Campaign Mode Completed - My Thoughts

By Constrictor, in General Discussion

I finished my first 6 game campaign mode and here's my review/thoughts.

Old ones faced: (was randomized using random.org and the EH wiki listing of AOs): Nephren-Ka, Azathoth, Yig, Ithaqua, Abhoth, Shuddle M'ell

Preludes: Under the pyramids, beginning of the end, father of serpents, rumors from the north, epidemic, apocalypse nigh, unto the breach.

Investigators: I again used random.org and the eldritch horror wiki to roll sets of 3 random investigators and made my selection from those. I usually do full random investigators with no selections, but since this was 6 games in a row I wanted some choice.

Investigators:

Main team:

Investigator 1: George Barnaby, Patrice Hathaway, Agatha Crane (selected)

Investigator 2: Daniela Reyes (selected), Skids O'Toole, Wendy Adams

Investigator 3: Lola Hayes (selected), Joe Diamond, Michael McGlen

Investigator 4: Norman Withers, Calvin Wright, Carson Sinclair (selected)

Subs:

Sub 1 (not used): Hank Samson, Akashi Onyele, Marie Lambeau

Sub 2 (not used): Ursula Downs, Rex Murphy, Monterey Jack

Game one was probably the most challenging as I had to complete everyone's personal stories before winning the game and I didn't start out with the large advantage of them being already complete/rewarded. I did manage to win quite easily though, as I didn't get too many nasty gates/monsters/mythos cards and the dice were fairly kind.

Rest of the games were pretty easy since you start out with big advantages on each investigator. The main difference in the way you play campaign vs. normal games is you go to great lengths to keep your investigators healthy and sane and you never take a dark pact or agreement. Even debt feels risky to hold without clearing it, as you can get forced into an agreement from one of them, which might end up in a dead investigator.

The last two games of the campaign were pretty interesting as the Shuddle M'ell prelude card places eldritch tokens on the doom track which result in disasters (which can end up killing investigators if you're unlucky). For the 5th game I managed to hold the doom track still and win the game quickly enough so that no disasters happened. For the last game vs. Shuddle M'ell himself, there is no way to avoid 6 disasters from happening as the 'Unto the Breach' prelude sets doom to 0 automatically when you solve the third mystery. I had to place my investigators on the board in positions that were likely to avoid too much harm. It worked pretty well. The butler took 2 sanity damage and was delayed, while the mechanic and the actress both took 3 sanity damage from being one space away from Rome which ate a disaster card. The final fight vs. Shuddle M'ell itself was very one sided, thanks to the mechanic's base 5 strength, magic cane, blunderbuss, and myriad other items which helped by adding combat dice or rerolls. I was able to deal 8 damage in a single attack, which won the game. Agatha also helped out by hitting for 3 damage with a spell prior to the engagement.

Other notable happenings throughout the campaign:

  • No one ever got a corruption, dark pact, or agreement condition
  • I did get cursed several times but got lucky and either had something to avoid being cursed (e.g. discard a living link or blessed condition) or simply got lucky and rolled a 4,5,6 during the first reckoning and got rid of it right away.
  • I received a 'Promise of Power' on Lola during game 4 which never came due (I ended the campaign with it).
  • Having two investigators start in Tokyo was a great benefit when I got starts that needed lots of damage done to monsters.
  • The butler is a badass. Starting with the lucky cigarette case is like being blessed.
  • There were some close calls where investigators got low in health/sanity due to injury/illness/madness conditions or punishing mythos cards, but I was able to keep them alive through a combination of spells, talents, and using resources to get bonus healing/sanity recovery.

Overall, the campaign mode is a fun diversion from the main game, but I will probably only end up playing it once or twice more. I think it makes the game too easy when you are able to start out with your superpowers unlocked. Most of the games after I had them done were very easy. Two of the games were solved by turn 7, only losing one or two doom (if any).

Ian : This was my prediction with the campaign mode. As long as you allow investigators to keep anything between games, you allow them to stack advantages. Just play smart and don't blow it against the first AO and you're good. Personally, I would add rules to make campaign mode more difficult, as it is a great concept.

But you cant take all your bĂ´nus card of investigators to the next game. Only personal histories and two kind of conditions.

It look too hard for me at first sight, but for your experience this rule have a meaning!!!