Hey I just started to play this game. I'm looking at getting a small expansion in a little bit. I am wondering if anyone has a favorite to play with just the original game? Also what large expansion is also really good as well? I'm Sorry I know this probably has been posted before but I was wondering what all of you had to say.

Small expansion preference varies greatly. They all offer a different experience, so it just depends on what you are looking for. I like King in Yellow myself.

Dunwich is usually considered the best large box to get first.

That one does look interesting. I like the idea of the king in yellow play, that drives you insane. I am also interested in The Lurking at the Threshold. Thank you for the help.

Well it can all depend on what you are looking for.

King in Yellow is a favorite of mine as well, it adds a considerable amount of difficulty to the game when used by itself with the blights (people who go insane and act kind of like anti-allies) and the act cards add another way to lose the game.

Lurker adds a few good aspects to the game the new gates are fun and the relationship cards are a nice help to the investigators, the Lurker himself though seems to help the investigators more than raise the difficulty like a herald is supposed to do, though in all fairness he does do it in an interesting way.

The Black Goat of the Woods can ramp the difficulty level up a lot, and does offer the mechanic of infiltrating a cult, unfortunately its so rare I've never been able to do it without cheating.

The Curse of the Dark Pharaoh is being redone and some of the stuff they have revealed about the redo looks quite nice. But both the original and rewrite include a deck of new items called exhibit items that are like special unique items that can be found through special encounters.

As always, Dunwich comes first for big boxes (or as your first expansion, big or small, if given the choice). Next, if you think the game is still difficult, go with King in Yellow. More difficult, but not terrible. If things are too easy, go for Black Goat and use its Herald as written. I dare you o_O Lurker makes a great second box, either after Dunwich, or after your first small box.

Black Goat of the Woods provides extra monsters, but the Cult is hard to infiltrate and the rewards are pretty lousy for doing so. If you go with Black Goat of The Woods, you may find the following option beneficial: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/filepage/65448/cult-ceremonies

Lurker provides extra Gate Trophies and the excellent relationships variant. The Lurker is almost as helpful as he is a hindrance.

King in Yellow doesn't provide an extra pieces, but the Acts work OK so long as you're Mythos deck is relatively small, which it will be if you've only got one expansion.

CotDP - I'd strongly recommend that you wait for the updated version.

Off-topic: All the other sets offer something in thick cardboard (monsters / gates / yellow signs). Aside from the "police car token", what do you think CotDP might offer us in thick cardboard?

I'm pretty fond of Lurker...it adds relationship cards, which are pretty cool, and the pact ideas and such are quite neat. If you find the Herald is too abusable, I know a lot of forumites (myself included, see links in signature) have posted alternate rules or new Herald that use the Lurker mechanics in more difficult ways. Julia has one named "Aforgomon" (...I choose you? J/k) that makes reckonings more frequent and dangerous, for instance.

I haven't tried the other small boxes yet, though, but I can assure you that Lurker stuff is indeed pretty cool. We always use the relationship cards now.

If you're looking at a big expansion, I'd look into Innsmouth thanks to the "personal story" cards, which give each investigator a specific quest to perform. If you succeed, you get a benefit. If you fail, you usually get a penalty that will hinder you the rest of the game such as a reduction in a certain stat, the loss of some allies, or even getting devoured in the case of a few investigators.

Ex - If Michael McGlen gets 5 monster trophies, he gains 1 max sanity, 1 sanity immediately, and 1 sanity whenever he kills a monster from that point forward.

If he gains $5 or more in one encounter before getting 5 monster trophies, though, he gets indicted by the feds for income tax evasion, loses all of his money, and becomes unable to have money the rest of the game, including retainers and bank loans.

This makes him a prime investigator to use in order to keep down the number of monsters in Arkham as well as help overcome his low max sanity if you succeed.

Dunwich would probably be the "normal" first big box expansion, but it's rare right now and FFG's reprint isn't expected until later this year.

If you're looking at a small-box expansion, I'd go with King In Yellow or Lurker.

Lurker adds relationships, the Lurker herald, Dark Pact cards, and new gate tokens with special rules, most of which can help you. The new gates mainly have detriments such as "If an investigator is present when the gate opens, they're devoured", but there are also split gates that will lead to two different Other Worlds. That's helpful if you're trying to collect a Dreamlands gate token to get a Gug off the board or if you are trying to avoid R'yleth to keep an investigator from being devoured due to their personal story.

King In Yellow is challenging because the Act cards help move the doom track along while adding a new way to lose instantly. That's not even going into the blights, which have the potential to cause immediate problems as well as cause sanity loss if you draw a location card that refers to a blighted individual.

Oh it's worth mentioning that Lurker and Black Goat have gate bursts (Mythos cards which will open a gate that will erase a seal placed in it's location) These can help increase the difficulty of the game, they can make a game go south if they show up late in the game. Dunwitch and to a lesser extent Innsmouth also have these.

King in Yellow is the only expansion that I own and have played. I have never won with it, but I have enjoyed every game with it, also. The Doom Track is so screwed when you play with the King in Yellow.