Arkham Chronicles S2E2: Are we peaking too soon?

Before we go into the details of the second scenario, we have to discuss the Interlude, as it really feels like the real beginning of the campaign. In the Interlude, Randall Tillinghast reveals the shipment we recovered was an artifact, an old shape statue of a humanoid with an octopus head and squid-like features. It apparently predates humanity and origins from the legendary sunken city of R'lyeh (Atlantis in some other mythos). He then tells us will forget our debt if we go the middle of nowhere in the South Pacific where he believes the city is. Bring back artifacts, debt forgotten, easy enough, right? 😅

Task selection

At this point, the game asks us to make our individual debts more real by choosing a Task. These are a new card type in the expansion. They are Permanent Weaknesses, meaning they start in play and we can't get rid of it. They are not penalties, they are goals to achieve during the campaign. The game simply tells us to mark down each time we achieve a goal and, at some point, might reward us accordingly. Each player has to choose a different Task, the campaign book has suggestions based on classes and investigator traits, but players are free to choose. I am weak and checked quickly the backside of these cards to find out the kind of possible rewards. 😉

Marion picked Toe The Line, a task based on the number of times you take damage. It has been higher than your base health by the end of a scenario, which should not be a problem since I'm running with the Guard Dog and Leather Coat. Agatha chose Walk in Faith, requiring to note down each time the Elder Sign is drawn. I feel this fits the theme of her deck.

Surprisingly enough, we make our way to R'lyeh without much issue in the second part of the Interlude. The text hints Tillinghast has provided several supplies, I guess they will come into play later. The two other collaborators discussed their plans, Andy would like to follow the coast West and land in a cove, while Ruby was intrigued by the Eastern site of a cathedral-alike building beyond a large canyon. The campaign asks the players where to go first, but it is nice enough to mention we'll see everything, it's simply a matter of choosing the exploration direction. I went East because there are surely artifacts in the Cathedral. 😉 Regardless of the direction you chose, one investigator can add the corresponding collaborator Ally card to their deck. Therefore, Ruby joined Marion! Off we go to the scenario, The Obsidian Canyons.

Story

What's left of the city is high obsidian spires separated by large rancid pools of stagnant water. Wrecks of ancient ships are laid across the city, which sprawls for miles. A strong wind blows so hard, it feels like the gods are trying to tell us to go back from where we came. How are we to reach the dome-like cathedral is not explicitly mentioned and left to the imaginations of the players.

Gameplay

Before the setup, there are two text side boxes related to the Tasks you might have chosen. While neither of them are related to my choices, I would suppose there's going to be a few instances of this sprinkled in the campaign. A quick glance at them tells me they can speed up or slow your Task progress, or alter the scenario setup.

The setup is slightly different depending on if you're coming from the West or the East, a small detail I appreciate. There's even an additional Act from the West! What doesn't change is the location setup and wind mechanic. Locations are arranged in a grid pattern with a few empty impassable locations. These gaps can be filled by spending clues to look at the Summit Deck and choose one location to put in play. This is similar to location decks we've seen before, without Treachery cards included in the deck. The differentiator though is the Wind. At the end of each round, you draw a chaos token and, unless you drew the Elder Sign, one or more locations move off the board and new ones enter play from the Summit Deck. If you're a veteran of the game, you already understand the objective here is to find a specific location to advance the acts.

You have to do this on a timer. The Agenda has a low Doom threshold, each time it flips, you add to the Storm intensity. When it reaches 6, you're defeated.

As hinted before, we were allowed to pick one card from the Expedition card set. Marion picked the Expedition Gear as healing a few damage points seems to fit her Task, while Agatha went with an Alien Tablet which provides a skill bonus while dealing with Glyph or R'lyeh cards. It also uses secrets which could be replenished if needed.

Performance

In the first act, it's easy to predict where the key location will land on the board, since it has been seeded in the top cards of the Summit Deck. You can use the blank space cards as a general indicator. I've had to reshuffle everything for the second Act, it made it a bit more difficult to find the second destination, but I still managed to do it with two full doom cycles left. I think the key is to push for exploration and do not be distracted by anything else. Some locations also have a shroud low enough that Marion could gather a few clues.

I managed to decipher 3 glyphs along the way, but I clearly missed one. It was on a location card that I revealed, only for it to leave play at the end of the round before I could do anything. There was an artifact associated with the scenario. However, I didn't even come across an opportunity to acquire it.

Agatha was able to progress her task, I drew I think 4 times the Elder Sign! However, Marion didn't suffer nearly enough damage to progress hers. I think it might still be a good thing. 😉

It was also my first encounter with The Inescapable. 👀 Simply put, it's a stronger than average enemy that goes into the Victory Display when killed, but cards from its set can bring it back into play if you fail a skill check.

We gained 6 XP from this scenario, they were spent as follows :

• Marion:
  • Overpower ⏫Overpower-2
  • Oops! ▶️Fang of Tyr'thrha; I think I have too many reactive events in the deck, they can't be chained easily with Marion's ability. I'm trying to change this dynamic with what seems to be a strong attack card. I don't think I have ever used it before!
• Agatha:
  • Enraptured ⏫ Enraptured-2
  • Sixth Sense ⏫Sixth Sense-4; I really Sixth Sense, but the basic version not providing any stat boost can be an issue.