It says you have to read 3 tomes. Sounds easy, but thanks to the diversity of tomes, it gets complicated. Let's assume that only tomes that require a roll to gain some benefit qualify. So no exhausting King James Bible or Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. Simple one-use tomes are the easy instances. For example, the KiY she starts with counts as one. But what happens when the tome can be read multiple times? Even indefinitely (Necronomicon, True Magick)? Does she get credit each time she reads the same tome, or does it have to be 3 different tomes? The way it's worded implies the first one. What do you guys think? Has their been an official answer about this?

She gets credit every time she succeeds in the skill roll required for reading the tome. Hence, no Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan, but several readings of the Necronomicon are ok. There are no official answer on this point, so far, though. The common agreement is that she has to succeed in reading the tome (otherwise she could max her Luck and autofail the KiY, passing her PS by turn 3), in the same way that you need to keep items you draw (Patrice's PS for example) and so on. Whether she succeeds with the same tome or not, I don't think it really matters

Amazing, thanks. Her PS can be done so easily then, that it's bordering on heresy! :-) Considering that reading KiY and - for example, True Magick twice will net you 6 clue tokens, a passive +1 bonus to skill checks and the best ally in the deck, it's almost too powerful. Not broken, like *censored*, but a solid 5/5.

Not so sure her PS can be passed so easily, though: her max Lore is 4, so, it's not said you can pass the "reading" check on the first try (KiY, for example, is Lore -2). Additionally, you need probably some time to gather and give her the tomes. Her PS is definitely worth the time and resources investment, though, and once passed makes her probably the best gate sealer around

To Julia's point, on the outset, she looks to have an easy PS , but you have quite a few things to consider, namely:

Logistics: Having one or more Tomes available to her

Successes: She needs to actually succeed in reading the Tome

It may take a bit longer if you fail the checks, but it is still considerably better than most of the personal stories. Like when you can't have more than 4 clues (I know many people change that number to make Darrell playable), but still have to gather 2 gate trophies. Or when you have to gain 2 allies (unless you get lucky; I don't like to waste time waiting for the *right* encounter, and even that is tied to a check most of the time). Or 3+ monster trophies, but you don't have proper weapons and the only monsters seem to be Shoggies and other 3+ toughness horrors, winking at you from their dozens of eyes. Ok, no more ranting! Her PS is one of the better ones for sure. My favourite one is still Silas', though. Now that's a gamebreaker!

Have you guys ever passed Mandy's PS?

Agreed, Minh's PS is definitely a good one, not penalizing the character (after all, she has an amazing 5 speed, so she can read and move and gather clues as normal 3 speed characters) and giving her huge advantages in case she passes it.

Agreed on Darrell and on several others (I never try to pass PS asking you to sacrifice 15 dollars or the clue equivalent of a seal, though. It's just a huge waste of resources)

As per Mandy: I went close once, with 4 clues on her PS, but I never managed to pass it. It's an interesting one, but still, it requires long games.

I have never passed Mandy's PS , but came very close on one or two occasions.

As to garneing Allies , one of the things I do is set out 11 Allies as they are the ones discarded when the Terror Track increases. However, I also retain the other Ally cards nearby and any Ally may be obtained during an encounter, not just the original 11. Maybe it's a Variant that will help you.

Agreed, I play the same way as Joe. A Citizen deck made of 22 cards that can be recruited only via encounters, and an Ally deck with 11 Allies randomly chosen at the beginning of the game. Ever time the terror level increases, I return 3 (2+1) cards to the box

Mandy's seems like a hard gamble, really. And it also feels like, if you've managed to block five gates from opening, you probably have at least five gates sealed so--her ability literally is the end of the game in most cases unless you're playing with a rule that extends the required number of seals.

Mandy's seems like a hard gamble, really. And it also feels like, if you've managed to block five gates from opening, you probably have at least five gates sealed so--her ability literally is the end of the game in most cases unless you're playing with a rule that extends the required number of seals.

Well, not really, maybe you seal the Witch House and the next four Mythos turns try to open a gate there, that counts for four gates prevented for Mandy's story but you still only have one seal. And I've never passed her story either. I recall that I have failed it, though.

That's it! I will houserule allies also. We used to just keep them all in the game, removing 3 each terror rise. That was too powerful a boon though, but your solution sounds perfectly fine. If you wanted to modify the treshold of Mandy's PS, which number would you go for? 3/4? I know my record is 3. Losing it is also hard (and probably needs to change with the treshold, if modified), terror level doesn't go up that high usually. Well, unless you're playing ultimate cosmic evil.

Ugh, not so sure I will modify Mandy's PS because it could really be altering the balance of the game. I'd say go with "4 only if there is only one open gate in Arkham", otherwise "5"

It just dawned on me after playing an only base-board AH game. Seals got at least 5 openings, then I realized something: the normal threshold is perfect for the base game. When you add DH or IH however, the number of seal catches will decrease (most likely). The solution i came up with reduces the threshold by 1 for DH and KH, 2 when both are used. Still requires some testing though.

Maybe you meant by 1 for DH and IH, not KH? No unstable locations in Kingsport!

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. :-)