It may prove too difficult to keep track of all "enter play" abilities when several mask monsters are on the board. Of course, this would make each mask a primary target for removal from the board. Then again, the odds of drawing several masks from the cup are pretty slim.

Maybe you should also add:

Before assembling the monster cup, select a random mask at the start of the game and put it on the first gate, along with a regular monster.

Just to ensure that at least one mask enters play.

@Zealot

The enter play abilities are easy to keep track of because they only happen once, when the mask first enters play :'D

The abilities that are more like environmental effects shouldn't be that hard to keep track of either (just put a check mark next to the masks that are in play, and refer to them when necessary). Their effects are going to be constantly interfering with your game in a big way, so they should also be somewhat memorable. Besides, you really shouldn't let more than one or two of these be on the board at the same time (if you have several out, you're in all likelihood screwed). I think one of the worst combinations you could draw would be The Dark Pharoah, The Bloated Woman, and The Beast ;'D

I'm thinking of making it so that a mask is placed when the doom track hits 6 or 7. These things are *very* strong, and I think having one come out on the first turn is too punishing.

zealot12 said:

Also, statistically it's improbable that you'll play a game without at least one mask being drawn.

There are 144 non-spawn monsters (counting the masks).

By the way, as soon as someone tries this, you have to let me know how it turned out ;'D

Well, what I meant was that the "enter play" abilities may stack quite unfavorably with several masks in play. But yea, I guess this was your intent all along. (;

As for probabilities, I'd had games where I didn't draw any cultists and there are more numerous than masks.

Gonna try it soon with the new expansion.

zealot12 said:

Yeah, I realize it's possible none will be drawn. That's why I'd probably go with the 13 doom track variant and the mandatory mask drawing at 6. I might even make it so that one's drawn at 6 and another at 11 with the 13 doom track. Heh heh heh...

i didnt need the 2 extra doom to see 2 masks in play. I was using a full cup with all masks. Wicked game! I still like the mandatory mask option though.

dj2.0 said:

I read about it in the other thread. Sounds like a lot of fun :')

I'm thinking about making a mask at 6 and 11 (with the 13 doom track) mandatory draws.

Just curious, which investigators did you use, and did you draw randomly?

Variant Update:

I just wanted to add to the "official" version of this variant (i.e. the one calibrated to the difficulty level I'm comfortable with), that when the doom track reaches 6, search the monster cup for a random mask and place it at the Library, (if you are playing with the 13 track, do this again at doom track 11). If you are at the monster limit when placing that mask, that mask will not count against the monster limit (unless returned to the cup later).

I made a break with my usual fandom of random and chose a "MU Mob" consisting of Harvey, Amanda, Daisy and Kate.

dj2.0 said:

Hee... Sometimes I like to play a good theme team too. What spell did you get with Daisy? Not Arcane Insight I hope ;'D

No- AI is too spoilerish, ruins the big surprises. I always get Find Gate. I didnt get to use it much though - once, in fact

dj2.0 said:

Hah... I hate AI by itself, but in a game with Kate ;'D it's really a crime to play it.

I finally tried it (and bit off more than I could chew). I wanted a somewhat thematic team, so I picked Ursula, Anderson, Harvey, and Jack and threw in Tzsulcha as the herald. I should have known it was going to be a bad game when the first cultist drawn was The Dark Druid ;'D

I finally forfeit last turn (even though I might have had a chance). The game could have drawn out another ten turns, but I had zero seals on the board and was completely overwhelmed with monsters. And there were three masks on the board ;'D The Dark Pharoah, the Bloated Woman, and Haunter. It... Was not going well... It was theoretically doable, but I didn't want to try slogging through it.

Bloated woman appeared when there were only five doom. Her -1 will was devastating since there was an environment that was also -1 will! And with her extra sanity penalty no one was able to fight monsters...

Oh... And Monteray Jack got a Xenophobia (so he was basically useless for gate sealing while bloated woman was in play). Ursula's first gate was a moving gate (which of course went into the street and was unsealable).

I think next time I play this variant, I'm going to be less thematic with my investigator selection, and I'll preselect a few powerful investigators ;"D

*********************

After playing through that game I added in two more variants.

11th Doom token (on a 13 doom Nyarlathotep) summons The Dark pharoah at Miskatonic University Streets (instead of a random mask, for that old fashioned feeling of apocalyptic terror).

And this second one I'd suggest as a general variant. With Dual Gates, only the top symbol can remove masks from the board (unless there are three or more masks on the board, and God of the Bloody Tongue is not in play).

Reorganized...

A Nyarlathotep Variant:

The Demi-Gods

Drawing a mask will trigger various game effects, keep at least one copy of this sheet for reference during the game. You may want to mark on the sheet which masks are currently active for easier reference of their abilities and effects.

Masks can not be gained as trophies, if a game effect would have them be gained as trophies, return them to the cup instead. They can be returned to the cup as normal by the closing of gates.

Whenever an investigator is knocked unconscious, search the cup and place the first mask drawn on the location the investigator was (the Black Cave if in Another World), masks don’t count against the monster limit, and if they are placed in the outskirts they go to the Black Cave instead).
For the masks, “in play” means being permanently in play (not just temporarily appearing as the result of an encounter and not in the outskirts).

My True Glory : When Nyarlathotep awakens, he has weapon immunity instead of magical resistance, and rather than losing a clue, the penalty for failing a lore check against him is being devoured. With new Curse of the Dark Pharaoh, for investigators without an exhibit item, his combat rating is raised to -8. With old Curse of the Dark Pharaoh, unless investigators have two exhibit items between them, his combat rating is raised to -8.

Investigators not on gates carrying an exhibit item must roll a die during their Arkham Encounter or Other World Encounter phase and a random monster appears on him or her on a roll of 1-3. All monsters adjacent to investigators with exhibit items move as stalkers, and flying monsters consider unstable locations they are in as stable as well.

Suggested rule : If Curse of the Dark Pharoah is being used and the investigators do not collectively have two Exhibit Items when the doom track reaches nine, add two doom tokens to the doom track.

The 6th doom token causes you to search for a random mask and place it at the Miskatonic University streets).
11th Doom token (on a 13 doom Nyarlathotep) summons The Dark pharoah at Miskatonic University Streets (for that good old fashioned feeling of apocalyptic terror).

With Dual Gates, only the top symbol can remove masks from the board (unless there are three or more masks on the board, and God of the Bloody Tongue is not in play).

The Dark Pharoah- He has two extra toughness and weapon immunity. While he is in play, the monster limit is ignored (this will not cause the Ancient One to potentially awaken unless the terror track is at 10). When he enters play, all investigators’ monster trophies are reanimated and placed on their locations. If he leaves play, the monster limit is restored (remove excess non-mask monsters of your choice from the board to get as close as possible to the normal monster limit).

The Black Man - Whenever he moves, the first player must draw two madness cards or add a doom token to the doom track. Investigators who draw these madness cards can not be retired. He must move when he comes into play, even if his movement symbol is not shown. He moves like a Fast Stalker. When he leaves play, replace him with a random mask (an investigator in the new mask’s location, must immediately evade or enter combat with it).

The Bloated Woman - When she enters play each investigator loses two stamina and two sanity. While she is in play will checks have an additional -1 penalty (this includes horror checks) and all sanity damage is increased by 1. An investigator who defeats her in combat is Cursed.

Haunter of the Dark - It has +1 toughness and physical and magical immunity. While in play, flying monsters treat unstable locations as adjacent to the sky, are not counted against the monster limit, and if they are in or are placed in the outskirts, they go directly to the Sky instead. When it leaves play, all flying monsters in play are returned to the monster cup.

God of the Bloody Tongue - It has weapon immunity. While it is in play monsters can not be returned to the cup by closing gates with their dimensional symbol and red, black, and purple bordered monsters move toward the nearest investigator (following yellow lines like an investigator could) with the lowest Sneak (first player’s choice when nearness and sneak are tied).

Wailing Writher - It has +2 toughness. While it is in play, investigators must fight or evade an unmodified copy of Wailing Writher before attempting to seal a gate by means of clue or power tokens. If you declare you are intending to attempt to seal a gate, fight or evade a Wailing Writher copy before rolling against the gate modifier. Unmodified copies of Wailing Writher can not be modified by any game effects and defeating or evading them has no effect beyond ending or avoiding combat.

Shugeron - He has +2 toughness. While he is in play, all streets are treated as aquatic locations and black bordered and yellow bordered monsters move as orange bordered monsters instead.

Skinless One - He has +1 toughness. While he is in play, whenever an investigator is devoured, raise the terror level by one. Also, all monsters move twice, and yellow bordered monsters are treated as black bordered monsters.

The Beast - It has +1 toughness. While it is in play, all other monsters gain +2 toughness, except as monster trophies.

The Shadowy Figure - When he comes into play, remove one Elder Sign token from the board, and investigators in Arkham lose all their clues.