Because why not? Might as well get a jump on this one.

OK so I totally stole this idea from the Dark Pharaoh 2.0 announcement. And it remains to be seen if the cult will get a boost from Miskatonic Horror, but I thought I'd give it a shot.

Of course after uploading this I realized that the Black Goat herald would totally break this.

How would the Black Goat Herald break this?

He removes hex monsters from the cup. If you notice I put the hex as the encounter as the join the cult encounter. I think I'll switch that with the moon encounterthen the Black Goat would only take away the nothing happens encounter.

OK after sorting through my pile of monsters to see exactly how the dimensional symbols break down I have the following based more on frequency of appearance than theme of the dimensional symbol.

So Moon is the most frequent, joining the cult should be much easier, Hex and Circle are close to one another at second, Plus Slash Square and Diamond are mostly the same (plus is a little more frequent than the others) then the least likely to show up are Triangle and Star.

Had a chance to play test the cult. Teamed it up with Shiub and the Black Goat. It was an interesting game that the Cult did influence but still no one had the opportunity to join the cult. Jim, Marie and Yoric all had the opportunity to investigate areas with the cult token, Yorric had an accident and fought off a witch, Jim ended up pitted against a Color out of Space and ended up with a sprained ankle, Marie saw something terrible and ended up with Delirium. They seemed to have really beat the odds twice encountering the rarest types of monsters.

I'm considering adding a clause to the "Monster appears" encounter that would require it be drawn from the hex cup if the black goat is in play, help spread the corruption around a little.

I may as well add these here, eh...

The church is an interesting one. I like the regular worship power especially. You may want to consider wording the first part of Charity "Any phase: While in a street an investigator may pay $1 to roll a horror check as if they were blessed" If I understand correctly what you were going for, then you wouldn't need that bit about curses. Strange eons lists a blessings starting cost as $10, comparing the "Organized Crime" institutions similar mechanic ($3 or a random item for a card that is worth $5-6) there is precedent for offering a discount here but I'm not sure it should be such a steep one....after all blessings are pretty powerful while they last.

As for the Arkham Gamers Society, I would worry that the war games could reduce the game to players hanging out in the historical society gathering clues then diving for gates.

Ah, yes... That wording is much less clunky on the blessing/curse thing. Thanks.

I know that SE values a Blessing as $10, but I can't honestly see myself ever paying more than $5 for it in an actual game (except perhaps right before an imminent final battle). A Blessing could be really good and you could also lose it after one turn. I originally had it at $3 and bumped it to $4, and I'm still not sure I would spend $4 for it out of my starting money... perhaps if I had exactly $4, but if I had $5 or more I'd rather use that money towards buying weapons or Unique Items. I suppose that the "Regular Worship" sort of offsets any benefit from cheap Blessings, making you work to keep them (or to remain un-Cursed).

For the wargames, I think being delayed can be pretty harsh, and you're delayed whether you gain any Clues or not. But I suppose what it could say is that you may "lose your next turn" instead of being delayed. Because by being delayed, it just means that you can't move anywhere, but you could still do that same thing the following turn (gaining more Clues, potentially). If you have to lose your next turn, though, then it's a one-time shot... You might get a few Clues, but it takes you two whole turns to get them. You're not that likely to keep doing that every two turns as it would definitely waste too much time.

Interesting new thread. Though, I am now confused on the exact differences between heralds/guardians, institutions and scenarios. There is a continuum there, isn't it ?

I like the cult one (just comment on his one, the two others being older :-)

There may or may not be a difference between an institution and a herald, only the Miskatonic Horror rule book will be able to tell us for sure.....well aside from the fact that you can have one of both out at the same time (a rule I often ignore by playing with 2 heralds at a time)

right I often play with more than one herald. is there any rule that states that only 1 herald should be in play ? I thought that heralds where just there to add some variants to the game, so that you could have as many as you like. :-)

The Kingsport rule book says that players should limit themselves to one of each type (talking about both herald and guardians) and it is implied by the statement on the Dagon and Hydra heralds "Both Father Dagon and Mother Hydra may be used as Heralds during the same game".

Here is a new one... I just realized that the MH will not have a black goat institution and that is a shame since it really is the expansion that needed a boost. So here is one. I have playtested it and it was fun. It does not increase the game difficulty but is intended to see the corruptions and the cult encounter that we barely see otherwise.

all comments welcome, as always...

The cult doesn't seem to be up to much, apart from forcing you to become a member. (Are they militant Jehovah's Witnesses?)

I think I'd prefer to have the option of joining, but have some kind of temptation that made it worth my while: a couple of clues, perhaps.

I like the removal effect. Perhaps they should move towards the nearest clue and remove it from the board, or head towards the nearest gate and combine their penalty with the closure penalty on that gate.

yes, they just sort of trying to get you involved. I like your idea though (getting somme immediate small benefit for future larger drawback, like the lurker does).

and I forgot to write that a new one pops in each monster surge.

I'll update it asap.

updated the institution. you can heal life but must stop by and then take a cult membership. Also added a new one if a monster surge occurs.

Amikezor,

I really like this one. It seems to me a very good fix for many problems of the past. Well done.

thank you Julia

I suck at finding images on the internet, (All I wanted was a painting of a businessman behind a desk with some shadowy figures faintly visible in the background... I should have asked for sharks with frikking laser beams!) so you just get the text.

Two Institutions concerned with money and finance. One Mythos compliant and one Mythos defiant...

NEW WORLD INDUSTRIES

Arms Dealing

All Cultists and Tcho-Tcho have their Stamina damage increased by one.

Corporate Buy-out

All costs are increased by $1. Investigators receive a -1 penalty to all rolls to maintain Retainers or pay back Loans.

Fear is Good

Whenever the Terror Level rises, return double the number of the Allies to the box.

ARKHAM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Bountiful Supplies

Whenever an Investigators has the option to purchase items, they draw one additional item and then discard one of their choice.

Financial Security

Stores shut at one level higher than they normally would on the Terror Track.

Tourist Investment

Invetsigators may pay $3 at the Train Station to purchase a Rail Pass .

Favourable Returns

Investigators may discard one Gate or 5 Tougness worth of monsters at the Bank to gain a Retainer .

Merchants against the Mythos

Investigators receive a +1 bonus to all Skill checks made in the General Store , Curiositie Shoppe , Ye olde Magick Shoppe , Neil's Curiosity Shop , the 1st National Grocery Store and the Merchant District Streets .

I like those a lot. I was going to make something for a "financial institution", much like the second one. Hopefully you can find some good pictures.

Another institution idea... I borrowed the "Commitments" mechanic from the Church institution. Not sure if a Curse is as appropriate a penalty for that, but anyway...

Grudunza said:

I don't normally comment on guardianish type creations, but I did want to point out that Friends Stick Together is a broken ability. It will allow you to take out any monster on the board easily, probably even The Dunwich Horror (free Elder Sign, no). It will completely ruin combat. If you wanted to make it +1 to all checks on a shared location or shared neighborhood, that would be okay though.

Yup, you're right. Just a first thought... trying to do something a little different (and stronger) than the similar Relationship.

Updated (should reflect above soon).

I also changed "Commitments" so the penalty is 1 Sanity loss and being delayed. Seemed like a better fit than being Cursed. Thematically, you remember something you were supposed to take care of back at Home, or something important you missed out on (kid's baseball game), and it drives you a little crazy.