Hi all! Been a long-time lurker to these forums getting rule clarifications and the like having recently gotten the Arkham Horror bug!

Played 3 games so far. The first with 2 friends we had to abandon because the rules and sequesnce of phases weren't clear to us all.

Based on the suggestions here I ran a solo game, then tried again with my friends (vs Azatoth), against which we prevailed with 3 gates to spare!

Anyway, I wonder if I might trouble a few experts with a few questions?

1) "A monster appears!" as the text in an encounter card. Before I ruled that you had to fight it in the movement phase and it counted towards the monster total on the board. I've subsequently learned that neither is the case (either immediately avoid or slay it but it doesn't stay on the board). Question, do you keep the trophy if you slay it? I'm reading the manual pg 22 where one paragraph says you don't keep it and then the subsequent one says you DO keep it. Or is it only for Otherworld encounters that you keep the trophy?

2) What's the point of luck? In our entire game I don't think we ever had a skill check inolving this. I'll grant we weren't using spells but that's a lore check if I'm not mistaken...

3) From the game a mythos card (can't recall which) says all monsters in Arkham of a type return to the cup. If any return, the terror level goes up by one. Does the outskirts count for this? I ruled the board & sky does but not the outskirts. Wrong?

4) Similar to 3 when closing a gate with a symbol all monsters in the game (board, sky, and outskirts) with that symbol return to the cup. Correct?

Overall we had fun and I'm eager to play again - this time without Mandy's re-roll abaility (which was a life saver I admit) and perhaps with Nyarlothep as the AO.

My only complaint as a new player is that there is an awful lot to keep track of: monsters on the board (for limits), monsters in the outskirts (for terror), number of open gates, etc. I note with interest that the yet unreleased Miskatonic Horror will try to make management of this easier.

Can't wait to see what that'll be - personally I'm thinking of fashioning an homemade abacus to handle the book-keeping.

Pehaps FF might consider a simaar solution if MH hasn't already gone to press?

Anyway, can't wait to try out King in Yellow (once my group has gotten a few games under its belt).

And eagerly awaiting the reprint of Dunwich and the release of Miskatonic!

Before others say it, welcome to the madhouse. Run. Run now. But if you persist...

1). You kill it, you keep it, it doesn't matter where you are. You run away, it disappears. These are the rules for monster trophies, except for ones like Mi-gos that have different rules when they are slain.

2). Luck is the most common skill check in the game, to make up for the fact that it isn't used in any other case. If you aren't a spell caster, maximize luck over lore.

3). Outskirts, sky, and Arkham all count. So check each, and remove them from the board.

4). Correct. If they are in play, they are removed. (Terrible experiment aren't removed in this way, for when it comes up.)

Yes, keeping everything straight is tough. There's a handy dandy flowsheet lurking out there somewhere that someone will probably direct you to. I think it may be at Boardgamegeek.com It will become more natural as time goes on, just start out going slow, and check everything.

Great! Thank you very much!

Just to add to what Tobec said about luck, he didn't specifically state it (though I think he meant to). Luck is the most commonly used skill check during Encounters, but that's the only place you're likely to have them. But it does come up often in encounters, both in Arkham and in Other Worlds.

You can (for the most part) keep your luck low if you're going to be spending a great deal of time fighting monsters in the streets, or simply using location abilities at certain locations. And like he said, spell casters may want to keep their Lore up as opposed to Luck.

Interesting. I never knew that the different locations would have different checks associated with them. I'm resisting the impulse to read the location cards .

Well, the types of check vary, but what you receive is denoted in the location as those little symbols by the name (which is in the rules, so hopefully this isn't a spoiler). Though each color Otherworld has a certain "heme" that it follows, regardless of what world your in.

Did I just blow your mind

Nameless1 said:

If you'd rather not read all the cards, but still want to check out the most likely checks at a location (plus a whole lot of other stuff), take a look at the encounter statistics I posted over on BGG.

Tobec said:

Gah...Terrible Experiment is pure evil. O_O We got it last game and ended up with it entirely populated by Shoggoths, Gugs, Dholes, Dark Young, and a Flying Polyp just for fun. We also didn't really have any good weapons. Just keeping it under control was crazy...there was no way we were going to be able to take it down entirely.

Fortunately we were close enough on seals to end the game before it Terror-ed us up.

EcnoTheNeato said:

Different Otherworlds have different themes? Now my mind IS blown!

ricedwlit said:

I think I'll let myself be surprised! Wouldn't be fair to have additional infor over the other members in my group I think.

Sdrolion said:

I keep seeing references in these forums to the Terrible Experiment which I gather is a rumor Mythos card? Can't wait to see what it does when it comes up!

Nameless1 said:

Yes it is. And it's terrible =(

However, not terrible enough for a McGlen with an itchy trigger finger who's bored out of his mind.

mi-go hunter said:

No kidding there! Especially if his personal story is in effect. ^^

The Terrible Experiment is probably my favorite rumor. There's seldom an excuse in Arkham Horror to so wantonly slay monsters.