Arkham Chronicles S3E5: Thou shalt not be sacrificed.

Jim and Zoey continue their journey in the Dunwich Legacy campaign as part of the community challenge Hunters of the Mythos Season 2. We are now up to scenario 4, Blood on the Altar. If you missed the last episode, you can review it by using this link:

Story

The investigators finally arrive in Dunwich just to learn that some folks have gone missing in the last days. Morale is down and fear is up in the village. Adding to the atmosphere, the whippoorwills haven't gone silent during this time. It is, however, late, thanks to a bumpy train ride, and the team takes a break for the night. Obviously, something is amiss when the team wakes up the following morning. Their host, Zebulon Whateley, has disappeared. Jim and Zoey begin their investigation in the village.

Mechanics

The story isn't explicit about it, but there is a sacrifice ritual going on. In the setup, you are told to check your campaign log and put aside all persons who were kidnapped into a randomized "potential sacrifice" pile. While playing the scenario, you will understand that each time the Agenda advances, one person is sacrificed.

Stopping the ritual is accomplished by first finding its location, a place called The Hidden Chamber. It is locked, and to access it, you need to find the appropriate key. Chamber and Key are shuffled with three encounter cards, then placed unrevealed under the five non-starting locations. You can draw these cards when you clear all clues from a location.

The second part of the scenario requires either clearing all clues from the Chamber or killing The Big Bad.

It is also one of the first times you can feel the consequences of your previous actions. A group of mobsters can be added to the encounter deck based on your action at the Clover Club (second scenario), and you could start with a one doom-token penalty if the team was delayed. If I recall correctly, the last point happens if you failed one of the previous scenarios.

Mission challenges

The Hunter mission adds clues to all the non-starting locations, one more per investigator. You get points for each one cleared before entering the Chamber. The Big Bad also has much more health.

The Performer mission adds amnesia to the mix. 😆 If the Chamber and Key are revealed and there are still encounter cards left under any location, you need to mix everything again and lose your clues. Points are awarded on how quickly you can get to the Chamber.

I went with the second option, thinking that it basically forces you to go through all encounter cards, which should not be a big deal. It seemed more achievable than piling up more clues on location and the supercharged Big Bad.

Performance

Due to mistakes on my end, the scenario was reset after five turns. I totally missed that the locations are annoyingly not all linked both ways in this scenario.

The mission challenge was not an issue, and, hopefully, it wasn't because I misunderstood it. The team had to run through all encounter cards before revealing the Chamber and Key. Therefore, there was no reset to slow them down. It still took them 9 rounds to enter the Chamber, which resulted in the maximum of 10 points. Nice !

Zoey had a rough time, having to rely on basic attacks for most of the scenario. At least the enemies are not strong, and it was manageable. What wasn't, though, is this:

Zoey has one physical trauma. Add only one or two more damage to her, and this test becomes challenging for her 4 willpower. She drew this card THREE times! She failed each test and was defeated before the scenario could be completed. She now has two mental traumas for the remainder of the campaign. Argh!

Jim fared marginally better. He drew Rite of Seeking early on, but the locations in the first part of the scenario have fewer clues than one Rite action can gather. I tried to rely on basic investigations, and Zoey pitched in with her crowbar, to save charges for later. I had one left to clear the Chamber, clearly not enough, especially since Zoey was dead by this point. The Big Bad sat on the Chamber, but he isn't a Hunter, nor does he make attacks of opportunity. Jim was able to turn this situation to his advantage by going in the Chamber, raking clues, and then going back out. A long and slow process that was still helped by a bit of luck since Jim could take back to hand his Read the Signs. Things could have gone much worse for him as he drew Kidnapped three times when having no ally in play.

The scenario was completed successfully in the third Agenda meaning two citizens were sacrificed: Francis Morgan and Zebulon Whateley. The team earned 4 XP for their trouble.

Draft

Several interesting options depending on what you need. I haven't upgraded a single weapon yet in Zoey's deck, so I went with Reliable. She will not do more damage with it, but it should help her succeed in her attacks. It could also be an interesting synergy with the Crowbar. Out is Monster Slayer since I think it loses usefulness as we advance in a campaign.

Considering Zoey is still using mainly her Machete, Custom Ammunition isn't appealing. She already has a Bruiser in her deck, which she hasn't put in play yet. The safest bet is to upgrade Overpower.

Meh draft overall. Don't get me wrong, Marksmanship, Snipe and Bandolier can be useful when you build your deck in certain ways, but not really when you drafted a bunch of...stuff. Let's go with Bestow Resolve on the hope it could help Jim do basic investigations. Get behind me gets the boot since, per tradition, I haven't used the card once in this campaign.

I'll be perfectly honest, I'm getting tired of drafting nothing useful for this deck. I really don't like this method for open-ended decks. Therefore, I mulliganed at least twice to get a semi-decent pool of cards. Still not pleased with the results, I spent points on Living Ink. It now also boosts intellect.
Editor's note: I'm now realizing I should have randomized the available upgrades in Living Ink. Oh well... 🤷

And a lot more cards that have absolutely zero place in Jim's deck. Let's call it a day by adding Grotesque Statue and removing the Ceremonial Sickle.

One more scenario was played in November in this challenge. Keep your eyes open for the next update. Until then, stay safe, friends!