[pbp] [Eldritch Horror] Round 12 - "Now.... Light our darkest hour!" ~FIN Players Win!

Nocren

WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?!?!

It is 1926 and the world stands on the brink of catastrophe. An elder being of unfathomable power threatens to awaken from its long slumber and bring about death and madness in it's wake before it has it's morning cup of coffee souls. Strange cults and unspeakable monsters wreak havoc on every continent of the world as the fabric of reality tears itself apart like a cheap dime novel dame's corset. They seek to open gates to bizarre other worlds, and don't even have the common courtesy to close them afterwards.

Only a few pitiful fools brave investigators have a clue understand what is truly happening (Hint: it's REALLY not good). These poor tenacious souls come from all walks of life and decide that "hey I LIVE HERE, and I'll be damned if some fish-faced GOD is gonna destroy MY world." It falls upon them to investigate what is going, explore the remote corners of the globe, fight these living nightmarish creatures that lurk in the shadows, and find the answers that can stop this

ELDRITCH HORROR


Yep, we're screwed.

So I'm looking to do a play by post of Eldritch Horror. As a bonus, it's also going to be my FIRST pbp. Go big or go home, right? Some of you may remember a couple years back, I attempted to join an Arkham Horror pbp, only to have my laptop fry itself the day after I accept. Well, now it's payback time. Eldritch Horror can be considered Arkham 2.0, as the game is somewhat more streamlined, but slightly larger in scope. In it, we have 12 Investigators with fixed stats (none of that "adjusting stats at the beginning of your turn" stuff here and it actually states in the rules that if a current investigator becomes crippled or insane, you pick a new investigator and continue playing and provided the previous investigator is still alive, you can receive aid from them), and only 4 Elder Ones at the start (though Forsaken Lore did add a 5th, Yig). There's also only 1 game board though a second did just get released that covers Antarctica in greater detail (Mountains of Madness, which adds 8 new investigators and 2 new Ancient Ones).

The Rules can be downloaded/viewed from the Fantasy Flight Page here

As well as the reference sheet

And Errata/FAQ

So What exactly is this?

Similar to Arkham Horror, this is a co-operative board game where the players work together to beat the clock and prevent an Old God from waking up on the wrong side of the universe and causing "very bad things" (tm) to happen. In case you can't tell, this based on the HP Lovecraft Mythos. During the course of the game several things might happen that will impede the investigators' such as stopping a plague cult that is taking advantage of the weirdness from wiping out everyone.

Here's the game board. I'll put it in a spoiler so I don't possibly break H-scroll

So how is this game played?

Each player (game can be played with up to 8 players) picks an investigator and starts following whatever clues they find. The Lead Investigator (that would be me in this case since I have the board and cards) has some extra steps to perform afterwards called the Mythos Phase where "Bad Shit Happens" and it also signifies the start of a new round. Each round has 3 phases:

Action Phase - This is where the investigators perform their actions. They may perform ONE TWO of the following actions (but not the same action twice unless described):
Move along a single section. Using the board picture above, an investigator could start in Arkham and travel to that nice, nondescript Midwestern city (or that Mexico/Texas board city, but really, why would you want to?) and then spend their next turn going from the city to San Francisco

Rest and recuperate. The investigator takes a breather and recovers both 1 health and 1 sanity (see? Told you this game was a little more forgiving). However if there's a monster in the same space, this can't happen.

Trade items among themselves, but only to investigators that are in the same location. You can trade Artifacts, Clues, Assets, Spells, and Tickets. Which brings us too...

Prepare for Travel if you're on a city location (Identified as the black dots on the board) you may spend your action to acquire a ticket. But you can only get tickets from cities which have that means of access. For example, that midwestern city or Istanbul? You could acquire a train ticket there, but not a boat ticket, while in Sydney or up in Alaska, you're stuck getting only a boat pass. Why do you want tickets? They let you move a second time a turn, but only on the appropriate paths (red for train, blue/white for boat). You may carry two tickets at once (either type).

Acquire assets if you're in a city. If you look at the picture you'll see 4 cards in the lower left hand corner of the board. These are Reserve assets. By testing Influence and succeeding, you may pick one that has a value equal to or less than the number of success you rolled. Bad roll and no successes? It's not all bad, you may discard one card from Reserve of your choice. And of course, if there's a monster in the city, you're not going to be able to do this until it's dealt with.

Perform their character action. Each investigator has a unique action that they can perform during their turn. For example, Citizen Charlie Kane may use his action to allow another investigator to immediately perform an additional action. Lily Chen may spend any number of health or sanity points to recover an equal number of health or sanity points.

After everyone performs their Action, next is the Encounter Phase. The Encounter phase covers all encounters and not just monsters.

Combat Encounter
If there is a monster in the same space as an investigator, they must make a combat encounter against it. A combat encounter is first a Will test, where the player rolls their Will stat, number of successes must exceed monster's horror rating, or they take sanity damage equal to the difference. This is followed by a Strength test (same as will, but health instead of Sanity). If the player succeeds the Strength roll, the monster loses health the same way the investigator does. If the monster loses more health than it's toughness rating, it's dead.
If there are multiple monsters on the same space as an investigator, they get to make a single action against each and every monster. If an investigator clears a monster from their space, they may resolve another Encounter.

Location Encounter
The investigator draws a card from the deck that matches the color of their area they're in (Major Cities are color coded but you may also choose to draw from the generic pile as well). Major cities often provide bonuses (it's that itty-bitty text below the city name that you can't read on the picture), but where there's reward, there's risk.

Token Encounters
Tokens are placed throughout the board and each is resolved differently.
Clue Tokens - Draw a research encounter card and follow it's text. Succeed, and you might get one step closer to saving the world.
Gate Tokens - Gate tokens allow investigators to access the Other World.
Active Expedition Token - Go on an Expedition and see what knowledge you may find.
Rumor token - Investigate a rumor that was spawned from the Mythos Phase
Assist a Defeated Investigator - Just because you're down, doesn't mean you're out. The defeated investigator passes on all knowledge and possesions and there is one final act they may perform.

Finally there's the Mythos Phase. Here the lead investigator draws a card from the Mythos deck, which is when bad shit starts happening. The stars may align, causing the Doom Track to advance (you don't want that to hit zero), currently in play effects may happen (these are called Reckoning effects), a gate may spawn, a surge of monsters may push through currently open gates, more clues may arise, a rumor is started and other things.


Current Offerings Invesitigators:
@Nocren - as The Spy
@Daemonis - as The Redeemed Cultist
@Preda - as The Astronomer/Old Man
@Void Slayer - as The Psychic
@Bogart - as The Shaman

Nocren

So who's the Lucky Twelve?
The Investigators really are a pretty varied bunch, and they're all new to this game and not reuses from Arkham Horror/Mansions of Madness (though there might be a palette swap or two).

I'll do full write ups for the selected investigators, but here's a brief rundown of the Dirty Dozen.

Diana Stanely - Order of the Silver Twilight cult initiate transferred to Panama, realized that being a part of a cult probably isn't a good thing and decided to take them down from within. Isn't as phased by monsters and can misdirect Cultists.

Silas Marsh - The sailor from Innsmouth, but currently ported in Sydney. As an able Seaman, Silas gets to move an extra space on the water and assists others on tasks if they're on the same ship.

Akachi Onyele - A shaman from Nigeria. A spirit walker, she is able to use the Gates as a means of travel and can sense where they will go.

Charlie Kane - Politician from San Francisco, realizes that all that money and political power is good for something and "Saved the World" is a helluva a campaign slogan. May give another investigator an extra action or share the wealth with other investigators when acquiring assets.

Jaqueline Fine - The psychic in Minneapolis. Able to share knowledge with others without the need for face to face contact, and read their future as well.

Trish Scarborough - The Spy from Moscow. Working for the Black Chamber government agency, she is always informed and makes sure that the information is applied correctly.

Lola Hayes - Recovering in Tokyo from a performance of "The King in Yellow", Lola is a method actor and able to slip into any role as needed.

Leo Anderson - Adventurer and trail guide in the jungles of South America, Leo knows something out there, and by gum he'll stop it even if need some hired help.

Mark Harrigan - Rough and ready soldier from the Great War, Mark already lost his wife to these....things and isn't afraid to take a few down with him and heads back to Germany where he fought them before.

Norman "Old Man" Withers - Ridiculed by the science community for saying that the stars have changed (and then drummed out of the family's amusement park by some meddling kids and their dog in Arkham), Norman discovered that he was right all along! His knowledge is powerful, but it comes with a terrible price.

Jim Culver - Jim can feel the blues deep in the South. His music soothes the soul, living or dead. But he can also play something you can fight to. And the dead tell him that something's coming. Something bad.

Lily Chen - Trained from birth in China to fight a great evil, Lily knows her purpose and knows dedication.

Ok, sounds interesting. So who's the Final Four?"

So the four base set Elder Gods are Yog-Sothoth: The Lurker on the Threshold, Shub-Niggurath: The Black Goat of the Woods, Azathoth: The Deamon Sultan, and of course Cthulhu: The Madness from the Sea.
Like in Arkham, each God had their cultists act differently. For example, Cthulhu's cult automatically inflicts sanity damage, while Azathoth's automatically deal physical damage, but are instantly destroyed after doing so.
When the Doom counter reaches 0, the Elder God awakens. An effect immediately takes place (depends on the Old One), their cult gets a boost, and new effects take place instead of the previous ones. However unlike Arkham, you don't immediately go into one last showdown with Tommy Guns blazing.

So how do we win if we can't punch out Cthulhu?
Well, you're an investigator, not a punchinator. So you investigate and solve Mysteries. If 3 mysteries are solved before Azathoth's dinner bell rings, then you win. But if you fail, then you have one final shot (unless it's Azathoth).
This could mean that you just need to shoot the damn thing in it's head(? does it have a head?) or maybe you have to solve a different mystery or you still have to solve 3 mysteries AND punch Cthulhu in his fishy face.



Ok, I think that about covers it, so if anyone's interested go ahead and sign up the usual way along with picking your investigator. To keep things simple, Azathoth's going to be the first round draft pick for Big Bad.

If by some miracle we have more than 8 players, when an investigator goes down, the player does as well and a reserve will be called up.

Daemonis

Sign up! as Diana Stanley

Nocren

I'll let this go until Friday evening and if no one else signs up, we'll start Saturday.

I expect about a full turn a day, posting your action and encounter. Geth will do the rolling (unfortunately, since I got those cool Arkham dice but you all can't see the results if I roll them). If you're on a major city, please specify if you want a general search (generic city card) or in depth search (city/region specific).

I'll make a new post after the Mythos phase detailing actions/board locations and a picture of current goings-on.

Preda

Sign Up! as "Old man" Whiters.

Farangu

Quick note: Each player gets two actions on their turn, they just can't do any action more than once.

Game is hard enough as is, don't need to handicap yourselves doing it.

Void Slayer

Sign up as Jaqueline Fine

MrBody

As someone who hosted an 8 player game before, I'd advise limiting it to 5-6. You very quickly run out of cards in an 8 player base game.

If you do go with 8, I'd advise taking the easy mythos cards (the ones with blue frost on them) out of the deck. The game gets easier the higher the player count.

Mechanics wise, it doesn't add that much more complexity to run an ancient one other than Azathoth if your players want to roll with that. The others add more ongoing flavor to a game (Cthulhu drives players insane and makes sea travel hazardous, Shub unleashes more monsters to overrun the world) and if the doom track runs out you get an interesting end game 4th mystery victory condition that's more than Arkham's "final combat" mode (Azathoth is just an instant game over).

Bogart

Sign up as Akachi Onyele.

Nocren

Thanks for the tip/reminders Body and Farangu!
Guess we have our 5!

I'll edit this post later with write ups of everyone's characters including starting gear and stats.
After that I'll post the board status (with picture) and everyone can think about where they want to go and what they want to do.

Given some people's starting locations and where the clues popped up, I have a good feeling about this game.


EDIT:
Diana Stanley – The Redeemed Cultist ”The Lodge is not as innocent as they pretend. I have learned that nothing is ever as it seems, myself included.”

When Diana was initiated into the Order of the Silver Twilight, she believed it to be nothing more than a community organization. But as she learned more of its true nature, she has become convinced that a growing evil threatens the world, and that the Silver Twilight will play a role in that threat. She believes her best chance to prevent this is to use her position to sabotage the organization. Carl Sanford, the head of the Order, has recognized her skills and recently sent her to Panama for additional training.

Diana starts in Central America, and starts with an Arcane Manuscript Asset and a Wither Spell. (Manuscript: +1 Lore to resolve Spell effects, Wither: Before Combat, test Lore. If you pass, gain +3 strength for the encounter. Depending on the roll, there may be side-effects…)
She currently has 7 Health, 5 Sanity, 4 Lore, 2 Influence, 3 Observation, 3 Strength, 1 Will.
Active Skill: If there is a Cultist in your space, discard all monsters on your space or move the Cultist to any other space.
Passive Skill: Reduce the Horror of Monsters you encounter to 1.

Akachi Onyele – The Shaman ”I will journey to lands beyond. I do not fear them.”

As a young girl in Nigeria, Akachi stayed apart from other children, preferring the company of her imaginary friends. Her elders feared madness, but the village dibia believed that she had been chosen by the gods. The wise old man taught her how to travel between the worlds and how to marshal the spirits. Now she has become a wise leader herself, traveling across Africa and teaching others how to protect themselves. She’s recently arrived in Cape Town and from here, she will track down the dark forces that threaten humanity.

Akachi starts in Southern Africa. She has 1 Clue to start and the Mists of Releh spell (During Encounter Phase, may test Lore. Success means you may act as if no monsters are on your space. There may be side effects…)
She currently has 5 Health, 7 Sanity, 3 Lore, 2 Influence, 2 Observation, 2 Strength, 4 Will
Active Skill: Look at the top 2 Gates in the Stack, pick one to go on the bottom and which goes to the top.
Passive Skill: When closing a Gate, you may move to any space containing a Clue or Gate.

Jacqueline Fine – The Psychic ”The visions are a warning. The future can be rewritten.”

At first, Jacqueline’s dreams of fire and destruction seemed like a curse. Monsters ran rampant through city streets and some greater darkness loomed on the horizon. However, she has recently learned to control her visions and observe events in detail. Yesterday, she traveled from Boston to Minneapolis to explore an abandoned warehouse she’d seen in her dreams. Inside, she found evidence of a terrible cult that had practiced unspeakable rituals there. Jacqueline hopes to use what she’s learned to prevent the terrible future that haunts her sleep.

Jackie starts in America’s Heartland (northern point between Arkham and San Fran). She has 1 Clue to start and the Flesh Ward spell (Once per round, if an investigator would lose health, you may test Lore. A Pass prevents up to 2 health loss. There may, of course, be side effects… (sensing a pattern yet?))
She currently has 4 Health, 8 Sanity, 4 Lore, 2 Influence, 3 Observation, 1 Strength, 3 Will
Active Skill: You may trade any number of Clue tokens with an investigator on any space.
Passive Skill: Once per round, when another investigator gains a non-Common Condition, you may look at the card’s back and gain 1 Clue.

Norman “Old Man” Withers – The Astronomer ”Let them call me a crackpot! Something is happening to the stars and I am not imagining it!”

The scientific community ridiculed Norman for his claim that six stars disappeared from the sky. After exhausting every plausible astronomical explanation for answers, he took a position at Miskatonic University and began exploring more improbably possibilities in the restricted section of their library. While reading an acient text of dark prophecies, Norman found an exact description of the phenomenon he’d observed. If the tome is to be believed, a terrible incursion into our world is imminent.

Norman begins in Arkham with a Feed the Mind spell (Action: Test Lore -1. Passing allows you to improve a skill by 1 for an investigator on your space, including yourself. As with all spells, some possible side effects may occur.)
He currently has 5 Health, 7 Sanity, 3 Lore, 1 Influence, 3 Observation, 2 Strength, 4 Will
Active Skill: Spend 2 Clues to discard 1 Monster that is on the same space as a Gate
Passive Skill: Once per round, you may spend 1 Sanity instead of 1 Clue.

Trish Scarborough – The Spy ”We lie all the time. But the truth is in there. You just have to know how to decode people.”

Everyone expected great things from Trish when she was young. In school, she excelled in athletics and the sciences, but surprised everyone after graduation by settling into a humble position at a commercial code company. What almost no one knows is that this company is a front for the Bureau’s code breaking agency, the Black Chamber. Now she finds herself in Krasnoyarsk for a clandestine meeting with another agent that has important information about a threat beyond our world.

Trish begins in Moscow with a .45 Automatic pistol (+3 Strength during Combat)
She currently has 7 Health, 5 Sanity, 1 Lore, 3 Influence, 4 Observation, 3 Strength, 2 Will
Active Skill: If you do not have a Clue, gain 1 Clue
Passive Skill: In another investigator on your space spends a Clue to reroll a single die, they may instead reroll TWO dice.

More Rules:
What’s with all these Side Effects?
Printed on the back of Spells and Conditions are side effects. Usually in addition to resolving a Spell, something bad might happen, the severity depending on the number of successes rolled. This could be something as minor as the spell fizzeling out, the spell failing AND you lose the spell, the spell working as intended AND a loss of sanity, or some other effect. Conditions are usually given out by other cards, such as making a Pact with a Dark Entity, failing into debt, or taking severe mental/physical damage. These usually have a secondary effect that triggers when the Lead Investigator draws a Mythos Card with a Reckoning symbol. Sometimes there’s only one Reckoning, other times it can be a continuing effect that can happen multiple times in a game.

So what can I do with these Clues?
Primarily, clues are used for solving the Mysteries and closing Gates. These cards, and others, will have you spend Clues to perform various tasks or resolve events.
You may spend 1 Clue to reroll a single die whenever you make a test.

Test? No body said nothin’ about a test…
Tests are actually quite simple. Roll a number of dice equal to your stat that the test calls for (plus or minus any modifiers such as spells, items, or bonuses), and if you roll a 5 or 6 on a die then that die is counted as a success. Usually the more dice that succeed the better. You might get BLESSED which is a Condition where 6s, 5s AND 4s count as successes, or CURSED another Condition where ONLY 6s count.

Nocren

Current board status:

As this is my first full game (and second time playing), I'm sticking with Azathoth for the Elder God.

Doom Track: 15
Clues: American Heartland, Bermuda, India
Gates: Sydney and Tokyo
Monsters: There is currently a Maniac in Tokyo and a Cultist in Sydney

There is an active Expedition to the Himalayas.

Reserve Assets available: Holy Cross (2), Lodge Researcher (3), Axe (2), Arcane Scholar (2)

Everyone is at their starting locations.

Post your two actions and what you plan to do for your encounter. Feel free to discuss strategy and teaming up (a lot of us give bonuses to another player's test if we're on the same space) but mark with
your post with green when you decide upon what you plan on doing for your actions and encounter, like so:

Action/Encounter:
Move to Istanbul and perform my character action.
Search the city for a regional encounter.

If you have any questions about the board/can't make out the details in the picture, let me know via PM or post and I'll clarify things.

@Daemonis
@Preda
@Void Slayer
@Bogart

Void Slayer

Neat, who goes first?

As another question, could you stack the .45 revolver and the wither spell if one person had them? I remember something about only one card being used in combat for this version.

I am gonna grab this clue then head over to San Fran then Tokyo.

Action/Encounter:
Acquire assets
Get a train ticket
Clue encounter

Bogart

Action/Encounter:
Acquire assets
Move to 17
Clue encounter

Shouldn't the first mystery be revealed already?

Nocren

Yes, when I get home, I'll type the mystery out.

I'll need to double check but I believe it comes down to one card per investigator per combat encounter (if there's multiple monsters on a single place, you can use a different card on each monster, since each monster counts as separate encounter).

Since you guys are aquiring assets,

geth roll 2d6 for Jackie's Influence

geth roll 2d6 for Akachi's Influence

Edit: Not enough to grab anything, so keep a couple cards in mind that I'll cycle through after the Mythos phase.

Jackie's Influence:

2d6 9 [2d6=6, 3]

Akachi's Influence:

2d6 10 [2d6=4, 6]

Daemonis

As Tokyo is covered I'm going to Sydney
Action/Encounter:
Move to Buenos Aires
Grab ship ticket
Buenos Aires encounter

Nocren

I probably should have asked or stated if everyone wants to roll their own virtual dice or if I should do it?

Or if you guys want to roll for asset acquisition (since that can be done on your turn/post), and I can roll for Investigation/Cards/Monsters?

Nocren

Ok, Current Mystery:
Occult Research
The shan are controlling innocent victims, using them to call forth Azathoth

After an Investigator resolves a Research (Clue) Encounter, they may spend 1 Clue they would have gained from the Encounter and instead place it on the Card.
When the number of Clues equals the number of Investigators (in this case, 5), this Mystery is solved.

So since @Void Slayer and @Bogart are doing Clue Encounters, what's your choice?

In Istanbul, Trish attempts to impress Professor Azap of the Topkapi Museum and earn his respect. She makes an off hand comment about his fez and fails to make an impression on the professor.
geth roll 1d6 for Trish's Lore

In Buenos Aires, Diana finds a student at a local university with a copy of the Necronomicon. An exchange of knowledge is offered (1 clue for the Ritual spell), but unfortunately Diana doesn't know anything at the moment.

In the Midwest, Jackie learns of a team of geologists that disappeared after studying a chunk of rock that was retrieved from a nearby crater. Visiting the lab, she feels the strange energy given off by the rock and feels it eroding her body. Jackie is able to resist the strange energy and learn something about the stone. (May keep this Clue or apply it to the current Mystery)
geth roll 1d6 for Jackie's Strength

Elsewhere in India, Akachi hears a clanging sound inside a warehouse. Investigation reveals a creature that looks like a metallic crate walking around on several legs. Curiosity suitably piqued, she attempts to follow it back to the lair of the cult that spawned it. Safely sticking to the shadows Akachi not only discovers the cult's lair but manages to learn about it's origin as well. (You gain 2 Clues, may keep both or spend 1 on the Mystery).
geth roll 1d6 for Akechi's Observation -1

Trish's Lore:

1d6 1 [1d6=1]

Jackie's Strength:

1d6 6 [1d6=6]

Akechi's Observation -1:

1d6 5 [1d6=5]

Nocren

Just waiting on @Preda and we can move onto the Mythos Phase and see how much Bad Shit happens.
Awesome rolls and a good start by the way

Bogart

I'll keep a clue and spend one on the mystery.

Void Slayer

Put the clue on the mystery.

Can I choose to cycle the lodge researcher? I don't think any of us are getting that one anytime soon with our influence levels.

Nocren

Yeah. Bogart, any choice on Reserve Asset recycling?

Void Slayer

How do tickets work exactly? Do we use them on the move action or are they 'free' move actions?

My plan was to train ticket move, grab a ship ticket in San Francisco, then move and use move and the boat ticket to get to Tokyo.

Edit: Oh I see, well either way that will not work. I wont be at Tokyo this turn then.

Nocren

They let you move again in the same action but only along the same type of path that you have a ticket for. So if you had 2 boat tickets you could go from San Francisco to Shanghai or Tokyo to Antarctica in one Action. 2 train tickets take you from Rome to Tunguska, or Midwest to Panama. 1 of each can take you from Arkham to Istanbul. However your first move is the one that counts as an Action for the turn, you may only spend tickets once you're on the move.

EDIT - COMBAT RULE CLARIFICATION: You may only have a single stat bonus in effect during combat, however if there are secondary bonuses on other items, you may use them. For example, you have the .45 which gives +3 strength, and the Axe which gives +2 strength and allows you to spend 2 Sanity to reroll any number of dice for the strength test during Combat Encounters, you can use the bonus from the gun and the effect from the Axe at the same time.


EDIT Dous: I peeked ahead while waiting for Preda. You'll have something more pressing next turn...

Bogart

I don't want to recycle any of those assets. Do I get to see the new asset that Void Slayer put into place before deciding?

Preda

Action/Encounter
-Get a Boat ticket
-Move to Bermuda
-Clue encounter

Nocren

Good question Bogart.

Basically, I'm trying to get everything queued up so all the changes happen at once. So the Lodge Researcher is still on the table until the Mythos phase, but it's marked for cycling.
Due to the nature of online play I'm kind of having all the individual turns happen at once with clean up occurring between phases. This is so that we're not waiting on person if the rest of us are quick posters.

MrBody is giving me some advice from what he learned when he ran his 8 player game. And I did forget the reserve asset descriptions so you know what you're rolling roll for. Next Board Update, I'll make sure to include them. And if you would mark which investigator you are when you perform your actions, that can help me with figuring out rolls and such when we get to a second page so I'm not scrolling up to see who's playing who.

I'll probably add more things as we go on and I remember them. Like how the Bank Loan Asset is suppose to be always available, which have influenced some decisions earlier.
(Zero successes needed: take the Debt Condition for 2 extra successes on your Asset roll) Given that there's a Reckoning coming, it was probably a good idea not to have earlier.

Encounter:
Meanwhile in Bermuda, Old Man Withers books a cruise to take his mind off losing the family amusement park to a bunch of meddling kids. During the cruise a large explosion rocks the boat and toxic smoke and ash are belched up into the skill as a new island is formed. The sight instills a sense of wonder and astonishment as a new island is born in the tropical waters and its creation also leads to new ideas on what's occurring in the world.
You gain an extra Clue from this encounter. Keep both or spend 1 on the Mystery?

geth roll 4d6 for Wither's Will

Stay tuned! The next post will be the Mythos Phase/Board Update!

Wither's Will:

4d6 13 [4d6=2, 4, 5, 2]

Preda

Spend one on the mistery.

Nocren

Mythos Phase:
The OMEN changes. Because of the Gate in Tokyo, the Doom Track advances by 1
A Reckoning comes. Luckily, no one has any cards/conditions that take effect and there are no monsters with triggered abilities.
Gates open in Istanbul (spawning a Cultist) and San Francisco (spawning a Nightgaunt)

Breaking News: Heat Bakes the Globe!
AP - A massive heat wave of unknown origin spreads across all seven continents. Health officials across the world encourage people to stay inside and keep cool, less they strain themselves due to the heat.

All Investigators lose 3 Health unless they become Delayed (Unable to take Actions for 1 turn). Designate your choice with your turn. (I'm assuming Delayed by default)

Board Status:

Omen: Green - (Blue) - Red - Blue
Doom Track: 14
Clues: None on the board
Gates: Sydney (Red), Tokyo (Blue), San Francisco (Green), Istanbul (Green)
Monsters: Nightguant in San Fran, Maniac in Tokyo, Cultist in Sydney/Istanbul

Monster Information:

Nightgaunt: 2 Horror, 1 health ( -2 to Strength/Combat test), 2 toughness. Reckoning Effect - If this monster is on a space with an investigator, move both 1 space and the Investigator is delayed. Otherwise, move up to 2 spaces to the closest dinner option.

Maniac: 1 Horror (+1 to Will test), 2 health (-1 to Strength/Combat test), 1 toughness. If you fail the Strength test, you may sacrifice an Ally asset to take no damage. If the Maniac is defeated, you get their Axe.

Cultist: 1 Horror, 1 toughness. After resolving the Will test, Investigator loses 1 health and this Monster is defeated.

There is an active Expedition to the Himalayas.

Reserve Assets: (Number of Successes Needed)
Bank Loan (0) - Take the Debt Condition to instantly add 2 successes to your Acquire Assets roll. (Always available, but you may only have 1 copy of any Condition, so you can't take multiple Debts)

Holy Water (2) - Item - Magical Discard to gain +5 for Will and Strength during a Combat Encounter. Action: Discard to give an Investigator on your space the BLESSED condition.

Holy Cross (2) - Item Gain +2 Will during Combat Encounters (Stacks with weapon bonuses)

Arcane Scholar (2) - Ally Gain +1 Lore. May reroll 1 die when resolving any Lore test

Axe (2) - Item - Weapon Gain +2 Strength during Combat Encounters. May spend 2 Sanity to reroll any number of dice during combat.
(May only use the bonus of 1 Weapon per combat. May use secondary effect with any other Weapon and may have bonuses from other items/allies.)


More Rule Clarification: (sorry! :bigfrown: )

So that Omen track, what's up with that?
Every time the Omen advances (which is about 99% of the time), the Doom Counter advances by 1 for each open Gate that shares the same symbol/color as the new Omen. Azathoth also has the effect of every time the Omen hits Green, it advances at least by 1 automatically in addition to any Gates that are open. Hence why in this post, and in future Board Updates, I'll post what color the Omen is on as well as the color of the Gates currently open.

Yep, this means that when it rolls around to green, we're screwed.

Preda

Delayed

Nocren

Also, feel free the spice things up with some writing.

This heatwave mas making Istanbul even more unbearable, especially since Trish was thrown out of the museum by Professor Azap. Was that shimmering a mirage or... did some body just appear out of thin air?
Trish readied her .45 and steadied her aim as best she could in the sweltering heat...
She's used to strange men popping up from out of no where to harass her and without a cover to maintain this was going to be easy. Before she even can pull the trigger, the figure explodes. Lowering her pistol in disbelief, she catches a wayward finger in her eye. Losing 1 Health. Health is now 6.

Action/Encounter:
Delayed, no Actions.
Monster encounter.

geth, roll 2d6 for Trish's Will

Trish's Will:

2d6 7 [2d6=2, 5]

Preda

Getting on a boat with that kind of heat... No chance. Better to search the local libriaries. Who knows what kind of secrets could be hidden in the local folklore...

Action/Encounter:
Delayed, no Actions.
Location encounter.

Nocren

Norman overhears some old sailor superstition regarding the heat and storms.

It seems that they are true as a sudden hurricane whips through the islands, then just as quickly as it appeared, it is gone again in less than an hour. The whole experience leaves Norman shaken (Lose 1 Sanity) and bruised. (You now have a Back Injury)

Back Injury, Condition - Injury When you Rest, roll a die. On a 5 or 6, discard this card. On a Reckoning, test Strength. Failure results in further actions.

Void Slayer

Can I use flesh ward to protect a moving investigator?

I kinda want to use it on myself so I can go try and look over that gate in San Francisco, but if someone else is a better choice I can protect them.

Edit: Even if I got that axe I couldn't even scratch the Nightgaunt. I think I need a vacation in Hawaii with all this sun unless someone else want me to protect them.

Nocren

Yes, you can (and since it would have occurred during the Mythos Phase last turn, you can still use it this turn).
But then you'll have to deal with that Nightgaunt. And Jackie really isn't a fighter...

Bogart

I should probably go to Istanbul and try to close that gate next turn.

Akachi

Action/Encounter:
Delayed, no Actions.
Location encounter.

Void Slayer

Okay then.

Mythos Phase

Take 3 damage, use flesh ward to try and prevent 2 damage to myself.

Geth roll 4d6t5 for Flesh Ward Lore test

Action/Encounter:
Travel action Move to Arkham
Acquire assets

Geth roll 2d6t5 for Aquire Assets

Arkham encounter

Flesh Ward Lore test:

4d6t5 3 [4d6t5=5, 1, 5, 5]

Aquire Assets:

2d6t5 0 [2d6t5=4, 1]

Void Slayer

Take a bank loan to grab the Holy Water.

Nocren

Ok. Sweet we can do targeted rolls!
---
Jackie recites the incantation and feels her skin getting thicker. The words tear at her mind and the sensation that follows is not very pleasant, but the heat isn't as unbearable as it was. (Lose 1 Sanity, Lose 1 Health)

She travels East to Arkham, hearing about a traveling priest that will assist wayward souls for a price. As she makes a deal with the priest for a bottle of holy water, she realizes that she is a little short of the "recommended" donation and signs the contract the priest has written up instead. Surely the priest wouldn't try anything, and this is for a good cause...
You now have Debt Condition and Holy Water
Debt - Common - Deal Action: Test Influence, Discard this card on a Pass. Reckoning Effect.

(Also, as Norman/Preda has earned a non-common Condition this turn, you can look at the back of their Back Injury card for a Clue. If you wish to do so, I'll send you the info in a PM)

(And those are your two actions, Move and Acquisition)

---

Akachi celebrates her discovery of the cult and the creature with some time at a local eatery/cafe. Fortunately as she travels light there is little else to worry about (Recovery 2 Sanity (already at max)).



@Daemonis is all that's left.

Void Slayer

Injuries are not common?

Look at the back of the card then for that extra clue.

Daemonis

Action/Encounter:
Take 3 damage.
Move to Sydney using ship ticket
Make the cultist go away.
Gate encounter

Nocren

Even though she was living in Panama, Diana has never felt heat like this. But the Lodge must be stopped at all costs. She catches a steamer to Sydney where she hears about a branch of the Lodge that is becoming a lot more active.
Using the letters she's received from Carl, she manages to forge a convincing writ that has the branch head back underground for a little while longer.

After they depart, she investigates what got them so worked up. Following the sound of a terrible gust of wind, Diana finds herself in the City of the Great Race.
However she is unable to take in the sights as a polyp quickly bursts through the floor and attacks! The battle is fierce but over quickly. The City inhabitants are grateful for your help and assist you in closing the Gate to their world.


Geth roll 3d6t5

3d6t5 1 [3d6t5=6, 4, 4]