Arkham Horror: Turn 10. INVESTIGATOR VICTORY!

[Chaosraven]

If there are no objections, I'll move to the science building and leap into the portal. Then I can use my gate spell to get back and close it.

as long as you don't mind being Lost in Space...

[Remus West]

If there are no objections, I'll move to the science building and leap into the portal. Then I can use my gate spell to get back and close it.

as long as you don't mind being Lost in Space...

Danger! Danger!

[Gryndyl]

Currently we have:

Scoop20906: sneak past monster and head to Velma's Diner for encounter
Remus West: Adjust Lore to 5, cast Voice of Ra, close gate.
Lars: Sp/Sn 3/3 Sneak past monster and got to Ma's Boarding House
DocD: South Church for encounter
Chaosraven: Fight/Will 0/4. Cast Find Gate.
Stessier: Head to asylum for some rehab
Semaj: Unannounced
Isgrimnur: Move to merchant district and attack the gug.

Still need to hear from semaj...

[docD]

Docd: That's the gate that Chaosraven is currently in and returning from, likely this turn assuming he manages to cast his spell successfully.

Nevermind then.

[docD]

Plan B: I'll move to south church and have an encounter there

[Scoop20906]

I'd like to continue to head easttown street and then enter Vilma's Dinner and have an encounter.

[Gryndyl]

All moves are in, encounter PMs on their way!

[Gryndyl]

All encounters are resolved but the update won't be until monday morning as I'm about to head out on a camping trip. Have a great weekend and watch for tentacles!

[Gryndyl]

Turn 10 Encounters

Upkeep:
semaj: retainer 6 +$2
lars: retainer 3 +$2
stessier: retainer 6 +$2

Scoop20906:
Things have gotten way too dangerous out here, exemplified even know by some bubbling black goo oozing it's way into the street. You slip past it (sneak 3 +1 fog +0 spawn=4 dice. 6,6,5,5) and make your way into Velma's Diner. The lighting is cool and calm compared to the writhing shadows of the streets. There's some Charlie Harrison playing on the phonograph and the smell of coffee and bacon in the air. Velma takes one look at you and bustles over with the air of a mother hen.
"Oh, honey, you look like you've had a rough go of it tonight!" She guides you to a seat. "Let's get some food into you."
You order the special with coffee and each wholesome bite seems to bring back life and hope.
(-$4, San and Stam refilled)

Remus West:
You murmur the arcane formula that you've been told will allow you to focus your mind fully on your task at hand. It seems to do so by literally stripping away extraneous thoughts, a not entirely pleasant sensation (Voice of Ra: lore 5 -1 voice of ra =4. 6,6,6,4 success! -1 san). It does the trick, however, and within a few minutes you are able to successfully repair the rip in space that you emerged from. You only wish you knew how to keep it from happening again.
(Gate: lore 5 +1 ra -3 gate=3. 5,5,3 gate closed) Gain 1 gate trophy. Not enough clues to seal.

Lars:
Time for a break from shooting stuff, maybe, though you never thought you'd hear yourself say it. Not quite sure what a bullet would do to that bubbling goo in the street anyways. The salesman looks to be beating feet with the same notion so you turn and head the other way (sneak 3 +1 fog =0 spawn=4. 5,4,2,2 success)
You step into Ma's Boarding House. Ma meets you with her usual stern, no-nonsense gaze. "Another night?" she asks. You ain't sure what you need but you know it ain't a nap so you turn her down.
(can pay $3 to receive 4 points to distribute between san and stam. Scores are full up, automatic turndown)

DocD:
You've never really been the praying type but maybe a little right now can't hurt anything. You step into the church and sit in on the morning mass, listening to the rhythm of the unfamiliar Latin words. It's an interesting process but sadly leaves you feeling no more sure of anything than you were when you came in.

(Can spend 1 clue to remove 1 token from doom track. No clues are available)

Chaosraven:
Hell, it worked once before, maybe it will once more. You murmur the strange words again. You stumble over one or two but then find them beginning to roll off of your tongue and, sure enough, the weirdness around you fades away and you are back in Arkham. (lore 4 -1 spell=3 . 3,2,2 fail. Use clue: 5. success. return to arkham -1 san)
The gate behind you flickers and closes and you know that it's for good.
gate close: lore 4 -3 gate=1. 3; fail. Use 1 clue: 6; success. Gate closed and sealed. Gain gate trophy. -7 clues total.
You do not, however, seem to be alone in the Science building...

Stessier:
You duck into the hospital as that seems like quite a good idea. For a mere 2 bones one of the nurses restores your stamina. Now you almost feel like you need to visit the confessional. -$2, Stamina full.

Semaj:
A glass of whiskey seems like it might be the best idea you've head all night and you make your way back to Hibb's, swearing to yourself that you'll avoid any card games this time. You sigh deeply as the liquor warms your blood. Your peace is interrupted, however, when Joey "The Rat" Vigil slips into the seat opposite you.
"Pssst! I got some stuff, see, needs a new home, know what I'm sayin'?"
You eye him warily.
He gives you an appraising look. "I got a motorcycle. Outside. You look like you could use some wheels. Only $5!"
You grudgingly pay the money because, hey, you DO need some wheels. Someday you'll manage to get out of this place with your life savings intact but today ain't that day.
Gain Motorcycle. -$5


Isgrimnur:
You arrive in the Merchant District and walk straight into another nightmare.
"It was a paw, fully two feet and a half across, and equipped with formidable talons. After it came another paw, and after that a great black-furred arm to which both of the paws were attached by short forearms. Then two pink eyes shone, and the head of the awakened gug sentry, large as a barrel, wabbled into view. The eyes jutted two inches from each side, shaded by bony protuberances overgrown with coarse hairs. But the head was chiefly terrible because of the mouth. That mouth had great yellow fangs and ran from the top to the bottom of the head, opening vertically instead of horizontally."
—H. P. Lovecraft, The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath


Sanity check: will 2 -1 gug =1 die. 3; fail. -2 san
fight 3 rifle 5 -2 gug=6; 6,3,2,2,2,1. 1 success of 3 needed. Gug hits for 4. Back to the hospital with ya. You lose either your food or your rifle, your choice.
No clues available to add to die rolls

Game Board After Turn 10 Encounters:


Gate Count: 0 Monster Count: 6 Terror Track: 1 Doom Track: 8 of 11 Gate Trophy Total: 8

GATE COUNT: 0
GATE TROPHY COUNT: 8

INVESTIGATOR VICTORY!

Technically the victory occurred at the end of Chaosraven's turn. Congratulations! Achieving a gate closure win, frankly, is a pretty difficult thing!
Chasoraven wins the "First Citizen of Arkham" award with 2 Gate trophies and a 3 point monster trophy.
Overall Investigator Score:
3 Points for Doom Track at 8 of 11.
-1 for use of one Elder Sign
+8 for unspent Gate trophies
+3 for unspent monster trophies
+8 for surviving investigators.

Final Score: 21 points

Some questions for y'all:

This was my first attempt at running a forum board game. Any complaints? Anything that I could have done better or differently? Conversely, anything that I did that you particularly liked?

I noticed midway through the game that there seemed to be a bit of "game fatigue" that began to creep in and increase as the game continued. Natural aspect of forum games or was Arkham not engaging enough for forum play?

[Remus West]

I did not have any fatigue. I liked it and was very entertained by your write ups. I would play agin if you ran it again (hint).

Way to go team.

[Isgrimnur]

I certainly enjoyed it and it held my interest. Thanks so much for running it!

[Semaj]

I enjoyed it more than the real game, lol.

I didnt have fatigue as much as I accepted I only needed to glance once every couple days to keep up.

[Chaosraven]

That was excellent! Forum games without 'time constraints' may seem to suffer from fatigue, but really its a matter of mutlpile people not actually being online at the same time and occasionally missing a day (like me when I work a couple doubles). I would absolutely play again.

[Scoop20906]

Great writeups although I will say I had a really tough time following all the action but I am really surprised we were able to pull of a gate victory like that. Very good work!

[Chaosraven]

...Though making us wait a WEEK to find out we won is cruel

[Gryndyl]

...Though making us wait a WEEK to find out we won is cruel

Somehow it managed to be a surprise to me as well. It literally wasn't until the end of the update when I changed the gate count and the trophy count that I blinked and said, "Wait a minute...by jove!"

[Lars]

Just wanted to echo everyone else, you did a great job with everything, Gryndyl. I especially enjoyed your creativity in the writeups, they were also interesting and great to read. Nice job!

[Chaosraven]

It actually inspired me to pick up a copy to play with my kids...

[Isgrimnur]

Got to play this on Sunday in meatspace for the first time. The ringleaders went with an actual selection of Old One and I managed to steer the selection to Nyarlathotep. We managed to school his minions in no uncertain terms in an 8 Player game, and everyone was amazed at how quickly we managed to get a Gate Seal victory in under six hours.

[Gryndyl]

Got to play this on Sunday in meatspace for the first time. The ringleaders went with an actual selection of Old One and I managed to steer the selection to Nyarlathotep. We managed to school his minions in no uncertain terms in an 8 Player game, and everyone was amazed at how quickly we managed to get a Gate Seal victory in under six hours.

Nyarlathotep is probably one of the "easier" old ones; always a good pick when you have predominately new players.

We pretty much never have 8 players when we play; 4 is usually more like it. Wondering if that's what makes the difference with the gate victory. Of course, we also have a tendency to spend our gates as fast as we get 'em