Leo (Zebra), Roland (Pizza), Hank (Wings), and Luke (Me) vs. Yog-Sothoth. Kingsport with Dark Pharaoh Revised, plus Lurker Mythos and Miskatonic Encounters. Hypnos and (modified) Bureau of Investigations. I don’t really need to bring up the Bureau, since it was never used at all, even with the cost reduced to 1 Clue + $1. (A couple Allies went to Kingsport, but were all ignored.)
Special Setup Anecdote: I’ve been taking this group through every Ancient One (no repeats), and we’re down to our last two. (Except Azathoth, who’s too boring, and Atlach-Nacha, who’s too unfun.) So I’m holding one in each hand (facedown): “Odds (raise left hand), Evens (raise right hand). Someone roll.” Wings picks up a die, and I wiggle my right hand, repeating, “Evens, evens, evens,” reminding myself which was which. Wings rolled a 2, Yog was revealed, and eventually there were groans all around.
“You told me to roll Evens!”
“No, I was just reminding mysel…”
“You keep doing that, you know!!!”
Wings, of course, was recalling the LAST time I “told” her to roll a result: I mistakenly said aloud to roll a 1 (when I meant to NOT roll a 1) during her Eihort Brood Roll which resulted in a 1 and her first non-Final-Battle devouring. Me…Doghouse.
Yog made his presence known early, as Luke spent five turns trying to close the **** Witch House. It was an Underworld Gate, so I needed two-out-of-three successes. Every turn, I rolled a single success, and all Clues yielded squat. BLEH!
Luke wasn’t completely inert during the early game. Roland had started with Erica Carlyle and her Retainer, while Luke had started with Alchemical Process, and they shared the Business Associates Relationship. In no time, both were sitting on over $20 each. (Turns out this didn’t help much in the long run, as a Shoggoth took up residence in the Northside Streets, and a run of bad Environments made it extremely intimidating.)
The early game was surprisingly restrictive. A perfect storm of Curfew, mid-board monsters, and mediocre equipment kept us from taking any real action in the Streets. Monsters kept Leo from being able to get to either of the rich Investigators more than once: Roland was able to assist in removing Leo’s Local Guide Detriment, but Leo wasn’t able to score a decent weapon at the General Store before he was broke again. (He did get a Makeup Kit to prevent the cops from arresting him, though. You can’t always get what you want, but…?)
Hank was gathering Clues (not to mention a little firepower due to his Collectors Relationship with Leo while he shopped), but the “perfect storm” kept Hank from getting into any scuffles. Rather, it fueled Wings’ intent to finish his story. But one bad encounter ate too many Clues just shy of the Train Station, so instead Hank decided to “travel through” and go collect a few Clues that Hypnos had dropped in Kingsport. Of course, the moment he stepped off the train, Yog blinked him off to the top of the Kingsport Head, frustrating Wings to no end.
New plan: Luke abandons slamming his wussy head into the Witch House, and uses his Mi-Go Brain Case to swap with the newly-elevated Hank. Sluggish Luke will slowly climb down and go on Kingsport Rift duty, mopping up Hypnos Clues as he goes, while Hank will take his Elder Sign on a vacation to the Witch House’s Underworld.
Roland was falling victim to Pizza’s “Curse Magnetism”—Pizza has been consistently Cursed in every game for the last four; ironically, it could be every game since he played Rex—but Yog was stepping it up a notch. Trying to get enough Clues to pass his (awesome) story, Roland would keep getting catastrophic Encounters the moment he had four Clues, which would subsequently force him to lose a Clue or two to avoid disaster. Four Clues…Sneak Check or get Lost in Time and Space (and DEVOURED). Four Clues…Lore Check or Cursed. Eventually, Yog lightened up—more likely, he got bored of screwing with Roland, and went to go gleefully toss Hank up a mountain—and Roland finally passed his story, and dove out to Yuggoth at the Graveyard.
Probably annoyed with Hank’s quick return and Witch House Seal, Yog returned to take it out on Roland, forcing him down to four Clues to avoid LiTaS again. Would we be forced to abandon another Gate without closing? But wait! Hank found himself a Camera to get Roland his last Clue needed to Seal the Graveyard.
So Yog turned his attention to Leo.
Some time ago, the Worlds Torn Asunder Rumor hit. The Mythos deck was doing a great job avoiding any kind of moon movement—coincidently, this kept a Deep One in the French Hill Streets, preventing Hank from slipping the Elder Sign to Luke— but I figure that was just Yog heightening the tension. We all agreed that the first one Blessed would finish the Rumor; it turns out that would be Leo, by Mythos card. Of course, to get Blessed and then voluntarily give it up rankled Zebra, especially when the Pass Conditions didn’t do most of us any good: full San/Stam doesn’t help an Investigator who’s been avoided damage all game.
Leo tried to make it to the South Church for another Mythos-droppped Blessing, but another Environment yanked it away the turn before he could get to it. But it wasn’t too bad: he shifted to the Historical Society for three Clues—Yog was surging the Woods Gate a lot—and got a chance to trade Clues, so Luke gave him two, and he gave a different two to Hank (to pass his story). In short order, Leo went to go seal the Woods.
Yog was changing Environments a LOT after the Curfew was lifted. Freezing Winds, Planetary Alignment, Heat Wave, Solar Eclipse, Darke’s Carnival…it was like being in the Time Machine watching the world go by on fast-forward. Not only that, but Yog was doing a great job filling up three of four spots on any Rift Track, and then deliberately dodging the fourth, just to keep Luke hopping (and all of us on edge). All-in-One and One-in-All indeed.
Then Yog stopped being playful, and started his endgame. Leo got stuck at the Woods, unable to roll more than one success (out of 4 dice, using Basil Elton, his starting Ally) for four turns. If that wasn’t enough, Yog made sure to surge enough times to raise the Terror Track to 4, torching Leo’s story while he stood there. Eventually, a Star Spawn landed on him, and when he failed his Evade Check, and dipped below five Clues to pass it, he abandoned the Gate and fled. (Weaponless, he had no way to beat the thing, and sealing was no longer an option.) Zebra was extremely perturbed now, lacking guns to fight, trophies to Bless, or money to shop.
Luke had kept Kingsport mostly under control and had enough Clues to Seal. (Well, enough for Luke: he’d need the two Other World Clues to manage five.) He Brain-Cased a Deep One guarding the Lenglands Gate, traveled through Leng (thank you, Hypnos!), and popped out on the other Underworld Gate on Independence Square, the only unguarded Gate. Third Seal.
Meanwhile, Hank passed his story…I’m sure many will think that it may not have been prudent to pass on a Seal in order to save Pa, to which I say, “THEN GIVE HANK A BETTER STORY!!” It’s times like these, when Roland (awesome) and Hank (tragic) are on the board at the same time, that I begin to hate Personal Stories. Because I WANT to play with them, and I know that it’s a big part of how this group plays and enjoys the game, and the last thing I want to do is start them down the Story Metagaming Path. “No no, you want to devour Tommy/Silas. And **** Pa/Isabel. And just don’t even bother to care about Kate/Darrell.” There is some real crap here that needs rectifying.
…at the Train Station, and moved up to take Luke’s place as the Kingsport Sentinel, killing the lost Deep One, and then moving on to close the Rift that popped the moment Luke left, and gathering up the last of the Hypnos Clues.
Flush with cash, Luke Brain-Cased down to Miskatonic to visit the Administration Building to try and compensate for his lack of Gate-Closing Ability. (Against Yog, Fight/Lore 4 is just not going to go far.) He got lucky with a Lore Skill…
Aside: Part of that was indeed to beef up Luke, but the other part was a bit of a demonstration of the Admin Building, which really doesn’t see much play at all. Earlier in the game, Pizza hit Admin for a Hypnos Clue, and I suggested he use Roland’s Retainer wealth to buy another Skill. He resisted, fearing the ephemeral nature of his Retainer would bite him and eventually tap him out. Yog heard that, and offered Roland an Encounter deal: $10 for a Miskatonic Patrol Marker. “Do it!” we urged. “Then you can use it to buy a Skill, and not cut into your current funds.” Eventually Pizza went with the majority vote, took the $10, and placed the Patrol. Now, Curfew was still out at this time, and during the following Upkeep, Yog started whispering in his ear how both the cops AND the citizens were after HALF HIS CASH, and Pizza totally balked and zipped past the Patrol to hide at the Unvisited Isle. (Which, I believe, is where Yog rewarded his decisive action with the “Or Be Cursed” Encounter stated far above.) After I got the Lore Skill, Pizza has at least footnoted the potential benefit of the Administration Building.
Yog finally began pushing at the colder Locations, opening a Gate at the Historical Society. But he also put out a carrot: the Woods, Historical Society and Unnameable all led to the Hypnos-surveyed Plateau of Leng. Luke used his only Gate Trophy at the Science Building to get his necessary three Clues (I knew I was taking a risk), while Roland used a Student Newspaper to supplement his awesome storied ability with one last Clue for five. Roland and Luke dove at the same time, with Leo almost ready to follow.
Of course, this was all Yog’s plan. Just as the upper hand was in sight, Yog burst the Witch House, and just to frost it, he made First Player Wings do it, removing her own Seal. That left me to draw the SUPREMELY appropriate “The Stars Are Right” Rumor, opening our seventh Gate at the Science Building. UGH.
“Go on, check the Mythos deck.”
“Go away, Yog.”
“C’mon, you know you wanna.”
“>sigh< …Woods, Woods, Independence Square, Unnameable, Graveyard, Black Cave…”
“Wow. Some surges and seal blocks. If only that Rumor weren’t there…”
“You suck.”
“Oh, you know it, meat.”
Thanks to my grand trophy risk and Zebra’s blighted dice, Luke and Leo were immediately devoured. (More Yog frosting: Basil Elton rendered worthless.) Hank took all of Roland’s cash and readied his Elephant Gun; Roland fired up his Flamethrower. Both had one Gate Trophy and a few Clues, and Roland even had a Warding Statue. Mathematically, this wasn’t impossible.
“Math? THIS…IS…ARKHAM!!!”
Pizza could barely roll more than a single success during any Combat Check; sometimes he rolled none. Wings fared better with more dice, but I could see her rolls (we share a dice-rolling box lid): soooo many 1s. Never more than three successes. But come Yog’s Attack…both of them rolled copious successes. Well, until they ran out of dice to roll. They saved their Clues and the Statue for as long as they could, but Yog’s will was stronger. They lasted seven rounds for only six Doom Tokens. Sure, you could call that pitiful, but gimme a break. Master of Time and Space…There’s a reason that even after three expansions of Ancient Ones with the likes of Atlach-Nacha and Glaaki, Base Game Yog still ranks in the Top Five.
As much as Leo was able to prevent our minor losses, Zebra is unimpressed with his across-the-board 4s. Maybe if he’d started with a better Ally. The funny thing here (to you all) is that I know he digs Amanda: just as average, but better focus, more items, and I totally believe that two (out of three) Skills is better than one Random Ally. Why, just ask Pizza, who was more than happy to ditch Erica to the box (Ancient Whispers Encounter) for a Book of the Dead. Wings loves Hank (cuz Horror Checks SUCK), but next time I need to give serious consideration to telling her how minor Pa is.
