I had a game last night that was great fun and I thought I'd share it with you. I didn't take notes during the game so I can't give a full turn-by-turn account but I remember the most important things.

The game was against Shudde-M'ell, with the Dark Pharao as Herald and Hypnos as Guardian; all expansions were used.

The Investigators were Jenny Barnes, Tony Morgan, Bob Jenkins and Luke Robinson

I started with only a few weapons (Cavalry Saber, Enchanted Knife, Shrivelling, all of them possessed by Jenny), but had Find Gate for Luke. Jenny also had a Flare Gun (which I mention because it became important).

The first Mythos card was Museum Haunted (two Ghosts at MU Streets, for every Ghost defeated Investigator gains 1 Exhibit Item).

1. Round: Jenny decided to kill the Ghosts, even though she would almost certainly be Cursed (which she was), but drew the Book of Anubis. Tony collected clues from the Woods, going up to five, Luke stood up (not willing to cast Find Gate because of the Dark Young on the only gate) and Bob bought some Kerosine. At the end it was "Raining Cats and Dogs", meaning everyone had 1 less MP. Great, Jenny was reduced to two movement. Also, it meant a gate at Hibb's Roadhouse, the second rare gate to open in as much rounds.

2. Round: Tony moved towards the gate at the Roadhouse but couldn't reach it, Bob walked over to him to give him the Kerosine (to be able to kill the Elder Thing on the gate next round) and went back to shop some more (a Lantern, again no good weapon). Luke continued through the Dreamlands, I don't remember what Jenny did (probably collected some clue). Mythos card was "Nightmare Pools". Crap, a Rumor, and one I was in no way able to pass. I already saw Shudde wake, which I couldn't win with my meager weapons. It also put a Hound of Tindalos into play.

3. Round: Jenny got rid of her Curse, which was good news. She also bought of one token from Nightmare Pools to delay it for one turn. Tony went through the Roadhouse gate, killing the Elder Thing on the way which allowed Luke to return through that gate. Bob started collecting clues. I don't remember the Mythos card but it put a gate at the Independence Square, moved the Hound to Luke and put a Dimensional Shambler on the Easttown Streets.

Next two rounds had Luke evade the Hound but staying at the Roadhouse (he could neither sneak nor kill the Shambler), Bob going through the gate in the Square and Tony travelling through Another Dimension. Jenny didn't do much with two movement but could kill a Zombie and collect a clue. Every turn a new gate opened, bringing the number to six. Tony reduced that to five when he closed the one in the Roadhouse, removing both the Hound and the Shambler.

6. Round: I knew this was the round the Nightmare pools would fail, meaning four Mythos cards. If two gates opened, Shudde-M'ell would wake and two Hot Spots (Witch House and Unvisited Isle) were still without gate. I wasn't even remotely prepared to defeat him in Final Battle. I drew the cards and had four Monster Surges. The Terror Level went up to three, a Rift opened and the Bank, River Docks, Velma's Diner and Administration Building were reduced to rubble, but Arkham still had some fight left. I also had gotten rid of "Raining Cats and Dogs" at last.

The next few rounds had me closing two gates, getting two Doom tokens due to the Rift, closing said Rift and removing one Doom token again with the Eltdown Shards. They also saw the South Church and Newspaper turned to rubble.

Then Tony entered a fourth gate with six clues. He drew an encounter that allowed him to choose to be devoured to automatically seal the gate he entered through. Normally I don't do that unless I have no clues or it is the sixth seal, but then I realized that Jenny would get all six clues due to the Book of Anubis bringing her to a total of nine. Needless to say, Tony sacrificed himself for the good of all, putting a fourth seal into play and leaving Jenny with all he knew, also strengthening her body and mind in the process. The replacement I drew was Rex Murphy.

Jenny went through a gate, while Rex collected a total of four clues in the Black Cave bringing his total to seven. He immediately went through a gate. During that time, Bob was on Rift duty and Luke bogged down somewhere due to monsters he couldn't face. The Doom Track was at nine, so I had some time left for the last two seals.

However, while Jenny got through Yuggoth without problems, Rex couldn't make it as his curse caused him to lose too much Stamina from the Dark Pharao. He went unconscious and I elected to not give him an Injury; the three clues he lost immediately went to Jenny, bringing her to seven again just after she had sealed the fifth gate. Mythos card during that turn was "Breeding Endlessly" a Rumor that added two Doom Tokens, bringing the total to 11, just one shy from waking.

Knowing I luck, I was quite sure the next card would add another Doom token, but then I saw the way: Bob, who returned from Kingsport last turn, collected the Find Gate spell from Luke and carried it to Jenny. Jenny moved to the street, used her Flare Gun to call the Nightgaunt from the Sky and failed her combat check by not using any weapon. The Nightgaunt carried her to the Plateau of Leng where she immediately cast Find Gate and then closed and sealed the gate during the Arkham Encounter Phase.

Shudde-M'ell was barely prevented from destroying Arkham completely - and Anubis was largely responsible for it.

By the way, the next Mythos card would not have added a Doom token, so I would still have won one turn later, even counting the Other World encounter Jenny would have had (I checked that one as well).

Morgaln said:

I have a problem with this. I don't think you're supposed to get away with having 0 encounters in an Other World location, short of a fluke Mythos incident (gate opens on investigator, mythos effect returns all OW investigators).

Tibs said:

hmmm...guess thats legal but don't seem right!

Mark sucked into the gate (Mythos) cast find gate next turn = 0 ow encounters

but no to find gate/ship in same turn..."instead of your normal movement" that line seems to say no to me!

A great story which I thank you you for sharing! You cannot, however, cast Find Gate on the same turn that you failed to evade a Nightgaunt for the simple reason that when you fail to evade a monster your movement phase immediately ends. You would have had to wait til next turn to cast Find Gate, so it is a good thing that the next Mythos card would not have awoken Shudde M'ell.

I don't agree with that interpretation. When you combat a monster, your movement is over (meaning no more movement points) but you are still in your movement phase. Otherwise you couldn't pick up clues if there is a monster in the same location.

See it like this: Jenny called down the Nightgaunt, then ended her movement, meaning she had to fight or evade the Nightgaunt. The spell Vision Quest specifically states that you have to cast it after you end your movement so your movement phase can't be over immediately after ending your movement. This means I still am able to use actions in that movement phase, including Find Gate.

But I know there are some of you who think it doesn't work like that and that's the reason why I added that I would also have won one round later.

Yes, what you did seems like it's supported by the rules and by the cards. But I don't want it to be true!

I wouldn't mind seeing the Nightgaunt getting slightly modded to state the it drops you on the gate and then you're drawn through during the Arkham Encounters phase (if you were in town and not in OW). Of course, then you'd get the issue of having to evade/fight the monster(s) on the gate. It would negate the NG's power to chuck investigators with Explored Tokens through a gate though.

TWISTED! I've never seen the Book of Anubis used quite so fortunately before. I don't think Jenny's going to sleep very well after this "victory". Excellent game report, Morgaln.

An honest question: did you run the "bonus turn" just because you knew there was a slavering horde of boardbeasts out here to pick apart your use of the Find Gate spell? It feels like you wanted to solidify your victory under any set of rules. Which got me wondering how much faith you actually place in your current interpretation of the Movement Phase. It sounds kinda like you're ready to back out of your view the moment a FAQ says otherwise...

I am quite sure my interpretation of the rules is correct. However as soon as the game was over I knew I wanted to report it here I also knew there are a number of people on this board that don't believe in my interpretation because the discussion was only a few weeks ago. I just wanted to prevent someone coming and telling me I didn't win at all because what I did was illegal, so I decided to just check the appropriate cards from the Gate and Mythos card piles.

I am almost sure that if the question is ever answered officially, it will support my view, but on the off chance that it won't, I will of course play it by official decree. Until then, I stand by my opinion wholeheartedly.

Morgaln said:

Or "movement is over" might actually mean the movement phase is over.

"Once an investigator begins combat with a monster for
any reason, his movement is over . Regardless of whether
or not he wins the battle, the investigator loses the rest
of his movement points and must remain where he is."

I'd say "movement" and "movement phase" is the same.

Here is the defintion of Movement Phase :
"Picking Up Clues
Any time an investigator ends his movement in a location
that contains Clue tokens, he may immediately take
any or all of those Clue tokens. The investigator may not
take any Clue tokens if he merely moves through the
location and then continues his movement: He must end
his movement in the location containing the Clue tokens."

This is news to me, bur from this is looks like you can pick up clues whether you defeat the monster or not. Maybe there's a FAQ that contradicts this? I'd say "end his movement" and "movement is over" is the same thing, no?

"During the Movement Phase, each player takes one of
the following two movement actions, depending on
whether his investigator is in Arkham or an Other World
(see “Game Board Breakdown,” page 21):
Arkham movement
or
OtherWorlds movement
The two types of investigator movement are described
below."

Notice that there is no mention of combat. Combat appears to be a separate series of actions which is not a phase at all, since it can occur within any of three different phases. But once combat begins, Movement (and the Movement phase) is over.

"Eventually, all investigators have to face their fears and
do battle with the mythos. Whenever an investigator
enters combat with a monster, resolve the following
steps, in order."

Note that an investigator "enters combat". Sort of like a between phases?

mageith said:

"Movement is over" or "end his movement" may mean either the investigator's act of moving is done (i.e. out of movement points), OR it could mean the movement phase is over.

"End his movement" may also mean the very last thing an investigator does before his movement phase is over. "Movement is over" appears to declare that the investigator's movement is already done.

I don't think it's so black-and-white.