[Arkham Horror] Blackest Goat in the Darkest Corner Episode 8: Diamond to the rescue.

Majestic Goat

The year is 1926, and it is the height of the Roaring
Twenties. Flappers dance till dawn in smoke-filled
speakeasies drinking alcohol supplied by rum runners
and the mob. It’s a celebration to end all celebrations in
the aftermath of the War to end all Wars.
Yet a dark shadow grows in the city of Arkham. Alien
entities known as Ancient Ones lurk in the emptiness
beyond space and time, writhing at the gates between
worlds. These gates have begun to open and must be
closed before the Ancient Ones make our world their
ruined dominion.
Only a handful of investigators stand against the
Arkham Horror. Will they prevail?

The Rules: http://www.math.iupui.edu/~bramsey/AH_Rules.pdf


Gameboard:

view in full

Locations proceeding clockwise:

NORTHSIDE (ORANGE):
Curiositie Shoppe
Newspaper
Train Station

DOWNTOWN (WHITE):
Bank of Arkham
Arkham Asylum
Independence Square

EASTOWN (GREY):
Hibb's Roadhouse
Velma's Diner
Police Station

RIVERTOWN (PURPLE):
Graveyard
Black Cave
General Store

FRENCH HILL (BLUE):
The Witch House
The Silver Twilight Lodge

SOUTHSIDE (BROWN):
Ma's Boarding House
South Church
Historical Socactiiety

UPTOWN (RED):
Woods
Ye Olde Magick Shoppe
St. Mary's Hospital

MISKATONIC U (YELLOW):
Library
Administration
Science Building

MERCHANT DISTRICT (GREEN)
The Unnameable
River Docks
Unvisited Isle

Other World Locations from Top to Bottom:

R'lyeh

Plateau of Leng

The Dreamlands

Great Hall of Celeano

Yuggoth

City of the Great Race

Abyss

Another Dimension

Location Special Abilities:

CURIOSITIE SHOPPE:
Shop: Instead of having an encounter here, you may draw 3 Unique Items and purchase one of them for its list price. Discard the other two items.

BANK OF ARKHAM:
Bank Loan: Instead of having an encounter here, you may take out a Bank Loan if you don't have one yet.

ARKHAM ASYLUM:
Psychiatric Care: Instead of having an encounter here, you may recover Sanity by receiving psychiatric care. You may either regain 1 Sanity for free, or pay $2 to restore your Sanity to its maximum value.

POLICE STATION:
Deputized Instead of having an encounter here, you may spend 10 toughness worth of monster trophies, 2 gate trophies, or 5 toughness worth of monster trophies and 1 gate trophy to become the Deputy of Arkham. Take the Deputy of Arkham card.

GENERAL STORE:
Shop: Instead of having an encounter here, you may draw 3 Common Items and purchase one of them for its list price. Discard the other two items.

SILVER TWILIGHT LODGE:
Inner Sanctum: If you have a Silver Twilight Membership, then you look at the Inner Sanctum entry when having encounters here.

MA'S BOARDING HOUSE:
Recruit: Instead of having an encounter here, you may spend 10 toughness worth of monster trophies, 2 gate trophies, or 5 toughness worth of monster trophies and 1 gate trophy to take any 1 Ally of your choice from the Ally deck.

SOUTH CHURCH:
Blessing: Instead of having an encounter here, you may spend 5 toughness worth of monster trophies or 1 gate trophy to have any investigator you choose be blessed

YE OLD MAGICK SHOPPE:
Magic Lessions: Instead of having an encounter here, you may pay $5 to draw 2 Spells. Keep one of them and discard the other.

ST. MARY's HOSPITAL:
Medical Care: Instead of having an encounter here, you may recover Stamina by receiving medical care. You may either regain 1 Stamina for free, or pay $2 to restore your Stamina to its maximum value.

ADMINISTRATION:
Classes: Instead of having an encounter here, you may pay $8 to draw 2 Skills. Keep one of them and discard the other.

SCIENCE BUILDING:
Dissection: Instead of having an encounter here, you may spend 5 toughness worth of monster trophies or 1 gate trophy to gain 2 Clue tokens.

RIVER DOCKS:
Shady Character: Instead of having an encounter here, you may spend 5 toughness worth of monster trophies or 1 gate trophy to gain $5.

Gamestate:

ACTIVITY:

TERROR LEVEL: 1

OPEN GATE LIMIT: 6
# of GATES OPEN: 5

OUTSKIRTS LIMIT: 2
MONSTERS IN THE OUTSKIRTS: 0

MONSTER LIMIT: 9
MONSTERS IN PLAY: 7

2 MONSTERS DRAWN FROM EACH GATE OPENING

Gate and Monster Locations:

GATES OPEN:
The Abyss @ Black Cave (-2 hexagon)
R'lyeh @ Unvisited Isle (-3 cross)
The Dreamlands @ The Woods (+1 slash)
Another Dimension @ The Witch House (+0 square)
The Dreamlands @ Independence Square (+1 slash)


MONSTERS IN PLAY: Monster's toughness increase by one
Flying Polyp @ Miskatonic U. Street.
Dark Young @ Black Cave
Elder Thing @ Merchant District
Dark Young @ The Witch House
Vampire @ Uptown
Star Spawn @ Downtown
Dhole @ Independence Square

MONSTERS IN THE OUTSKIRTS:


MONSTERS IN THE SKY:

Investigators:

Cythraul as Jenny Barnes:

Sanity: 1/6
Stamina: 2/4

SPEED/SNEAK: 1/3
FIGHT/WILL: 4/3
LORE/LUCK: 4/2

CURRENT LOCATION: The Unnameable

MONEY: $17

CLUE TOKENS: 2

INVENTORY: Cross, Tommy Gun, Ruby of R'lyeh

SPELLS: Enchant Weapon, Flesh Ward

SKILL: Will

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES:

MONSTER TROPHIES: Formless Spawn (total 3 toughness)

GATE TROPHIES: Yuggoth (-2 round)

Kirindal as Darrell Simmons:

Sanity: 4/4
Stamina: 6/6

SPEED/SNEAK: 2/3
FIGHT/WILL: 3/3
LORE/LUCK: 3/1

CURRENT LOCATION: Uptown

MONEY: $8

CLUE TOKENS: 1

INVENTORY: Lucky Cigarette Case, Obsidian Statue, Pallid Mask, Whiskey, The King in Yellow,

SPELLS:

SKILL: Marksman

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES:

MONSTER TROPHIES:

GATE TROPHIES:

Capfalcon as Joe Diamond: First Player

Sanity: 3/4
Stamina: 6/6

SPEED/SNEAK: 3/4
FIGHT/WILL: 2/3
LORE/LUCK: 1/3

CURRENT LOCATION: Abyss 2nd space

MONEY: $6

CLUE TOKENS: 0

INVENTORY: .45 Automatic, Elder Sign, Dragon's Eye

SPELLS:

SKILL: Luck

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES:

MONSTER TROPHIES: Dimensional Shambler, Byakhee, Mi-Go(total 6 toughness)

GATE TROPHIES:

Chrysis as Dexter Drake:

Sanity: 3/5
Stamina: 2/5

SPEED/SNEAK: 2/4
FIGHT/WILL: 1/3
LORE/LUCK: 4/3

CURRENT LOCATION: Library

MONEY: $5

CLUE TOKENS: 2

INVENTORY: Lantern, Healling Stone

SPELLS: Shrivelling, Dread Curse of Azathoth

SKILL: Lore

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES:

MONSTER TROPHIES: Shoggoth

GATE TROPHIES:

NoizRNel as Michael McGlen:

Sanity: 3/3
Stamina: 5/7

SPEED/SNEAK: 5/3
FIGHT/WILL: 3/4
LORE/LUCK: 0/3

CURRENT LOCATION: Another Dimension 1st space

MONEY: $1

CLUE TOKENS: 1

INVENTORY: Tommy Gun, Warding Statue, Elder Sign

SPELLS:

SKILL: Speed, Sneak

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES:

MONSTER TROPHIES: High Priest, Ghoul, Ghoul (Total 7 Toughness)

GATE TROPHIES:

mi-go hunter as Monterey Jack:

Sanity: 2/3
Stamina: 8/8

SPEED/SNEAK: 1/3
FIGHT/WILL: 4/2
LORE/LUCK: 3/3

CURRENT LOCATION: Science Building

MONEY: $5

CLUE TOKENS: 0

INVENTORY: Enchanted Knife x 2, Sword of GLORY

SPELLS:

SKILL: Fight

SPECIAL CARDS:

ALLIES: Sir William Brinton

MONSTER TROPHIES: Shoggoth, Gug (Total 8 Toughness)

GATE TROPHIES:

Ancient One:

Worshippers: Shub-Niggurath's young are numberless. Dark Young have the Endless ability.

Power: Black Goat of the Woods - While Shub-Niggurath stirs in her slumber, all monsters have their toughness increased by 1.


DOOM TRACK: 5

ELDER SIGNS: 1/6

GATE TROPHIES COLLECTED : 1/6

Enviroment, Rumors, and Modifiers:

ENVIROMENT:
Egyptian Exhibition (Gain 1 clue @ Miskatonic U Street with Lore (-1))


RUMOR:

Special Cards: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Special

Common Items: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Common_item

Unique Items: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Unique_item

Spells: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Spell

Skills: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Skill

Allies: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Ally

Monster Encylopedia: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Monster

The Worlds Beyond: http://www.arkhamhorrorwiki.com/Gate_marker

Players:
@Cythraul
@Kirindal
@Capfalcon
@Chrysis
@NoizRNel
@mi-go hunter

Variants:
Asylum 24/7 : There will always be encounters in Arkham Asylum, except for those choose to spend $2 to get fully healed. Off
Brave the Unknown World : Gates come into play flipped, destinations are unknown until someone go through it. Off
How did you watch the eclipse through all these fog? : Environments stack, will only be replaced by the same subtype (weather, mystic, urban) Off
Hello stranger, wanna buy some? : You may buy more then one item in shops, up to the standard draw limit (3 for common and unique) Off
My clues, let me show you them : Player may trade clues like other items. You will not lose clues for being hospitalized Off

Dice rolls will be done with invisiblecastle; you can use the algorithm "Xd6.hits(Y)" to count successes for this game. (Y should be set to 4 for blessed, 5 for normal rolls, and 6 for cursed.)

mi-go hunter

Heeeey, sweet! But how did I get in this game? I am way down at the bottom of the list...

Majestic Goat

Invitations have been sent. Please indicate your interest to be driven insane visit our glorious asylum.

Also, since Mi-go has been a harbinger of madness for 2 generation, we would like to invite him as our honorable guest to be lobotomized for the opening ceremony.

Capfalcon

Whoo! Hosting a Phalla will surely make me end up in the asylum, but I'm game.

mi-go hunter

I see... I'm honored to be part of your experiment this game! Thank you.

Majestic Goat

mi-go hunter wrote: »

Heeeey, sweet! But how did I get in this game? I am way down at the bottom of the list...

I live by the honor code of serve the server first, so unless someone disagree, you will be devoured enjoy the trip real soon.

mi-go hunter

What will be the method for selection of AOs and investigators? Will you use Nullzone's capricious and cruel method, my somewhat merciful method, or devise your own?

Majestic Goat

Added some variant I played with my friend because of mistakes, yet found it quite fun to play with.
Everyone may vote the feature on or off for double madness or easier time.
Notice the underlined option will make the game crazy hard/very easy.

Variants:
Asylum 24/7 : There will always be encounters in Arkham Asylum, except for those choose to spend $2 to get fully healed. On/Off
Brave the Unknown World : Gates come into play flipped, destinations are unknown until someone go through it. On/Off
How did you watch the eclipse through all these fog? : Environments stack, will only be replaced by the same subtype (weather, mystic, urban) On/Off
Hello stranger, wanna buy some? : You may buy more then one item in shops, up to the standard draw limit (3 for common and unique) On/Off
My clues, let me show you them : Player may trade clues like other items. You will not lose clues for being hospitalized On/Off

Players may pick any investigators from the core game, and vote for which GOO.
Or you may choose just let me random a GOO for you.
If no one pick any variant then the game will start as vanilla mode.

mi-go hunter

Since no one has chosen him, I will be: Monterey Jack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgncJgSbbck

And I will vote for the All Mother, the awful Shub-Niggurath!

Asylum 24/7: Off
Brave the Unknown World: On
How did you watch the eclipse through all these fog?: Off
Hello stranger: Off
My clues: Off

Capfalcon

Joe Diamond is on the case!

No GOO preference aside from not Yig (He's really, really scary!)

Asylum 24/7: On
Brave the Unknown World: Off
How did you watch the eclipse through all these fog?: Off
Hello stranger: On
My clues: Off

Majestic Goat

mi-go hunter wrote: »

Since no one has chosen him, I will be: Monterey Jack!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgncJgSbbck

I will plug this song whenever you success a speed check, luck check, and combat.

8-)

Capfalcon wrote: »

Joe Diamond is on the case!

He's just everywhere isn't he?

mi-go hunter

Majestic Goat wrote: »

I will plug this song whenever you success a speed check, luck check, and combat.

8-)

Mr. Mojo Risin

Sorry Im going to have to sit this one out, just too much stuff on the go right now.

mi-go hunter

@Majestic Goat, I think you should PM the players who have not responded yet. Some don't respond when their username is mentioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE >_>).

Majestic Goat

mi-go hunter wrote: »

@Majestic Goat, I think you should PM the players who have not responded yet. Some don't respond when their username is mentioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE >_>).

Well I just sent a message to them, and Mr Mojo shows up with bad news
In that case @Chrysis is up

Capfalcon

mi-go hunter wrote: »

@Majestic Goat, I think you should PM the players who have not responded yet. Some don't respond when their username is mentioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE >_>).

Hey! I'm managing a Phalla; my current notifications is at 162. :P

mi-go hunter

Capfalcon wrote: »

mi-go hunter wrote: »

@Majestic Goat, I think you should PM the players who have not responded yet. Some don't respond when their username is mentioned (YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE >_>).

Hey! I'm managing a Phalla; my current notifications is at 162. :P

Hah, I don't blame you. :]

NoizRnel

I'm game! My investigator will be McGlen!
I would like the GOO to be Shub-Niggurath as well :twisted:
And I vote OFF for all Variants.

Chrysis

Thanks for the invite, you can count me in. I've never played before, so I'm going to abstain from voting for variants as I have no idea what the practical effect will be.
As for investigator, I'm thinking Dexter Drake the Wizzard. Because what we'll need when eldritch horrors abound is someone making pennies appear from behind peoples ears.
For GOO, no preference. Maybe something that isn't present in one of the other/previous games?

Cythraul

Hey! Sorry I forgot to check in! This is my first game, so I'm quite happy with randomly selected investigator and options.

Be gentle! :P

Majestic Goat

Oh I have no idea there are quite a lot of first timers here.
In order to not mess up their experience I will set the variants OFF.
Items basic setup in process while we wait for @Kirindal

Kirindal

Sweet, sign me up for my free straitjacket and ticket to being devoured.

Majestic Goat

Kirindal wrote: »

Sweet, sign me up for my free straitjacket and ticket to being devoured.

Oh hey, with you here the party is ON.

Kirindal

Awesome! As for my investigator I think I'll choose Darrell Simmons.

Majestic Goat

Our brave Investigators (part 1):

Jenny Barnes (@Cythraul)
Chill fills your spine as soon as you step off the train. The only thing that stops you from leaping back to the train and get out of her as soon as possible is the love for your sister, your iron Will , faith represented by a Cross, and magical Enchanted modern Weapon : Tommy Gun gifted by a friend from Egypt.
"Stay save Bell." You head onward into the darkness of night.

Darrell Simmons (@Kirindal)
" I want no statue, I want a story behind this god forsaken thing!" Jefferies threw the Obsidian Statue right back at you and kicked you out of his room. "Don't comeback until you give me something PRINTABLE" said Jefferies as slammed the door behind.
Taking a cigarette from your trusty Lucky Cigarette Case, "There must be something behind this and the man who sold it to me. Maybe I should ask around." you talked to yourself while putting on the Pallid Mask , hoping it will keep you from putting your Markmanship into use.

Joe Diamond (@Capfalcon)
While in search of the missing statue, you came across 2 copies of Ancient Tome carried by some dead cultists. "This ain't no ordinary wounds, some kind of bear perhaps?" As your detective sense tingles, you reach for your .45 Automatic. " Hunting bears in town? Just my Luck."
You know there's no bear in the darkest corner of Earth.

Chrysis

Just as an aside, that Yellow is unreadable.

To be useful, as I'm going to be heading out in a bit and don't know exactly how soon I'll be able to contribute again I'll set my sliders now:

Speed/Sneak -> 3/3
Fight/Will -> 1/3
Lore/Luck -> 3/2 (+ 1 to each from Skill & Lantern) -> 4/3

Them's some nice items. And I can dual cast shrivelling on dudes for extra Fun.

Majestic Goat

Our brave Investigators (part 2):


Dexter Drake (@Chrysis)
Whispers of the night drives the once great magician into the blink of insanity. Since the day he learned the horrid Shrivelling from Necronomicon, you mind have been changed by the power of unknown. As you learned the same spell second time, the energy alone knocked you out for 5 days as your mind traveled to a land of once great race, who walked on Earth and beyond. You have learned the way to Enhant Weapon by watching secretly from shadow, but they found you out eventually and tortured you for what seems like an eternity.
The book was nowhere to be found once you awoke from the nightmare. From then on you can no longer sleep without the warmth of the light from your Lantern. The Lore you learned from the nightmare also pointed you to a town called Arkham.
You know there will be no more peaceful night if the great race have succeed, grabbed a can of Holy Water and bravely head for the thing you feared most, just to stop them from becoming reality.

Michael McGlen (@NoizRNel)
What Fast Louie had taught you was: the higher your Speed, the easier you live. That theory was proven as you saw him dragged away by a green monster from behind while you headed to the safety.
Not going to take any chance, you armed yourself with everything you can get: Tommy Gun to shoot, Dynamite to blow stuff up in case it's too big to shoot. Everyone in the gang thought you were crazy and becoming a danger to the gang, except Jones Junior. One day he handed you a book called Nameless Cults, said " I know who did this, I read it all in this book. It's over! IT'S ALLLLL OOOVVVVERRRRR!" And blew his brain out right in front of you.
As fear has been driven out, only anger and hatred remain. You are out for some blood, human or not.

Monterey Jack (@mi-go hunter)
Your father taught you how to Fight, but only against human being. You were not ready for this.
As soon as you unearthed a charm during your trip in Egypt, monsters, big and small, rushed toward your team. Out of fear, you ran away with the flute while the others die a horrible dead. Tried to stop some with a .38 Revolver only slowed them down a bit. Yet you lived only because of the cliff between you and the monster as you swung your way out with a Bull-whip.
It turns out the charm you found, according to your father's journal, is called Blue Watcher of the Pyramid, an artifact of unknown origin. Tying together the monsters and his mysterious dead, You head for Arkham, the town mentioned more then once within his journal, with a save charm gifted by a friend from Egypt called Enchanted Knife.
"You need it friend," said the friend from Egypt, "There are darkness only with this blade may slice through."

Majestic Goat

Once everyone ready, gate will be placed and the fun begins
@Kirindal is the first to enjoy the madness awaits.

You will be facing Shub-Niggurath, Black Goat of the Woods

mi-go hunter

One thing before we begin: Monterey Jack should draw three Unique items at setup and choose two because of his special ability. The same goes with Dexter Drake, except he should draw three Spells and choose two.

mi-go hunter

Let me set my skill sliders to:

Speed/Sneak: 3/1
Fight/Will: 2/3
Lore/Luck: 3/3

mi-go hunter

jdarksun wrote: »

(Sorry to intrude!)

mi-go hunter wrote: »

Heeeey, sweet! But how did I get in this game? I am way down at the bottom of the list...

What list? Is there a discussion thread like there is with CitOW? (ie, can I sign up for more Arkham?!)

Yessssss, there issss

It might be buried a little, so you can look under my discussions to find the AH signups and discussion thread.

Cerberus

@jdarksun the sign up page is here ... Not that I am bored at work!

Majestic Goat

mi-go hunter wrote: »

One thing before we begin: Monterey Jack should draw three Unique items at setup and choose two because of his special ability. The same goes with Dexter Drake, except he should draw three Spells and choose two.

Oh always assume those abilities works only during regular game round.
In that case Dexter may choose 2 from Shrivelling, Enchant Weapon, and Dread Curse of Azathoth and Moneterey's Flute of the Outer Gods, Blue Watcher of the Pyramid, and Enchanted Dagger

Kirindal

I'll set my skill sliders to:

Speed/Sneak: 4/1
Fight/Will: 3/3
Lore/Luck: 2/2

mi-go hunter

I will choose the Blue Watcher and the Enchanted Knife/Blade? I don't think there is such a thing as an Enchanted Dagger.

Majestic Goat

mi-go hunter wrote: »

I will choose the Blue Watcher and the Enchanted Knife/Blade? I don't think there is such a thing as an Enchanted Dagger.

Oops it's enchanted knife. Was thinking magic dagger +3 out loud.

Capfalcon

Speed/Sneak = 4/3
Fight/Will = 3/2
Luck/Lore = 2/1

And I suppose I'll be handing my tomes off to someone who can make heads or tails of them.

mi-go hunter

Capfalcon wrote: »

Speed/Sneak = 4/3
Fight/Will = 3/2
Luck/Lore = 2/1

And I suppose I'll be handing my tomes off to someone who can make heads or tails of them.

Drake is the man!

Capfalcon

mi-go hunter wrote: »

Capfalcon wrote: »

Speed/Sneak = 4/3
Fight/Will = 3/2
Luck/Lore = 2/1

And I suppose I'll be handing my tomes off to someone who can make heads or tails of them.

Drake is the man!

Dear lord, I forgot how ridiculously good he was at magic.

Cythraul

Speed/Sneak = 2/2
Fight/Will = 3/4 (with skill)
Lore/Luck = 2/4

Sorry for not being around a ton, work is killing me right now

Should I try and read this book right away?

mi-go hunter

Cythraul wrote: »

Speed/Sneak = 2/2
Fight/Will = 3/4 (with skill)
Lore/Luck = 2/4

Sorry for not being around a ton, work is killing me right now

Should I try and read this book right away?

I think you should, will give Jenny much needed clues.