Enhancing the Ancient Ones

By Avi_dreader, in Fan Creations

I'm reposting this into this section

Could you guys think of extra abilities and effects that you'd like to tag on to other already existing Ancient Ones to amplify them thematically or in terms of difficulty?

Quoth Julia:

"It would be nice having Yog-Sothoth with an ability similar to Daoloth power to switch gate markers on monster surges. This will increase drastically the number of investigators LiTaS. Also, for Yib, as per Tibs league scenario 1, Serpent people do add doomers. Possibly an extended doom track (13) but with the poisonous bite ability of your league Scenario 6. Giving Shub the ability to spawn more Dark young into play (upon monster surges? every time a monster surge happens, place a Dark youn on every open gate, making them not counting against the monster limit). Just a couple of ideas, nothing more"

C'mon guys. Start making some suggestions :')

Maybe something with Quachil and the Mummy monster token?

Ooo... For the Shub suggestion. How about taking out all the Dark Young at the beginning of the game, counting them as spawn monsters (that can't be removed from the board except by combat-- I've forgotten if this is a general rule) and placing 2 of them on a gate whenever it surges? I'm worried that by placing one on every gate on a surge it'll happen too fast.

Okay... Time for some brainstorming...

Eihort- defeating a green bordered monster also causes investigators to gain a brood token.

Ghatanathoa- when an investigator gains clues or a clue, roll a die, on a 1 or 2 flip an additional visage token (i.e. there is a 33% possibility to flip two visage tokens at once when you draw more than one clue). Lloigors move like stalkers and their ability is triggered after they move instead of instead of their movement.

Atlach Nacha- all black bordered monsters become monsters flying, and flying monsters are endless and not counted against the monster limit.

Glaaki- whenever a cultist is defeated, raise the terror level by one.

Nyogtha- whenever a monster is defeated, roll a die, on a one, that investigator must immediately encounter the Tendril of Nyogtha. Investigators defeating a Witch, Warlock, or Ghoul encounter the Tendril on a roll of 1-2 instead.

Rhan Tegoth- Place the Gnoph Keh at the Woods at the start of the game. It is treated as a spawn monster, and moves like a stalker. It moves every mythos phase as if a black square were drawn (if its actual movement is shown, it can move twice). It has two additional toughness. If it is defeated, it returns to the Woods.

Shudde M'ell- Cthonians are not counted against the monster limit. Whenever a cultist moves, roll a die, on a 1-3, search the cup and place a Cthonian on the location the Cultist moved from. During final combat, each investigator must fight a or evade a -1 Awareness Cthonian at the beginning of each round of combat.

Quachil Uttaus- Place the Mummy at The Witch House at the start of the game. It is treated as a spawn monster. It also moves as a fast monster and has an awareness of -3. If it is defeated, return it to The Witch House. Whenever it defeats an investigator, that investigator must draw a dust card. If it causes a sanity loss, all investigators suffer that sanity loss, if it causes a devouring, all investigators are devoured and the game is over. Discard the card as if the first player had drawn it.

Tsathoggua- Investigators only draw two items from the General Store and the Curiosity shop. Formless Spawn do not count against the monster limit. If one appears in the outskirts, place it on The Black Cave instead and replace the one in the outskirts with another draw from the monster cup. After a cultist moves, roll a die, on a 4-6, search the monster cup for a Formless Spawn and place it on the cultist's location. If there is no Formless Spawn in the cup, put a doom token on the Cultist and treat it as a copy of a Formless Spawn that if it is defeated is returned to the cup (rather than being taken as a trophy). If that happens to The Dark Druid, it will still cause all monsters to move when it moves on a black path.

Yibb-Tstll - For each clue token an investigator removes from a location on a board, that investigator loses one sanity. Being driven insane when Yibb-Tstll is the Ancient One causes investigators to draw a madness card, but it does not restore their sanity or prevent them from losing half their clues and items.

Zhar - When his double gate effect is triggered, search the monster cup and box for the two Tcho-Tchos and the Tcho-Tcho Priest (or take them from the board or outskirts if they are in play) and place them on the newly opened gate. They function as a pack that all move together as fast stalkers (game effects that would cause the pack to be separated must be ignored. They must be defeated as a pack or none of the defeated monsters counts as being defeated (don't draw two common items unless all three are defeated, if you only defeat one before being defeated or evading the others, it counts as if you defeated none). They are not counted against the monster limit.

Abhoth-The Children of Abhoth have an Awareness of -1. During final combat, the first player must evade or defeat all three Children of Abhoth before beginning each round of combat.

Chaugnar_Faugn- For each Elder Sign on the board, sealing costs an additional clue (i.e. if there is one elder sign on the board, sealing costs 6 clues, if there are five, sealing costs 10 clues). Tcho Tchos and Tcho Tcho Priest also move like elusive stalkers (except they stalk Elder Signs rather than investigators). If they are on an Elder Sign during the mythos phase, remove it from the board. Curse of the Jungle penalties are cumulative (i.e. you can have a -2 penalty from two elder signs in a neighborhood, and even more if you are also carrying an elder sign).

Bokrug- To remove a being of Ib an investigator must also defeat it in combat. It has a horror check of -2, a combat check of -2, 2 toughness, Weapon Immunity, and if the investigator fails the combat or horror check, they are driven insane or unconscious and the trophies are lost.

Cthugha- Investigators who end their movement in the streets lose one sanity and one stamina. Remove the fire vampires from the cup at the beginning of the game. Fire vampires are not counted against the monster limit and are treated as spawn monsters. Whenever there is a gate surge, place a fire vampire on the surging gate. If there is no fire vampire left to be placed, all investigators in Arkham lose two stamina.

Y'Golonac- Cultists are stalkers. Using a tome causes an investigator to reduce maximum sanity by one, but the investigator who read the tome also gains one additional clue token.

Thanks for not letting me delete this post FFG ;'D

Reposted from the main boards

Nyogtha – If the first encounter that an investigator draws at an unstable location does not automatically result in a monster appearing, the investigator discards it and draws again. (Darrell applies this rule to both cards that he draws.)

Y’Golonac – When an investigator draws a Tome, he draws a corruption card in addition to adding a doom token to the doom track

Yib-tstll – Always use the Tulzscha herald. In addition, Cultists have the Moon, Circle, or Hexagon symbol (in that order) for purposes of movement. (Yibb the all-seeing is directing her cultists to the Elder Signs.)

Yig – When an investigator is knocked unconscious or goes insane, he is Cursed.

?! Why there's no enhancing of the base game AOs (other than Yig)? They need a definite upgrade so they won't be so feeble.

Do you have any suggestions?

mi-go hunter said:

?! Why there's no enhancing of the base game AOs (other than Yig)? They need a definite upgrade so they won't be so feeble.

Heh... Check out the Ancient Ones thread page 47 ;') I already worked on all the base game AOs.

I'd love to see you post some of your own ideas though.

avec said:

Reposted from the main boards

Nyogtha – If the first encounter that an investigator draws at an unstable location does not automatically result in a monster appearing, the investigator discards it and draws again. (Darrell applies this rule to both cards that he draws.)

Y’Golonac – When an investigator draws a Tome, he draws a corruption card in addition to adding a doom token to the doom track

Yib-tstll – Always use the Tulzscha herald. In addition, Cultists have the Moon, Circle, or Hexagon symbol (in that order) for purposes of movement. (Yibb the all-seeing is directing her cultists to the Elder Signs.)

Yig – When an investigator is knocked unconscious or goes insane, he is Cursed.

Ooo! I like all these variants :'D make up more!

Actually, I'd like Y'Golonac tweaked a bit so that there'd be two corruption cards drawn whenever a tome is drawn (because otherwise you'll only see one or two per game, not much of a threat). Possibly... EVEN THREE! ::Insane grinning:: (I mean, draw three corruptions whenever a tome is drawn, that'd be really intense, creepy, and stressful-- it'd be loads of fun).

avec said:

Do you have any suggestions?

Hm, let me try to take a stab at it:

Yig: Whenever you defeat a Cultist or get LiTaS, you are Cursed. In addition, to be rid of Curses, roll two dice. Unless you get two 1s, you can't be rid of it.

Ithaqua: Cultist's Combat damage is increased by 3. Anyone knocked unconscious have the max Stamina decreased by 1.

Azathoth: Place one extra doom token at the start of the game. Maniacs gain a Horror rating of -1 and a Sanity damage of 3.

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

Shubby: Dark Young have their toughness increased by 1. Gate trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Evade checks are decreased by -1.

Hastur: The terror level is 1 at the start of the game. Each time an investigator goes insane (regardless of Final battle or not), raise the terror by 1. Byakhees have their sanity damage increased by 1.

Cthulhu: The upgraded AO provided by Arkham Nights works fine as an upgrade.

Yog-Sothoth: Cultist gain Physical Immunity. Monster trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Checks to close or seal gates are decreased by -1

Ok, I made all these up just now. Whaddaya guys think?


Avi_dreader said:

avec said:

Reposted from the main boards

Nyogtha – If the first encounter that an investigator draws at an unstable location does not automatically result in a monster appearing, the investigator discards it and draws again. (Darrell applies this rule to both cards that he draws.)

Y’Golonac – When an investigator draws a Tome, he draws a corruption card in addition to adding a doom token to the doom track

Yib-tstll – Always use the Tulzscha herald. In addition, Cultists have the Moon, Circle, or Hexagon symbol (in that order) for purposes of movement. (Yibb the all-seeing is directing her cultists to the Elder Signs.)

Yig – When an investigator is knocked unconscious or goes insane, he is Cursed.

Ooo! I like all these variants :'D make up more!

Actually, I'd like Y'Golonac tweaked a bit so that there'd be two corruption cards drawn whenever a tome is drawn (because otherwise you'll only see one or two per game, not much of a threat). Possibly... EVEN THREE! ::Insane grinning:: (I mean, draw three corruptions whenever a tome is drawn, that'd be really intense, creepy, and stressful it'd be loads of fun).

Thanks! If there were three corruption cards per tome, it might work best with Julia's suggestion (from the other board) that corruption cards replace the doom token.

Cthugha - When at least half of Cthugha's doom track is full, his intense heat causes a drought in Arkham. Food and water becomes more expensive. Whenever a weather Mythos card is drawn, all investigators in Arkham must immediately spend $1 or lose 1 Stamina.

Quchil Uttaus - the first player must take the Harried card (but may lose it normally)

mi-go hunter said:

avec said:

Do you have any suggestions?

Hm, let me try to take a stab at it:

Yig: Whenever you defeat a Cultist or get LiTaS, you are Cursed. In addition, to be rid of Curses, roll two dice. Unless you get two 1s, you can't be rid of it.

Ithaqua: Cultist's Combat damage is increased by 3. Anyone knocked unconscious have the max Stamina decreased by 1.

Azathoth: Place one extra doom token at the start of the game. Maniacs gain a Horror rating of -1 and a Sanity damage of 3.

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

Shubby: Dark Young have their toughness increased by 1. Gate trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Evade checks are decreased by -1.

Hastur: The terror level is 1 at the start of the game. Each time an investigator goes insane (regardless of Final battle or not), raise the terror by 1. Byakhees have their sanity damage increased by 1.

Cthulhu: The upgraded AO provided by Arkham Nights works fine as an upgrade.

Yog-Sothoth: Cultist gain Physical Immunity. Monster trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Checks to close or seal gates are decreased by -1

Ok, I made all these up just now. Whaddaya guys think?

I think Ithaqua's ability is partly redundant with Cthulhu's new ability.

Shubby's ability regarding gate trophies is intriguing. It would really put the focus on killing monsters (where it should be). I don't know if I'd further increase Dark Young's toughness with Shubby. That would give them a toughness of what, five?

Removing monster chits for Nyarly sounds very sensible.

I think Yog-Sothoth might be tough enough already.

Avi-

The Quachil-Mummy is fun. It's not especially elegant, but it's very cool. Maybe you could try to more fully integrate the Footprints in the Dust mechanic with the Mummy. Like, the player closest to the Mummy (but not necessarily the first player) draws a dust card each turn. Or maybe whoever defeats the Mummy becomes the first player.

Yibb's boost is way brutal. That might be going too far!

avec said:

avec said:

I think Ithaqua's ability is partly redundant with Cthulhu's new ability.

Shubby's ability regarding gate trophies is intriguing. It would really put the focus on killing monsters (where it should be). I don't know if I'd further increase Dark Young's toughness with Shubby. That would give them a toughness of what, five?

Removing monster chits for Nyarly sounds very sensible.

I think Yog-Sothoth might be tough enough already.

Let me make the following changes:

Ithaqua: Cultists combat damage is increase by 3. When a Weather mythos card is drawn, each investigator in Arkham loses 1 stamina.

Yog-Sothoth: Cultists have Physical Immunity. When an investigator claims a gate trophy, roll a die. On a 1, return it to the bottom of the gate marker pile.

Edit- Shubby: Instead of Dark Young having their toughness increased by 1, combat rating is increased by -1.

mi-go hunter said:

avec said:

Do you have any suggestions?

Hm, let me try to take a stab at it:

Yig: Whenever you defeat a Cultist or get LiTaS, you are Cursed. In addition, to be rid of Curses, roll two dice. Unless you get two 1s, you can't be rid of it.

Ithaqua: Cultist's Combat damage is increased by 3. Anyone knocked unconscious have the max Stamina decreased by 1.

Azathoth: Place one extra doom token at the start of the game. Maniacs gain a Horror rating of -1 and a Sanity damage of 3.

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

Shubby: Dark Young have their toughness increased by 1. Gate trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Evade checks are decreased by -1.

Hastur: The terror level is 1 at the start of the game. Each time an investigator goes insane (regardless of Final battle or not), raise the terror by 1. Byakhees have their sanity damage increased by 1.

Cthulhu: The upgraded AO provided by Arkham Nights works fine as an upgrade.

Yog-Sothoth: Cultist gain Physical Immunity. Monster trophies cannot be spent to gain Allies, etc. Checks to close or seal gates are decreased by -1

Ok, I made all these up just now. Whaddaya guys think?

Too easy for my taste ;') but I'm sure it will appeal to others who don't enjoy making soulpaste. Generally it seems like it will enhance the AOs :') so, good.

I would just remove the die rolling mechanics for the Yig curse entirely. The odds of getting two 1s are 1/36 (i.e. practically nil, and it's not worth all that die rolling).

I think the idea of randomly thinning the mask cup is particularly interesting (no one has thought of it before). I'd rather get rid of half the monsters in the cup though.

avec said:


Avi_dreader said:

avec said:

Reposted from the main boards

Nyogtha – If the first encounter that an investigator draws at an unstable location does not automatically result in a monster appearing, the investigator discards it and draws again. (Darrell applies this rule to both cards that he draws.)

Y’Golonac – When an investigator draws a Tome, he draws a corruption card in addition to adding a doom token to the doom track

Yib-tstll – Always use the Tulzscha herald. In addition, Cultists have the Moon, Circle, or Hexagon symbol (in that order) for purposes of movement. (Yibb the all-seeing is directing her cultists to the Elder Signs.)

Yig – When an investigator is knocked unconscious or goes insane, he is Cursed.

Ooo! I like all these variants :'D make up more!

Actually, I'd like Y'Golonac tweaked a bit so that there'd be two corruption cards drawn whenever a tome is drawn (because otherwise you'll only see one or two per game, not much of a threat). Possibly... EVEN THREE! ::Insane grinning:: (I mean, draw three corruptions whenever a tome is drawn, that'd be really intense, creepy, and stressful it'd be loads of fun).

Thanks! If there were three corruption cards per tome, it might work best with Julia's suggestion (from the other board) that corruption cards replace the doom token.

Cthugha - When at least half of Cthugha's doom track is full, his intense heat causes a drought in Arkham. Food and water becomes more expensive. Whenever a weather Mythos card is drawn, all investigators in Arkham must immediately spend $1 or lose 1 Stamina.

Quchil Uttaus - the first player must take the Harried card (but may lose it normally)

Ooo... Replacing the doom token... I like that, except I'd make it die roll dependent (on a 1-2 or a 1-3 add a doom token when tome is drawn).

Making the first player harried is a cool idea, but I would either make it so it can't be discarded or so it's difficult to discard.

I'd make Cthugha's ability permanent, not half track (it's not like many weather cards are drawn in an average game, or that 1 stamina loss is a big deal).

avec said:

Avi-

The Quachil-Mummy is fun. It's not especially elegant, but it's very cool. Maybe you could try to more fully integrate the Footprints in the Dust mechanic with the Mummy. Like, the player closest to the Mummy (but not necessarily the first player) draws a dust card each turn. Or maybe whoever defeats the Mummy becomes the first player.

Yibb's boost is way brutal. That might be going too far!

It's important not to allow the investigators to manipulate the devouring mechanic (i.e. that would make Quachil easier). I wouldn't want to do space counting every turn :'/ I find those sorts of things to interfere with the flow of the game (more fiddly calculations). I don't know... Think up some more ideas and toss them at me. I came up with the idea in a rush. I can't imagine that you guys can't come up with something better if you spend some time and actually have your cards in front of you ;'D

Yibb's boost is very brutal ;') but that's the price of playing the game. And it'll strongly enhance his clue mechanic. I'd recommend not playing against him with this variant unless you're preselecting some *very* powerful investigators. I was basically thinking about how could I tweak his mechanics a bit to make him a total pain in the ass, and that's what I came up with ;'D enjoy.

mi-go hunter said:

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

That last part would mean we discard x*x clues (1 clue for 1 mask, 4 clues for 2 masks, 9 clues for 3 masks).. Intentional, or did you mean "each investigator discards clues equal to each mask in play when nyarlathotep awakens"?

Taurmindo said:

mi-go hunter said:

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

That last part would mean we discard x*x clues (1 clue for 1 mask, 4 clues for 2 masks, 9 clues for 3 masks).. Intentional, or did you mean "each investigator discards clues equal to each mask in play when nyarlathotep awakens"?

I think he means each investigator discards one clue per mask in play.

Avi_dreader said:

Taurmindo said:

mi-go hunter said:

Nyarly: At the start of the game, remove 10 random monsters from the cup (not including Masks). For each Mask in play when Nyarly awakens, each investigator discards that amount of clues.

That last part would mean we discard x*x clues (1 clue for 1 mask, 4 clues for 2 masks, 9 clues for 3 masks).. Intentional, or did you mean "each investigator discards clues equal to each mask in play when nyarlathotep awakens"?

I think he means each investigator discards one clue per mask in play.

yup, exactly.

Avi_dreader said:

avec said:

Avi-

The Quachil-Mummy is fun. It's not especially elegant, but it's very cool. Maybe you could try to more fully integrate the Footprints in the Dust mechanic with the Mummy. Like, the player closest to the Mummy (but not necessarily the first player) draws a dust card each turn. Or maybe whoever defeats the Mummy becomes the first player.

Yibb's boost is way brutal. That might be going too far!

It's important not to allow the investigators to manipulate the devouring mechanic (i.e. that would make Quachil easier). I wouldn't want to do space counting every turn :'/ I find those sorts of things to interfere with the flow of the game (more fiddly calculations). I don't know... Think up some more ideas and toss them at me. I came up with the idea in a rush. I can't imagine that you guys can't come up with something better if you spend some time and actually have your cards in front of you ;'D

Yeah, you don't want to make it exploitable. The thought of a mummy running around while simultaneously stalking people in their dreams sounds very Betrayal at House on the Hill. But not in a bad way. Come to think of it, what I'd really like for Arkham Horror is an optional traitor mechanic that doesn't suck.

mi-go hunter said:

Let me make the following changes:

Ithaqua: Cultists combat damage is increase by 3. When a Weather mythos card is drawn, each investigator in Arkham loses 1 stamina.

Yog-Sothoth: Cultists have Physical Immunity. When an investigator claims a gate trophy, roll a die. On a 1, return it to the bottom of the gate marker pile.

Edit- Shubby: Instead of Dark Young having their toughness increased by 1, combat rating is increased by -1.

Well, then Ithaqua's ability is redundant with my suggestions for Cthugha's ability. gui%C3%B1o.gif Though Ithaqua and Cthugha are really very similar to each other, so it makes sense that their abilities would overlap somewhat.

Heh, if Yog's minions had both physical and magical immunity, it might make them slightly scary. Hmm, there's some potential there, I think.

Avi_dreader said:

Making the first player harried is a cool idea, but I would either make it so it can't be discarded or so it's difficult to discard.

I'd make Cthugha's ability permanent, not half track (it's not like many weather cards are drawn in an average game, or that 1 stamina loss is a big deal).

Good calls.

Avi_dreader said:


Ooo... Replacing the doom token... I like that, except I'd make it die roll dependent (on a 1-2 or a 1-3 add a doom token when tome is drawn).

Hmm, I don't really like making extra dice rolls. What if it was conditional? Like, if you draw a Tome and you already have a Tome, then you add a doom token. Or if you draw a Corruption that you already have?

avec said:

Yeah, you don't want to make it exploitable. The thought of a mummy running around while simultaneously stalking people in their dreams sounds very Betrayal at House on the Hill. But not in a bad way. Come to think of it, what I'd really like for Arkham Horror is an optional traitor mechanic that doesn't suck.

Start brainstorming. It'd be awesome if you came up with an optional traitor variant.

avec said:

Avi_dreader said:

Making the first player harried is a cool idea, but I would either make it so it can't be discarded or so it's difficult to discard.

I'd make Cthugha's ability permanent, not half track (it's not like many weather cards are drawn in an average game, or that 1 stamina loss is a big deal).

Good calls.

Avi_dreader said:


Ooo... Replacing the doom token... I like that, except I'd make it die roll dependent (on a 1-2 or a 1-3 add a doom token when tome is drawn).

Hmm, I don't really like making extra dice rolls. What if it was conditional? Like, if you draw a Tome and you already have a Tome, then you add a doom token. Or if you draw a Corruption that you already have?

Well... Odds are you'd only draw tomes maybe 3-6 times a game with that variant? So it wouldn't be *that* much extra dice rolling. I think the conditional tome drawing would be too easy (and annoying) and the corruption thing would be a major problem (particularly if you have corruptions that cause you to draw other corruptions). Like, an instant game losing problem ;')

avec said:

Heh, if Yog's minions had both physical and magical immunity, it might make them slightly scary. Hmm, there's some potential there, I think.

I know I have double immune cultists in one of my fan creation scenarios :'/ but I can't for the life of me remember which one.

Avi_dreader said:

I know I have double immune cultists in one of my fan creation scenarios :'/ but I can't for the life of me remember which one.

Need for Zoey... especially because I'm afraid they won't have a toughness of 1