It seems when we play, my roll will be a roaving monster killer to keep the terror level low. I huge problem I've been running into is that monsers often stack up on locations with gates. I really need to kill critters, but going after them on those spaces seems to suck me into gates and take me out of action for several turns. Are there any good techniqies to keeping monster count down and limiting time in stuck in other workds?

Hmm, well I think that if you are playing the base game there is little you can do because you might not have access to some of the spells and items in other expansions that manipulate the monsters on the board.

To eliminate time in the Outer Worlds I would suggest you try to aquire the Find Gate spell. That way if you get sucked in you can at least exit a turn earlier. Or play with the variant were the gate token is placed face down and you do not automatically get sucked through during the Arkham Encounter phase.

To move monsters around there are items like Migo Brain Case and Milk of Shub-Nurgurth (sp?) and the spell Lure Monster, but I think that is about it.

One thing to considers is closing gates that have symbols found on the majority (or hardest) monsters on the board. 2 turns in the Outer Worlds is worth getting rid of a few Dark Young or Colors from Space.

Monster hunter, while fun and sexy sounding, is an overrated role. It detracts from the main objective: closing and sealing gates. Evade monsters more often. Target gates whose mythos symbols belong to the most monsters on the board. That is a really effective way to keep the terror level down. Yes, fight monsters when necessary, but finesse seems to win over force in this game.

When playing with my group, we usually have one person in that role, but it's kind of a background thing. It's best to go after anything that you can handle that the other party members can't, even if it means going through a gate. 2 turns isn't really anything in this game, especially coupled with the fact that you'll be closing a gate at the end of them.

In terms of what to go for... we've found that the basics of the Tommy Gun, Shotgun and then something nice an magical (doesn't have to be anything major) helps out a lot. It's especially good if you can pick up a Time Bomb or two for those extreme emergencies... like a monster surge. Above all, though, make sure you get yourself Blessed... best card you can possibly have.

Monster hunters IMO are the guys who do the following things:

1. Clear the streets.

2. Draw out flying monsters

3. Kill The Big Bad Monsters

4. And mysatonic rumor card which spawns monsters

keeping the terror level low is an especially good tactic with the KiY herald IMO.

get them in the streets and then flying monsters should come to you. get a cross, great for the crippling horror checks. play with mandy and ask for her reroll! getting depitised it also worth it for the gun and wagon.

I *think* clearing out the streets is the better way to use a monster hunter. When the streets have monsters, your non-monster hunters have to raise their Sneak, which lowers their Speed, and they don't move as far.

We had monster surges almost every other round. Is this normal? We had two full time monster killers jumping groups of 3 or 4 critters at every oppertunity and still it was really hard to keep down the terror level. Also, it seemed like an any given turn, only about 25% of the monsters would move.

Well, if it's not a monster surge, it's pretty much:

* Gate opens at a location that has not been sealed.

* Gate does not open at a sealed location.

* Gate Burst occurs at a location.

If you play with many people, monster surges are nasty. Heck, even when a gate opens, you may have a Physically Resistant monster emerge with a Magically resistant one. Monster movement depends on the number of monsters on the board. Players also should return the weaker monsters to the cup...

In my first game, the number of surges scared the hell out of me, I had to rush a location with 2 dark young, 1 ghost and 1 warlock so I can youse my flute of the elder gods.

If you care about your score then Monster Hunting is a big deal. The scoring system places a huge emphasis on collecting and then not spending monster trophies. For that you'll want to put several people on Monster duty, because there are several different kinds of monsters and players will need to go back to the Asylum on a fairly regular basis. For example: some monsters need magic weapons or physical weapons to fight. Truth be told, there is no pressing need for those monsters to be fought by the same character in most instances. You can spread the damage around a lot better by cycling people through combat duties.

Once you get into Monster Hunting in a big way, the Dunwich Horror won't even show up. And of course, with clear streets you can solve rumors and get to new gates double quick. I hate sneaking by monsters and almost never do it.

-Frank

I don't have my cards in front of me, but I seem to remember that the time bomb item can be very useful for killing large groups of stacked monsters. Particularly when it's used in conjunction with a spell or item that assist you in evading said stack of critters. I believe it can be left in a location and that the next turn it blows up and destroys all monsters at that location for you. The only downside is I don't think you can use the dead monsters as trophies... Not sure about this.

Again, this is just my best memory about how we've used these cards in a past game. Hope it helps you out!

Just don't let them stack up. First turn of the game try to go either to the newspaper for money or if you already have the money go to either the curiosity shop or the general store and pick up one or two decent weapons. Oh and don't be afraid to fail the occasional horror check. If it's not going to drive you insane then take the hit and wack you're fight up so that you can take out the harder monsters.

One tip I can think of. Avoid Shan...

Negalith said:

"Normal" is not a word we associate with Arkham Horror. But large runs of monster surges is certainly not unheard of.

But it sounds like you're treating the symptoms, not the disease (as some others have said). You've got extermination squads in the Streets, but if someone would jump in and close the Gate, there wouldn't be any more monster surges. If things are really getting out of control, adding 3-4 monsters to the board a turn, forget the Sealing clues and just Close the Gate. Yes, if another Gate pops there, it means another Doom token, but only one more monster. I love combat too, but if it's clogging up your progress, you have to find a way past them and get back to work on those pesky Gates.

As for movement, 25% a turn sounds about right. As you play more games, you will begin to notice patterns of monster movement, and then it will all make some statistical sense.

Well, if you're worried about getting sucked through gates, don't end your move in a location... end it in a street area. Since you're required to Encounter or Evade a monster when you end your move on a location or street area containing them, you also can encounter them while attempting to leave a location or street area.

So, unless I've completely read the rules wrong:

Begin in a street area. Move into location with gate, monsters, et al. Attempt to leave said location and travel back to the street area, thereby encountering monsters and thereby avoiding being sucked through the gate.

ClockworkHorror said:

...Except that beginning combat with a monster ends all movement, leaving you sitting on an open Gate, to be swallowed during the next phase. And if you just Evade them to get back out to the Streets...then you just left the same problem you were trying to fix.

You may want to double-check your manual again...

I'm glad someone mentioned the type of monsters to return to the cup when spending trophies. I always try to return the easier ones and hold on to the Cthonians, Colours out of Space, etc.

As a matter of fact, I find that my group rarely spends any trophies. We tend to use them when called for by encounters or to quell rumors, but not to go get blessed or a new ally at Ma's.

That has developed over the time we have been playing. At first, we had no qualms about spending trophies all over the place. Now we rarely do unless absolutely necessary. I think this weekend I'll try using my trophies rather than hoarding them to see how it works. It seemed like we won a lot more when we spent our trophies, and now we rarely win. I'm not putting Colour our of Space back in the cup, though! I hate that darned thing!

ClockworkHorror said:

You wouldn't be able to leave the area in the way you describe. By entering a location with a gate and monsters you are automatically attempting to leave the location into the Other World. By fighting the monsters there, you would then get pulled through.

There is also the 'house' rule that is published on this site by Richard Launis which treats a location as a relatively large area and the gate as a relatively small portal, meaning that you can end your turn in a location without going through the gate. For instance, the gate may be in the Science Building, but from a story perspective consider it in the basement. Therefore you can choose to explore the rest of the building without going through the gate, but only going through when you choose.

Dr. Jay