I was reading the SOLO PLAY pinned thread and noticed that there is a lot of talking of skipping mythos phases even when playing with more than one investigator. Why is that something people do, skip the mythos phase? I assume it is being done to extend the game or make it more winnable? Am I completely wrong?

Thanks

The point is that, if you believe the game's too harsh, clearly, you need a moment of respite. Especially if you play only one investigator, the rythm of the board is sometimes brutal. So the idea of "skipping" a Mythos phase every X: as soon as you finish the OW Encounters Phase, you start with the following Upkeep, ignoring Mythos at all for that round.

I must confess it's something I'm not really fond of, especially because you can solo multiple investigators and, de facto, have a normal game (most of the time I solo 4 or 5 investigators, and I'm ok with that)

Predator,

I'm going to chime-in here as a long-time player and one that often feels the brutality (Julia loves this expression and for no other game is it more apt) of the board. I have won games at the historical average, which is at about 2/3 of the time. I'm getting ready to break-out Innsmouth Horror and at Julia's suggestion, I'll try an entire series of scenarios. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind losing every so many games…it's really about the journey and not the destination with AH. But, there's great validity in Julia's comment ~ if it's too harsh, you most definitely need that momentary respite to catch your breath.

Something that my brother has done in the past, is not reveal a 0-turn Mythos. Allow your players to have a round in which no Gate exists on the board. Allow them a bit of a luxury and have that Arkham Encounter in the stable location…one you might not have again as you dash from unstable location to Other World and back again.

Happy Gaming!

Cheers, Joe

The Professor said:

That's an interesting point for a first game for newcomers! Thanks for the heads up, Joe! I could definitely use this for "not so into advanced boardgames" friends who want to try an Arkham game

::laughter:: I'm amazed that you want to try Avi's scenarios as your first Innsmouth games. I know you're a tough man, but the 10-miler competition will appear as a memory of a sweet childhood now lost in comparison ::shudder:: But yeah, you can do it :-)

Can't wait to read your reports :-)

Julia,

I think it's great for newcomers…heck, I might even use it every now and then : )

Yes, I want to jump-into these scenarios ~ there will be time later to take my time and work my way through the Investiagtors and Great Old Ones as I have the past 8 months…but, now, it's time to, and I quote a friend, "pull up my big boy pants' and try the scenario!

Cheers, Joe

I think Mythos skipping is okay if and only if you're playing a 1-investigator game. Those games aren't fun because it's impossible to win by seals and only possible to win by final combat.

When playing as a single investigator, you can skip 1 or 2 consecutive Mythos phases, so long as you change the rest of the game to behave as though it's a 2- or 3- investigator game: raise the monster limit, lower the outskirts limit, lower the gate limit, raise the number of gate trophies needed to win by closing all gates, and raise the number of successes required to remove a doom token in final combat (but since, unlike the normal game, there will never be more than one investigator attacking, you may need to further adjust this).

Likewise, you can skip every other Mythos phase in a 2-investigator game, but then set everything else as though it were a 4-investigator game.

The Professor said:

I actually did this after my first solo-investigater game and now I do it whether playing by myself or with others. Thematically, it makes sense since most of Lovecraft's stories don't start with a horror slamming right out of the gate but slowly creeping in or revealing itself after the first couple of pages (so to speak). And you're right, this lets everyone have a little fun with the stable encounters and get an extra bit of time to work on their Personal cards before getting into the nitty-gritty.

And, I won't lie, when playing a solo game, I have, on occassion, taken a pass on a Mythos phase, especially if I draw the card and see it's going to add in a really hard twist (usually a Rumor) and shuffle the card back into the deck. Sometimes I might take a Monster Surge to compensate but if I am simply playing to relax and not for points, then I don't usually sweat fudging the rules a little.

@ Dr. Faust ~ if you haven't had a chance, I would suggest watching the 6-minute review of Arkham Horror by two guys on a 'show' entitled Chucking Dice . It's extremely lighthearted (and not for the faint of heart with regard to the language), but one of the points which is stressed over and over…make it fun. If you're not having fun…don't play this game. I've been working on variants for me for some time, from Rifts opening in Kingsport , to paying the Sanity costs on Spells if you roll a successful Spell check, to reducing the Rumor requirements; and other aspects to make it more fun…not less challenging, but certainly to give the Investigators a fighting chance. If you want difficult, don't set-up this game…instead, roll a 6-sided die…on a '6' the Investigators win, on a 1-5 they're devoured by the GOO . You'll save hours of set-up and play-time…but miss out on a great adventure.

That's actually a really good point. I think I'll do that dice thing on my Kindle for long car rides since I don't have the Arkham toolkit for my Android!

But seriously, thanks. I see what you mean, and that helps put it into perspective. I suppose I get caught up in the 'how much hell can I put them through' sort of competition on the forums and forget that this IS a game. Maybe instead of going through all of that mess, I'll document my set-ups and maybe, I dunno, write out the scenarios into short fanfics just for kicks and see where it takes me! XD I play solo alot anyway so might as well extend the fun!