Hey all,

My partner and I have slowly been trying to print/sleeve campaigns created by fans out there as back-up experiences to play between scenario releases for TCU.

Currently, we're playing through the Approaching Storm campaign, and it is excellently done (despite a few hiccups). The 3rd scenario was a bit frustrating, however, due to an overabundance of 3 health enemies. We're playing as "Here's" Preston "Fireaxe-Maniac" Fairmont and Diana "Auto-Fail" Stanley, and at the moment are doing well on easy.

But it got me wondering how many people have given these campaigns and scenarios a try? I know there are people on these boards that play WAAAAY more frequently than I do (despite loving the game).

If you do, when and why do you fit these into your gaming time? Are they a way for you to test builds, a breath of fresh-air between played-to-death scenarios, a way to challenge your own creativity and think about the creative space of the game in new ways?

Have you made any scenarios yourselves? I would love to, but have not had the time (and I don't have a design program or template for a nice campaign scenario booklet).

At Invocation at Fantasy Flight Game Center, we saw that Matthew Newman playing one of the fan-made editions with some people. Not sure what one. It was cool to see that he plays them.

20 minutes ago, MGlas1 said:

At Invocation at Fantasy Flight Game Center, we saw that Matthew Newman playing one of the fan-made editions with some people. Not sure what one. It was cool to see that he plays them.

That's very cool! For someone who has to have a hand in each scenario's design, he probably loves that he can play and have a few surprises every now and then.

I've played almost all the fan scenarios that are out there.

The winter winds campaign is probably my favorite. Against the wendigo would be right up there though

I think Winter Winds is the other scenario I've tried. As far as I can tell though it is not complete?

Why do you play fan scenarios/campaigns? It can be a lot of work prepping them. I'm curious what makes the decisions to put the work/time in.

I’m the designer of The Approaching Storm. Glad to hear you view it positively. It was a labour of love designing it for me and my son. We were in a slump waiting for all the scenarios of The Forgotten Age to ne released and decided to do a scenario of our own.

The second scenario was the first one designed and then we kind of wanted to tell a larger story and tie it to the end of The Dunwich Legacy.

As the scenarios were added, we went back and changed scenarios and play tested alot but being only two persons I’m sure there are things that could have been improved but I’m positive the final version is both playable and enjoyable despite some short comings.

I had some feedback from nice players who tested during the development and that helped alot as to theme and difficulty.

That's awesome! It's been very fun so far. Scenario two was very interesting. There are such creative design choices there, and it's inspired me to think about the interaction of cards a little more carefully. Those passengers and how they interact with the crowd encounters was quite clever. It felt so good to pull one and realize you had managed to slink away from the bothersome masses before there was an issue, but also when they triggered it was so thematic. I enjoyed that a lot.

Sure do, and I even made one

As for doing one yourself, I'd say definitely have a go. It's very rewarding to see it come together, but it can take a LONG time. (Sourcing images takes absolutely forever). Also, if you have any form of OCD its frustrating to say the least to have your little baby uploaded, only to discover mistakes or typos that you somehow missed in the WEEKS you were working on it. Or is that just me?

As for the campaign guide, the Arkham Horror LCG mod for Strange Eons allows you to make a campaign guide just like the official ones, with all the same formatting.

Shameless final plug, but if you do decide to check Delta Green - Convergence out, I'd love to know what you think.

Edit: it’s updated now.

10 hours ago, Soakman said:

I think Winter Winds is the other scenario I've tried. As far as I can tell though it is not complete?

Why do you play fan scenarios/campaigns? It can be a lot of work prepping them. I'm curious what makes the decisions to put the work/time in.

I play them mostly because I enjoy the game. Some fan made scenarios have introduced mechanics that aren't in the game. Like the pathfinders scenario. They aren't that much work. Once they are printed they are done.

15 hours ago, MrDodger said:

Sure do, and I even made one

As for doing one yourself, I'd say definitely have a go. It's very rewarding to see it come together, but it can take a LONG time. (Sourcing images takes absolutely forever). Also, if you have any form of OCD its frustrating to say the least to have your little baby uploaded, only to discover mistakes or typos that you somehow missed in the WEEKS you were working on it. Or is that just me?

As for the campaign guide, the Arkham Horror LCG mod for Strange Eons allows you to make a campaign guide just like the official ones, with all the same formatting.

Shameless final plug, but if you do decide to check Delta Green - Convergence out, I'd love to know what you think.

Edit: it’s updated now.

Hey thanks! Both for the advice, and the work you put into supporting the game with the scenario. I haven't played it, but I may get around to it one day. I would play everything multiple times if I had the time.

I did not know that SE had a campaign guide option, that will definitely encourage me to consider making one in the future.

I've made my own investigators for AH 2nd ed, EH, and AH:TCG (the download links are floating around somewhere and on BGG) and have been, unfortunately, very lax about updating the downloadable files with any changes I've made since the original versions. It's a point that I struggle with, so I completely understand the frustration.

I've considered doing standalone scenarios for each investigator that can be added in during a campaign to acquire specific new signature assets, or perhaps enhance or downplay or remove their existing weaknesses.

It'd be fun to see a scenario where Jenny actually finds Izzie (for better or worse depending on how you do!) which could remove or transform her weakness into, perhaps, an ally. Or just remove it from your deck. Or make it worse (instead of looking for Izzie, you simply take a mental trauma, because you flashback to the moment you found her body).

But I've also really wanted to try a campaign as well. Maybe I'll make it a project. The image sources are absolutely the longest time investment (other than playtesting I suppose).

16 hours ago, MrDodger said:

Shameless final plug, but if you do decide to check Delta Green - Convergence out, I'd love to know what you think.

 Edit: it’s updated now.

Oh, I hadn't heard you'd updated it! I'll give it a look when I've got some time!

It's worth noting, too, that there's actually a Tabletop Simulator mod with most of the scenarios on Arkham Central. I find TTS a bit clunky for a full game, but it's great for simulating the encounter deck and map without having to print anything out.

25 minutes ago, rsdockery said:

Oh, I hadn't heard you'd updated it! I'll give it a look when I've got some time!

It's worth noting, too, that there's actually a Tabletop Simulator mod with most of the scenarios on Arkham Central. I find TTS a bit clunky for a full game, but it's great for simulating the encounter deck and map without having to print anything out.

That's a good point. I don't run TTS for similar reasons. I'd rather have the cards in front of me/us.

6 hours ago, rsdockery said:

Oh, I hadn't heard you'd updated it! I'll give it a look when I've got some time!

It's worth noting, too, that there's actually a Tabletop Simulator mod with most of the scenarios on Arkham Central. I find TTS a bit clunky for a full game, but it's great for simulating the encounter deck and map without having to print anything out.

Funny you should mention TTS - Delta Green - Convergence just got added to Dran's excellent mod

The update I mentioned is largely thanks to Reddit user Scion of Yog-Sothoth who gave me excellent and very detailed feedback. Hopefully it won't need to change much from now, but if you find anything glaringly broken please let me know!

And yes, TTS is great for testing scenarios to find out which ones grab you and are worth printing out.

Just a quick update... I was overcome by a powerful urge to make the Jenny scenario I mentioned. It's very very rough right now, but it's far enough along to playtest tomorrow. I have not completed the full scenario guide or have all of the rewards or flavor texts for the resolutions, but I think it's going to be pretty neat. It's nothing too new or crazy, but it's got 5 resolutions and should be a fun scenario if nothing overly impressive. Everything is in flux right now though; particularly in regard to the balance and number of encounter cards.

Happy to playtest it for you Soakman, if you feel comfortable letting it out yet

Well, the offer's there for when you're ready.

Very much so! Just played through it (sans scenario guide because it's not written yet) and my partner and I had a really good time. I'd love more feedback. I am likely going to correct a few things I missed, and get a scenario guide completed. Once those are ready, I can definitely shoot a copy of the print files your way. I'd love your thoughts. The balance worked out well for my partner and I on the first run-through but we were using lvl 0 decks and running through it using an 'easy' campaign chaos bag. I normally don't run solo plays, so the more perspectives I can get, the better. I'll pm you with a googleshare link once everything is cleaned-up and ready for a trial run(s).

Cool. I'll return the favour if & when I get my second Delta Green scenario done.

First version is ready if there is anyone else who wants to do any playtesting. I'm not uploading it anywhere until I get more feedback or a few more more plays in. PM me if you're interested in playtesting it.

Feel free to continue talking about the why's, how's, and favorites of fan scenarios and campaigns here. I got off-track and didn't mean to turn it into a shameless plug for something I had no idea I was actually going to make, but inspiration struck, and I spent like 20+ hours on it, and it's sort of related.