Mansions of Madness

Before I derailed it into Arkham Horror fanboy raving, Alex Riviello and I talked about it a little in this thread (about a third Lovecaftian FF game). But I guess you're wanting more strategy than review? It's been a while since I've played it, though, usually everyone preferring AH if we're going for a many-hours-lost board game night.

 

I assume you're going to play the Keeper, you being the host. First game, definitely start with one of the smaller, shorter scenarios. I guess that'd be obvious. Pick it out before folks arrive, and have all your Keeper set-up (map and card placements) taken care of and waiting for them, as much as possible (I think there's some things that depend on Players' choices). Good idea for a couple of reasons; first, obviously, less time lost that could be spent playing. Second, unless you're good and cagey with the poker face and sleight of hand you may need to kick the Players out during Keeper set up (depending on the Players). If I remember right, there's plenty of nothing cards to mix in, so take advantage of them as much as possible so that the Players won't assume a tall stack (or visible lock) = significant target.

 

I would then say, Show No Mercy. Get monsters on the board and teach those Players early on that combat is something to be avoided unless inevitable. Then make it inevitable. If one of them splits off from the group, punish him/her. Safety's in numbers. In the beginning feel free to bank a few Keeper tokens, and then stomp em hard for a turn or two.

 

That said, feel free to help them out when they need it, as far as reminding them of their options. Point out a chest they can hide in instead of fighting or fleeing, but letting them know it can cost them time (and the clock is always ticking against them). Don't give them clues as to where they should be searching, but help with basic tactics, and let them know just what your own available Keeper powers are that can be used against them as they plan out their strategy. One relatively shorter game of transparent aid plus merciless curbstomping should get em up to speed on the mechanics. Then go for one of the more ambitious scenarios. Hopefully you'll have time to get another game on right after, while everything's fresh for everyone.

 

Above all, though, MoM is much more of an RP game than Arkham Horror. Hopefully your group will be into that as much as the gaming-the-system min/maxing aspects. So for a good time with MoM, you really gotta get into that, set up the scenario as a story and not just a weirder game of Clue, and read all the flavor text out loud -- especially during combat, which is a thin enough system as it is (with very thin, repetitive decks). The learning the plot as you play mechanic is actually pretty fun and well-implemented, but it'll be up to you as host and Keeper to keep it from being just a card-and-dice affair. Good luck and have fun! I'd like to hear your impressions. I prefer AH by a country mile, but MoM has its charms to be sure. I keep thinking I'm going to eBay my copy, but never do.

 

About Elder Sign, the dice game in the thread I linked, I never got around to it. But I did buy the app conversion on my Android, Elder Sign Omens, and man I love that thing. I feel like I don't need the actual boxed game at all.

Awesome, glad you had a great time! I haven't played any of the expansions, but apparently the first big-box expansion Forbidden Alchemy was a bit of a disaster. As in broken and potentially unplayable. Check all the update and mea maxima culpa articles on the right at that page I linked. I'm not up to speed on how well they may have fixed it, but if you pick up a copy make sure it has all the latest/reprinted components, or check how to get FF to send em to you. I don't know much about the small-pack print-on-demand stuff either, but the Fantasy Flight MBs are probably a good place to research which are worth purchasing.

 

Happy Birthday, H.P.!

Edited by Trav McGee - 8/20/12 at 12:53pm

I LOVE this game.  As soon as a new expansion comes out, it's on our table.  I actually prefer it over AH.

 

The (corrected) Forbidden Alchemy is pretty good.  Not great, but a bunch fun. I'd recommend it.  My only real complaint is that it doesn't really do anything new or different.

 

I’d also suggest you first get " ‘Til Death Do Us Part" and the latest "House of Fears" POD expansions as those are my favorite.  The Silver Tablet was pretty weak, so you’d might want to get that one last.

 

And paint those minis!

Heh, you sound like me the first month after a new AH expansion. (Of which I suspect there will be no more...)

 

Those minis look great!

 

Not to hijack the thread, but why not?

 

Just a hunch. The most recent expansion was Miskatonic Horror, and that was essentially a big-box expansion that expanded all of the other expansions. And not just adding more of each expansion's stuff, but filling out all the other decks so that dilution for multiple-expansion games is less of an issue. Dilution as in, an entire expansion not coming into play, or barely, the more stuff you've crammed onto the table.* It seems like any new expansions, small or big-box, would have to address the same issue, either including cross-expansion filler cards that may never come into play, or simply comprising elements that don't add new rules or otherwise affect expansion dilution. In the latter case, a small-box with only new Investigators, Ancient Ones, and investigator cards could be a possibility, but I don't know whether FF would consider that a cost-effective option.

 

*Also why I usually prefer to play with no more than 1 big and 1 small at a time, sometimes 2 big or 2-3 small. Even with Miskatonic fleshing out the decks.

 

Also, it's been over a year since Miskatonic was released, and the only AH news since has been trinkets like the painted miniatures and AH-specific dice sets. If they had something in the works, big or small expansion, I would think they'd have teased something by now. I suspect all we'll be getting are more stuff like miniatures and dice and reprints; maybe some mega-box deluxe edition someday, or even an outright revision (folks have been waiting on the FAQ #2 for years). It just seems that their Lovecraft focus has moved on to Mansions of Madness and Elder Sign -- which are also cost-effective in that FF gets to repurpose a lot of AH art (and some game mechanics).

 

It just felt like Miskatonic was their big finale expansion, one "for the fans."

 

But never say never! I keep hope alive, checking FF's site regularly for AH news. Hijack over! Recommence MoM fandom.

Edited by Trav McGee - 8/22/12 at 12:24pm

Thanks for the explanation. I was just worried FF was in financial trouble or something, and I need me more Game of Thrones LCG expansions like oxygen.

This all reminded me that GenCon just happened, so I checked FF's video updates. Zero mention of anything Arkham Horror, so, booooo.

 

However, relevant to this thread! New MoM big box coming in winter, "Call of the Wild." Fingers crossed it was playtested better than Forbidden Alchemy.

 

The way FF is pumping out product these days, and hiring regularly (unless it's all turnover), I think they're doing okay financially.

 

AH was a huge success for them.  There are a bunch of people still discovering this game.  It'd be silly for them not to continue the series in some way. They've been putting out revised versions of some of the expansions for a while now with more planned.   I'm guessing that they'll release a 2nd edition or AH within the next couple years and we'll see more stuff afterwards.

 

Anyway, as excited as I am for more MoM expansions, after initially screwing up Forbidden Alchemy, I don't want to pre-order or even by a 1st printing of an MoM title.  But I do hope it's good, for both FF and the fans.  I don't think MoM could survive another fuck up like that.  They're going to need more than 5 play testers this time.

So? How'd it go?

Awesome. Fun as hell ain't it?

Once you blast through the core scenarios pick up House of Fears and 'Til Death Do Us Part. You'll love 'em.

Hopefully the next MoM big box expansion is good. We can't wait to get into more games. Wwe're waiting for City of Horror to release. Never played Mall of Horror, but from what I saw of it from GenCon previews, it looks pretty great.

Blood Ties is a fun one. I'm going to echo TonyRockyHorror and say you should pick up 'Til Death Do Us Part as well. Enjoyed it more than any of the scenarios that came with the game, even. Was holding off on picking up Forbidden Alchemy because of that publishing snafu but I hear it's all good now. (They reprinted the tiles and updated the broken rules, Trav.) They also just announced a new expansion called The Yellow Sign based on the King in Yellow, can't wait.

 

But- great game, isn't it? I still prefer Arkham Horror but I love the storytelling aspect of this. It's very much RPG-lite but it's been easy dragging newcomers into it with no problems. Bitch to set up, though.

Yeah, I'm expecting the new Yellow Sign POD expansion in my mailbox soon, too.  Hope it's a good one.  We decorated the house, so we're looking forward to scaring some trick-r-treaters and enjoy some MoM.

 

BTW, that Call of the Wild expansion is sounding pretty great.  They really seem to be trying to do new and really interesting things with the engine and MoM in general, which is what my major "complaint" was with Forbidden Alchemy.  They didn't do anything new.

 

And from what a few of this year's Arkham Nights attendees are saying over at BGG, it's shaping up to be something special.  Pretty excited for it.  Just praying it's not as bug-filled as FA.

The rules for Call of the Wild are up on FF's site. Dammit, I'm going to have to get this, aren't I. Hey, Fantasy Flight, are YOU gonna build me a new closet shelf? HUH? Bastards.