Two things

First, looking at the BoardGameGeeks page for this, I noticed cards taking place in The Inner Sanctum (presumably of Silver Twilight Lodge). Now either thats for combining or FFG is using the same locations which is cool too.

My other guess is because the miniatures seem to have a AH monster chit sized slot in the bottom!

http://www.boardgamegeek.com/image/810696/mansions-of-madness

Maybe thats for something else, or maybe the just want to make them usable in Arkham aswell, but I think these are good guesses!

Thoughts?

Well the hero minis are unpainted versions of the Arkham Horror ones... so I think there is some cross over for sure. But will they sell prepainted monster figures?

Check out the bases of the cultists and Cthonian on boardgame geek. There is a cardboard chit which looks like a AH monster token in the base!

The made character for Runbound / Runewars in Dungeonquest. Seems wholly logical to use the unpainted AH figs for MoM. FFG know what they're doing. It seems to me like AH really doesn't have any more expansions, so a spin-off game to carry on the HPL world; that rules!

M13

Well, I imagine that at the very least you can use the figures in Arkham Horror anyway. You just may not have a monster figure for the entire monster cup. Maybe that'll happen as expansions come out.

....*drool* expansions.

Probably any compatibility will be on the House Rule Level,a poster over at BGG mentioned that having MoA keyed to certain Locations in AH would be cool( Go to the Witch House & set up MoM)..It's a neat idea but a Time & Space killer which makes it rather impractical.

Probably the Inv.figs are the only thing shared with AH directly but we'll need more info & the rules to know for sure.

OD

Old Dwarf said:

It would definitely take some setup time to be remotely doable. Even then, what if you have an investigator go into the Inner Sanctum and another into the Witch House? Even then, you only have one investigator vs the keeper unless all of the investigators travel Arkham together. And THEN you don't have anyone closing gates.

I'm sure there's a way to combine the two, even if only partially, but I think I'll be okay playing them separately.

I love that they are making the two games somwhat compatable. Looks like we'll be seeing the same investigators in both games, and the figures being usable for both as well.

Hope the bases do indeed fir the monster tokens from AH.

It would also be great if the locations in AH do end up being the MoM games. Each location could be an expansion, opening the possibility of using AH as a campaign map/game.

I'm also hoping the expansions all fitt together opening the possibility of larger games with varied locations.

This game will re-open up the possibility of RPG style Cthulhu gaming for me and my group. Looking forward to this!

vogless said:

I could be wrong, but the vibe I'm getting is that there will probably be references to some of the locations in Arkham, but that the game is played in a mansion. So, it looks like you'll be going room to room in just one location. Of course, maybe the opportunity for secret passageways are there, and we'll find ourselves in the Inner Sanctum or the Witch House.

Not too sure about that.

"Horrific monsters and spectral presences lurk in manors, crypts, schools, monasteries, and derelict buildings near Arkham, Massachusetts. "

Leads me to believe we'll see other locations. Plaus, I'm seeing outside tiles as well.

I may be wrong, but I'm holding out hope that the tiles allow for some exploring outside the mansion as well.....

vogless said:

Possibly. I just can't see them using a bunch of locations from all over Arkham. Maybe there's a chance that one location will show up during play. I don't know, but I'm aching to find out.

The site mentions scenarios, so maybe the scenarios take you to different locations for the game to take place in. So, for example, scenario one may take place in the Silver Twilight Lodge and scenario two could take place in Ma's Boarding House.

Xiayose said:

Yeah, I guess that's what I meant. I could see that working.

Slotff said:

The Silver Twilight Lodge and it's associated Inner Sanctum are part of HP Lovecraft's Mythos. Both AH and MoM are set in that universe, so it's hardly a surprise that they will share some of the same places, people and Things. That doesn't mean the games will be mechanically compatible. Look at Descent, Runebound, Runewars and DungeonQuest. They all share the same universe, they all mention at least a few similar places, people or items. None of them are mechanically compatible with one another (although there are certainly fans who work ravenously to build house rules for that purpose.)

Slotff said:

Without knowing the mechanics of MoM it's hard to say why that hole is there. I agree it looks like it would fit an AH monster token nicely, although I don't see any holes on top for the sneak check and other info one normally needs to see during play. I haven't seen a good shot of the bottom of the base to see if it's hollow and you could read the backside of the token through there.

Personally, I think sliding the monster token in there would be somewhat pointless if I had to keep pulling it out again to check info on one or both sides. Worse than just playing with the token normally. Of course, if there are appropriate holes on both sides and I just can't see them in the photos I've seen, that would resolve that concern.

Regardless, it's entirely possible that the slot serves a purpose in MoM mechanics and the fact that an AH monster token fits in there is purely coincidence. All FFG tokens (of which there are a great many in most games) have a uniform thickness. The AH monster tokens are roughly 1 inch square, which strikes me as a farily common size for square tokens in general. Maybe it's not intentional, that's all I'm saying. Without knowing how the MoM rules work, it's hard to say why that slot is there.

Well, the news post does say:

"The bases for each monster figure even have slots into which you can that monster’s token, displaying only the pertinent statistics."

Implying that the slot is used for a token used in MoM without necessarily being compatible with the AH ones...

It would be a missed opportunity if FFG didn't design those slots to be compatible with AH monster chits in mind. Hell, with a little foresight the tokens in MoM could be designed to have statistics in exactly the same place as they are found on the AH tokens at the very least, if not just using the same tokens. Imagine the extra revenue they could make releasing boxes of these minis for use in both games...

AsylumSeeker said:

I am with Steve-O on this:

Steve-O said:

Just because a game is set in lovecraft country doesnt mean nor should it mean that they have to be compatible with arkham horror. Arkham Horror already has 6 expansions for the game. Even though I buy them all, I frankly dont really see the need for more.

Steve-O said:

Well, if the tokens are compatible with the figures, I imagine it's done so that the figures can just stand on their own without a bunch of statistics written all over them. To be honest, it wouldn't kill anyone to just check the token; you have to do that anyway in Arkham Horror when A) you check the symbol and awareness of the monster and then flip it to B) check the terror, toughness, strength, and any other notes on the other side. Frankly, I can imagine it being easier because the figures are much more noticeable than searching around town for a particular monster token (that's why I'll use the figures).

If it really is that much of a problem, just have someone keep the tokens off the side of the board and use the figures. You're not trapped into one way of using the components. Fantasy Flight may just have a suggested way, but they're not going to come to your house and take it away from you if you don't follow it.

As far as I can see and from what I've read, the bases on the models have slots cut out to show statistics, so no need to continually pull the chits out. With AH in mind, there would need to be two or three holes on the front and a cut out in the underside to allow text to be visable. I suggested it could be a missed opportunity not to enable a tie in with AH only because I've read many times that there is a call for models and a way to facilitate use of the tokens at the same time. What MoM has here appears to be a terrific solution, so why not give folk the option should they wish, afterall, this new game is branded with the intriguing 'Arkham Horror Files' logo. No one is forced to buy additional material for their hobby of course. It just seems logical to offer choice.

Mansions of Madness will be to Arkham Horror what Descent is to Runebound. Look to those games to understand what 'compatibility' will be for MoM and AH.