The Investigators (Carolyn Fern, Wendy Adams, Sister Mary, and Bob Jenkins) started with decent equipment for this adventure. When I then revealed the GOO for the game, my heart sank a bit, knowing the chances of pulling a Tome from the decks.

Wendy obtained a .45 Automatic from the General Store, while the other Investigators nabbed Clues and Bob jumped into the first open Gate at the Black Cave. A few rounds into this nightmare, Wendy and Sister Mary had each sealed a gate (Unvisited Isle and the Woods), while Bob had closed one (Black Cave). While Carolyn waited a moment to give Bob a copy of "The King in Yellow" so that he may have enough Clues to seal the Gate...whoosh, one opened under her in the Graveyard. When she returned, sealing the Gate the next turn (after reading the aforementioned "The King in Yellow"), she traded places with Wendy, who had recently obtained a second Elder Sign.

At this point in time, despite the Rifts coming dangerously close to opening, things in Arkham slowed down. The Doom Track hadn't increased, despite an amazing turn of events. While the Investiagtors rushed hither-and-yon to capture a few more Clue Tokens, they utterly failed to pass the Rumor, The Great Ritual. With the Doom Track sitting at 7, and three gates sealed, it was time for desparate measures...only there was one small problem. Both Mythos cards (the first, in which you open only the Gate and discard it as they had failed the Rumor) revealed sealed locations...thus, the Investigators had but one open Gate in Arkham. Rift activity continued unabated, despite Carolyn's attempts, but things in Arkham appeared somewhat stable ~few monsters loitered in the city, and again because of the Gate closures, seals, and "blessed" Mythos cards, only one Gate remained open.

Finally, within a few rounds, Wendy returned to Arkham, passed an Elder Sign to Bob, who dove into a recently opened Gate at Independence Square,and Wendy raced into a Gate at The Unnameable. Sister Mary picked-up a few more Clues and headed for a portal at the Black Cave. A few rounds later, both Bob and Wendy emerged unscathed, slammed their Elder Signs onto the Gates, forever sealing them (of course, there's always that chance of a Gate Burst). Meanwhile, Sister Mary made her way through Yuggoth, obtaining a Unique Item in the first area, but then encountering a frightening prospect in the second area of the Other World.

Grabbed by a creature, she needed to break free [Fight (-2) check] or face the option of returning to South Church (as she doesn't go to Lost in Time and Space), unsuccessful. With 6 Clue Tokens to her name and a Fight set at '1' she rolled the (still) Blessed die and scored a victory ~ she was free. The next turn, she emerged from the Gate, and splashed Holy Water upon the Dimensional Shambler awaiting her arrival. With her possessed knowledge of things dark and horrible, she sealed the last Gate. Y'Golonac was forced to turn away...

The City of Arkham held a small parade in Sister Mary's honor. Father Michael reaped the benefits of his young heroine, by the sizeable contributions made in the South Church's coffers over the next few months. "Sister Mary, First Citizen of Arkham" is what adorned the Headline of the local newspaper.

Carolyn Fern returned to her practice at Arkham Asylum (one Gate Trophy and three Monster Trophies buried deep in her memory)

Wendy Adams was adopted by a loving family in the City of Kingsport (one Gate Trophy and two Monster Trophies still cause her sleepless nights)

Sister Mary returned to the Church and has renewed faith (two Gate Trophies and three Monster Trophies serve as her legacy)

Bob Jenkins still works as a Salesman around town ~ he boasts a bit more these days (one Gate Trophy and three Monster Trophies will do that)

Nice writeup. Thanks. I really like the way AH games play out great stories. Congrats at beating Y'Golonac (on top of surviving the failed Rumor).

It was one of the more remarkable games for that reason . . . I thought, "That's great, we'll fill the Doom Track in no time..." But, for the next 6 turns, we had but two open gates appear, and they didn't appear on the same turn, which gave Bob, then Mary a place to go...

I've written others, typically at boardgamegeek, as well. Yes, you're right, they really make their own story every time. In this particular "story" Wendy found herself at Kingsport's The Rope and Anchor having one too many drinks, after having run around that city with a .45 Automatic and a bottle of Whiskey...Good times...good times....

Well done, Professor :-) And thank you for sharing your adventures, it's always a pleasure reading session reports!

I don't always take the time to write them, but this one was especially interesting as we had the significant lull, when no gates opened, despite having failed a Rumour. I'm playing 12 games w/the following components...

Set-Up: AH + KH + CotDP + KiY (Items and Mythos/Encounter Cards, not the Herald) + LaT (Items and Mythos/Encounter/Relationship Cards, not the "Herald")

Investigators: Draw two Investigators, one; repeat four times

GOO: Select at Random

Once played, I put them off to the side until I've used all 24 Investigators for the first six selected GOOs, and then reshuffle the 24 Investigators and do it again with the remaining 6 GOOs

I'll/I've add(ed) each game to Tibs' giant spreadsheet

Thanks Julia ~ I appreciate it when people read them and give feedback!

Nice writeup!

The Professor said:

That's similar to how I've been setting up most of my games. I which expansions I want to use, then I shuffle the AOs and shuffle and distribute the Investigators, four for each AO. Since I'm currently only using the AOs from Kingsport and Innsmouth since I hadn't played with them very often, that's 48 investigators for 12 AOs - perfect!

After two more games I will have played at least six games against every AO. Interestingly, there's only one AO against which I've won every game: Nyogtha!

Previously, Ithaqua had been the weakest AO in my personal history.

The current game includes the folllwing Investigators: Tony, Mandy, Amanda, and Dexter, while our GOO is Atlach-Nacha. The strategy against him is like no other...don't waster time sealing gates, but get the Investigators in a position whereby they can close as many gates as possible at one time. Now, the fact that our first Mythos card sent Tony to the Strange High House In The Mist will definitely set us back a step or two in our plan...

Glad you liked the write-up!

The Professor said:

Uh... sounds like a tough game :-) I simply love Atlach-Nacha (said Julia the cultist, who lost her remaining sanity creating a custom Herald for this little lovable spider). Just a question: which boards are in play? Only Arkham and Kingsport? Anyway, sealing sometimes is useful even against Atlach, especially when you have gates openings at low frequency locations.

Good luck, Professor!

Julia, yes, only Arkham and Kingsport. I'm also using the Item, Mythos, Encounter, and Relationship Cards from CotDP, KiY, and LatT. You're right, as the Investigators can seal the low frequency gates, but I'm just not spending Clue Tokens to do so...but that is a strategy. This spider definitely makes you move as if you has eight legs...scurrying from portal to portal...

It's very difficult with only two boards in play; having only 11 unstable locations *is* a major problem with Atlach, since there is no chance that some lucky draws can relieve the pressure on the main board. Let us know who wins this battle!