Right, still not finished all the extra cards (lots of stuff taking up my spare time unfortunately) but here is everything complete to date and playable (just very limited in the Event card department at the mo. Stay tuned for another update... eventually! )

http://www.ziddu.com/download/3732411/TheHauntedHouse.rar.html

Been playing around with several ideas for expansion of the idea of Mission cards based around classic pnp scenarios, the first being The Haunted House (a short adventure that has been included with the CoC rulebook for some years). Still not set on the final product, but at the moment it consists of:

• A new half-size board depicting the Corbitt House
• Several 'Evidence' tokens (four of which are blank)
• Set of random event cards
• One new monster (Walter Corbitt)
• Investigation card (detailed info and rules)
• Trigger card (haven't made a final decision but most likely a mythos card)

Here is a sample image of the new board (wip):

[Not sure if this image will fit on the page, hmm]

The Haunted House can be used in one of two ways. First option is to place it during normal setup, this means that Corbitt's summoning ability (Summons Dimensional Shamblers instead of moving) is in play from the off and continues to be so until he is defeated. The second option is the activation by use of a custom Mythos card (present mechanic) and/or a Mission/Investigation card, which introduces the board and starts Corbitt's summonings. Investigators can choose to deal with the Haunted House whenever they wish, if at all. Investigators can either break-in or be employed by the landlord (Mission/Investigation). Unless the Mission card has already been drawn the investigators must either wait till it appears or go in uninvited risking arrest and also lacking any background info which makes the Mission harder to complete (Evidence tokens may only be picked on after a successful search as opposed to auto pick-up if the Mission card is in play). Basically, investigators enter the house and must find 3 pieces of evidence hidden around the house (several tokens including blanks are randomly placed on each of the house locations (except Stairs and Hidden Basement)) before they are able to access the Hidden Basement and attempt to deal with Walter Corbitt. Several awards are gained from tackling the Haunted House, some from the Evidence (free spell card, clue tokens and money) tokens gathered and some for defeating Corbitt (stopping the summoning of Dimensional Shamblers and retrival of an unique one use item.

Most of the pieces are complete, a few others still in draft (eg. Event cards) and of course all will be an ongoing wip subject to changes and suggestions. When I have everything complete (v1) I will post some .eon files.

As mentioned, if this goes well, this will be the first in a series of unconnected 'Investigations'. Also some other ideas to expand the concept further, but keep that for another time. Final note, this is a work in progress and it only based on The Haunted House scenario not a literal translation.

This looks interesting, I can't wait to for you to finish.

Here is a sample Event card:

And here is a sample Evidence token; Walter Corbitt's Journal. There are currently two other tokens ('News Clippings' and 'Last Will & Testament') plus several blanks. Finding all three Evidence tokens is necessary to access the Hidden Basement, but each also confers a one-time bonus:

Journal - draw 1 spell

News Clippings - take 2 clue tokens

Last Will & Testament - take $5 *

* May change the name of this token as it could be argued that the Will reveals the location of the Hidden Basement (as in the CoC scenario).

And here is the Walter Corbitt monster token. Now this is one area I'm a little unsure of, I wanted Corbitt to be tough but not overly so. So feedback on whether he is too weak or strong, or maybe just right, would be appreciated.

Hmm, hopefully there isn't too much text on there to be legible when printed out. The text differs slightly from that on the above image (older version), most current version reads:

Undead

Physical Resistance (may add Immune to Firearms)

Overwhelming 1

Does not count towards Monster Limit

<b>Movement:</b> Instead of moving Corbitt summons a Dimensional Shambler, which appears at a random gate. If there are no open gates or no Shambler tokens, nothing happens.

Before first round of combat Corbitt casts <b>Domination</b>, make a <b>Will(+0)</b> check or drop all equipped items. Dropped items are exhausted. If you defeat Corbitt you find a strange black stone, as you pick it up it dissolves; Lore permanently increased by +1. Also close one Gate of your choice. Remove from game when defeated, do not place in Monster Cup.

And now I'm even more interested. Are the events triggered by something or are they in place of encounters? The evidence mechanic looks like it could work well. Do the tokens start in play or do you gain them through events? Walter actually seems rather tame, unless you fail the Domination check, but experience could prove otherwise.

Looks good. (I need to visit ebay and buy printer ink.)

The Message said:

As it stands with the current version:

To search a room you must end your move there, as soon as you end your movement in a room but before searching you draw a card from the Event deck (at this point undecided whether something like Explored tokens are used to signify an Event has taken place in a room (ie. only 1 triggered Event per room, reset one turn after house is left empty) or whether to have a larger deck and not limited to one Event per room) before searching the room for evidence. If you still remain in the room after the Event, and are not unconscious, delayed, etc you may turn over the Evidence token (keeping if one of the pieces of Evidence or discarding if blank). Event card are instead of encounters (originally had specific encounters on the board per location, but decided it better if they were random).

Evidence tokens are placed when the Haunted House board is setup, there are three 'real' Evidence tokens mixed in with several 'blanks' (may change to or add false leads or something). At setup the counters are placed face-down, mixed up and placed randomly on all rooms in the house (except the Stairs and Hidden Basement). Again, originally the Evidence tokens were tied to specific locations (more in line with the CoC scenario) and the board included a few more locations away from the house (The Chapel of Contemplation <?>), but again went in favour of streamlining a little and adding randomness to encourage searching the house not just going to three specific rooms.

Hmm, Walter too tame, ok will work on a few different versions and post, see which everyone thinks best (indeed could keep different versions for increasing difficulty, and infact may add other options to vary difficulty).

Update: Most of the event cards are finished, or at least one set, although I want more to add more variety but avoiding ahving many of the same and of course they must fit with the scenario, even if just in spirit (ho ho). All Evidence tokens are complete (unless I decied to re-work the idea of the blank tokens into 'false leads' or maybe both - perhaps a false lead token could cause all gathered evidence to be lost and the tokens reset as in initial setup, could be a difficulty adjuster). So almost finished bar playtesting and adjustments - unless I decide upon further changes! )

This is pretty cool work.

Congratz

Ok, here is the first draft of the setup and rules:

Haunted House

Components

Haunted House game board
x Event Cards
Evidence Tokens (5 blanks, 1 Walter Corbitt's Journal, 1 Last Will & Testament, 1 Newspaper Clippings)
Walter Corbitt monster token
Haunted House Mythos card
Haunted House Mission Unique Item card
Investigation card

Set-up

Before setting up the board you need to decide if it is a) placed during main game setup, or, b) after being triggered by a card. If you choose the latter then you need to add two additional new cards (a Mission card to Unique Items deck and a Mythos card to Mythos deck) during the main game setup.

Place board near main Arkham Horror board.
Shuffle Event cards and place by the Haunted House board.
Place the Investigation card by the board also.
Mix-up all the Evidence tokens, face down, then randomly place one on all but the following Haunted House locations:
The Corbitt House
Staircase
Hidden Basement
Place the Walter Corbitt monster token in the Hidden Basement.
Take Dimensional Shambler monster tokens from the monster cup and place them nearby.

Objective

Investigators must search the house for evidence (specifically: Newspaper Clippings, Last Will & Testament and Walter Corbitt's Journal) to allow them to find and access the Hidden Basement and defeat Walter Corbitt, removing the supernatural presence from the house and the threat to Arkham. Corbitt has a strong supernatural presence and bond with the house which he uses (via Event cards) to wear down any potential threats before they face him directly.

Rules of Play

Special Note Regarding new Mission and Mythos Cards:
It is important to note that either card triggers setup of the Haunted House board. If the Mission card is drawn first, if the Mythos card is later drawn discard it to the box and draw again. However if the Mythos card is drawn first although the investigators may still attempt to deal with the Haunted House, unless they wait for the Mission card to be drawn, they do so at increased risk and difficulty. First of all they do not have permission to be in the property and maybe arrestted attempting to break into the house (see 'The Corbitt House' location on the Haunted House board). Secondly they do not have all the available information about the house thus their investigation is that bit harder; instead of automatically turning over an Evidence token at the end of the Arkham Encounter phase, the investigator must first pass a Luck(-3) roll or they may not turn over the Evidence token but may try again next turn. Other investigators in the room may also make an attempt.

Movement:
Investigators reach the Corbitt House via Arkham Train Station; end move on Station and start next move on The Corbitt House location on the Haunted House board. It costs $1 for a return ticket.

While investigating the strange events at the house movement is reduced to half current speed (rounded up), this is due to a more meticulous and cautious approach needed.

Events & Evidence:
To search a room for Evidence an investigator must end their Movement there. During the Arkham Encounter phase they draw an Event card and follow the printed instructions. Note: No more than one Event card can be drawn per room per turn regardless of the number of investigators present. The effects of an Event card apply only to the person who drew it. Resolved cards are discarded. If there are no cards left reshuffle the discard pile and put back in play.

Once any Event cards are resolved, and if the investigator is still alive, sane and conscious in the same location, they may search for Evidence (remember the special rules regarding searching for evidence and the Mission and Mythos trigger cards). Reveal the Evidence token, discarding blanks and keeping Evidence.

Special attention should be given to Walter Corbitt's Journal evidence token. While Corbitt still lives he will not allow his Journal to leave the house. No matter what they try, the moment an investigator carries the Journal off the Haunted House board it reappears back in a random location in the house (this does not apply to the other two pieces of evidence which remain with them till discarded). Reset the Evidence Tokens as in setup replacing the other evidence pieces with more blanks if needed.

Walter Corbitt:
Note: Walter Corbitt does NOT count towards the monster limit, nor can his token be taken as a trophy (his body crumbles to dust upon death).

As long as Corbitt is alive he will be a constant threat. Each time a Mythos card calls for his movement he instead summons a Dimensional Shambler (following normal monster placement rules). If there are no gates or available Shamblers then nothing happens.

To access the Hidden Basement and confront Corbitt the investigator(s) must have all three pieces of evidence which must be taken to the Basement location. With all the evidence together in the correct location the investigator is able to locate the Hidden Basement. One investigator must spend a Movement Phase breaking through the false wall allowing access to the Hidden Basement. Once this has been done the evidence tokens are no longer required and may be discarded.

Once Corbitt is defeated the house can be declared clean of supernatural taint. Remove the board from play and return any investigators to Arkham Station.

This seems really realy interesting, can't wait to have some .eon files to try it up.

Keep up the good work.

Nyogtha said:

Heh, not even out and I already have questions. Are the Dimensional Shamblers considered Spawn monsters or are they subject to the monster limit and being taken as trophies?

If you want to make Walter Corbitt really scary, why don't you mock him up like this: [pdf warning!] files.boardgamegeek.com/geekfile_view.php ? It would make things very interesting. Of course, you should probably do a little fiddling about with some of those rules, but it still is an interesting way to play things.

Cheers.

While I'm at it, Thelric, if you're reading this thread, do you think it possible to add Servitors to Strange Eons? It would be nifty to be able to build newer, cleaner versions of the originals, and I've got a couple of ideas for new ones based on various expansions, too.

The Message said:

At the moment, other than the Shamblers being put aside for Corbitt's summoning ability, they are still subject to normal monster placement rules, can be taken as trophies and count towards the monster limit. I have been toying with the idea of making them spawn monsters or something similar, but I'll look into that later.

Hadanelith said:

Not seen that before on bgg, cheers for that. But yeah, need to run some playtests when I get the last bits finished to see how Corbitt plays out. The house is a kind of extension of Corbitt himself. The majority of Event cards represent Corbitt's supernatural powers and are meant to wear down the investigator(s) before they face Corbitt himself. Bear in mind that if investigators leave the house before Corbitt is defeated the house is 'reset' replacing removed evidence pieces with more blanks. And that while it is possible to remove the Newspaper Clippings and the Last Will & Testament, it is not possible to remove Corbitt's Journal. Attempting to leave with the Journal causes it to be lost in the house again requiring investigators to search for it again on their return and therefor having to deal with Event cards again. This probably needs a bit more clarification in the next draft of the rules. Hope that answers that one.

Thanks for all the interest and feedback peeps btw. )

Nyogtha said:

I think it would be worth looking into, otherwise the threat posed seems too minimal to warrant serious attention being given to the house, which would be a shame. As an alternative, perhaps some sort of penalty is triggered if Walter cannot summon a Shambler... less than a Terror or Doom increase, but something similar.

The Message said:

Heh, yeah I just twigged onto my glaring oversight there. I shall definitely add something like a Spawn tag, considered making up extra Shambler tokens but that would be in addition to anything else.

There may be a brief delay in next update as I play a bit of Dawn of War II, FEAR 2 and Darkfall Online. ) But not too long.

Quick update on the Shambler question. At the moment I have decided to make Shamblers 'Endless' , for two reasons:

1) Wanted the summoned DS's to contribute towards raising the Terror Track by being included in the monster limit

2) As Message so kindly pointed out (cheers for that, dunno how I missed that major flaw) the DS cup for Corbitt could permanently run dry.

Also, as mentioned somewhere else, may add more DS monster tokens.

Nyogtha said:

Very nice images, and event card is cool too (image and text)

[email protected] said:

Yeah, wish I could take credit but the art work is not my own. Almost all comes from various artists on Deviant Art website. Which reminds me, I need to write up a list of people whose work I have been using before I get an angry torch bearing mob of artists storming my castle....erm, well victorian terrace house at any rate!

Right, still not finished all the extra cards (lots of stuff taking up my spare time unfortunately) but here is everything complete to date and playable (just very limited in the Event card department at the mo. Stay tuned for another update... eventually! )

http://www.ziddu.com/download/3732411/TheHauntedHouse.rar.html

Unfortunately, your Cards n Tokens Deck.eon tries to point to wherever you keep your SE stuff, rather than the folder you extract the zip to.

Looking at the cards: Holy ****, man, are you serious? Event 4 makes no sense - nothing happens on a fail, lose sanity on a pass?! Event 6, on the fail, I assume you mean the investigator is devoured? If so, that's a majorly difficult check for one that can instagib you. if you don't mean devoured, what do you mean? Event 1, you miss a turn AND you're delayed? that's incredibly harsh. Consider rebalancing and rewording the Event cards, with special attention to the use of game language and generating consistency in format.

The evidence tokens are also broken - they show up only as the corners around where the image should be.

Other than that, a very nice job.

very nice, but you should use the picture of the house as a background for the locations. it would be epic. (simply slice the house pic to 4 and use each quarter for a tile)

Hadanelith said:

Cheers for letting me know, wasn't sure if the deck would work or not, hadn't checked it, just included it anyway, but the individual cards and tokens are there to build a deck for printing anyways... or they should be.

I thought the #4 card might be a bit contentious. I was trying to simulate the way the Idea roll, for example, works in CoC rpg. Make an idea roll, if you fail you are not able to fully comprehend something (some chanting, a prophecy, a mythos event, etc) and your ignorance saves you, whereas if you pass the roll you are unfortunate enough to get a better understanding of the implications (or whatever is relelvant) and so the sanity loss is incurred from this terrible realisation. I should maybe have included an explanation of that in the rules perhaps.

Card #6, heh heh, **** that is a tough roll. I believe the die adjustment should be -1. Yes it's harsh, your character is effectively devoured/removed from play/whatever you wanna call it (didn't say devoured because you get carted off to prison or the asylum which obviously removes the character from the game). It's something from the CoC scenario I wanted to try and recreate despite the harshness. But not to worry, there will eventually be a lot more event cards and you could easily remove certain to tailor taste and difficulty. That being said, the whole thing is still a WiP, just how much so depends on feedback and my personal whims. )

Hope that helps some.