Eldritch Horror MEGATHREAD

I've been searching for the info I'm looking for, came up empty handed, so this is now a thing. Game kinda deserves one, too, don't you think?

So I was done with Arkham Horror about 5 years ago. It's a pretty terribly designed game that's teeming with the absolute worst aspects of both adventure and co-op games. And I had hit the saturation point on Lovecraft over the last few years, so I had written Eldritch Horror off as something I wanted nothing to do with. For some reason I got the idea to check it out more to confirm my suspicions than anything else, so borrowed Uba'a copy. I really has to force myself to sit down and learn it, but I did it and goddamn was I surprised by just how fun this game is.

So what's worth getting? I typically don't like the table-space creep (though Firefly is an exception). I saw where having more cards in the existing decks was going to be necessary so I already ordered Forsaken Lore. How about the others? Any other setup tips, things to avoid or fun stories anyone feel like sharing?

Oh, and if you don't like the game, I really couldn't care less, so don't waste your time.

I own the base game and Forsaken Lore. I feel like that is plenty to keep things fresh for a while. I'm very hesitant about getting the Big Box Expansion because the last thing the game needs to do is consume more table space. However, people claim that "Focus" rule/variant really improves the game in a positive way.

From the FFG Rulebook:
"This expansion introduces a new action that can be performed
by any investigator. As an action, an investigator on any space
gains one Focus token.
^ An investigator may spend one Focus token to reroll one
die when resolving a test. There is no limit to the number of
Focus tokens he can spend to reroll dice.
^ An investigator cannot have more than two Focus tokens."

A pretty basic rule that can be implemented with generic tokens and not needing to purchase. Basically it gives you a decent option for those instances where you don't really need to use all of your actions.

I think the Strange Remnants expansion adds more investigators which is nice. So I'll probably pick that up and save Mountains of Madness for when I'm really looking to spice things up.

I really like the game solo, it feels as others have said like Tales of the Arabian Nights where shit just happens, there are conditions on your people all the time, and you just roll with it. I feel like my people die or get severely debilitated more frequently than in Arkham, and they have in general less control over what happens to them. In the current game I'm playing I had Dark Pacts (nasty conditions) on three investigators and then I drew a Mythos card that made them all go off at once. Brutal as hell and quite fun. It doesn't replace Arkham for me because it feels like a different game. I am bummed they didn't come up with new investigators rather than re-using the same ones though.

I really like the "flip to card to see what happens" nature of the conditions and spells, it's a cool way to introduce uncertainty. You don't know what the implications of your action are going to be unless / until it happens.

I really like the modularity. Mountains of Madness and Strange Remnants both add new stuff in the form of both GOO's and prelude cards (reveal one card before the session, it changes the game in major or minor ways). If you don't play with that GOO or prelude, keep the extra stuff put away. It's a nice way to solve the difficulty Arkham had of managing its expansion growth elegantly.

I don't really think Mountains of Madness adds that much, it's OK but not great. There's a whole new board with an Antarctic adventure and one of the new GOO Ithaqua focuses on making everyone have hypothermia which is thematic but a bit oppressive. A lot of people on BGG have complained the new side board makes the game too easy, I couldn't say yet. The real main addition is the aforementioned prelude cards and the Focus action: As an action you can take a Focus token. You can use a focus token to re-roll a die during a test. Max 2 tokens per investigator. Easy to proxy.

Forsaken Lore is definitely essential. Strange Remnants has Focus tokens and a few preludes and may prove to be a better buy than Mountains, I don't know yet.

Kind of rambling as usual but this happened to be on my mind since I am soloing it currently and plan to play another session after this one wraps up.

I sort of feel like people are starting to use "table space" as a euphemism for "complexity". For me table space is kind of a breakpoint, as long as it fits within X square feet I don't care.

I like the game a lot. I find that it tells an aggregate story better, with call backs to previous events and multistaged mechanics. On the other hand, I'm not getting rid of Arkham Horror because I feel like from the perspective of individual characters it tells a worse story since the streamlining. Individual character spontaneous narrative arcs feel pretty generic in EH, to me, where in AH they are very flavorful.

The first small expansion "Forsaken Lore" is mandatory, I think. There's not enough cards in the base game to avoid seeing the fez-head dude 3 times in a game. So, that fixes that to a degree.

Mountains of Madness is like a sideboard or something, almost like a Talisman expansion. It adds more locations, which I'm not sure is a great thing, adds table size requirements, which is definitely a bad thing, but does add variety, which is a good thing. Take it or leave it.

I just got Strange Remnants ( I think that's what it's called) a week ago, and haven't really delved into it. Looks like Forsaken Lore +, more or less, but I can't say for sure.

What I do like about the system is that you're not making MORE decks with the exansions, you're making bigger ones. That's super cool because I'm with you on table creep being a major gripe.

Hope that helps.

It should be known that the Antarctic Board only comes out when a specific GOO is used or when a specific Prelude Card is used. So don't expect to see it every game.

The rest of the stuff in MoM is nails.

I think if you want to check it out, go with the base game and Forsaken Lore. I doubt anyone will disagree with me on that. MoM adds some good stuff, but also some clutter. The extra board is lame, I've played with it a couple of times and probably won't use it again. Focus should have been in the base game, that was a terrible decision to leave it out. But yes, you can use any tokens to represent it and there you go.

The reason people say it makes the game easier- and I would say that this is somewhat true of all the expansions- is that the additions give you more ways to advance the mysteries. So you don't wind up in as many situations where you _can't_. Like the Adventure cards in Strange Remnants...another way to check off one of the three mysteries you need.

Strange Remnants is a better follow-up purchase to the above than MoM.

Yeah, the card-flipping thing is brilliant. It plays on that same sense of consequence in Robinson Crusoe. You cast a spell or enter into an agreement and you don't know what the actual outcome is going to be. You could even die.

This is a great, great game. It blows Arkham Horror out of the water, as far as I'm concerned. Not that it was ever a bad game, but it's time has come and gone and EH is very much a modernized, up-to-date take on similar concepts. There's more "game" here too, despite what others may have said elsewhere.

Barnes nailed it as usual. This completely and totally fired Arkham. I am not a huge fan because I think the bloat and shitty monster movement rules kills it ( for me ) and after playing Eldritch I can not envision me even agreeing to play AH again.

I don't really agree that MoM is shitty - in totality - because I am the kind of dude who liked Frozen Wastes in Runebound. Different stuff and new adventures are always good.

The freezing effect of MoM was 100% lifted from Elder Sign IOS and adds a shitload of tension but I also agree that it is undeservedly punitive and doesn't really add to the game.

The game isn't "hard" really, so "making it easier" isn't something I agree with - these make it more varied. The real adder that all of these expansions bring is that they aid in suspension of disbelief. I CANNOT CANNOT CANNOT stand when I get the same card twice in a playtheough of any game. It's irritating and pulls me out of the game. It's like playing Zelda and having the same guy say the same shit every time you see him. Lame.

So, if I had to choose, I'm with Mike: small expansions only until I'm sick of it, then MoM.

Yeah, you know, that's an interesting point...Eldritch Horror really isn't "hard", not like other co-ops that just harangue you with no-win situations to make you feel like it's challenging. It's very winnable, but it is also very losable. I actually find that solo, I win almost every game with no fudging around. There are lots of close calls, do-or-die rolls and dangerous turns of event but usually I can pull it through. Now, playing with others, I've lost more. But that's as much from playing with semi-intoxicated dudes that don't really know the game that well as it is anything that the game is doing.

It does kind of stink when you pull a card two games in a row...I did that last night with this STUPID San Francisco card where you help elephants that escaped from the zoo get back. WTF is that all about. Were the elephants members of the Silver Twilight Lodge? Are they allied with Yig? But yeah, two games in a row, that stupid elephants card.

(BUMP) It has been ages but I returned to Eldritch Horror because I was thinking of moving it on. I set it up and played it and it is such a good game. I'm keeping it. It's silly to have this and AH but I love both. This is certainly the better, more modern design, of course. And the story it's telling is INTENTIONAL. The reason AH is such an awesome game despite being a clunker is because it creates an UNintentional story.

The only big negative I can think of is that the first small expansion really should have been bundled with the base box. I get why they did it, but they should have charge the extra 10 bucks on the base and put those cards in. If you ever buy EH, you should play it once and if you like it buy the first expansion.

superflycircus.com/2015/02/eldritch-horr...ged-a-genre-forever/

Played again today, no need to play 4 investigators with 2 players. EH two investigator rules work just fine. Won on the last turn by breaking open a puzzle box reading a tome w/a clue.

I can't believe they didn't remove the "Delay" status effect from the game this time around. Kind of shocking given all the good work they did with status effects, trimming modifiers, one round fights and whatnot.

I got it in a Math trade a month or so ago after reading too many good reviews on it, then bought two small box expansions (Strange Remnants & Sign of Carcosa - only ones available in the UK at present) after reading the extra cards and investigators/AOOs (plus the Focus action, a much needed mechanic) just make it better.
I have now had four games in the past two weeks, two bad losses with my euro group (but most of them had fun) and two wins with my AT mates, the differing results is probably because my AT mates play Arkham with me and know what to do after a quick rules explanation while the euro group aren't really into co-ops and didn't really chase the targets at the time (Mysteries or Rumours) but did their own thing.
This is a really great game and with my AT group happy to play it twice in three days (when I have a lot of other games they like) was a good sign, we all have a great time and game highlights are always someone getting more conditions (once you get over the frustration this is a fun and great mechanic) or getting devoured (even when it was when my Dark Pact forced me to sacrifice one of them).
As for the side boards I think the movement constraint in this game means they probably wouldn't get used unless you had maybe 5 plus players, we've only had three player games and it was difficult enough getting around the main board to hotspots.

I'll still keep Arkham as it scratches a different itch - Arkham is the tactical level battle game trying to survive against hordes of monsters while trying to (usually futilely) win the game closing gates before trying to tool up for one last fight, and Eldtritch is the strategic level adventure game where you have to be a bit more careful with you resources and play.

PS What the game probably does need is a few more Investigation Research encounter cards for each AOO, when you have to encounter each clue to get it you will go through the small deck and obviously could repeat one in the same game.

^the first expansion provides a bunch of extra investigation encounter cards for the base game GOOs and adds two mystery cards for each base game GOO.

Also definitely re: getting to other boards with few players. Not likely to happen. Traveling is pretty costly/difficult in this game relative to AH.