The Dunwich Legacy Expansion: Review

Real talk time, folks.

The core set is crap.

Yup.

The opening scenario works once. And just once. I don't want to play it again. The second scenario is a lot of fun, but the third scenario has some rather unfair stuff going on. The deckbuilding is a lot of fun! I like the mechanics! But I will not lie and say I like 2/3's of the scenarios in the box. And that's an objective failure on the part of FFG. And yeah, some reviewers have commented on it (like No Pun Included), but given how the game has dwarfed this problem with all the expansions that are currently in the game, it can be easy to forget just how badly done so much of the core box is.

But no, for those of us who just started (like myself): no, it's not just you. The core box is awful.

But this box isn't holy crap.

The Dunwich Legacy is the deluxe box opening acts for The Dunwich Cycle, which is followed up by six packs. I've played through this box twice and it's more than worth the price of admission. There are two scenarios in the box, along with a bunch of character cards to outfit you for that particular set of scenarios, including new characters.

OK, let's get this out of the way: the scenarios are a lot of fun! You go to a school campus after dark and then to an illegal casino, all in the same night. Both scenarios feel completely different from each other and have multiple endings, none of which feel more right or wrong than another, at least in mechanical terms. You have to figure out what you value as well as putting two and two together, because some of the endings were not obvious to me on the first go around. I definitely like these scenarios, just on their own.

You could get a number of plays just out of this box and that is in no small part thanks to the characters. These guys have interesting shticks all around. I attached to Zoe and Pete very quickly, but the rest of them have super interesting gimmicks that will make playing through the box on its own a lot of fun in and of itself. The actual player cards in the box deepen out the meager offerings you got in the core with cards that I've been having an absolute blast with. I may try a spellcaster now! It looked impossible in the core (at least as far as solo play is concerned), but it doesn't so much here. If the rest of the game has cards like this I'm going to have a great time.

After what I think of as a very disappointing start to a great idea this expansion really bounced back, at least in my eyes. There's a lot of variance to the scenarios, which generate fiction that I find to be believable and entertaining. The characters are themselves very interesting, with all sorts little hooks that I look forward to building around, and the new cards really enliven this one starter dude's choices. Totally worth it to me.

Become a Patron!

Come check out the Facebook Page!

The Dunwich Legacy, Featuring Ashcan Pete: Extracurricular Activities

The sun had barely set when Aschan Pete shuffled onto the Miskatonic Quad of The University. Sunsets on the quad never felt warm, but left a chill, deep in the bones. Most students went indoors around this time, turning to their dorm dens of debauchery early. The only sound on campus was Duke's panting as he came loping up behind Pete. Duke was agitated; he hadn't wanted to come onto the campus at all, but Pete promised Professor Armitage. And so here they were.

It wasn't just the silence that had Duke unsettled though. Pete could feel something else was watching them. Something... Duke was gone. Pete was back in the jungle. "No, no, not again!" Pete ran and ran.

And tripped.

He was back down the hole.

With her.

There was a giggle. "Asssshhhcan! Ashshcan!" A grin appeared in the corner of the darkness. The teeth moved closer. Bark appeared around it. Something insectile moved under the wood and out of between the grinning teeth. Pete found himself grabbing it and shoving it, wriggling and squirming, down his throat. He choked and spat on the squirming thing and-

There was something wet and warm and smothering covering his face. Hot breath panted in his nose and the soft whine roused him to his feet. Duke continued nuzzling him, licking Pete's hand. Pete sighed and rubbed Duke's muzzle reassuringly. 

The air in Pete's lungs came out his mouth in hot clouds. Duke growled, getting between Pete and the... thing... that had appeared. it was floating. Four eyes. That little girl's voice came out of it. Duke was making ready to lunge, a deep growl erupting from between clenched jaws. Pete grabbed Duke by the collar and somehow managed to yank his snarling friend away. They broke into a run. The Thing did not follow, but floated the other way.

Pete didn't stop running and dragging until they were in front of the campus library. Duke was still bristling and growling. Pete wanted to stop and take a minute, but Duke was so worked up... he was going to charge whatever it was the instant Pete let him go. So Pete grabbed the handkerchief that Professor Armitage had given him earlier that day. Professor Rice apparently had a bit of a penchant for handkerchiefs and Duke had a very keen sense of smell, not to mention a dear love of tracking. So Pete, rubbing behind his friend's ears and whispering sweet nothings, put the cloth to Duke's nose. Duke couldn't help himself. He stopped growling, and sniffed. 

Duke was off.

They stopped in front of the Humanities Building. The sun had sunk behind the horizon, burying the campus in a frosty dusk that made Pete's fingertips tingle. Like the frost the frost that had been in his throat when-

"Hey Mister, you okay?" Duke whined in unison with the freshman, who was wearing a coat. It was July. She picked up Pete, with Duke licking her face in thanks. Giggling, she began  petting Duke, who very happily kept licking her gloved hands.  Pete was a bit red in the face with embarrassment, but the girl was so sweet that Pete couldn't help but smile back at her. "Who're you looking for, at this hour?" she asked, her smile warming the g loom.

"Professor Rice, Miss. I was told he'd be on campus at this hour."

"Oh, I'm Georgia" she said, extending her hand. Pete shook it. She was still warm, despite the gathering cold. "I'm one of Professor Rice's pupils. he's still in the Administration Building. But it's locked now. Jazz, one of the janitors, had just finished locking up."

"I need to see Professor Rice, right away. He's in danger."

"Well we'll need  to find Jazz." Georgia pointed behind them. "He's probably at the library by now. If we hurry we may be able to catch up."

That feeling. Of being watched. It was back. Pete had no idea what... he couldn't...

Georgia grabbed his hands. "Hey! What do you think you're doing???"

There was blood and skin under Pete's fingernails; deep trench marks were in his arm. Pete shook his head, wincing in pain, wiping his hands on his dingy pants. "Um, I'm sorry... I didn't..." Georgia gave him an incredulous glance. "Something ain't right with this campus. Jazz can help us uncover it." As they began walking back towards the library Pete saw a fire axe in a glass box, on the side of the Administration Building. He walked over to it and broke it open. Georgia gasped, but Pete didn't flinch. "We're going to need this."

"You gonna put that axe back? Or do things need to get unpleasant?" An elderly gentleman in overalls came around the corner.

"You Jazz?"

"Who wants to know?"

Pete chuckled. He set down the axe. "I need to see Professor Rice, who's supposedly in the Administration Building. I know things look crazy... I look a bit crazy." Pete laughed, hoping Jazz wouldn't notice all the blood. He did. "Look, Professor Rice needs my help and I've gotten more than a bit roughed up trying to find him, but I promise Professor Rice will look worse 'less I can get there. Come with us." Pete held out the axe, arm still tripping. "If you don't like it you can whack my head off."

Jazz looked down at Duke. "The dog likes you. I hope that's good enough." He took the axe.

Screams were heard from the quad. A student was running down from the quad, screeching about some strange animal coming from the Science Building. Jazz made to run in that direction, but Pete stopped him. "It's after Professor Rice. We need to get to him first."

Jazz nodded. "You sure seem to know a lot about what's going on."

"Not really, I just know enough."

"I need to go. I need to make sure." Georgia waited a moment, but nobody said anything that changed her mind. 

Jazz handed her the axe. "Just in case."

Georgia nodded. And then she was gone.

Pete, Duke, and Jazz ran to the Administration Building. Darkness had fully claimed the campus. Jazz unlocked the faded wooden doors with an old brass key.

A tentacle grabbed Duke and pulled him into the darkness beyond, yipping and howling. Pete kicked in the door, screaming. The room beyond was a scene of carnage and terror. Just next to the door was a fire axe, lying in an open hand. Pete vacated that hand. 

There was a crash and a snapping sound, like a twig. Jazz's eyes would never close again.

Pete charged.

Duke stumbled to his feet and jumped.

The floating thing was sundered a half a dozen ways before it blinked. 

Pete and Duke fell down, heavily. And took a minute to breathe. Well, Pete did. Duke licked Pete.

There was a rustling in a nearby closet. Professor Rice tumbled out of it, cutting his hand on the edge of a chair.

"Professor Rice... I presume" panted Pete. "Professor Armitage sent me.... said you might be in trouble."

Become a Patron!

Arkham Horror LCG Review

As of the writing of this blog post, the town of Arkham is in serious trouble. Monsters stalk the streets. Cultists, who have infiltrated every aspect of regular life, are working toward an unknown agenda. And, right at the stroke of midnight, as the cultists are about to unveil their plan, the only man who had any idea of what was going on, Roland Banks, has collapsed into a gibbering mess on the ground. Turns out that the town government was in on... whatever is going on. And it's too much for Roland Banks, FBI agent, to take. Time is running out. Someone else has to step up. But who?

I'd been eyeing Arkham Horror the LCG for years. I mean, how could I not? I love narrative. I can't get enough of it. So, when I found I really enjoyed FFG's newest LCG, Marvel Champions, and when Arkham Horror's core set dropped to about half of what it normally was, I kinda figured why not? I really enjoy the gameplay loop of Marvel Champions, where you discard cards  from your hand to get your stuff out. I'm a sucker for loss and damage, and that game delivers that sorta thing in every move you make.

I got a hell of a lot more than I bargained for.

First off, the core gameplay is enormous, yet claustrophobic. You accomplish tasks in this game by doing a skill check, by and large. There are tokens in what's called The Chaos Bag (which for the moment is more like The Chaos Cup, no bag included in box), that can either give a bonus, penalty, or something else completely random. Cards in your hand can give bonuses to these checks, to help offset what's usually a bad draw from the Bag/Cup; you can certainly "commit" more of these cards, as you wish. There's four different difficulty settings to this bag: Easy Standard, Hard, and Expert. I tried my first game on Easy... and was disappointed. I didn't have to engage with the system all that much. So the next game I upped it to Standard and had a much better time. There's a tight system of choices in this game and, while it seems forgiving (at least at first), you'll find yourself in a world of hurt if you don't take the time to stop, think, and play the right cards.

The second thing that you have going on is the Agenda and Act Decks. Agenda decks are the bad stuff, Act decks the good. You are trying to get through the Act Deck before you get to the Agenda Deck, and may God help you if you fail. Interestingly enough, there is always the option to quit, so that way the big and awful thing doesn't happen. Doing things that further the Act Deck usually give you experience, which you can use to modify your character's deck. The Agenda always has a resource called Doom being generated, which reminds me of Threat in Marvel Champions, except this stuff can be attached to characters and it still counts to advancing the Agenda Deck. Yikes. And, at least from what I can right now, there's not much of a way to stop that advancing Doom, which is accumulating each turn.

And the third "important thing" (there are many) is the the fact that you are traveling between locations in the scenario, each represented by its own card. Now, this requires you to have some actual space to accommodate the locations, but so long as you're willing to bunch up locations that you're not using you can actually fit the game into a very small space, if need be. It's not ideal, but it can be done. Each location has a number of Clue Tokens (which are used to advance your Act Deck, by and large) and a Shroud Value, which is how difficult it is to get those Clue Tokens. Once you harvest that area Clues generally don't come back, so you're supposed to move on.

When you take these three primary elements and mesh them together you get a system of exploration, stress, and hard choices, with an actual release valve should things get stupidly difficult. With campaign play all these things coalesce into an engine that delivers pure narrative. Certain things carry over and inform the narrative. 

I'm currently sitting here, looking at the characters that I have to choose from so Arkham can be saved. I have to start all over. None of the goodies I'd gotten from using Roland transfer over. Instead of a triumphant attack on the cult, someone else is going to have to pick up the pieces and pull some amazing moves. Am I up to the task? Can Arkham be saved? Regardless of those answers, the ride is so much fun that I almost don't care.