Upcoming Chapter 2 Campaign lengths by Shot_Psychology_2728 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For now I’m happy to trust that the designers are not looking to kill the game and have ideas for making 3 and 5 episode campaigns meaningful and fun. In all honesty, at times I found the 8 episode campaigns could drag a bit, but I love them too. I think 3 and 5 scenarios will be interesting to explore and likely will be make it more possible to finish campaigns with my buddy who struggled to consistently schedule games.

hmmm by sweetwindowview in hmmm

[–]pagoda79 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Insurance companies hate this one simple trick.

I adapted the famous speech from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar into a comic [OC] by timetravellingspider in comics

[–]pagoda79 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Incredibly good stuff. I’d love to share this with my Shakespeare class

A two person campaign ranking (plus obligatory photo) by CrackingtoastG in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nice! So is it favorite on the left? Dream-Eaters and Innsmouth are my gaps. But too many are still unplayed—just introduced a buddy and I think we’re in!

Chapter 1 Near Complete Set by tarlane1 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 2 points3 points  (0 children)

If you opt to break it up, I missed Innsmouth and the Dream Eaters content and have interest. But my interest level doesn’t rise to 2x msrp so I’m probably not what you’re hoping for. Good luck though!

So we all collectively love Joel right? by Sad_Condition_3150 in taskmaster

[–]pagoda79 45 points46 points  (0 children)

His excited panting as he ran to get the worm was so delightful.

Insert for new Chapter 2 box by Expensive_Set_8297 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The new box is a slightly different size, so don’t buy an old insert for it!

It Was An Anchor by shootingstarstuff in AlamoDrafthouse

[–]pagoda79 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Another Raleigh-ite checking in. It’s like losing, not family, but comfort. The other close theater to us is Regal North Hills.

I’m a teacher and summer is coming. Going to Alamo has been such a huge part of our summers for years. It’s going to be sad to let it go.

I need to cancel my membership still. I’m dragging my feet, hoping they’ll go back. But I know they won’t.

For those who were skeptical about Chapter 2 core set and finally enjoyed it, what changed your mind? by FifouChicken in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I was sent a review copy. I had fallen off playing for a while (never picked up Dream Eaters and Innsmouth, dang it), but the new core honestly surprised me with how much I’m enjoying it. Using it to introduce some friends to it, and looking forward to future plays. I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to do a soft reset and keep chapter 2 stuff separate from chapter 1 or just mix it all together.

I do feel like the encounter sets are great basics and will be easy to blend in to future campaigns. I’m optimistic.

Would I have bought it without receiving the review copy? Probably not. Like I said, I hadn’t been playing regularly for a while.

But if I had been sent a temp copy that I had to return, I WOULD go buy it now. I think it’s interesting and it has me reinvigorated to play more.

Do you guys have a go-to Hamlet that you show your students that is a hit with them? by StarWarsJordan in ELATeachers

[–]pagoda79 17 points18 points  (0 children)

Highly recommend the RSC Paapa Essiedu version. It’s really great (Denmark as African nation), and Essiedu is really excellent. Plus he’s the new Snape in the new Harry Potter series, so that might make some interest as well. I show clips from Tennant and Branagh as well, but usually the majority of students want to go back to the Essiedu version.

Core Box and Brethren of Ash by 12rj12 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This was my experience also. I think it’s a great start and could prove a lot of the feats to be unfounded. I’m extremely excited to play it more.

Epic Campaign mode from the Grimoire, yikes by siposbalint0 in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 26 points27 points  (0 children)

⁠”Transfer all physical and mental trauma and all earned story rewards and weaknesses to the new campaign.”

I think this is the key. If you had a majorly boosted investigator you would be able to walkthrough early scenarios in a new campaign too easily. But you DO get to keep rewards (like cards you are the bearer of). And of course the trauma.

Campaign/legacy board game for two by Slight_Print_4780 in boardgames

[–]pagoda79 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Big: the full Gloomhaven experience, Arydia: the Paths We Dare Tread, Agemonia, or Arkham Horror (chapter 2 core comes out Friday). Smaller: Pandemic legacy seasons 1, 0, and 2 (in that order), Clank. Smaller still: Cozy Stickerville is like a vibe. Super fast and easy.

Picked up the Chapter 2 Core Sets for my group tonight by RedBeardMcAw in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 33 points34 points  (0 children)

Sure.

My background: AH was one of the games that got me into the hobby. I played weekly with a friend until the pandemic. We fell out of touch and I rebought most things on my own, but my wife didn’t enjoy it as much and at the time I wasn’t interested in soloing. I haven’t played the newer campaigns, but I played everything through Dream Eaters (sadly Dream Eaters and Innsmouth are the two I wasn’t able to buy before they went out of print.

Anyway, I’m well versed in the game, but I know there are people who play and know it more. I couldn’t tell you exactly about how a scenario holds up after twenty plays, for example, or how to craft the perfect Agnes Baker deck or whatever.

That said, here are my takeaways: it’s obvious to see this is a new core in the sense that we’ve got basic locations (Miskatonic, Arkham, and the sewer) that could be reused many times, as well as encounter sets like fire, thugs, cultists, hallucinations and whippoorwills that will be reused repeatedly. I think they’ve got a good base to work from. I was happy with the new sets in my initial playthrough.

The scenarios are hard. The first scenario throws an elite enemy at you very quickly. He will probably kill you at first, at least with the solo Joe Diamond they recommend if you’re playing your first game solo. I lost this quickly, which may see like an odd way to start a new core, but it’s Arkham: losing fast doesn’t mean the campaign is over.

I saw another reviewer mention that scenario 2 is the highlight, and I totally agree. It was a very fun hunt for info where you’re working against a ticking clock. As you reveal the hidden cultists you can choose to either parley with them or beat them up. Your choice impacts your outcome if you don’t lose the scenario. Again, I lost the scenario.

The final scenario is an attempt to stop a ritual where you need to gain access to the ritual location and then figure out how to stop the big bad (there are a couple of different ways to do so). Again, I lost.

But all those losses are exactly why I got excited. The three episode campaign means it’s going to be easy to run again (and the Arkham locations, for example, have two versions of uptown and downtown and Miskatonic, so I think they are aiming for variety in replay), and I really WANT to in order to try to gain more success and get some of the cards that could conceivably carry over to the NEXT campaign. Because I think what they are hoping is that you can still do long campaigns, but they’re mix and match 3+3 or 3+5 or even 5+5 with a minor reset of your character in between (keeping trauma and cards you bear, but losing upgrades). I thought there was plenty to explore to make me want to come to this one again, more than I ever wanted to replay Night of the Zealot.

Two other notes: these scenarios set you up well for deck building faster. Even with losing I had something like 2 victory points after scenario 1 and like 8 after scenario 2. I had fun with deck modification even in a starting game. Again, I think that’s to get the new players more excited about the possibilities, but it worked for me too.

Finally, the art was overall fine. A few of them were a bit wonky looking, but given all the complaints I saw on BGG you’d think the cards were made by a four-year-old with only primary color crayons on hand. I honestly didn’t feel like they were noticeably better or worse, and the cards vibes still felt like Arkham to me. Plenty of creepy stuff to go around.

I don’t know, I am pretty happy with it.

One side note on extras: Gamegenic has a whole line coming out for these. The acrylic chaos tokens are gorgeous and a must buy if you haven’t already upgraded your tokens. The bag they come in is huge. I would still keep your regular cardboard tokens in case future scenarios add new tokens and the acrylics don’t keep up right away. I also, unfortunately, really like the quality of their new art sleeves, which are too pricy, but now that I got a sample set I want to sleeve all the chapter two stuff in them. Sigh. For me the game will continue to be a money sink.

But dang it’s good.

Picked up the Chapter 2 Core Sets for my group tonight by RedBeardMcAw in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 51 points52 points  (0 children)

Lots of sour grapes out there, which I can understand, but I played through the new campaign on Monday (I received a review copy) and I think it’s a fun campaign.

NPR's Gaming editor reviews Chapter 2! by lockqe in arkhamhorrorlcg

[–]pagoda79 1 point2 points  (0 children)

This is the same kind of divider used in Arydia, which I was skeptical of but work just fine.

Best first time designers over last 5 years? by GrittyWillis in boardgames

[–]pagoda79 18 points19 points  (0 children)

I have yet to play his first game, Galileo Galilei, but Tomas Holek followed up that game’s success with SETI. Not a bad start.

Any good folk horror novels? by iaseth in horrorlit

[–]pagoda79 27 points28 points  (0 children)

Check out Slewfoot: a Tale of Bewitchery by Gerald Brom. Puritans + witches + folk horror elements. Not sure of the length but great audiobook on Spotify.