The Dream-Eaters Blind Run #2B: A Thousand Shapes of Horror

This scenario has a most traditional premise. We were exploring strange houses as far back as The Gathering. I wonder what particular twist is going to be applied here. Deck-wise Tommy has Keen Eye, but doesn't have his Guiding Spirits. This happened because Keen Eye is less expensive in terms of XP than Charisma and two Guiding Spirits and Tommy only had 4 XPs to spare. Still, Keen Eye is decidedly less effective, especially in solo where consecutive Intellect or Combat tests are not as frequent as. We'll see whether our rookie cop will make good use of it during this investigation. Enjoy!

A Thousand Shapes of Horror

Pre-Mulligan Hand: "Look what I found!", Take the Initiative, Perception, Lucky!, Evidence!

Opening Hand: Perception, Lucky!, Randolph Carter, Ever Vigilant, Prepared for the Worst

#1

• PLAY Randolph Carter
  • I could wait to make better use of Ever Vigilant, but I feel Randolph is good enough to be played by himself. In terms of the narrative it of course makes sense for him to be with Tommy from the very beginning. However, it seems that Tommy doesn't yet feel the need to have Becky readied.
• INVESTIGATE (commit Perception, 0, draw Rookie Mistake, 1 clue from Burial Ground)
• Burial Ground (noticed the missing bones)
  • There's no clue requirement to advance, so I don't think I need to hoard clues in this scenario. However, I'm not sure about the missing bones. Of course the bones are missing, it's the burial ground, the whole idea is for the bones not to be seen.
• MOVE to Front Porch (Entryway)
• Upkeep: draw Perception, 3 resources total.

#2

• Mythos: 1/5 doom, Obscuring Fog
• MOVE to Downstairs Doorway (Parlor)
  • Hmmm... More entries to remember and some sort of damage mechanic.
• INVESTIGATE (commit Perception, -1, draw Alice Luxley, 1 clue from Parlor)
• PLAY Prepared for the Worst (Becky)
  • Hit!
• Upkeep: draw Cherished Keepsake, 3 resources total.

#3

• Mythos: 2/5 doom, Grasping Hands (, -1, 1 damage to Randolph Carter, 1 damage)
  • That's such a nostalgic encounter. In contrast to Rotting Remains it was hardly ever used after the core set. Sadly, it tests Tommy's weakest skill.
• PLAY Ever Vigilant (Becky & Cherished Keepsake)
• MOVE to Entryway
• MOVE to Downstairs Doorway (Den)
  • Yet more entries to remember. Why is the portrait important?
• Upkeep: draw The 13th Vision, 3 resources total.

#4

• Mythos: 3/5 doom, Swarm of Rats
• FIGHT (-3, Lucky!, defeat Swarm of Rats)
  • Dammit! It's such an inconsequential test, but with 13th Vision on the table I don't want to lose tempo.
• The 13th Vision
• Upkeep: draw "Look what I found!", 3 resources total.

#5

• Mythos: 4/5 doom, Indescribable Apparition
  • Not good. There's no immediate danger, but I'm losing too much actions. Tommy is beginning to walk in circles.
• Indescribable Apparition
• INVESTIGATE (-2, "Look what I found!", 2 clues from Den)
• Den (studied a desacrated portrait)
• Upkeep: draw Lucky!, 2 resources total.

Board State Reminder: 7 health, 6 sanity, 2 resources, 2 clues

In Play: Randolph Carter (1 damage), Becky (2 ammo), Cherished Keepsake

In Hand: Alice Luxley, Lucky!

#6

• Mythos: 5/5 doom, advance agenda (The Unnamable at Upstairs Hallway, The Thing with No Name), Glowing Eyes
  • Now, this encounter is uniquely suited for Tommy. It's also very climatic. As for the Unnamable, it's good I've got Randolph around. Being able to pass the Willpower test at minus two is, no doubt, going to make a difference.
• MOVE to Entryway
• Entryway (reveal Upstairs Hallway)
• MOVE to Upstairs Hallway
• Upstairs Hallway
• MOVE to Attic.
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts to Attic
• Upkeep: draw "Look what I found!", 3 resources total, × Glowing Eyes (1 horror to Randolph Carter)

#7

• Mythos: 1/6 doom, Night Terrors
  • OK.
• × The Thing with No Name (0)
• Keen Eye
• INVESTIGATE (-1, 1 clue from Attic)
• Attic (recovered a strange key)
  • Notice that Parlor does the same thing. When I played the scenario I thought it was a catch-up mechanic, but in retrospect I see that it can be used proactively to bypass the entire upstairs part of the map. In the meantime Tommy is pondering whether this key has anything to do with the metaphorical key the team is searching for.
• MOVE to Upstairs Hallway
• MOVE to Upstairs Doorway (Bedroom)
  • Seriously, where's the advance card? I appreciate the XPs, but I feel like I'm letting Tommy waste too much time.
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts to Upstairs Hallway
• Upkeep: draw .45 Thompson, 2 resources total.

#8

• Mythos: 2/6 doom, Locked Door (at Entryway)
  • The front door slams shut. It's unlikely I'll need that clue, so it's basically a free pass from the encounter deck.
• INVESTIGATE (-1, 1 clue from Bedroom)
• Bedroom (found a cracked mirror)
• MOVE to Upstairs Hallway
• MOVE to Upstairs Doorway (Library)
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts to (Library)
• Upkeep: draw Scene of the Crime, 3 resources total.

#9

• Mythos: 3/6 doom, Glimpse of the Underworld
• × The Thing with No Name (-1)
  • I'm drawing so many minus ones during this scenario. Nothing to complain about.
• INVESTIGATE (× Library, × Glimpse of the Underworld, defeat Cherished Keepsake, 1 resource & 1 ammo on Becky, -3, 1 clue from Library)
• Glimpse of the Underworld (1 horror to Randolph Carter, 1 damage)
• Library
• MOVE to Upstairs Hallway
• MOVE to Entryway
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts to Upstairs Hallway
• Upkeep: draw Guard Dog, 5 resources total.

#10

• Mythos: 4/6 doom, Obscuring Fog
  • Fizzles! This allows Tommy to race to the Unmarked Tomb and ignore the big guy for some .
• MOVE to Burial Ground
• MOVE to Unmarked Tomb
  • It turns out the key was necessary. No real surprise here, but I could definitely see a situation where someone is more pressured and decides to ignore the key location. In the meantime Tommy might as well investigate and get the XP.
• INVESTIGATE (0, 1 clue from Unmarked Tomb)
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts to Entryway
• Upkeep: draw Cherished Keepsake, 6 resources total, × Unmarked Tomb, advance act (Endless Stairs, Mysterious Stairs).
  • Wow. It's a vertical train!

Board State Reminder: 6 health, 6 sanity, 6 resources, 1 clue

In Play: Randolph Carter (1 damage & 2 horror), Becky (3 ammo)

In Hand: Alice Luxley, Lucky!, "Look what I found!", .45 Thompson, Scene of the Crime, Guard Dog, Cherished Keepsake

Threat: Night Terrors

#11

• Mythos: 5/6 doom, Glimpse of the Underworld
  • Not too bad, given it doesn't require an action to solve.
• × The Thing with No Name (-4, Lucky!)
• MOVE to Mysterious Stairs (The Unnamable follows)
  • Well... Tommy cannot move and the Unnamable catches up. That's bad. Not to mention the agenda is about to advance. The best thing I can do in this situation is to give myself more damage and horror buffers.
• Glimpse of the Underworld (defeat Randolph Carter, 2 resources & 3 ammo on Becky)
• PLAY Guard Dog
• PLAY Cherished Keepsake
• Upkeep: draw Take the Initiative, 5 resources total.

#12

• Mythos: 6/6 doom, advance agenda (The Dead with No Name, Swarm of Rats (with 2 swarm cards)
• × The Dead with No Name (commit Take the Initiative, , × Night Terrors, remove 3 cards from the game, The Unnamable attacks, 2 damage to Guard Dog, 1 damage to The Unnamable, defeat Cherished Keepsake, 2 resources)
  • Ouh! It's going to be tight. But, on the plus side, the Guard Dog is going to save us an action. Good Boy!
• FIGHT with Becky (5 ammo left, -2, defeat two swarm cards)
• MOVE to Mysterious Stairs (The Unnamable attacks, 2 damage & 2 horror, Swarm of Rats attack, defeat Guard Dog, defeat Swarm of Rats, 2 resources & 1 ammo on Becky, Hunting Ghast)
  • OK. That's really bad. With the Unnamable being massive Tommy is going to get hit at least one more time and then he'll need to rely on skills he cannot boost.
• FIGHT with Becky (5 ammo left, , , defeat Hunting Ghast)
• Enemy: The Unnamable hunts and attacks (2 damage & 2 horror)
• Upkeep: draw Guard Dog, 10 resources total.

#13

• Mythos: 1/7 doom, Crypt Chill (, discard Becky)
  • I've made a mistake here and didn't resolve the Night Terrors. I could use that as an excuse to redraw the next token, but that would be against the spirit of the game.
• × The Dead with No Name (, The Unnamable attacks, DEFEAT).
  • Another Tentacle!

Well... It's the Arkham experience. It took three rounds to stall and dismantle Tommy. In retrospect, was it possible to play it better? To quote Sir Appleby, Yes and No. The staircase is evidently designed to make the descent arduous and give the Unnamable every opportunity to catch up. The situation became unmanageable when the Unnamable became massive instead of aloof. That means potential four damage and four horror per round. Notice that even with the difficulty reduced by three Tommy would still need to draw zeroes to successfully evade and I've burned my Luckies earlier in the scenario. Yeah. I'm pretty sure rather than outrunning the Unnamable itself the trick was to outrun Agenda 3. As it stands, Tommy's defeat translates into a trauma and not having the Silver Key. Is the Silver Key going to important? We'll have to wait until the next scenario to find out.

Campaign Log:

Waking Nightmare: Dr. Maheswaran stayed with the patients. Dr. Maheswaran is alive. Randolph escaped the hospital with Tommy. The black cat has a hunch. 4 XP (Waiting Room, Records Office, Stairwell)

A Thousand Shapes of Horror: Randolph survived the descent. The black cat is searching for the truth. 7 XP (Burial Ground, Den, Parlor, Library, Bedroom, Attic, Unmarked Tomb), 1 Physical Trauma.