... I can't believe I spent most of my Arkham Horror career without discovering this forum, guys. What a wonderful place it is! Anyway, hi, I'm Kathy, nineteen years old geek and fulltime student. Forgive me if I sound off to you sometimes; English isn't my first language and all my language skills are derived almost solely from reading books and playing videogames, so... yeah.

I wouldn't want to turn this into boring introductory post, so let's move to the Arkham goodness.

The title is pretty self-explanatory; everyone knows the Mythos card deck can screw with you in limitless ways, but what was the worst case of abuse you have experienced?

As for me, I don't even have to think about that for that game still plagues me in my sleep. It started quite innocently; I randomly chose Nyarlathothep as the Ancient One and decided to spice the game up a little bit by adding Ghroth as the herald. Nyarly is a weak guy after all; I should give him at least a microscopic chance against me in a spirit of a good sportmanship, right? If I knew what the fate had in store for me, I certainly wouldn't have done that, but pride precedes fall, I guess

The first card drawn was 'Along Came Jones'; I remember being ecstatic about it because one of my investigators was Lola Hayes and this card gave me the rare opportunity to actually pass her personal story. Getting an ally on turn one? Now that was some grand way to start this party! Little did I know it was the last good card of entire game. 'Evidence Destroyed' turned up on the second turn (yay), followed closely by 'Closed Mouths' (double yay). With no clue-generating characters in play, the poor investigators could only lament the cruel fate, run around frantically, massacre the monsters and dissect them at the Science bulding. Of course, the effects of the 'Closed Mouths' card refused to go away and lasted for about five damned turns. Ever noticed how cards like 'Nodens' Favor' disappear from play almost immediately while bad cards stick with us for the longest time? I wasn't even surprised anymore when 'No One Can Help You Now' replaced that lovely environment. Ghroth added two doom tokens diligently in the meantime (that's what I get for believing laws of probability; I hereby declare mathematics is a fraud on humanity! ) and the time was running short for the investigators. At this point, I gave up trying to achieve sealing victory and just went shopping for the final battle. Nyarlathothep was one doom token from waking up and the next card created a monster surge; I sighed with relief for I wanted to spend the extra time on blessing my small team, but then I read the card carefully... I don't remember the name of that card, but it caused monster surges to add doom tokens as well. I've never been so trolled in my entire life

In the end, the investigators taught Nyarlathothep an important lesson about humans and their rather xenophobic tendencies towards anything alien threatening their home. What did you expect? It was Nyarlathothep after all Still, the thought that I may have chosen a different AO for this game - like Quachil Uttaus, for example - makes me shudder.

Hi Kathy, and welcome to the Carnival

The forum's awesome and the community haunting these halls is even more awesome

Worst streak ever... don't remember exactly. But I had a bizarre game against Zhar. Here you have a short report, in case

As for your game... well, actually Evidence Destroyed is never good to draw. In case, retiring some characters to get a fresh start (clues, objects and so on) could be an option!

Well, lest we forget, Miss Kathy, this is Lovecraft--standard laws of mathematics are bunk and the only king greater than Azathoth is Murphy. XD

Greetings. :-) Your padded cell awaits. Wifi is an optional extra :-) All rooms have a breathtaking view of the charnel house and the mausoleum :-)

Once I lost the game before it began. No, seriously. It all went belly up with the setup. Dagon and Mother Hydra did something disgusting together with the Mythos draw, and that was it. The specifics are a merciful blur, but others have had the same thing happen, although I think the FAQ now prevents this supreme demonstration of the futility of existence.

Kathy,

Please allow me to echo Julia's greeting...Welcome to the Carnival!

While I can't recall a specific event, series of events, or just plain-game-length bad luck, there have been innumerable examples from not being able to kill a Cultist with a Machine Gun (12 dice....Really?!?!?!) to taking spending more turns than I care to remember in either a specific Other World (thanks, delayed!) or LiTaS. Just so you're aware, there's also a vibrant community of Arkham players over at boardgamegeek.com, as well, so check it out.

Cheers,

Joe

Greetings. :-) Your padded cell awaits. Wifi is an optional extra :-) All rooms have a breathtaking view of the charnel house and the mausoleum :-)

Once I lost the game before it began. No, seriously. It all went belly up with the setup. Dagon and Mother Hydra did something disgusting together with the Mythos draw, and that was it. The specifics are a merciful blur, but others have had the same thing happen, although I think the FAQ now prevents this supreme demonstration of the futility of existence.

Gate on Devil's Reef followed by surge at Devil's Reef, perchance?

Welcome Kathy! I've certainly noticed how bad cards stick around. For me, particularly "sticky" ones are environments that only let you move along the black/white arrows, and Curses. **** those Curses, they stick around until I can get a Blessing. Blessings, on the other hand, rarely last more than 4 turns...

Last game I played we had 4 seals burst. "Good Work Undone" popped up just after we'd all just got back from sealing gates and had to rush to come up with the clues. Managed to pass it, but it ate about ten clues. Finally we had 5 gates sealed and all ran into gates to get the last seal. All investigators are in the second area of an other world when the last doom token is added. Quite possibly the longest game I've ever played, we technically got 9 seals and were a turn away from 4 more! Alas, we got what had to be our first loss to Azathoth since our first ever game.

I was figuring that Tox, but it is remembered to be a game lost in setup, and I could not figure out how a gate and surge could happen together. Maybe it was a turn 1 loss after all. Like I said, The Horror, The Horror...

I was figuring that Tox, but it is remembered to be a game lost in setup, and I could not figure out how a gate and surge could happen together. Maybe it was a turn 1 loss after all. Like I said, The Horror, The Horror...

With Dagon and Hydra you start with DOR at 2 and two Mythos cards for game setup. A gate and a surge could happen together at Devils Reef maybe, although you would need pretty much bad luck that 4 monsters from the surge would have to move in the very same turn.

I was figuring that Tox, but it is remembered to be a game lost in setup, and I could not figure out how a gate and surge could happen together. Maybe it was a turn 1 loss after all. Like I said, The Horror, The Horror...

With Dagon and Hydra you start with DOR at 2 and two Mythos cards for game setup. A gate and a surge could happen together at Devils Reef maybe, although you would need pretty much bad luck that 4 monsters from the surge would have to move in the very same turn.

Aye, just remember you can have also one or two monsters (depending on the number of investigators playing) that actually can enter DR vortex thanks to the first Mythos Card. Still, really bad luck. An even worse luck would be such a game with Glaaki as AO... :shudder:

It was Glaaki...and thanks for the memory jolt guys! Now it is all so horribly clear...4 monsters into the dimensional shredder it was.

Increase the chances for madness by drawing the Dark Druid for the Devil's Reef gate, followed by n-number of monsters when the gate surges, all parading into the vortex because Hexagon moved on black :D

Chronicles, seriously, 9 seals?! The most bursts I've had happen was 3...but I'm quite positive that I did not manage to go back to 5 seals on the board.