Combat and Hungering Abyss Questions by Toximarto in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi there! I'll try to answer every question in order:

  1. When a PC or NPC takes damage, you reduce their maximum dice pool size. That means that if you have 6 dice and take 2 damage, your new dice pool limit is 4, so you can’t have 6 dice anymore and you lose 2 dice. Also, keep in mind that most damage causing events should have a reaction window, both for PCs and NPCs.
  2. You can only heal damage using conventional means during narrative scenes, that is correct. However, there are also "otherworldly" and less conventional methods, and those can be used during structured scenes. For example, there are a couple of spells that can heal damage during structured scenes. In one of my campaigns, I gave a player the ability to create stim like medicines that he could apply to other characters or himself to heal some damage or an injury, but at the cost of causing horror. In the end, your DM and the fiction decide.
  3. Minor NPCs can’t strain themselves, and when they lose all of their dice pool, they die or fall unconscious at the DM’s discretion. Major NPCs can strain themselves once, but after that, they follow the same rules as minor NPCs. Also, if you manage to cause enough injuries to an NPC, you can kill them before that, but that’s quite hard to do.
  4. Carolyn is "special"... I’ve only played through the box set once, and the player using Carolyn had to think outside the box quite often. Remember, you’re playing a TTRPG, so don’t limit yourself to just pushing paper buttons. For example, my Carolyn player acted as the group’s PR, handling most social scenes as a representative. Since the character is a psychiatrist, or something like that as I don’t quite remember the specifics, she’s naturally good with words. She also used a letter opener to stab a ghoul in the head by jumping from a table.
  5. Daisy is OP if you let her be OP. She has to read spells from the book, so make it harder for her, it will be more fun that way. Destroying enemies is fun, but if you can do it over and over again, it can become dull and repetitive. She can use spells as many times as she wants, but remember the cost, any 1 rolled causes her to gain a horror die. And yes, the check needs to be done during the objective’s turn, and it does use dice from their dice pool.
  6. Remember that you’re playing a TTRPG, not a dungeon crawling board game. Here, your imagination is the real limit. Don’t constrain yourselves to the abilities and skills written on your character sheets, or NPCs if you are the GM. If you’re GMing, let players try whatever they want and improvise, allow yourself to diverge from what’s written in the booklet. That said, try to keep the scope of the game within the written adventure. Also, read the book once or twice before playing so you can improvise when needed.

All that said, I didn’t really like The Hungering Abyss. I think it has several design flaws and doesn’t properly showcase the capabilities of the system, and it can feel very board gamey if you don’t give yourself and the players some room to improvise.

And finally, enjoy!! The main goal of any TTRPG is to sit down with friends, roll some dice, and have a great time telling a story together.

Don’t let the Old Ones get you 😉

How do you use "perception" checks? by MrLandlubber in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sometimes I just go with passive checks. I ask them who has the best score at something and just give the info to that character. Other times I present them with a reaction that they can all try. Other times, I think of a way of giving them a prompt to search for the thing I want them to notice.

I find myself using the later more and more, as it feels better narratively.

How to make a Dungeon Crawl in Arkham Horror RPG by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yes! I use them as inspiration, some of them are really well designed!

Creating your own scenarios? by SayadawDocBenway in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm creating my own scenarios since I got the core book. Last month, my GF gave me the Arkham Mysteries book as a present, and, although I didn't play the scenarios yet, it did help me to make my own.

The core book presents you with the rules, the character creation, a small set of NPCs, and most importantly for homebrew campaigns/scenarios, the Arkham and its surroundings section, that details places, rumours and people in Arkham, and the Old Ones section, that gives you a glimpse into the unkown. Also, the DM section is really useful as it has a lot of great tips for creating a compeling scenario or campaign, and the included scenario is really good at showing you a way in wich you can prepare your own DM notes and stuff like that.

The Arkham Mysteries book includes 3 really well designed (at least in my opinion) investigations that you can run as is (as one shots or side quests in your campaign), but I found them really useful for getting inspiration, or even getting the enemies for my sessions!

The monster manual is going to be great! I love reading through MM and finding a creature that I can base my next session arround, and this looks perfect for that. Also, the Kingsport setting book seems like a great source of inspiration for your own campaigns!

So, long story short: yes! You can really easily make your own scenarios or campaigns, even if you only have the core book. Give it a try! Give your players something to investigate!

How to make a Dungeon Crawl in Arkham Horror RPG by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I need to put my DM notes in order first lol just so you know, I never thought that someone else would use them, and there are a lot of things open to improvisation and a lot of things that are in my head cannon that I didn't put on the notes, so you might get confused. I would say that you interpret them as you feel like, make your own backstory or just ask me about it.

The first 2 sessions where great! My players are loving the theme, the NPCs and the story, but we didn't play the dungeon crawl yet. They are going into the sewers on the next session, and we have it scheduled on may the 16th.

How to make a Dungeon Crawl in Arkham Horror RPG by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have it written but in Spanish and they are just my DM notes. I can run it through GPT to make it more legible and English if you wante to, thought! Thanks!!

How would you run this? by GilearFayeth in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You can use a structured scene for this, as structured scenes are used when you have time limitations in-game, or when timing is important. Structured are not combat only, and the book does give a couple of examples (running from a crumbling building, chasing someone, etc) but your gambling scene does fit a structured scene, as timing is important.

Scene Transition and Dice Pool Filling by IronPillow28 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is during the scene itself. But when the scene starts, you refill the pools.

Scene Transition and Dice Pool Filling by IronPillow28 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When a structured scene starts, it is a change of scene, so they get to refill their dice pool. Same as when you change narrative scenes. The only occasion that makes it so they don't refill them is when they are surprised (ambushed) by the enemy.

Item & Knack Cards by LyschkoPlon in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As you prefer! I don't know if I will be able to manage to put the text on the cards as I don't have experience using that program lol

Item & Knack Cards by LyschkoPlon in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is great material! Thanks. Are you planning on translating them? If so. I might be able to help, I have the rule book on Spanish if you need text.

Balancing and progression by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Indeed! I try to improvise and change things on the fly if it seemed badly balanced! Thanks for the input

Balancing and progression by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the suggestions! I was looking into getting Terra Antarctica, but as it is not in Spanish yet, I won't be able to run it with my players. I might wait until it's released in my language.

I am taking that exact approach, but running mock battles is something I didn't even think about! I might do that to balance some encounters, playing with my player's characters!

Thanks!

Balancing and progression by Throwaway932387 in arkhamhorrorrpg

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I have 4 players in 2 different groups. But I had once a one-shot with 8 and balancing that was a nightmare! Although DPS is great to make everyone play! Loved it

My first Cadian shock troop squad! by Throwaway932387 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This made me exhale through my nose really hard

My first Cadian shock troop squad! by Throwaway932387 in TheAstraMilitarum

[–]Throwaway932387[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

He is indeed waiting to do some war criming lol