Avi_dreader said:

Read it, and loved it. Not so sure I'll beat it on the first try, but... yeah, shivers down my spine. It's like a gigantic lunch to eat, a marvellous mountain to climb or a night of wild sex. Love it love it love it!

(Ugh. Now I want to play this one instead of the 15th!)

(possibly I'll play 15th and 16th in a row. Should be Nyarlathopesque satisfactory)

Julia said:

:'D I'm glad you're so excited. It's one of the two mega-scenarios. I'm looking forward to reading about your encounter with it. I told you just reading my notes for it sent me into mild trauma! Are you ready to battle the Army of Nyarlathotep?!

Avi_dreader said:

Almost ready. I usually have breakfast before saving the world :-) And at the moment I really need 8 hours of sleep. Then, yeah, ready :-) The second one - I suppose - it's 24, right?

Hey guys....I'm back again, trying Scenario 2 now. Thanks, Julia, for the kind words of encouragement and continuing dialogue. And thanks, Avi, for always responding with exactly the right information, quickly and consistently. Julia, I did know that the DOR track has to be filled from all three Innsmouth neighborhoods, yes. I can see why that wasn't clear from the way I wrote it. Mary began her Innsmouth visit in Innsmouth Shore, then went to Church Green and finally checked in to the Gilman House Hotel after those stops, spending a clue on each stop but getting credit for 2 clues due to "Informant".

On to Scenario 2, yes, it is sufficiently brutal, I would say. It gets off to an ugly start with having to drop everyone's skill, 2 clues and spells. But you already know this. Sorry to be an idiot, but I have kind of a dumb question. Since each time the terror level rises an Ally has to be returned to the box, does this count as "discarding" an Ally (which then causes the terror track to go up by 2)? I guess the answer must be "no". I'm guessing you have to be referring to an ally being deliberately discarded such as when Duke is discarded to restore Sanity to maximum.. But I'll ask just to be sure. Thanks!

Schmiegel said:

Hi Schmiegel!

Welcome back on the Custom League thread. Glad to hear you're trying Scenario 2 now! Let us know how it goes (and beware... it's horribly nasty, but there is one investigator you can rely on to survive the Scenario's evil start ::cool:. As for your question: you don't discard any Ally when the terror rises. You return them to the box. Which is pretty different: when you discard an Ally, the card goes to the bottom of the deck, and you can re-acquire it later (via Encounters or by recruiting him at Ma's), while when you return something to the box, it's out of the game, unitl the game is over. Beware (this can be helpful for further Scenarios, when you can play Charlie) that Allies not present in the 11 card deck you create to the set-up are not considered "returned to the box": they simply never entered play.

Hope this helps! I'll try Scenario 15 today, hope in a double victory!

Sorry, I misread part of your post. You're referring to Dr. West ability, aren't you? I'd say yes, discard, not return them to the box, otehrwise the Terror Level increase will generate an infinite loop (+2 terror implies 2 allies to be returned to the box, which implies +4 Terror, and so on)

Schmiegel said:

I believe in throwing babies in the deep end of the pool to teach them how to swim. Naturally, there will be sharks there too. Granted, the turn over rate is high, but the survivors make excellent swimmers!

"Return to the box" is not the same terminology as "discard." Discard means place on the bottom of its deck. So, as you guessed, no, but now you also know why :') Return to the box never means discard, and discard never means return to the box.

Aaand, I just realized Julia explained that.

So, dare I ask, how did scenario two turn out?

SCENARIO 15 - SACRIFICES TO MAKE

All boards in play

Investigators: Monterey, Ursula, Sister Mary, Mandy, Amanda, Minh

Scenario 15 seemed really scaring. No clues starting on the board, a Black Man always here and there, stalking all poor investigators in Arkham, and an obnoxious Herald able to cripple to dust in just one action all the Elder Signs on the board. And three of not the greatest investigators of Arkham history were asked to stop Nyarlathotep new (sinister) plot.

First problem: the Black Man. Our previous debate on Wendy's ability to stop monsters by evading them gave me the input. First step: move the Black Man from the Witch house to a street area in Arkham with no interesting locations nearby. Then send there an investigator with Luck maximized, kill him a couple of times while decreasing progressively Speed. This would have allowed the investigator to gain enough doomers to be able to evade him for the rest of the game. With the idea that, In case of need, the investigator freezing the black man could swap his position with another one. Having to play with three Z-list investigators, it was authomatic that one of these should have been the sacrificial victim, destined to spend several turns with the Mask.

Second problem: the clue generating Upkeep at the Witch House. The major risk was a gate preventing clues to appear and force me to discard all ES from the board (Wizard HIll didn't bother me too much while thinking about the strategy, simply because there was nothing forcing clues to appear there every turn. In fact, I had no clues there in the whole game). An easier solution, this time: force an investigator to gain those clue tokens, and try not to seal *any* gate until a gate at the Witch House could be sealed.

With these ideas in my mind, I started giving fixed and random possessions. Monterey had a very lucky draw, providing him a Y'thian rifle and some Holy water (considering his smartness, I was afraid he could use it for a shower with the hope of being blessed), plus the starting Revolver & Whip. All the others had more or less a decent hand of items, but nothing to write on the diary. Apart from Amanda, starting with Ancient Language, and Mandy, able to get Disguise as skill. Now it looked even easier: she could have stopped the Black Man by her own, without danger of rolling any dice for the whole game. The last thing to decide was Ursula starting position: I wanted a low frequency location, just to min the odds of being sucked with only 4 clues, but with the hope that the right Mythos would have triggered a clue appearing at her's. So I chose Hibb's, and my initial choice was rewarded: first gate opening at the Black Cave, clue at Hibb's. FIve clues collected, teh Servitor of the Outer Gods arriving and moving to the Sky, and a Lloigor and a Shan released in the French Hill Strets (Avi, question: would the "stalker" clause have applied also to the Lloigor? Not a relevant question for how the game evolved, but could be interesting in general).

First turn: Monterey stayed at the Curiosity Shoppe, and got a Lightning gun (and this is the only cool thing Monterey did in the whole game, apart from committing suicide a couple of turns later). Ursula entered the gate to the Underworld appeared at the Black Cave. Mary went to the French Hill streets. She had only one die for Sanity against the Shan, and a 6 was scored. Her Holy Water vaporized the winged monster, while one of the spells she had granted her three dice agains the Lloigor. Only one successes was rolled, but thanks to Mandy, the second one quickly followed. Now that the path was empty, Mandy went for the clue at the Witch House, completing her 5 clues pool and evading authomatically the Black Man. Minh started moving to the north side of the board and Amanda went to the Newspaper to search for some clues.
Mythos phase: a gate opened at Gardner's place, releasing a Tcho-tcho

Second turn: Mandy evaded the Black man and started moving towards the Station. Monterey passed all his items to Amanda, and got prepared for the great jump in the arms of death, starting moving towards French Hill. Mary went shopping as well, inheriting part of Mandy's money. Ursula kept on moving in the Underworld. A second turn rather plain, with nothing important really happening. Minh was able to read the King in Yellow, gaining the clues needed for sealing. Now I had three girls able to seal, and the others in need
Mythos phase: a gate opened at the Esoteric Order of Dagon, releasing a Child of the Goat

Third turn: Bill Washington hiked Mandy to Gardner's place. The Tcho-tcho was still guarding the gate, and ended up being trophalized by Mandy, who entered the City of the Great Race gate. Minh dashed to Innsmouth, killed the Child of the Goat and entered the Abyss. Amanda went to Graveyard, defeated a monster and was rewarded with a spell. Mist of Releh. Something rather useful with Ancient Language and a Black Man wandering here and there. Ursula returned to Arkham but decided not to seal, since no gates were open at the Witch House. Monterey went for a cup of tea with the Black Man, and the Black Man used him as a biscuit. Chomp. Good bye Monterey, +2 Terror and welcome to Luke. Just in time, because not this turn, but the turn after, a gate to the Underworld opened at Devil Reef. And I had no investigators able to go there because they were all short of money or doing different things. But I had Luke (with her strange look a la Tom Cruise in Eyes wide shut), and his gate box.
Mythos phase: a gate opened at the Witch House, and nothing but a Moon Beast spawned in this world

Fourth turn: Minh entered the second area of the Abyss, Mandy the second area of the City of the Great Race, Ursula was still sitting on the gate, waiting for someone able to do something at the Witch House. I knew it should have been Amanda. Amanda, the poor girl unable to do anything. Amanda the student, a gorgeous visage but a useless life. Amanda, with Mists of Releh, Ancient Language, only three clues and a Black Man all alone after eating Monterey, in the streets of French Hill. Let's go kick his ass. Bam. Two clues, got the five. And a doomer
Mithos phase: new gate, Devil Reef

Fifth turn: Minh and Mandy returned to Arkham. now I had three investigators able to seal but unable to do it otherwise their ES would have been canceled during the next Upkeep. Amanda was the one to count on. She used Mist of Releh + Ancient Language to escape the Black man, entered the Witch house after max her Sneak and evaded the Moon Beast. Luke moved to the second Area of the Dreamlands, and drew some stupid monster he wasn't able to kill without using his Petrifying solution. Sigh. A good item wasted, but a second area encounter passed, and the Leng spider on Devil Reef was still looking at the oceans, unwilling to have a bath
Mythos phase: new gate, Silver Twilight Lodge

Sixth turn: three investigators squatting on gates, Luke returned from the Dreamland to the Underworld gate at Devil Reef, killed the Leng spider and closed the gate (no clues, but leaving Devil Reef open is a suicide) (I had no weapons, but the skill allowing you to discard two clues to add a success to a combat check. I had the two clues because of his journey through the Dreamlands, and the dice helped me with one success). Amanda moved to the second area of her OW. Very few monsters around. The Black man moved to the Southside streets, trapping Mary at the South Church
Mythos phase: a new gate was opened (maybe at the Woods, I don't remember exactly), but the card was horrible: -1 Fight, +1 Lore. And obviously I had my sealer max on Fight.

Seventh turn: Amanda was back, so it was time for sealing. I tried to max Lore. Minh had three dice for sealing the Abyss, 1 success, first ES on the board. Ursula had 3 dice as well, 2 successes, second ES. Then it was Amanda's turn, and her roll was decisive: if failed, the others ES would have been removed during the next Upkeep. Five dice to roll, 1 success. And then Mandy put the fourth one. Just in time. Mary went out of the Church and gained two clues from the Black man, reaching an astonishing total of 4. Not enough
Mythos phase: another gate opened at the Unvisited Isle

Now there was a new problem: the situation in Kingsport was rather critic (2 tracks had 3 tokens on them), I had no investigators with enough clues for another seal. And Nyarly was at 8 doomers. Mary went to the Library (after spending one clue to escape the Black Man), not for clues, but for getting nearer to some clues scattered across the upper part of the board. Her encounter allowed her to take the first Tome from the UI deck: Eltdown Shards! And she was still blessed! Minh grabbed a ride to Independence Square for a clue, her third. Luke tried to move from Devil Reef, but kept on bouncing from there to Y'hanthlei until he got the right encounter, a wrenched ship allowing him to reach another aquatic location. He went for a beer with Basil Elton to remove the token from the rift track, and got another ride to another aquatic location. He chose to visit Lost Carcosa by entering the gate at the Unvisited Isle.
Mythos phase: Mandy was sent to the Strange High House in the Mist

In the coming turns: Mandy got the missing clues, and the same did Minh, thanks to maximizing Lore while using a Safety Deposit Key. Minh entered Carcosa from the Unvisited Isle, and Mary entered the Dreamlands from the Silver Twilight Lodge. The next two Mythos simply bounced on seals (Dagon and Black Cave), so both my girls returned to Arkham with Nyarly stucked at 8 doomerd. Minh had the Eye of Light and Darkness, and decided to spend 4 points of Stamina / Sanity to have a significant bonus to her roll. Mary lost her blessing during the round she returned to Arkham. Minh rolled her dice, scoring 4 successes. 5th seal. And then Mary made the courtain fall on Nyarly once again.

6 seals, 12 Mythos, 8 doomers left

"and this is the only cool thing Monterey did in the whole game, apart from committing suicide a couple of turns later"

Hilarious...

Uh... As for the Lloigors, I would not think so. Had something like that occurred to me during the design of the scenario (or the herald), I probably would have stated that monsters in the French Hill streets move like stalkers instead of their ordinary movement if there is an adjacent investigator they can move onto. But. It didn't.

So, Mary got the final seal, huh? How appropriate :'D Well, that sounded like quite the exciting game! I was holding my breath just reading the report :'D

Avi_dreader said:

Just let me know if you want to clarify this on the eon or not!

And I'll have Minh carrying the Eye of Light and Darkness to the next Scenario. It could be useful to evade some of the countless masks!

Julia said:

So how many exhibit items do you have now, total? I hope you're well equipped for insanity in the streets! May I suggest that instead of trying to save this world, you just nuke Arkham instead? Fewer casualties no doubt :')

I don't want to clarify it on the eon, it's fine if players do it however they like (the situation is so rare after all, and the eon is already huge).

Avi_dreader said:

Uhm, the grand total of my Exhibit is... one. No chance in the latest scenario to acquire much stuff, I tried to avoid encounters of any kind since the minimum loss of time could have been fatal. But anyway, I can draw Exhibit instead of starting UI, right?

As for nuking Arkham... I think a certain Avi would not consider the Scenario attended if I nuke everything ::laughter:: I'll spend the next days studying rules and Heralds (btw, the quality of my Faceless and the other Herald is terrible... could you upload better pictures? Or send them to me by e-mail so I can print them for the game? I generally write on paper the rules for the Scenario, but the two Heralds + the Scenario are a little crowded, it's easier to print them and then write on paper all the possible interactions)

Julia said:

"If a team has less than four exhibit items at the start of a scenario, one investigator without an exhibit item may randomly draw one."
Let me know how much time I have before you're playing the next scenario (I'll do the reuploading by then). I still think it's bizarre you only have one exhibit item now, you should have four ;') (well,I guess you'll have two when you start the next scenario, not too bad).

Avi_dreader said:

No way this enters my head. Strange, since it's rather simple. I'll keep the Eye and draw another one. Or maybe I'll ask you again

Avi_dreader said:

The main point is that I don't care that much about Exhibit. Even if there are some *good* items, the UI deck has a greater fascination on me. Don't ask, there is no logical ground for this.

As for the time... If I wasn't suppose to work tomorrow, I'll trying it right now. I don't know, honestly. I hope to start before the w-end. But it's not 100% sure (too many other things to do in the meantime)

Schmiegel didn't win Scenario 2 the first time around, suffice it to say....so, no problem there. In fact it was somewhat of a bloodbath. I'm aware of the difference between discard and return to the box, but what with the interplay of Glaaki, Dr. Herbert West and the Scenario 2 parameters, I didn't want to end up giving myself any "undeserved breaks". Not that I couldn't have used some. I was also aware of the "infinite loop" issue that Julia pointed out would be generated. Actually after putting the question into words and sending it off, I clearly understood the answer. But thanks for the responses!

If these scenarios are like a drug, then this one was the bad acid trip. Things simply did not go well. It was "interesting". Unfortunately for every one part of interesting, it was two parts obnoxious and two parts annoying. Having seen it once now, I will certainly try again. I'll have to reassess the composition of the team, with an eye toward the problems that befall the team at the outset. Jackie Fine I like on the team anyway, and there's no choice regarding Mary either. I'm terribly fond of Wendy. William Yorick has his moments. Norman Withers has become suspect.

Things went swimmingly until about the third turn. Still reeling from the haymaker of losing spells, clues and skills, a distasteful rumor (Overcoming Death, or something like that, where 10 horror checks, at least, have to result in at least two successes, or else..) came up. Jacqueline had to use Precognition to block that, but the mythos card that followed called for the terror level to go up one... The resulting Servant of Glaaki that appeared had the effect of causing each investigator to lose one Unique item, if able. That wiped out Wendy's Elder Sign, Jacqueline's Livre D' Ivon, William's Powder of Iban Gazi, and Norman's Cryptozoology collection. Fortunately, Mary had used her Holy Water. That two-card sequence was one of the low points of my Arkham Horror career.

Shortly after that, Norman, who still felt pretty good about himself, lost his Flamethrower, and Wendy her Dynamite. Wendy lost all her money playing cards in Hibbs Roadhouse. And so it went. Befuddled and disoriented, Norman got arrested at the train station when he was caught trying to pilfer a unique item out of a crate. On the turn after his arrest, a Moon Beast blocked his exit from the Police Station, so he ended up doing about a week in jail it seemed like. Finally he got frustrated and stepped out into the street anyway, with Sneak at 3 (Moon Beast awareness is zero), and two clues, thinking that five dice should produce a success.... They didn't, and he was devoured.

Zoey came onto the team to replace him and it began to appear that it wasn't such a bad trade after all, as she drew a Brazier of Souls (exhaust for +8 to combat checks) unique item, and she renders Glaaki's physical resistance void. But Zoey knows I don't like playing her. On her first turn, she invaded the space occupied by a Tcho-Tcho and a Yithian. With Fight maxed at 4 and 4 clues, she still opted to use Brazier of Souls on the little guy instead of confronting the powerful Yithian, who she decided to evade, just to be on the safe side. (She would have 10 dice to use on the two-toughness Tcho-Tcho.) That way she could get a Common Item and let the upcoming gate seal by Wendy remove the Yithian (in theory, anyway) while she occupied the same street area with it. Problem solved...?? But.

After 10 dice, she had one success, and finally knocked off the Tcho-Tcho after spending the last of the four clues. (14 attempts, two successes.) But she did get a Time Bomb with the Commom Item draw! She had some ideas in mind for using that, as there was certainly no shortage of pockets of Glaaki servants, Cultists and usually something else as well across the board. Then she failed the evade check and was lost in time and space.

She never did get to use that time bomb, but wasn't done with the horrific dice rolls, just to prove that the Withers/Samaras? investigator slot wasn't finished being pathetically useless...as Glaaki soon awakened with the terror level at 8. So she had two shots at him on the Investigators Attack phase with the Brazier of Souls and fight set at 4, a total of seven dice for each attack, 14 dice in all, and got A TOTAL OF ZERO SUCCESSES.

Not that it mattered. It was just more a matter of making a statement, or not, before one is devoured.

It will probably be the weekend before I get another chance to give the scenario another try. I need the recovery time anyway, as this scenario is just demented.

But let me make sure I understand the dynamics correctly.. Jacqueline survived/graduated Scenario One with the Livre D'Ivon, as did Sister Mary with Alchemical Process and Wendy with Dynamite. So even though devoured in Scenario 2, those three could still come back with those respective items intact, if they wish....(in a repeat of Scenario 2)? If Zoey came back (not likely) with Brazier of Souls, that would not be legal, since it was acquired in Scenario 2 prior to being devoured. The bumbling Norman probably won't be invited back anyway. Maybe I'll change my mind. But he didn't carry anything over anyway. Nobody else did..

Julia said:

Okay, then I'll try to do it on Wednesday (possibly tomorrow if I have time, but I probably won't).

Yes, Wendy, Jacqueline, and Mary can reenter that scenario as if it had not been started with the items they currently have (I don't understand why you're getting dynamite though). A few things I noticed from reading your account, one, you had a Livre D'Ivon to use :') I don't understand why that wasn't used on the first turn. Two, you used Zoey's clues for a combat check. Clues should almost never be used to pass checks. They are one of the most precious items in the game. You're much better off just losing a turn and taking an injury or madness. Otherwise you're essentially losing what takes a minimum of four turns to gather. Think about it. Not time efficient at all. Even if you only use one clue, that's still the equivalent of a turn, and it's a finite resource. Bad luck re: the terror increase ;') it looks like you would have been better off saving Jacqueline for that.

I remember having cold sweat playing that scenario (not my typical response to an Arkham game). It was very intense (and not in a good way), so, I feel your pain. I also remember picking my team based on how I would have the most money and items left over after Glaaki's start of game blitz. I think you should be able to beat scenario two fairly easily (eventually), possibly even on your next try. The key to it is A) not letting anything into the vortexes, and B) generating loads of cash to get some great items (that you probably won't lose if you keep extra junk items on your investigators instead of distributing everything evenly.

Mm... And given your starting equipment, I'd also probably play either Harvey or Dexter. Carolyn's also very good in that scenario since she'll start with $7, 4 items, and can regenerate sanity while casting alchemic process (so, you could go with her instead of Harvey or Dexter, although she'll need to hang out at the asylum or make occasional trips there, might be a better idea though). William's also really good in this scenario since he doesn't lose all his clues (monster trophies aren't forced to discard) and he also starts with four items.

Yikes... Anyway... Get some shopping done!

But, yeah, that terror was bad luck. Oh well, butter luck next time. Better even.

Those are some very good thoughts, thank you! Next time, I will certainly use Livre D' Ivon on the first turn. The reason I didn't is that Jacqueline had already lost her two starting clues and I wanted to get two clues ASAP to be able to start using Precognition. As for Dynamite, I had just wanted Wendy to be protected for one critical combat situation. It's been quite a while since I have seen Glaaki, prior to last night, and I had forgotten exactly what the servants do, so I found out the hard way. I wasn't expecting her to lose it so quickly and thought it would be better to carry that over as opposed to drawing a sketchy common item, although there are also some good ones, I know.

Carolyn with Alchemical Process is a very good idea, and I agree with your observation about clues. I have always considered clues kind of a "currency for the moment". That's a luxury you can't always afford, though, good point! Especially in this scenario.

Schmiegel,

thanks for the report. It was scaring re-experience (even through someone elses's words) the nightmares of Scenario 2. For me, it was the only time I've lost a Scenario by forfait: after X turns (10? 15?) I simply had no chance of winning it, and I quit. No fun at all, a great headache, and the inmost desire of killing Avi (hi, sweetie! you're always in my thoughts, are you happy? ::flapping eyelids:. But, both of as had a terrible luck. And when I say terrible, I mean *terrible*. The Mythos deck would be more gentle with you the next time, I hope. But don't give up. Even if you need 10 tries to beat it. When you beat it, you'll have a long series of the greatest scenarios ever created for Arkham. I promise you, no other Scenario (but 5, 12 and 16) of the League are so difficult (and don't listen to Avi when he says "Scenario 5 is not that difficult". Hi sweetie! (again)). Anyway, I think it's not necessary to say you to not give up. From the chronicles of your games, you seem to be a really well determined man, so victory will be achieved!

A side note: Miskatonic Horror is responsable for your defeat. If you didn't play with those Mythos, Jacqueline could have used her power to skip the Mythos raising the Terror Level and your chances of victory could have been a little higher. But anyway. Why didn't you accept the "To conquer death" rumor? You were in need of only 7 clues (3 starting clues, + 1 clue/ investigaror, you were playing 5 investigators over 2 expansion boards, thus 4 - the reduction factor due to multiple boards in play do apply even to Rumors). Besides, it's the kind of rumor you can keep going and use as a shelter from other rumors. And in case you fail, who cares? All monsters become Undead. Good for Mary, since she has a cross. They are endless. Ok, so what's up? You cannot collect them as trophies, which can be bad, but at least there is nothing unbalancing a lot the game. No ES removed, no more Mythos cards to read, nothing really bad.

Another observation (if I may): try not to use clues on combat checks, unless you're really desperate. Even if the Tcho-tcho knocked unconscious Zoey, it'd be better: you get an Injury, keep the four clues, in the next round you collect the fifth one and you have enough of them for sealing. Spending 4 clues on a combat check implies that you need 5 extra turns to be able to seal with the same character. Which often in these very fast paced game implies you're able to seal after the game is over.

As for the investigators, yeah, Mary is compulsory, Wendy is compulsory too, her ES will survive the arrival of the first three Glaaki servants. Jacqueline can be used, but the key character for this Scenario is William. He's starting with monster trophies, and he can spend them as clues. Thus you have two sealers from the beginning, even if the Clue Servant has deserved you a bitter start.

And a question: how did you deal with the Servants on the board? IIRC, in both my games in this Scenario, I was able to remove all the three Servants from game during the first turn. This offered me some sort of respite: in case of Terror rising again, it could have been possible to have enter play a Servant that already entered, thus not harvesting untouched other resources (imagine that the Skill servant enters play again: you don't have any, so, who cares? The Unique Item servant is much worser, but I can lower the odds he enters play by sending all Servants back on Glaaki's sheet)

Last note: Glaaki is a nasty one. He's the nemesis of many of our Arkhamites, and the Scenario is tough. Tame your time, work constantly on the gates, be patient. You'll beat it!

Avi_dreader said:

Avi, I woke up with the insane desire of playing the dam(n) Scenario tonight (which means in a ten hour time from now). If you have time to upload the pictures today, it'd be lovable. If not, don't worry, wrong timing in my request!

And uuuups, I didn't notice most of my points have been covered by Avi too! Sorry guys!

Schmiegel: I noticed you're a game designer. May I ask you what games did you work on / create?

Avi, just to make things clear (in my mind):

- MASK MONSTERS
They enter play from the monsters cup as notmal. They are Endless, which means after they're killed they return to the monsters cup, unless you have something allowing you to gather Endless monsters as trophies (petrifying solution, Allies, encounters where you find the dead carcass of something and you're allowed to claim it even if Endless). They are not Spawn, which means they can go to the Outskirts. They can also be removed by closing matching dimensional symbols gates. They do count against the monster limit. Right?

- SPAWN MONSTERS
They enter play only under special circumstances (and they are not added to the cup unless stated otherwise). They are not Endless, but they can't be kept as trophies under no circumstances. They cannot go to the Outskirts, and they do not count toward the monsters limit. But they still can removed by closing matching dimensional symbols gates. In this case, they return to the sheet / place they were in at the beginning of the game

QUESTIONS ON THE MASKLESS:
You specify that if a Mask is to be placed in the Outskirts, you have to place it at the first player's. But immediately before you specify all Masks are Spawn. I don't get it. Especially because later on the Herald, you say that during Mythos you have to roll a die, on a 1, put a new Mask in play as if it were to go in the Outskirts (thus at the first player's location because of the former sentence). I get it even less. If a Spawn can never go to the Outskirts, then isn't this completely redundant? A sentence like "on a Mythos Phase, rolla die. On a 1, draw a new Mask and place it at the first player's location", without the Outskirt thing? Could you share some light?
Why saying that defeated God of the Bloody Tongue-cultists return to the cup? Both Cultists and Masks are Endless, so it should be implicit they return to the cup. Or does this mean that I cannot kept them as trophies even in case I'm using something allowing me to gather Endless trophies? I dont' think so, because it's specified in the rules of the Scenario, so, why?

QUESTIONS ON THE SCENARIO:
Not so sure I get this either: "Begin placing non-Mask monsters in Arkham after all the Masks have been placed. Ignore the clause on The Faceless One that states and the number of masks on that board is less than the monster limit." That's because Spawn do not count against the limit, so I can have all ten (nine?) Masks in play and then start adding monsters as normal, right? But if I have all Masks in play, then I don't have to be worried about the "Fetch me my faces" ability, right?
"defeating non-copy masks in combat allows investigators to attempt to draw exhibit items" wasn't this clarification already stated on the Faceless one sheet?

QUESTION ON THE AVI-SHNESS OF THE SCENARIO (BUT STILL NOT COMPLAINING, YET):
Was it really necessary to have a Wailing Writher on every bloody gate, was it, uh?

Anyway, I've got some sort of strategy in my mind. Let's see if it works or not

Schmiegel said:

Clues, time, and life are the three most important currencies in Arkham :') and sometimes death can bring more resources (a better investigator, fully healed, with new equipment, clues, and cash) in the form of reincarnation, just as the others are sometimes better spent than saved.

Oh... I hope you didn't have her fight the servants, she's much better at delaying monsters than fighting them (although I do sometimes use her specifically to hunt elusive monsters-- even though she's not well equipped for it statwise, at least she doesn't kill time trying to engage them and failing).

re: Julia

Scenario 5 isn't difficult! It's just annoying. I don't know what she's talking about. You know, Julia, whenever I imagine you, I imagine gigantic wing-like eyelids :')

I didn't kill all my Glaaki worshippers until the second turn ;') I guess I just play a slower start (plus I didn't carry over any weapons).

Julia said:

Eeee... I probably can't do the upload today... I'm supposed to go to someone's house after work, by the time I'm back, you'll probably be done with the scenario ;') I'm glad that you're so motivated to try the last ;.( Nyarlathotep scenario (but hey, look at it this way, it may be the last, but you'll remember the trauma forever).