new locations, for Pyramids its an expanded look at the middle of the board surrounding the pyramids of egypt location with again 6 or so new locations. For Dreamlands it is a map of the Dreamlands alternate dimension that can usually be accessed through multiple locations on the main board.

The flexibility is fine, you can throw most of the components together and it just expands the options for all the games you play. Most of the small box expansions all of the material usually works this way. There are other elements that will be specified: additional separate decks and the sideboards that will only be used when playing with certain Ancient Ones and Prologues. These will be fairly self-evident.

Here's a picture of the Antarctica sideboard that comes with the Mountains of Madness expansion:

Here's the Nicolian Expansion Guide:

General

All Big Boxes

• 8 investigators

• 2 Ancient Ones

• Sideboard (except Masks, which has backstories instead)

• Twice the overall content of small boxes, twice the overall cost

All Small Boxes

• 4 investigators

• 1 Ancient One

• Half the overall content of small boxes, half the overall cost

Specific

Forsaken Lore

• Fixes the base game; don't even play the game until you have this expansion.

• Mandatory. All other expansions expand the game; this one fixes it.

• Makes the game much harder

Mountains of Madness

• Adds focus

• Antarctica sideboard ~ More like an expedition or a treasure hunt turned into a side-board. Fun to play, but I like the other boards better.

• Adds the base for all the other expansions ~ unique assets, tasks, preludes, etc. Future expansions will not add any new mechanics (except disasters and resources), but will expand upon these.

• Very organic way to expand your game—but if you're only looking for one or two other expansions, the other big boxes are better.

Flavor: a lot of content adds a great deal of depth to the game. But so will other expansions. Get this one if you're planning to get them all—and make it one of the first so the game organically develops for you. But if you're only planning to get a few, don't get this one at all.

• Makes the game easier

Strange Remnants

• Focus

• Relics (One of the best things they've ever added to this game)

• Glamours

• Mystic ruins (control the omen)

Flavor: Allows you to control the omen and makes rest actions more impactful. Spells become more difficult to spam, as glamours could kill you. The AO is one of the hardest in the game and super fun to play.

• Doesn't change difficulty

Under the Pyramids

• The best big box. Get this. Now.

• Flavor is amazing; the descriptions and atmosphere put you right in the game

• Egypt is the best sideboard; amazingly well integrated, feels like part of the board

• More Relics! And implemented even better than in Strange Remnants

• More glamours (all expansions except masks will have them from here on out)

• Impairment tokens (not very well implemented until the next expansion, though)

• The two coolest AOs ever (Nephren-Ka and Abhoth)

Flavor: Eldritch horror at its finest. Mystery, treasure and danger. This is everything a big box expansion should be. It's just plain good.

• Makes the game harder

Signs of Carcosa

• Impairments (well implemented)

• Hardest AO (Hastur)

Flavor: Someone in the design room said, "This game isn't hard enough!" And this was the response. It feels like a gut punch followed by a kick in the teeth. If you want the game to be much harder, this expansion is for you. Otherwise, you will be frustrated. It's a tough one (but I like it a lot).

• Makes the game much harder

Dreamlands

• Focus

• Dreamlands Sideboard ~ Very creative, and interacts with the board in amazingly diverse ways. Brilliant. Love Dreamquests too.

• Two of the most fun AOs ever (Hypnos and Atlach-Nacha)

• Introduces the concept of gate-stacking (major strategy!)

Flavor: Next to Cities in Ruin and Under the Pyramids, this is the best one. It has all the imagination and creativity you could ask for, plus some fun challenges and opportunities to really strategize. If you're only getting three expansions after Forsaken Lore, this is the third.

• Makes the game slightly harder

Cities in Ruin

• The best expansion. Period.

• DISASTERS! YES! WATCH THE WORLD BURN! BUURRRN

• Shudde M'ell is so much fun

Flavor: This is everything an Eldritch Horror expansion should be. It adds to the game without creating any bloat, it brings just the right amount of challenge and chaos to keep you interested without frustrating you—and most of all, it's actually fun to lose with this expansion. You get to watch the world end.

• Makes the game harder

Masks of Nyarlathotep

• Capstone Expansion

• Focus

• Introduces Resources

• Introduces backstories (these are awesome)

• No sideboard

• Nyarlathotep is a blast, and Antediluvium has a suprise flip effect

Flavor: Good as a capstone. Fleshes out previous expansions a bit more. If you want a good final expansion, this is it. Not worth your money if you don't have the other expansions, as a lot of the content is reliant upon previous expansions. Pretty cool if you have the others though. Love those backstories.

• Doesn't change difficulty

6 hours ago, NICOLIAN said:

• Sideboard (except Masks, which has backstories instead)

And Mystic Ruins.
And either Focus or Resource tokens. Following the usual big box composition you would only get one of these two types of tokens. The other one should be included in the "stuff we got in place of sideboard" list.

Excellent summary by @NICOLIAN and I think you'll find most people will rank the expansions accordingly (at least those I've seen on these boards and boardgamegeek). Only comment for me again is to snipe at Masks which is a blown opportunity IMO. Don't waste your money unless like many of us you already bought in and have everything else:) and even then think about it! Personal stories are interesting and if they had those as a separate expansion I'd be happy.

That felt good but I think that's the last time I'll complain about that expansion...other things to do lol.

Dang! Now I have to get them all... hehehe ? Like I wasn't going to anyway.....

Very helpful guide on expansions thank you - i have just decided to pimp up my core set a bit so finding this thread was timely. My own selection after reading through some forums (note i have not played any this is just my own perceived choices from information gathered) :

Cities in Ruin - i have bought this first simply because the theme is so good, cities being destroyed is very engaging and it has two of my favourite investigators Ashcan Pete and Roland Banks.

Forsaken Lore - well everyone says get this so i will probably get this next. It makes sense to grow the core set. Now purchased .

Dreamlands - one side board will do me for now at least and this was a tricky choice but i feel the general theme of this one fits in best rather than being map location specific. It feels a little different than the others.

Back up plan - in case i just cannot stop adding then long term i may probably then go with Strange Remnants or Mountains of Madness - i do like Antarctica as a theme area to visit more than Pyramids. I find half the fun with expansions is deciding which to get. While the print runs continue there is no pressure to buy them quickly which is good news at least.

Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt you, but I have a question about expansions ans it's too simple for a new topic. Can someone, please, help me - which expansion contains the card " Beloved of Bast " that states something similar to "You've been kind to felines, so Bast favors you, dozens of cats look after you. Restore 2 Health and 2 Sanity and flip this card" ? I saw only a photo of this back side, dunno what's on the front, what kind is it and from what extention. But now I want it :D Help!

On 6/30/2018 at 10:15 PM, katyushko said:

Hey, guys, sorry to interrupt you, but I have a question about expansions ans it's too simple for a new topic. Can someone, please, help me - which expansion contains the card " Beloved of Bast " that states something similar to "You've been kind to felines, so Bast favors you, dozens of cats look after you. Restore 2 Health and 2 Sanity and flip this card" ? I saw only a photo of this back side, dunno what's on the front, what kind is it and from what extention. But now I want it Help!

It's a back of a Blessing card from base game.

8 minutes ago, kraftclub said:

It's a back of a Blessing card from base game.

Thanks a lot!

On 3/30/2018 at 3:37 AM, NICOLIAN said:

All Small Boxes

• 4 investigators (except Forsaken Lore)

• 1 Ancient One

• Half the overall content of small boxes, half the overall cost

Specific

Forsaken Lore

• Fixes the base game; don't even play the game until you have this expansion.

• Mandatory. All other expansions expand the game; this one fixes it.

• Makes the game much harder

• No Investigators

Just some small additions for this great list.

On 2/18/2018 at 12:43 PM, Duciris said:

Forsaken Lore - like Unseen Forces for Elder Sign - adds to all the existing decks and fleshes out the game. It gives you more replayability. It's the only expansion that doesn't have new investigators. All small box expansions add 1 new AO (Ancient One), while the big box expansions add 2 (I don't know about Masks of Nyarlathotep). Forsaken Lore doesn't add new rules (minor ones, I guess).

If you're wanting to see the things each expansion adds, the Rules for each are on the EH home page.

Mountains of Madness adds Focus action:

Just to piggyback on your informative post, the big boxes add 2 Ancient Ones, but only 1 of them requires the sideboard. The other one can be added to the core game and doesn't require/anticipate the sideboard.