IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT SCENARIO 22

I reconstructed the reasons for my question about when the tsunami hits.

Environment in play: Whipporwills of Dunwich: if an investigator is reduced to 0 Stamina / Sanity while this card is in play, roll a die. On a 1, the investigator is devoured as the whipporwills catch his solul, and the terror level is increased by 1.

The Mythos card triggering the fourth doom token was another Environment, and I had three investigators in aquatic locations that could be possibly reduced to 0 stamina by the tsunami. Hence, if the tsunami triggers while the previous Mythos is still in play (for example, after monster movement but before resolving the Mythos special text), I could have had 3 investigators (potentially) devoured; if it's the last thing to be resolved, then the max penalty is an Injury each.

_______________

As a side note, I'd suggest (for normal or hard mode) that investigator reduced to 0 stamina by the tsunami must draw 1 (2?) Injuries in addition to any penalty for being knocked unconscious (after all, a Tsunami is not like slipping on a wet floor). This would force people to consider more the risk of being hit by the tidal wave & want abouse of it in order to recover Stamina for free

Julia said:

Yes, I realized there's a weak spot in it too, it'll get plugged in the hard mode ;'D

Julia said:

Again, I'd say that since it wasn't specified, you choose the timing. Since it won't be generally relevant, I don't want to specify.

:') I liked your suggestion for the Tsunami. Will add it in a minute.

Avi_dreader said:

::purring:: Julia's happy ::flap::

Ok for the timing thing. Sorry, I didn't want to bother you on this point, I just thought it could have been fair explaining why I had such a question :-)

Time to post the report of Scenario 23

SCENARIO 23 - TRUTH OR DARE?

Innsmouth, Kingsport and Dunwich boards in play

Investigators: Rex, Rita, Ursula, Mary, Norman, Bob

A tricky Scenario. Hastur demands tons of clues for scoring a sealing victory, and the lovable idea of "fight the AO each dam(n) Mythos", even if cool and cozy, could become less fluffy with too many doomers on the doom track. So I decided to go with the clue generators. A cursed Rex shouldn't be too a big problem, and Bob... oh, Bob, I love you so much. He's a steamroller.

First gate: Unvisited Isle, and a flappy Cultist emerging. I started collecting clues. Press pass + double clue at the Witch house for Ursula, who started with five clues at Hibb's. First potential seal scored. Norm went to the Science building, met a strange professor giving him a Unique Item and tossing him back to the street. Elder sign, second potential seal. Bob clue-cameraed another clue (1+1!), giving the bonus clue to Rex, and bum, magic, that one clue became two. Almost third potential seal achieved.

And I had the Carcosan Page, the Mi-go brain case (who cares of the flying cultist patrolling the streets when you're allowed to move the investigator via Brain case, and make the Brain case arrive to the ones in need via Carcosan Page? ::devil: . Plus, a couple of little extra things: a Sword of Glory (who cares about it? Well, it was an excellent boost for Hastur solo fights) and a little toy called Gate Box.

The only threat I had to face was at the beginning of the game: the first Player was Rex, and had to face Hastur while Cursed. Better at the beginning than later on, during the game. And I was right: he blew the King in Yellow in a puff of smoke. Then, for the whole game, I had more investigators able to seal than gates opened. One of those was a moving gate leading to Another Dimension: I decided to leave it open, and free to wonder across the board, offering a free pass to *any* OW thanks to the Gate Box. It offered Bob the chance to seal Devil Reef, and offered Norm the chance to return to Dunwich (just under a Dhole. Ups. Fortunately, Norm is known in the whole world as the best Dhole-evader ever). Plans in motion hit, and I used it as a shelter for other rumors (none arrived, anyway), with the idea of Rex returning to Innsmouth (thx, Gate Box!) teamed up by Mary and then Bob to wipe the DOR track as soon as things started becoming a (phantom) menace (rofl).

I kept the terror level at two (a +1 terror was cancelled by the Director's Diary Norm drew in an encounter) and the two Blights in play from the beginning (nurse Sharon and Abigail Forman) had no impact on the game.

10 Mythos, 6 gates sealed (and enough clues and an elder sign for at least another two), Hastur stopped at 9 doomers.

Some notes: the Scenario was very enjoyable. I really liked interacting with Hastur before the final battle (never in my life I had drawn a dual colour card, so it was something new), and the constant threat for Sanity was a good pressure, something able to make me play at my best :-) So, thanks :-) And Last Straw... ah... pure pleasure... especially when you have all your investigators with three Sanity left (it happened once... what a risk... pure adrenaline)

So, here we go. It's time to face the Apocalyse. I'm here, ready, and not scared at all. C'me on, Avi. Hit.

Julia said:

You will be. You will be.

This is the one that keeps me up at night in a padded jacket banging my head against the walls and screaming after all ;'D

P.S. I think you meant to say he "blew away" the king yellow, not just blew ;'D There is a significant and amusing difference there.

Shall I post the end? The end at last? :'D This will probably take me an hour or two just to organize the notes for this into something coherent (they're, um... considerably lengthier than anything else).

Avi_dreader said:

::facepalm::

Yeah, blew away. Sorry.

Post it. I'm shivering in anticipation. I wanna know so badly. After all, it's a two year league, and when I started, I never thought to be able to reach the end.

Post it. I'm ready, and fully equipped (still have to decide exactly what to carry over. But I'll in the next hour)

Post it.

Post it.

(I raised a ten year younger sister, I can go on the whole night)

Post it.

Julia said:

Heh... Sorry... Was going to post it tonight, but email drama interrupted me... It's saved in draft form, so I should be able to finish it off at work tomorrow. It is quite monstrous. A few teasers... It has two Ancient Ones, *starts* with 5 heralds (a 6th will appear). Requires 7 clues to seal, and the game can only be won by sealing 7 gates. Each of the original 5 heralds will be somewhat amplified in their effects. The game will start off with all personal stories failed, two green corruptions, and a madness for everyone. That is just the beginning :'D There are trigger effects at doom track four, doom track six, and terror track ten (and, um, I'll be mildly surprised, though not really, if you don't hit terror track ten, in the hard mode, it will be much more difficult to avoid the terror track rising). But first let's see how well you cope with the "easy" version of Hell in Arkham ;'D My notes for this scenario are 2/3rds of a page, over twice the length of the second most complex scenario? ;'D Anticipate doom! The skies will rain blood and madness!

I'm actually quite excited to see how you handle this, or don't handle this, now that you've reached the end. I'll post the epilogue (probably tomorrow night, my time) so you can read it as soon as you finish the final scenario :'P BUT DON'T READ IT UNTIL YOU FINISH THE FINAL SCENARIO. Seriously :') (Notice I said until, not unless).

Avi_dreader said:

I won't read it, don't worry. Actually, I haven't read anything of the narrative of the last part. I want to read it all at once, just to appreciate better the story.

Hmmm... not so sure I want to play this. Not because it's too difficult, but because I'm afraid that, if I beat it - and I'll beat it - I won't be able to enjoy Arkham in the same way again (see? I'm still complaining! Not about the game being too difficult, but still ::laughter:

So, some guesses: two AO: one of the Heralds is Ianus. Another one will be the Crevice of Chaos. A third one will be The Arbiter (after all, he's the protagonist of this very last segment). As for the AOs. I think one of them is someone I played against in the first segment. Maybe Death. The other one is Cthulhu (otherwise you wouldn't have bothered yourself by pushing cthulhuesque images for the last scenarios). Plus you are too enthusiastic about lowering max Stats. Another couple of Heralds. Hmm. Have to hink about it :-)

Two green corruptions at the beginning of the game. It requires to be quick. Let's see what happens :-)

Julia said:

::Laughter:: your guessing would be a lot more accurate if you were reading the story, as you were supposed to :'P ;') Anyway, I'm going to be out for a few hours, so I might as well be a bit more explicit. Azathoth, Cthulhu, Janus, Arbiter, Crevice of Chaos, King in Yellow, and Maskless. Dagon, and maybe Hydra, will also pop in midgame. The presence of Death is purely symbolic, not actual :') although You could say I used Death as one of many symbols for Azathoth, not vice versa, although you could say vice versa too ;') Gtg! I'll have it posted sometime today (will of course give you a notification when it is).

Avi_dreader said:

::laughter:. Azathoth was my first second choice (over Death), if you remember what I told you via e-mail in the past months ("the last one will be Azzie + Crevice")

So, yeah, almost all my guessings were accurate

Hm. Dagon could be popped at doom 4, Hydra at doom 6. Much more worried about the former. Clues lost, plus terror increase doubled by the Crevice. At terror ten, something horrible will happen to Mary? Who knows..

Still not scared. But blood will be spilled for sure ::laughter::

And thanks for the notification intent :-)

Julia said:

Yes, I remember that ;') which is why I was surprised you changed your guess from Azathoth to Death, especially considering that the Crevice was named. Dagon comes out at doom four (although he might come out sooner, unless I decide to change that mechanic), and Mary... Well ;') The horror falls upon her at doom six :'D

:'D It is almost time.

Avi_dreader said:

::laughter:: two reasons behind my (wrong) new guess: I thought you liked the idea of something ending in the way it began, plus Azathoth is not that scary. But I don't remember exactly what Crevice does, apart from doubling the amount the terror increases ::shivering:: Need to start studying this little, lovely creatures.

As a side note (not so sure you remember this, and not so sure you're 100% comfortable with this) remember that I play with the extended decks (Lurker gates & MH stuff in). It'd be nice (hard mode?) having a chance to see more than 10 blights in play. Just to suffer a little more

(actually, I'm seriously considering adding the King in Yellow herald to Scenarios of the hard version. I do love Blights. And no, I'm not masochist. They are really infernally cool)

And... Don't worry. I'll win at 5 doomers :-P (did some math, 7 turns are more than enough to gather the resources I need to beat the game)

And please note. I haven't said "I'll win on the first try". But when I'll beat it, I'll win at 5 doomers.

Julia said:

::Laughter:: I'm looking forward to seeing your epic five doom kill :'D it'll be interesting to see if you calculated correctly or if you overlooked something. Five doom ;') Yeesh. I'm kind of consued how you'll win at five doom if it's seven turns into the game? Won't you more likely be at 7 doom or higher?

Crevice does a constant sanity attack, doubles the terror increases, and adds to the herald number.

In the hard mode, all the doom track terror track triggered effects will be triggered at half (rounded up) their normal level :') and Things in the Rift will be in added, with some modification to speed it up as well (and Mary won't get a perma-blessing). Also, the madness/injury inducing die rolls will happen every turn (and the Arbiter will always trigger on failed combat and horror checks). The streets will be flooded, and both gates to the abyss will attack sanity (not just one). :'D Heeee. Might also start off with certain blights immediately in play :') (probably riots and increase sealing costs by one).

Avi_dreader said:

7 Mythos doesn't necessarily mean 7 doomers ::laghter:: no way, I count on a couple of good draws. Isn't it so unlikely to have at least one or two monster surges (or whatelse, something not opening a new gate) over 7 turns

But anyway, I wrote that before reading you don't allow victories by closing. Hence, yeah, 9 doomers.

Yeah, I noticed the abilities of Crevice, and I cross-checked all the Heralds. It's interesting. But as I told you via e-mail, those 5 heralds are nasty, but still, I'm quite confident I can beat them. The main problem is the special rules section of the Scenario ::laughter::

But I don't care about it being a problem. Honestly, I'm too excited to see *finally* the Mythos attacking Arkham. This is the real Arkham Horror.

Plus: Things in the Rift: I was going to beg you to add it for the hard mode :-) It's the right way to attack Kingsport :-)

Julia said:

Naturally the final battle should have its taste of Hastur, Nyarlathotep, Cthulhu, and Azathoth :') Classic horror. I can't believe it's finally done. I may post the epilogue tomorrow (not in a huge rush since you're not supposed to read that until after you beat the scenario, and you said you wouldn't play until the weekend).

Heh... I don't mind if you vermiised your way into some wins ;'D but not for the last one, nuh uh.

I'm pessimistically inclined when it comes to gate openings ;') I expect a new gate to open every turn, EVERY turn ;')

Wow... I still can't believe it's over after two years.

Avi_dreader said:

:-D

You know... it's never... really... OVER ::cackling evilly::

Julia said:

Oh, have you read the epilogue already even though I told you not to and didn't send it to you or post it? ;')

Avi_dreader said:

Nope, clearly I haven't. But thanx for spoiling me the end of the story :SGRUNT::

Julia said:

I haven't spoiled anything :'P (I don't know what a sgrunt is, smile grunt?) don't worry. Go, go read! Why are you still here? You should be reading :')

Avi_dreader said:

::laughter:: I've spent the evening working with Illustrator in order to create the graphics for the September invitations :-) Maybe later

SCENARIO 24 - THE LAST STAND

Innsmouth, Kingsport and Dunwich boards in play

Investigators: Rex, Ursula, Rita, Jenny, Mary, Norman, Michael, Gloria

After a very long ride into the deepest madness of the Mythos, I finally reached the last battle field, the place where Earth and Sky molded into one shapeless void, where all the armies of the Ancient Ones had gathered for the final assault to our reality. I was tempted by playing six investigators again, but then I decided to go with eight, needing some dull meat to feed the sharks. First thing to consider: the two Abyss gates. Ursula was carrying over both Press Passes. I decided to have her starting at Y'ha-nthlei. So fifth clue taken from the board, transformed into another two thx to the Press Passes before Mythos zero (I guess this is correct, but if you wanted the Abyss gate arriving before the normal Mythos Zero, she could have started anywhere else, grab the clues and then swap places with one of the monsters in Y'ha-nthlei via Mi-go brain case).

The first, vital decision was taken. I started dealing the random possessions. Not many great items, but one: an Elder Sign. And four good skills: Ursula got Grapple, Mary Informant, Jenny Credit Rating and Gloria Performer (the chance of having a permanent Voice of Ra was very promising; but sadly I never got a chance to use it). As for the Madnesses (I rolled a nefarious series of "ones" while checking for the Arbiter):

- Rex: Depression (he was Cursed, and with this Scenario waiting for him, how he couldn't be a little depressed?)
- Ursula: Paranoia + Xenophobia (yey!)
- Rita: Anxiety + Addiction
- Jenny: Amnesia (she was the shopper! A lucky draw!)
- Mary: Despodent + Hallucinations (that's a nefarious combo: San damage +1, and with three San dmg -> devouring); Corruption: Endless greed
- Norman: Compulsive
- Michael: Delusional + Paranoia
- Gloria: Schizofrenia; Corruption: Creeping Doom

One of the most important goals to achieve in order to beat the final Scenario was closing as soon as possible both Abyss gates. So that's the plan: Mary was supposed to return to Y-ha-nthlei with the ES gained via Carcosan Page, and Ursula to the South Church (with the greatest hope of gathering at least another clue along the way). In the meantime, Jenny should have shopped at the CS for some clue generating items to help Ursula in case of need. A very, very, very difficult start. But I decided not to focus all my forces on these two gates, but also trying to win following another path in case something went wrong.

Mythos Zero: Esoteric order of Dagon (Dreamlands): Protoshoggoth & Gnoph Keh
Rex went for a beer at Hibb's, and got clues 4 & 5; Ursula put her standee up in the first area of the Abyss, and so did Mary; Rita went to the Village commons street, Dunwich clues were too inviting for her; Jenny went shopping; Gloria went to the Graveyard and Norm, after recovering one of the Press Passes from Ursula via Carcosan page, gathered three clues at the Unnamable (one from the board, plus one because of the Press pass, plus one because of the Magnifying glass he had). Gloria used her Handcamera to offer Norman the 7th clue. Ursula had a great OW encounter, and obtained an extra clue token. Which was doubled, thx to the other Press Pass. Oh, and Michael killed a Deep one, who moved from the South church (maybe it's the wrong church to exit for a deep one ::laughter:

Mythos One: Unvisited Isle (Another time): Cultist & Dimensional Shambler; plus: Priest of Dagon & another little monster... in the Village Commons.
2 doomers on the doom track, the DH woke up (maybe things would have gone differently without it... but more on that later) and the Servitor landed on Michael's head (plus a Hunting Horror, arriving from the South Church)
Ursula first player; she lost her Curse, avoided the Beast appeared from nowhere (Fetch the face of someone else, zsk!) and moved to the 2nd area of the Abyss (same stuff for Mary, but she kept her Blessing). Rita was stuck in the Village Commons. She managed to pass the checks and beat the monsters but clearly, she couldn't move any further. Jenny kept shopping, Norman obtained a Flamethrower via Carcosan Page and swapped his place with the Cultist on the Unvisited Isle. He then killed the Dimensional Shambler and entered Another Time. Michael killed the Hunting Horror, failed the Horror check against the Servitor and gained another Madness. Gloria went to the Black Cave, and got an encounter forcing her to draw a corruption: Downward spiral. Great. Rex went to Velma's for an extra clue (+ clue) offered by the previous Mythos (now he got 7, enough for another seal)

Mythos two: Esoteric order of Dagon, monster surge. A Lloigor arrived at the Unvisited Isle, an Elder thing at Y'ha-nthlei (three monsters there, all black bordered, none moving, at least for now). The protoshoggoth entered a vortex in Innsmouth: +1 DOR, +2 Terror, Ma Mathison and Brian Burnham entered play.
Rita went to the Whateley farm, got a clue and was delayed while helping a wounded man near a fence; Jenny kept on shopping, Mary returned to Y'ha-nthlei ready to seal with her ES the double gate Abyss / R'lyeh: two monsters removed from Y'ha-nthlei, and another couple from different parts of the board. Plus, Azathoth's doom track was forced back to one doomer. Norman casted Find Gate & returned to the UI. Second seal obtained; he chose to remove the "plus", in order to clear the Downward Spiral from Gloria. Michael went to the station, searching for Bill Washington, but found a strange, empty train, boarding a monster from an open gate: he removed the Y'thian appeared at the South Church. Ursula returned to the South Church: 7 clues for closing, 2 dice to roll and 2 clues for extra rolls, three successes needed: and she rolled them. Gloria went to the Science Building for two clues, and was Blessed by the encounter. Rex swapped his position with a monster on the Esoteric Order of Dagon and entered the Dreamlands
So, after three Mythos cards I had two seals on the board, both Abyss gates closed, an investigator able to seal in an OW (even if delayed by the Dreamlands encounter) and the Doom track was at one. Dagon seemed not to be such an incredible nightmare, right now, but then a curious thought started pulsing in my mind: what if he never arrived? I had a marvellous gift on the board: an incredibly huge Mi-go, with an Elder sign in his stomach, pounding on Sentinel Hill. I wanted that kill. The guy able to kill it was Michael. And I could take care of his low Sanity thanks to the Golden Trumpet Jenny bought the turn before. A new plan started forming into my mind.
For the three gates closed: Norman got Delirium, and I don't remember the other two Madnesses, sorry, I didn't note them down

Mythos three: The Unnamable (Leng): Dhole + Warlock.
I knew Doomer three should have been painful (free Injuries for everyone), so I wanted desperately to use Norm to finish removing the Corruptions (Mary already got rid of hers, since it was matching the Abyss symbol of the gate she sealed). So I had him evading the Lloigor at the Unvisited Isle and swapping his position with the Warlock at the Unnamable (the Dhole walked into the street during the Mythos phase). Mary evaded the Elder thing at Y'ha-nthlei, went to Devil reef for three clues. Michael had some problems because during Mythos a Hound of Tindalos entered the station; he managed to pass the Horro check, but not the combat check, so he was sent back to the Hospital with some Disfiguring Scars and a Sprained Ankle (thx Arbiter...). Gloria, ardent with devotion, decided to waste some of her clues by kicking the Servitor's bum. Her blessing was an unstoppable plus, and the Servitor was sent back to the cup. Ursula was forced by a witch at the South Church; after killing her, she bought a Blessing for Michael (I wanted that dam(n) ES from the Dunwich Horror! I know I could have blessed Rex, but... who cares? An ES is a -1 doomer, and that was the only hope). Rita, ambushed by the Black Man at Whateley's, smacked him back into the cup for two clues. Rex was blessed by an OW encounter (yey! not so sure on this one: I interpret the failed condition on Rex's card as he is not allow to have a Blessing card, but if he's cursed and then receives a Blessing, he's allowed to discard his Curse card), so back to normal. And Jenny... Jenny... my sweet, lovable, little Jenny who drew an Elder Sign...

Mythos four: Unvisited Isle (bounce; +1 DOR, +2 Terror, Sheriff Engle and Hervey Jones entered play)
So, the doom track was still at two doomers. Norman returned from Leng (how great is Professor Norm with his Find Gate; and with an Elder Sign gained via Carcosan Page, he's even greater), and sealed. he removed the squares (I decided to leave the Slash for the last corruption to Rex, since he was no longer Cursed), so no more Gnoph Keh ready to jump into vortices, no more Lloigor on the Unvisited Isle. And the doom track of Azathoth was sent back to 1. He gained an Histeria card thx to the Crevice. Rita was very low with brains. She decided to temp the Dhole chants, and she passed it. The Ally she gained was William Bain. No more brains for her, back to the Asylum with a Necrophobia card, and the doom track was emptied. Mary went back to Y'ha-nthlei and killed the Elder thing. In the meantime, she started loading clues on the Fed raise Innsmouth track. Gloria picked from Ursula a Press pass, and went to the Historical society for a total of two clues. Rex moved to the second area of the Dreamlands, and Ursula, at the Witch House, was forced to lose her only Unique Item. Jenny went to the Asylum to recover some brains as well

Mythos five: Woods (Carcosa): Star Vampire + Deep One Hybrid; Mythos phase offering Mary a Histeria, Michael a Mania and Rita a Delirium card
Norm went out of the hospital, and killed the Deep One Hybrid. Michael finally was able to reach & kill the Dunwich Horror (not a big deal after all; the blessing, the Dynamite, and the Elder Sign coming. Gloria went to Norm, recovered his Press pass, and moved to the French Hill streets (with two Press Passes); Ursula moved from the Witch House, got both Passes and moved to the Black cave, for a three clues harvest (bringing her total to four); Rex returned from the Dreamlands and sealed the Esoteric Order of Dagon; Rita moved to the Church Green Streets to kill a Maniac. Mary moved back to Devil reef, and Jenny started shopping again.
At this moment, the doom track was at one, and I had four seals on the board

Mythos six: Independence square (Yuggoth): Zombie + Nightgaunt; the Star Vampire from the Woods moved on Norman
Michael discarded the Golden Trumpet and moved to the Asylum to recover the missing point of Sanity; Gloria entered the Silver Twilight Lodge and gained her 7th clue token. Rex moved to the Factory district streets and cleaned them from the presence of a Tcho-tcho; Rita moved to Falcon point in order to recover Mary, and was delayed immediately after. Mary moved to MArsh refinery to gain a clue. Norm successfully escaped the Star Vampire, swapped his position with the Zombie at Independence square and gathered via Carcosan Page the Elder Sign from Michael. Ursula went to the Science Building for another +3 clues, reaching the total of seven.
Doom track at 2.

Mythos seven: Woods; monster surge. Outskirts filled and emptied, +2 terror (Joe Osborn & Gladys Pickman); Injuries: for Michael, an Injured Arm (and in the coming Upkeep, the Beast); Rita: Hearing loss; Mary: Cracked ribs
Gloria received the Mi-go brain case via Carcosan Page from Norm, and she used it to swap her position with the Leng Spider at the Woods; she then used Implant Suggestion to have the other monster (a Goat spawn) at the Woods to move in the streets. She then entered Carcosa. The situation in Kingsport had already started to worsen: Rex moved there to have an encounter at the Congregational Hospital (Avi, that's brilliant! All locations in Kingsport are stable, hence Sanity lost every round! Well studied!), followed up by Jenny, who went to meet Gladys at the 7th House on the left. Rita was still at Falcon Point since she was delayed the round before; Ursula needed to recover Sanity, but the Beast was guarding the Asylum: she then entered Velma, triggering the Sanity loss for the stable location rule and got another Madness (Obsessed), but was restored to her max. Mary kept on putting clues on the Fed track, and moved to the Church green neighborhood. Norm returned to Arkham via Find Gate and sealed via Elder Sign Independence square (choosing the Star as dimensional symbol, in order to remove the Star Vampire and the Beast). He then was hit by a double Madness (1 since he closed, the other one since he run out of Sanity points because of the ES, and got Schizophrenia and Necrophobia). But the doom track was forced back at 1. Michael successfully escaped from the Beast and moved to Rivertown.

Mythos eight: Graveyard (Leng): Dark Young + Cultist; the Cultist moved on Michael
Rex went at Neil's for a -1 San offering him a Narcolepsy card and a full restore of brains; Rita went also there to remove a rift progress marker from the track; Jenny and Mary were forced in the streets, while Michael miracoulously survived the Cultist. Gloria received the Find Gate from Norm, successfully used it and returned to the Woods. Ursula went to Independence Square, failed the Evade check against the Nightgaunt and was thrown through the Graveyard gate. Norm started walking from the Asylum, grabbed the Ruby of R'lyeh from Michael and sprinted towards Gloria.

Mithos nine: Unnamable (blocked); +1 DOR, +2 Terror (Jonas Rigg & Miriam Beecher)
Norm obtained the Find Gate from Gloria and sent it to Ursula via Carcosan Page; she casted it successfully and returned to Arkham. With seven clues, and an easy gate in front of her. Checkmate

Victory by sealing gates in 10 Mythos while poor Azathoth's doom track was stuck at 2

Some comments on the last Scenario... despite the large victory, it wasn't easy at all. I finished with the following (first number between brackets is the number of Madnesses, the second one, Injuries):

Rex (4, 0)
Ursula (4, 0)
Rita (6, 1)
Jenny (2, 0)
Mary (4, 1)
Norman (5, 1)
Michael (4, 2)
Gloria (2, 0)

Having a large party is very useful to dilute Madnesses and lowering the odds of being devoured by gaining duplicates; nonetheless, having characters with 4 or 5 Madnesses was horribly difficult to handle. Plus, dealing some other Madnesses would have meant instant devouring for sure.

Besides, even if I was good at keeping the doom track under control, it was absolutely impossible to control the terror track; another '+1' terror would have meant board snowed under with monster and technically game over (10 blights in play, Kingsport about to explode, and no way to move in Arkham without using the Mi-go brain case since the too many monsters) (and if I had only one charcter devoured... ::shudder: .

The game was very tense, and very, very slow. I played something like eight hours in order to resolve 10 Mythos (this enforcing the idea of what a pain it was)

So technically, I wanted to stress that despite the 2 doomers on the doom track, it was a narrow victory (not large at all).

Julia said:

10 Blights and a monster flooded town isn't game over, it's just game much more difficult (but you could punch paths through the monsters with coordinated team movement). Ideally, I wanted all the effects to trigger and for you to win anyway ;') maybe in the hard mode. I see that you used Rita properly ;'D

So you got up to terror eight? Yikes ;'D

For the hard mode (and non) I'll clarify later that Rex is not blessable. If some sort of effect that isn't being blessed removes his curse happens, that's okay, but it's intended that if you want to use him, you have to play him cursed. Not a big deal though. :') Now the real question is, ban elder signs from the hard mode, or is raising seal cost to eight, close cost to 10, and making seal number equal 7 enough? While also reducing all the doom trigger points in half (rounded up). Things in the rift will also be in play. (I think I'll keep the Elder Signs in, the game loses a significant strategic component without them). The Dunwich Horror will definitely need to be modified though. No search for defeating it I think. (It's just too easy to kill in an eight investigator game, it wasn't really my intention to give a free early game seal with it).

Oh... I didn't intend for there to be monsters at Y'ha Nethlei or South church at the start of the game. I'll have to clarify that later.

Did I understand this correctly? You had The Beast appear on Ursula while she was in an Other World? If that was the case, it was supposed to go to someone else. Anyway, moving on.

I wish you got to play through more of the game effects. I guess the important question is, despite all the slowness and tension, did you have fun? And :') shall you hazard this again in the hard mode :'D for bragging rights if nothing else? ;'D

Avi_dreader said:

INTERVIEW WITH JULIA, RECENT WINNER OF THE ADVANCED PLAYERS LEAGUE

Q: How do you feel, after beating the last, terrible Scenario?
A: Thanks for the question, I sincerelly hoped somebody asked about me (and not about how things next time will go). Kinda good. I guess. After ten hours of Arkham, I started believing the shadows in my study were whispering for real

Q: Did you have any comments on your brilliant victory?
A: As soon as I finished the League and instead of having friends to share the victory with, I received a couple of sterile lines "originally Elder Signs were banned". I honestly don't give a **** of the original Elder Signs ban. First of all, it wouldn't have changed nothing: I could have had Norman exiting via Gate Box to Y'han-thlei on Turn 3, sealing the gate instead of Mary. Sure, this would have meant the doom track to reach what? FIVE during the whole game (but I told my many fans I'd have won with a doom track at 5). In this case, Dagon would have poked in and removed what? 5 clues from the board? Somebody said Rex should have been perma cursed. Again, do you really think it'd have changed something? ::laughter:: He sealed only one gate in the whole game, and it was a Dreamlands gate: +1, this means 5 dice to roll in order to score 1 success (and I did send him there for a specific reason, I didn't want to waste trophies for Blessing him, others needed a bigger boost). Do you really believe it would have been impossible to seal even if Cursed?

Q: Would you like to add something about you "playing dirty"? With "playing dirty" I mean you don't enjoy the dreadful experience of utmost sufference of a terror track equals to ten and a doom track equals to at least ten as well
A: Actually, I think you cannot say I avoided the fight by "playing dirty" like I did for Scenario 16. Closing victories were banned (fortunately, I could have won by closing with Azzie doom track at zero), so I simply hit the Scenario as hard as possible (in the same way the Scenario would have hit me if I had allowed this). At the moment, I'm receiving feedbacks as "play it again in the hard mode" / "you won't be allowed to use Elder signs" / "Rex will be perma cursed". Bah. I think this is the moment when everyone should be happy for the nightmares destroyed, and my master should be proud of me (in an 8 Scenario time I removed completely my tendency in falling into mental traps). Sadly, I don't feel this.

Q: Are you ready to start it over again and play the League in the hard mode?
A: Honestly, I think I'm done with Arkham for a while. I'll focus on the eons for this League, and to playtest some other custom material, but I won't play any "hard mode" League in the near future. Nor in a distant one, I guess