I have a friend coming down next week and I think she'll really like this game…but not everyone is as up for getting creamed as people who actually buy this thing. I'd really like her first game to be a decent fight if not a victory, and 2-player is supposedly especially brutal, so does anyone have any tips that could help us put on a good showing? My current thinking is for us to select our own Investigators and face off against Azathoth, for simplicity's sake and also so we have time to go for a closing victory. But I'd love to hear the thoughts of some veterans.

Oh, we'll be playing with the base game only. For reference, I've played only 4 games with varying numbers of players, read buttloads of FAQ, and read a number of play-by-forum topics as if they were dimestore adventure novels. So my knowledge of the game is greater than my experience would suggest, but I'm still a relative newbie.

2 investigators per player ?

My suggestion is to play two investigators each. If she has never seen the game before, I'd suggest single drafting the investigators (draw 3, pick 1). Reading through 16 investigator sheets and picking two of them can be a lengthy process. I'd also suggest that you take care of all the game mechanics she doesn't have to learn to begin with (such as resolving mythos, shuffling the appropriate decks, moving first player token, keeping track of the phases, etc.). After some turns she'll probably have got the idea, but in the first few turns she'll have less to bother about.

And I'd actually pick anyone else than Azathoth as the first Ancient One to play against. Azathoth removes an important aspect of the game in that there is no final battle against it. And if you realize you won't win by seals or by closing gates, Azathoth only makes the game longer (if you insist on finishing, of course). If you want an easy Ancient One, Yig is a good choice. And if you don't win by seals or by closing gates, the game will be shorter when playing against Yig. As you probably know, this game can take quite some time, especially your first game.

I wouldn't recommend Yig for a first game either, tbh. The doom track fills up too fast for newbies to do anything except stock up on weapons and clues for the final battle (which is then far too easy).

I'd suggest either Ithaqua, for a straightforward and not overly difficult game; or Cthulhu (which will be a harder game, but likely more fun if the other peron knows who he is- and lets face it, unless you are a fan of the mythos, Cthulhu is probably the only GOO you might have heard of).

I'd also suggest two investigators each; and make sure one of yours is Mandy so you can save your friend's backside if necessary

Two ivnestigators each helps indeed a lot. All investigators are good, but for your first game you should consider not picking up 7/3 or 3/7 investigators; 6/4 and 5/5 (Sanity / Stamina) are a little easier to use. As of rthe AO, I suggest you Azathoth; it is true that you cannot go for a final battle against him, but still, his special abilities have almost no impact on the game, and the long doom track allows you a lot of time to explore the game and understand the basics. In case you want a different AO, I'd go with Nyarlathotep: still not too difficult, and if you go to final battle, you have a decent chance of beating the Hell out of him.

I agree that Yig makes things go a bit too fast. Thus, I would agree with Julia and suggest Azathoth or Nyarlathotep (since Azathoth is so simple, I would suggest Nyarlathotep provided that you are willing to give him a chance and try for a seal victory; he's too easy otherwise). You should definitely stay away from the old Hastur, but the new one can be fun (although probably too hard for a new player). I'm actually not a huge fan of Ithaqua, but that's mostly because I find his ability annoying. You can give him a try if you want, assuming neither of you are terribly interested in monster slaying.

And this probably goes without saying, but if you do end up going with Yig, don't use the new one.

Thanks for all your input! Friday's the day so we'll see how it goes :>

Sinthioth said:

Good luck! I hope she doesn't lose all her sanity. ;-]