Arkham Horror

Origins Award 1987 Griffin Scroll 2007

Arkham Horror is a cooperative board game by Richard Launius, which was published in 1987 by Chaosium. It was last published in 2005 by Fantasy Flight Games and revised in 2007. Players take on the roles of investigators, the Arkham City in 1926, where open doors to other worlds investigate in HP Lovecraft's universe. The goal is to travel to these places and find clues to close the gates permanently and thus save humanity from destruction.

Overview

On the Schedule different places are located both inside and outside of Arkham, which can be traveled by the players. Players have the character of an investigator with special abilities and items that should be focused on each. As the game open at various locations unstable gates to other worlds. Through these gates monsters get into the game, wander the streets and must be combated by the investigators. Too many monsters provide for an increase in the levels of terrorism, which can eventually lead to the permanent closure of some places and the loss of the game. Likewise, the game is lost if the players can not make it in time to close all the gates before the dawning of a Great Old Ones or to fight this successfully. Various random events can influence the actions of the players positive and negative.

History

Originally Arkham Horror Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium as: The Board Game, a strategy game based on the eponymous role-playing game, planned and finally released as Arkham Horror. The game won the 1987 Origins Award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Board game. It was one of several based on the Cthulhu Mythos board games by Richard Launius, but the only one that was published in a professional setting. At the time of its appearance in June 1987 was Arkham Horror one of the first co-operative games, where players fight together against the game mechanism. In addition, it is one of the few successful board game adaptations of role play, making it fast became a cult game for a long time and was sold out. Chaosium planned several times a reprint, but this did not happen.

In 2004, Skotos the rights of Arkham Horror by Richard Launius and later settled with Fantasy Flight Games publication. The game was there several times completely revised. Skotos worked for many game elements in order to improve the coherence of the individual elements and followed in the design of the game board, the official maps of Chaosium. Richard Launius added some new elements as the reference marker and changed the deck a bit. Kevin Wilson finally removed the then widespread mechanism " Ludo " in favor of a more strategic gameplay. The 2005 edition shared many elements of the artwork of Fantasy Flights Cthulhu collectible card game.

The new edition finally appeared in July 2005, the German edition was brought from Heidelberg games publisher launched in 2006.

1987 edition

The 1987 edition has in comparison to the new edition relatively simple rules. The cards and markers are illustrated with black and white drawings. The map of Arkham consists of a series of interconnected paths with a large number of fields. Some places like the Miskatonic University are located outside of this road network; there can open doors and held meetings. The other worlds are in a row at the top of the game board. Encounters are determined by a dice roll and compare the result with tables.

Investigators move usually a random, determined by throwing two six-sided dice number of fields. The four attributes of the characters are given: eloquence, fight, knowledge and crawl. In order to successfully apply an attribute, the player must meet or undercut the current value with a roll of the dice. With paper clips, the values ​​are held, which are constantly changing: strength and mental stability.

On the trains, the player follows the " myth " phase, appear in the gates and monsters. For each newly opened gate, the number of Verderbensmarker is increased by one; if more than 13 gates are open, all players lose. The monsters roam the city and attack the investigators at a meeting at. If a player loses by a losing fight all the stability or strength points, he is brought to the sanatorium or hospital to be cured. Suffered by the investigators for this loss in one of the other worlds, he dies, and the player must start with a different figure from the front.

The players win if all the gates that have been opened are closed. This requires that a character travels to an Other World and there survived two encounters. After returning to Arkham, the investigator must successfully attack the gate to close it. If the gate is closed, reducing the number of Verderbensmarker a.

2005 edition

Play

Each player selects one of the pre-made characters. The characters have different values ​​that represent their strengths and weaknesses, as well as specialized skills and an individual asset. The more important are mental stability and constitution, which reflect the current mental and physical strength of character. On the backs of the cards are short biographies of the characters, if the players want it to bring some role play to the game.

Each player takes his pawn and places it on the specified starting point. He also receives his property, and indicated on the map number of clue tokens. It is then decided which Ancient One is to be fought. This usually happens by chance, but players may also agree to a specific opponent.

The basic sampling mechanism is to determine from the attributes and a modifier to the casting number of six -sided dice to roll and to achieve the required number of successes. Fives and sixes are assumed to be successes. Most samples require a simple success, but some fights can request several successes. Characters can also be blessed or cursed; in the former case are also all fours successes in the latter exclusively sixes.

Every train, players can move their characters around the map to either have meetings, or to combat monsters. You can also use the printed on the Plan Special Actions of the buildings on which they are located.

Characters who encounter a monster, have the ability to evade this by a successful Sneak. A monster to fight first requires a successful stability union, may be lost in the worst case mental stability. Only then the monster can be controlled, and depending on the monster several successes in the attack can be reached.

At the end of each turn, the first player draws a card from the stack myth, which means that a new door opens, new monsters in Arkham penetrate, move already existing monsters or other mechanism influencing the game events.

If a certain number is exceeded at monsters, some are removed and the terror level increases by one, which is to show that Arkham is slowly being overrun by monsters. The terror level rises too strong, close individual places in Arkham and escape potential allies. If the terror level reaches its maximum, there is no limit for monsters. Would the terror level continue to rise, instead places the invocation of the Great Old Ones closer. After the mythos card is processed changes the starting player marker clockwise to the next player who starts the new round.

Certain events ensure that Verderbensmarker is packed on the map of the Great Old Ones. This bar shows how short this is before waking. Usually this is done by opening a new gate. Doors can be closed by the investigator, a sample is. Alternatively, Notice marker or Older characters can be output, thus preventing that at this place again can open a gate. An elder sign a Verderbensmarker is removed from the Great Old Ones in addition.

If the Verderbensleiste fully awakened the Ancient Ones, and the investigator must immediately deal with this threat. The manner in which this battle is being fought, varies between the different Great Old Ones. If the Ancient One defeated the players win, otherwise all characters are devoured, and lose the player.

Extensions

The expansion of " The Curse of the Black Pharaoh " was released in June 2006 and later published in German. The expansion adds to the game a lot of new cards added, including objects and encounters. Background is a traveling exhibition from Egypt who arrived in Arkham, causing some cursed artifacts arrive in the city. A new version of this extension is available since 2011.

As a second extension appeared " The Dunwich Horror " at Gen Con in Indianapolis 2006 ( DE, 2007). The extension is based on Lovecraft's short story of the same name and has now also been published in German. There is created a new game board with places in the city Dunwich to the existing of Arkham. Investigators at the stations between these places and back mr iron. There are also new encounters, Mythos cards and objects, as well as a new mechanism as haunting monsters and new Ancient One. When a character loses the last point of stability, it can now select. Instead of being sent to the sanatorium, he can take a psychosis, which hampered him, but gets back the full stability. He can also take a disabling injury when the Constitution drops to zero.

" The King in Yellow " was released in June 2007 as the third extension and also available in German. How " The Curse of the Black Pharaoh " is a pure expansion cards. Theme this time is a mysterious stage play, which is listed in Arkham. As a template of the same story by Robert W. Chambers serves. The expansion introduces a new mechanism to herald a, a special card that changes the rules permanently. The first sign is the King in Yellow himself, which ensures that the Verderbensleiste at the same time increased with the terror bar, if you do not take a permanent difficulty in purchasing. With support on the website of Fantasy Flight Games was a harbinger for the " Curse of the Black Pharaoh " is introduced. A third harbingers for the Dunwich Horror, there are also there.

The fourth expansion, " Kingsport Horror", has been published in June 2008 and is available since September 2009 from Heidelberg in German games publisher. Similar to " The Dunwich Horror " is an expansion with an additional board. As a new game element dimension columns and aquatic monsters come before. In addition, the box contains new Great Old, new investigators, new precursors and leads as a new mechanism to guard one who helps the players in a similar manner as the harbingers they hinder.

"Black Goat of the Woods " is the fifth enlargement, which appeared on the Gen Con in August 2008. The German edition has been around since February 2010., It is a more pure card expansion and contains a further harbinger of a new membership similar to the Silberloge dawn, a new game element called corruption and new cards that make the game optional harder or easier. In addition, there are new Mythos cards, gates, encounters, spells, skills and items.

The sixth extension is " Shadows over Innsmouth ", which appeared in English ( as " Innsmouth Horror" ) in May 2009 and in German in July 2010. The box includes a new game board with the city of Innsmouth, 16 new investigators, eight new Ancient Ones and two new harbingers. There are also new Investigator cards, monsters and encounters.

The seventh extension is " The gate of perdition ," which appeared in English in May 2010 and in German in January 2011. The small box contains, inter alia, a complete set of 18 new gate markers that are handled the same way as the previous Gate markers, but everyone still has an additional attribute with additional rules. There are also new items, Mythos cards for the first time and relationship cards, govern the relationship between the players.

The last extension is currently " Miskatonic Horror" which appeared in English in June 2011 and in German in January 2012. The box adds any new elements have been published extension and maps added.

The game material of all extensions can be combined with the basic game and each other. The cards are marked on the front with the symbol of the respective extension so that the cards can be easily separated again. Some optional rules, however, are not to be combined and are subject to consultation.