As requested by Brentai, The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young is our villain. I doubt we're going to be able to seal enough portals to defeat her, so we're going to need to focus on collecting monster trophies.
So here we are in the boroughs and piazzas of damp, squalid Arkham. Four hapless mavericks, each with their own quirks and talents will be our playthings. Let's go around the table and introduce ourselves, shall we?
Mandy Thompson is the brains of the group. She's a bit of a know-it-all, correcting others' mistakes like an obsessive teacher.
During a late-night research session at the library, she went outside to stretch and get some fresh air, when she noticed a group of local hoodlums running in terror from a shadowy, fluttering creature. One of the boys fired a bolt-action repeater at the thing, felling it.
Before she had a chance to demand what was going on, he shoved the rifle and a stick of dynamite in her hands and ran off after his chums, screaming wildly. Upon examination of the thing, she found only a slimy cloak and some glittering, alien jewelry. She felt an undeniable urge to don the strange bangles...
Jenny Barnes is a wild spitfire of a trust-fund baby, but it looks like she'll have to forgo spending money on Louis Armstrong records and the latest fashions from Paris for the time being.
While she was looking for her compartment on the train, a strange cloaked man rush past her. Looking in his compartment, she found a couple of leatherbound books and a dagger. She picked them up, intending to return them to him, but he'd disappeared...
Ashcan Pete is a down-on-his-luck drifter, working odd jobs and riding the rails. He shares bedding, food and fleas with his best pal, Duke.
One particularly chilly evening under the docks, he was shocked to find the corpse of a policeman half-buried in the sand, sucker wounds all over him and a weird sword clean through his back.
Never one to miss and opportunity, he swiped the sword and the cop's pistol, stuffing both in his bindle. Maybe he could pawn them and finally buy a decent meal!
The Great Drake's aptitude for magic gives him an edge over those who can only fumble through mystic shibboleths. As such, he's good at finding the better spells in any grimoire.
The wizened old man in the magic shop looked queerly at Drake when he proclaimed himself a magician. He took one of the old folios from behind the desk and passed it to him. "Take this," he said. "Every magician needs a spellbook."
Before Drake could thank him, the old gaffer shuddered. "Quick, put this on!" he wheezed, pressing a filigreed ivory mask into Drake's hands. Drake obliged the man, just as he saw a slinking monstrosity pass by the greasy window. He was sure he felt the thing's eyes on him, though it never turned its head.
"Go, out the back," the proprietor urged him. "Take my son's motorcycle. It will get you out of Arkham. Go!" Drake hustled out the rear of the shop and the old man tossed him the keys. There was no way he was leaving Arkham now...Huh. We're one ascot short a Scooby Gang. Oh well! Let's see what we start with.
Ruh-Roh!
Our adventure begins with grisly news: A pair of grotesque creatures are stalking the Easttown streets!
Specifically, a
Mi-Go and a
Dimensional Shambler. The shambler's gonna be tricky. Losing a combat check against it means you get pulled into the zone known only as
Lost in Time and Spaaaaaaaace.The Mi-Go's a pushover though. When you defeat him, he runs away, dropping a Unique Item! This means you can't collect his ear for your trophy necklace but, hey, free stuff.
Hoo boy. A
Flying Polyp is one of the nastier critters. It has Physical Resistance, Overwhelming and Nightmarish. Those last two mean that in the event I do succeed at a horror check and combat check respectively, I'll still take a stamina/sanity hit.
First, Upkeep. We'll adjust some stats to better suit the situation.
Mandy heads to the Historical Society to pick up that clue token. Jenny wants to buy something at the Curiosity Shoppe, Pete is looking to try out his sword on those monsters, and Drake's going to man up and hit the Woods.
Hmmm, that doesn't seem too bad. Sure, let's check out the cave!
Note to self: find Cindy Fleming and shoot her.
Taking a risk on the bats, Mandy succeeds in evading their swooping and guano bombs.
Jenny pokes through the Curiosity Shoppe and finds a bottle of
Holy Water in the base of a Romanian candelabra. She turns down the oriental proprietor's offer of free frozen yogurt and purchases the blessed grenade.
Pete, angry at the carnage in Easttown and drunk on a cocktail of tomato juice and paint thinner, ambushes the beasts in an alley.
The chittering of the Mi-Go strikes a pang of fear into the grizzled hobo, reminding him of the cockroaches in every flophouse he's slept in. He swings like Honus Wagner and lops the beast's arm off, driving it buzzing into the sky. An etched stone clatters to the ground.
High on the success of his first victory, he avoids the shambler's clumsy swings and skewers it like a fresh cod. Duke sniffs at the rock and Pete looks it over and pockets the
Healing Stone.
Drake ventures boldly into the woods, searching for the portal, when the gooey slinking mass of the Flying Polyp is upon him!
He's fortunate that he can resist the horror of being attacked by the oozing mass, but it's not without its toll. He begins muttering the incantation for the
Shrivelling spell...
And succeeds! Time to salt this slug.
Bam! Polyps can cause constipation and cramps, but Drake gets enough fiber in his diet. He finds the portal and steps through to the cold Plateau of Leng.
Only a fool would stay in this desolate place! He marks out an arcane sigil on the ground to cast
Find Gate. It's a spell that lets you immediately return to Arkham.
His magic is true, sucking him through the gate and back home. Now to close the gate...
The chill winds cease, leaving the magician panting in the dirt. He stands and dusts off his trousers. It seems Lady Luck has a fortunate son!
...whom she frequently slaps around for a laugh. Before Drake can celebrate he's pulled into Another Dimension!
He's also delayed. That means he spends an extra turn here.
Out from the portal slithers a
Formless Spawn! Eeeeeewww...
Oh yeah, and the only two investigators lucky enough to get
Blessed are Pete and Jenny.
First Pete...
And Jenny...
Whew. So ends turn one.
Good work so far, gang. But we're not out of the woods yet.
Er, so to speak.
Author
Topic: Let's Play Arkham Horror, Ftaghn! (Read 2302 times)