15 minutes ago, coldt0es said:

So I’d say if you go in with appropriate expectations, and are prepared to let the bad stuff roll off your back (which can amount to things like, “What? I have to take trauma because I thought a coffee filter would be more useful than a garlic press?!?”), you’ll have a great time.

and the truth is, if you pick the garlic press over the coffee filter, you'll just get screwed over some other way.

i quickly learned that not getting one of the things you think ought to be the most critical ended up being the least punishing.

i loved TFA (except Depths of Yoth, which i thoroughly hated), but i agree that true-solo would be a nightmare. i took three investigators because others had said it was difficult, and barely scraped by on several scenarios, but also had a blast (except, again, Depths of Yoth, which i still thoroughly hated). : D

2 minutes ago, happy_ythogtha said:

and the truth is, if you pick the garlic press over the coffee filter, you'll just get screwed over some other way.

i quickly learned that not getting one of the things you think ought to be the most critical ended up being the least punishing.

i loved TFA (except Depths of Yoth, which i thoroughly hated), but i agree that true-solo would be a nightmare. i took three investigators because others had said it was difficult, and barely scraped by on several scenarios, but also had a blast (except, again, Depths of Yoth, which i still thoroughly hated). : D

So true on supplies. They're a no-win situation pretty much. Welcome to Arkham Horror! 🤣

I can see why you might find Depths of Yoth the worst. We (Akachi, Minh and I — my pandemic bubble is apparently bigger than I thought!) got our asses handed to us but I did have a memorable thing happen in that scenario where Akachi was saved from imminent defeat by, of all things, a draw from the encounter deck (when does the encounter deck ever actually HELP you?!?) so that was pretty wild. I can't see how to do spoiler tags on this site (weird?) but I wrote about it on Reddit if anyone wants to know how that happened.

4 hours ago, coldt0es said:

I did play on easy though I usually do standard,

Going down a level is a good idea, the theme sounds really cool and it's good to know that it's still fun (if a bit punishing). I'm sure that I'll have a great time, I have no problem being destroyed by Arkham.

I really like TFA. I know that the supplies mechanic can be a bit frustrating as you try to guess what might be good and what might be useless without any criteria to help your guess work...but the campaign is fantastic! I didn't dislike a single sceanrio. For me the Depths of Yoth was a nail-biting experience as my party descended the depths...absolutely loved it. I don't want to give away any spoilers but there is a point in the campaign at the end of one scenario and going into the next that is just superb in terms of what it does in creating a memorable moment when you hit it. There is a lot of innovation in TFA that really works. The scenarios are varied, choices have consequences, the settings are distinctive (it's not just jungle all the way) and there are situations that surprise and delight (and horrify) you all along the way.

I went through TFA recently (on Easy, I'm not insane) with Leo and Ursula and I think they are a great team and right on point, thematically, too and managed to get to R1 in the final scenario...which was a first for me. I've never managed R5 and, as I never read resolutions that I don't get, I've no idea where that leads.

19 hours ago, coldt0es said:

I can't see how to do spoiler tags on this site (weird?) but I wrote about it on Reddit if anyone wants to know how that happened.

Spoilers can be hidden using [ spoiler ] and [ /spoiler ] but without the spaces

but as far as I know there is no button on the text formatting toolbar for it (which, as you say, is weird).

On 11/30/2020 at 5:15 AM, Jaync said:

Yeah I'm getting TFA for Christmas, can't wait to play! What were your experiences with it? I've heard very mixed things, a lot of people say they hate it and a lot say they love it.

TFA is a great campaign, but hang on to your hat for the first scenario. It’s a doozy!
We got so into it the first time we played it, we created an Ally of sorts to carry our gear. Nellie the Prudent Donkey. She is only 0 and 1. So no real soak or anything. She was mostly there to snort at us in bafflement when we did something stupid or dangerous, or bray indignantly, if we had the temerity to put her in danger!

43 minutes ago, Mimi61 said:

We got so into it the first time we played it, we created an Ally of sorts to carry our gear. Nellie the Prudent Donkey. She is only 0 and 1. So no real soak or anything. She was mostly there to snort at us in bafflement when we did something stupid or dangerous, or bray indignantly, if we had the temerity to put her in danger!

Hilarious! I’ve got Ursula and Finn in the Wilds right now and they could use a donkey companion just for the moral support. They’re feeling kind of overwhelmed at the moment.

We're also using Ursula and Finn bc I wanted to try the new investigators and apparently evasion is good in TFA.

Smallish TFA spoilers below - don't read this if you want maximum cruelty, but TBH I wish I'd known these things going in. It's a good campaign, but it can be very, very mean to you in a way that earlier campaigns aren't. A very strong strategic player, which I am not, would scoff at this advice, so take it with a grain of salt if you're terrific at Arkham

1 hour ago, Sarre said:

Smallish TFA spoilers below - don't read this if you want maximum cruelty, but TBH I wish I'd known these things going in. It's a good campaign, but it can be very, very mean to you in a way that earlier campaigns aren't. A very strong strategic player, which I am not, would scoff at this advice, so take it with a grain of salt if you're terrific at Arkham

You might consider reading a guide on which supplies are 'best' to take. It is such a cruel and arbitrary mechanic. If you want the fun of discovering that not taking the thing that seemed least important results in terrible consequences, and that things that seem very very important give you only the mildest of benefits, then you'll get it! There are some supplies that have surprising benefits later on though, and you keep most of them through the game.

Don't destroy the temple. It made sense to me narratively, but I came to seriously regret it after otherwise very carefully managing a specific mechanic in the campaign. With Finn and Ursula, you're not going to want to mess with that mechanic. I think this also means don't kill the harbinger when she shows up - but you probably won't be able to anyway.

Make sure your decks aren't too full of unique cards (the ones with stars on their names) - no more than 10 per deck, give or take. If you find this too limiting, take the pendant when you get the option (and maybe do that anyway). There's one scenario that will wreck you later on if your deck is too fancy. I had to replay it 3 times and still just barely made it out. Skill cards are your friend!

There's one very boring scenario in the middle that forces you to repeat it if you don't meet the full objective, which you likely won't with only 2 investigators. I didn't bother, and you shouldn't either - there is literally no reason to do it again other than to waste your time. Just house (over)rule it unless you did terribly the first time. All it will do is potentially load you up with more trauma and poison.

The designers had said somewhere that they wanted to create a campaign where you might need to start with new investigators after the opening (the first 2 scenarios). If you're in bad shape, consider it. You might house rule that you can carry over some experience into the new investigators (maybe half what you earned?).

There was one late-ish scenario where I just got demolished by not having enough support to pass Will checks (I think on Finn). You might just need to live with it, but it might not hurt to have a little Will support, if there's room in your deck. I think it's one of the encounter sets that's only used a few times in the campaign.

If you get the bow, try to give it to Ursula. It's terrific, if a little cumbersome.

Evade, evade, evade! Don't load up on weapons (but have a few).

I was very frustrated to lose the Relic, since it has a lot of narrative import. Hold on to it - I think it's the scenario that takes place in Arkham, and I think you need to go to the docks to get it back. Consider replaying the scenario if you lose it (it won't kill your game, but some of the plot revolves around it).

Good luck! It's fun, but so hard! A real step up in complexity from Dunwich.

I started to read these as I'm on my second run through, but then hit something I hadn't encountered in the first one (or, at least, didn't remember) so stopped. But I'll offer an alternate perspective — while everything you say is true, I kind of liked the surprise of the random consequences, and having to deal with those. I've never had an investigator with that much trauma before! But I felt pretty boss to finish with 6 mental trauma on Minh but she wasn't insane. I don't think I would have felt as satisfied if I'd known how to avoid a bunch of it. For me, it was enough to know that it felt unfair to a lot of people, so I was prepared for that and then it didn't bother me as much. If I hadn't known that, I think I would have felt a lot more upset.

On my second run, though, I am using the supply spoilers. My usual rule is that I can't write down tips for future playthroughs of the campaign — if I want to benefit from my prior experience I have to remember what it was that would have been a better move. (My theory is that this will keep the campaigns fresher.) But in this case I did decide that having experienced supplies once blind, I didn't have to do that way again.

So, you absolutely should make the decisions that seem like it will make the game most fun for you, and that certainly might be by getting tips from someone who's already experienced the campaign. I just wanted you to know that it's not impossible to have fun if you go in blind.

I didn't read the spoilers because I do want to experience it blind, making story decisions how I think is most thematic for the characters rather than just trying to choose the best one. I feel like that is fun to do for exactly one playthrough, so after my first playthrough I am probably going to come back and read them. I want to get wrecked on my blind playthrough, but then try it again and see what it feels like making the best decisions. I feel like if I looked at those now then every playthrough I would just make those decisions because they are the best ones and I won't get to experience all of the narrative and the different story paths. And this would really just take out the decision making element, which imo is one of the best parts of the campaign.

Always tricky with this game to know how much to submit to its cruelty. Dunwich, I never felt like the game itself was being mean to me personally, even when I ran into a total campaign fail at one point. TFA though, sometimes it really does feel arbitrary, like it's more designers vs. player than game vs. investigators.

Those spoilers are *mostly* tips, really, but do allude to a few plot points.

I still enjoyed the campaign a lot, even though it was so punishing - but City of Archives made me want to set my house on fire to be absolutely sure I'd never have to play it again. And there's a lot of 'the decision you made 4 scenarios ago just came back to haunt you very, very badly' in this campaign that's just impossible to avoid. It's really one for the masochists. Which we all must be!

Definitely, definitely, definitely play on 'easy' your first time through though.

Yeah I definitely will.

On 12/2/2020 at 8:58 PM, coldt0es said:

Hilarious! I’ve got Ursula and Finn in the Wilds right now and they could use a donkey companion just for the moral support. They’re feeling kind of overwhelmed at the moment.

I feel you! We had Ursula and Leo that first time. She was good moral support. Nellie started the game in play of we were doing any exploring. Although, she stubbornly (or wisely) refuses to go deep underground!

On 12/3/2020 at 12:45 PM, Jaync said:

I didn't read the spoilers because I do want to experience it blind, making story decisions how I think is most thematic for the characters rather than just trying to choose the best one. I feel like that is fun to do for exactly one playthrough, so after my first playthrough I am probably going to come back and read them. I want to get wrecked on my blind playthrough, but then try it again and see what it feels like making the best decisions. I feel like if I looked at those now then every playthrough I would just make those decisions because they are the best ones and I won't get to experience all of the narrative and the different story paths. And this would really just take out the decision making element, which imo is one of the best parts of the campaign.

I’m with you. The first time through is best if it is a complete unknown. I don’t watch the introductory run-throughs on Utube for that reason.
A lot of people hate the supply mechanic, but I like it. It is a poorly funded expedition after all and it drives that home.
The only issue is, that you can’t un-know the outcome of some of those choices for future re-plays. I wish there was a way to make it more variable. Return To FA helped some.

BREAKING: Even though @Sarre hated City of Archives, @Jaync may feel encouraged to know that it's just been voted as "Better Than A Phantom of Truth" in this Twitter poll !

Editor's note: I haven't played any of the other scenarios in the poll, but I did like City of Archives a lot.

(Also: spoilers in the comments so don't read them.)

I loved City of Archives!

1 hour ago, coldt0es said:

BREAKING: Even though @Sarre hated City of Archives, @Jaync may feel encouraged to know that it's just been voted as "Better Than A Phantom of Truth" in this Twitter poll !

Editor's note: I haven't played any of the other scenarios in the poll, but I did like City of Archives a lot.

(Also: spoilers in the comments so don't read them.)

I actually think it's a neat scenario - it's just the way it decimated my Ursula deck so incredibly arbitrarily during setup (like - why? why is that rule there?) that made it impossible. Very TFA of it...

For this pack to be so unavailable there always seems to be 1 to 3 copies of it on ebay for 5 to 7x the price. There is also some "War of the Outer Gods" popping up on there now. Do you think FFG gives special attention to certain game shops when it comes to drops and delivery? It seems like some of the cutthroat tactics used in the comic biz are leaking over to games.

13 hours ago, coldt0es said:

it's just been voted as "Better Than A Phantom of Truth" in this Twitter poll !

Well if the twitter poll says so...

I'm actually surprised that it got such a good rating, I know a lot of people love TFA but I have also heard a lot of people hate on the campaign and that scenario in specific (idk why though). The campaign seems to have a very polarizing effect on people, I haven't seen anyone say it was so-so, either they love it or hate it. It probably comes down to whether people play it more than just 1 time, a lot of people who didn't like it say that they quit after the first play through. Also, I think it helps to know in advance that it's super punishing and difficult because you aren't surprised when it happens.

Thank y'all for your opinions/tips, after hearing (on Reddit) a lot of people say that it sucked it's good to hear that actually only a few people dislike it and it's actually a very good campaign. Before I was doubting whether I should have tried to find another cycle instead, but now I know that I made the right choice and I'm super excited to play.

3 hours ago, CrimeLord Owl said:

For this pack to be so unavailable there always seems to be 1 to 3 copies of it on ebay for 5 to 7x the price. There is also some "War of the Outer Gods" popping up on there now. Do you think FFG gives special attention to certain game shops when it comes to drops and delivery? It seems like some of the cutthroat tactics used in the comic biz are leaking over to games.

I think it's more likely that the current handful up at ten times the price was either someone noticing a hole in general availability and snapping up what they could like an auction house in WoW/XIV, or one store's personal stock that they repriced after seeing a lack of general availability; those expensive PoT packs don't actually move fast.

This is frustrating.

It really does. I hope that everything else I am missing gets reprinted when its relevant return to box is released. This though? Feels like it's up to the whims of a capricious deity.

55 minutes ago, Norintha said:

Feels like it's up to the whims of a capricious deity.

I'm pretty sure that it's going to be reprinted, but it's a question of when. The problem is that FFG is really bad about these things so these hard-to-find packs are missing everywhere for a long time, and the pandemic has made it worse. I've heard some people say February, because that's when the starter decks are going to get reprinted, but I'm not sure. Also it's really just this pack in carcosa, so it's very frustrating for people like me who have the whole cycle except for it, and we basically can't use what we spent our money on until this one pack gets reprinted. But I'm not too angry as long as it gets reprinted eventually, really the biggest hassle is having to reload FFG 3 times a day (they should really set up in-stock notifications).

Its also Wages of Sin in Circle Undone and Point of No Return in Dream Eaters. If you want to play any of those three campaigns you are going to have to grossly overpay for one of those mythos packs Carcosa of course included. So I'm stuck here playing TFA getting trucked because I'm bored with NoZ and Dunwich. Not a fan of TFA.