Does anybody have any ideas for ways to create new scenarios in Mansions of Madness? Possibly a computer program?

I think it will take some play experience to understand the feel of game before getting into creating scenarios.

Deconstructing how existing ones are structured, the trees in them etc. is the start. See how an existing scenario after you've played all permutations can be revised to switch out various things, move locations of things and then adjust other elements etc.

I would really play though the 5x3 xsubchoices lots before trying to come up with anything.

That all said, I see it as being completely doable once the underlying structure is understood.

Rob

Being someone who is really enjoying this game, I'm up for anything that will expand the game beyond its boxed borders and maximize replayability. The problem w/ fan scenarios, however, is that their ability to be incorporated into MoM would be heavily reliant on card components (specifically, new objective, event and exploration cards). While the objective and event cards can simply be printed on a sheet, the exploration cards (which would need to be incorporated into the deck of existing cards for play) would be a bit more problematic. I'm hoping that FFG decides to take full advantage of their new print-on-demand capability to address this very issue. With the treasure trove of both artwork and ideas from Arkham Horror and the Call of Cthulhu card game, the potential for POD micro-expansions to MoM is nearly limitless.

That being said, to Fantasy Flight Games: PLEEEEEEAAAASSSSE keep some POD mini-expansions for MoM coming our way - this game rocks and, judging from the vast number of forum threads on this site in the short time this game has been out, there are a lot of MoM players hungry for more!

Re: What about the Clue/Event cards?

You can always replace them "on the fly". If you want to place "your" Clue 1A somewhere, place a 1A from some already existing Story in the room and as soon as it's found, hand the player some other strip of paper instead of the one s/he's currently reading. Come to think of it, that offers for a lot more interesting Clue Cards, since you could produce, say, a fake newspaper article or something


Re: Is it possible to create fan made Stories?

Yes, absolutely. But as valvorik already said, better play a lot of games before starting to go crazy on the Mods. From what I've seen, the basic construct is

• Read Story to reveal 1st Clue's location
• Find 1st Clue (which reveals 2nd Clue's location) + some kind of key (password, phrase,...)
• Open previously locked door at 2nd Clue's location
• Find 2nd Clue (which reveals...) + key
• etc.
• Reveal Objective
• Kill / Escape / Stay Alive

Self-made Stories can, of course, disregard the whole "Answer questions to determine the location of stuff" part, since that's only in MoM to add some replayability. I guess the easiest way of constructing your first Story could be

• Count the number of steps necessary from Clue to Clue in an already existing Story
• Look at the counters on the Event Cards
• Put these two numbers into correlation
• Try to create another Map with the same Event Timer
• Try to place Clues the same distance from each other
• Try to alter the already existing Events, replacing one Spawn with another or something

Completely changing the Theme of a Story (remove Maniacs from Story 1, replace them with Cultists + Summoning) might totally break certain games, I guess. But that's where the interesting part of creating your own Stories starts

ChefBryan said:

true. though, new cards can be easily mixed with official decks if you are using sleeves. (I usually do not like those, but I am willing to make an exception in this case). I need a couples of games before starting thinking about a fan-made adventure game. Hopefully, Strange Eons will incorporate MoM cards... in a near future :-)

I hadn't thought of using card sleeves - that's a pretty good idea. Given the game's relatively limited replayability factor, I would definitely love to see fans come out to submit a wealth of material, especially those fans w/ the software and know-how to replicate the cards. Steve Jackson Games has a page on their site specifically for fan-submitted FRAG stuff (including some home-brewed maps that look every bit as good as the packaged ones) - I wonder if FFG could support MoM in that fashion? Hoping.....

I would think that with some really good playtesting, new scenarios for the game are very possible. But as I have just purchased the game it will be awhile before I mess with that. If you ever wanted to see a house rules game with me and mine it is Illuminati. We have 2 or 3 home crafted Illuminatis, and a whole homemade deck of new groups to throw in. Also as we had problems with too many crap groups just laying around and taking up space, we created a card chain that was equal to the number of players plus 1D6. If ever the newest card drawn exceeded that number the oldest out would be lost forever! Love that game. Probably my all time fav.

I think the potential for homemade scenarios is great. I have begone doing so. Took first game and rewrote clues and events. I did not alter the events effect but just reworded it. So for scenario 1 the zombies simply have a different origin. The goals for each is a problem because I don't want the same 3 but don't want the game lopsided in my favor or the players. As most of the people I play with haven't read H.P. Lovecraft ther are a few scenarios I can basicly lift from his works.

• The Shunned House.
• The Picture In the House.
• From Beyond
• The Whisperer in the Darkness

I'm hoping for a Strange Eons expansion. If it happens, that will solve the technical issues of making new Event cards, Clue cards, Objectives, Keeper Actions and the like.

The real challenge here is balancing the elements of a scenario so that they create an exciting challenge for all to play. I don't think that's going to be easy. I think we'll see a lot of broken scenarios where through lack of testing the Investigators or the Keeper can 'short-cut' their objective.

A great idea would be to create scenarios specifically for two players. I know MoM is supposedly playable with 1 Keeper and 1 Investigator, but having run through several of these, a lone Investigator just has NO chance. The Event cards execute too quickly. :-O

That's what I'm going to aim for anyway!

K xx

Check this:

www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/65605/the-strange-house-high-in-the-mist

Seems quite good^^

Hi everyone, first time poster here. I am uploading some Word templates over on Boardgamegeek, to provide easily typeable cards for MoM.

The first is here , covering Objective, Event and Clue cards. I have some more on the way for other type of cards.

I believe the real strength of this great game is using it as a 'sandbox' to create fan stories. The modular nature of the game is just perfect for that.

matildadad said:

This is awesome. Thanks!

I wonder if anyone is working on an MoM plug-in for Strange Eons...

Right after I played my first game, my mind was already reeling with ideas for my own scenario. Thank you matildadad for coming up with those templates! I absolutely plan on using them.

I have ideas for clues, puzzles, even a hidden weapon integral to the story. But like an earlier poster mentioned, I'm waiting to play the game more to really dig into the mechanics on how they are conceived.

UPDATE: I created 3 more MS Word templates to create fan scenarios, they are available now for download in the BoardgameGeek MoM 'Files' section. This brings the total to 4 templates, organised as follows:

DIY STORY KIT (Objective, Event, Clue cards) - v 1.0
(covers Objective, Event and Clue cards)

DIY STORY KIT (Keeper cards) - v 1.0
(covers Keeper Action, Mythos and Trauma cards)

DIY STORY KIT (Investigator cards) - v 1.0
(covers Investigator, Trait and Equipment cards)

DIY STORY KIT (maps) - v 1.0
(drag-and-drop MoM map tiles, symbols and labels to create Map Setup diagrams)

Ooooh Shiny! Fancy at trip to Akerley's Cabin?

I like it! In my minds eye I can already see this MoM version of 'Whisperer in Darkness' playing out!

Cheers, Hal

Airborne XO said:

Excellent idea, I'd play that instantly! Map's looking really good.

If there is interest I may see if I can throw together an actual scenario using the above packs to create some cards. Any suggestions?

Cheers, Hal

As posted in another thread, I'd love to see stories for more than 5 players.
There are certain aspects in the 5 existing stories that might limit them to just 4 investigators (1 Maniac max, the amount of "?" cards, stuff like this). Stories fit for 5-6 or even more players would be very welcome!

I am definitely interested in other scenarios, that's the very reason why I created the templates. MoM is a great 'sandbox' to create user content. The 5 stories in the base box are good, but with user input this game can achieve its real potential.

I'm about halfway through writing Whisperer in Darkness now so look for a new thread in a couple of days time! I'll need playtesters despite sitting with the board out in front of me! It will be a story that only uses the base game components initially as I don't want to over-reach myself (already its providing a headache as to where to put locks and keys etc...)

Cheers, Hal

I posted an original MoM scenario over on BGG: 'The Kellar Seance'

Hope you enjoy it.

There is now a list of fan made MoM scenarios on BGG, at this page.

Man I really wish the game came with a couple of blank clue cards. Ones that just say "1A' etc. and nothing else so I could use those as general cards to make new scenarios without having to print cards or use sleeves.

Well can't you just use the ones that exists and read a text from a sheet on the side instead of the text on the card ?

I find that using sleeves works very elegantly. We played a game with it and it worked great.