MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by MikeM » Fri Mar 06, 2015 8:23 pm

Sharpened golf clubs! Ace!

Yep, halve to include those at some point.

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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Dr. Gerard » Sat Mar 07, 2015 2:39 am

Thanks, Mike! I'm thinking probably a 7 or 9 iron, or a chipping wedge would be pretty nasty ground to a spike.
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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Keeper Dan » Sat Mar 07, 2015 7:18 pm

I would totally learn how to use an atlatl. They're really cool, and very effective.
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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Nvision » Mon Mar 09, 2015 6:20 pm

Although I haven't played Eldritch Horror, I really like Elder Sign. It's replaced Arkham Horror in my gaming group, for the most part, mainly because it takes up far less table space and set-up/tear down is much faster. I'd also recommend the app version for anyone interested, as it's a very close port of the physical game, and it plays much faster with automatic handling of cards and tokens.

I've been tempted to jump into Mansions of Madness a few times, mainly drawn by the excellent miniatures and the cardstock house tiles, but I feel like it would be too close to the RPG and I'd be better served just roleplaying. I'm also worried that the scenarios might feel too much "on the rails." Jon, how would you say this is different than just playing a one-shot scenario, and what elements make it distinct enough to warrant breaking out MoM instead?

Has anyone tried the Cthulhu CCG? I see pics of the cards pop up all the time, but don't know anyone who's played it...

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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Shannon Mac » Mon Mar 09, 2015 8:47 pm

I've played Betrayal at the House on the Haunted Hill once. It's a fun Old School board game.

Arkham Horror I've played about 3 times with varying expansions. The humans usually lose especially if they are beginners.

Mansions of Madness I've played about 4 times. I like it more than the other two.
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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Keeper Jon » Tue Mar 10, 2015 3:08 am

Nvision wrote: I've been tempted to jump into Mansions of Madness a few times, mainly drawn by the excellent miniatures and the cardstock house tiles, but I feel like it would be too close to the RPG and I'd be better served just roleplaying. I'm also worried that the scenarios might feel too much "on the rails." Jon, how would you say this is different than just playing a one-shot scenario, and what elements make it distinct enough to warrant breaking out MoM instead?
Well, it's a board game, so despite the amazing scenario designs, it does have a little bit of a funneling or maybe a touch of railroading to it because in many scenarios there could be a locked door or sum-such that is impassible until a particular clue is located. So that does contribute to a railroading feel, but as I said, it's a board game, so I believe that expectations are different in a board game than they are in a role-playing game. But, there is a lot of fun and excitement, (I feel), in playing a board game where you typically have resource limitations and unique mechanics that constrain the choices available to a player. And you gotta love the game components too. Amazing game.
Nvision wrote:Has anyone tried the Cthulhu CCG? I see pics of the cards pop up all the time, but don't know anyone who's played it...
I've played the Mythos card game once, and I think the Cthulhu living card game is based on the old Mythos game. It's cool, but I found the rules of Mythos to be difficult to implement.

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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Dr. Gerard » Tue Mar 10, 2015 12:31 pm

I usually feel that when all things are equal, I'd rather play an RPG than a board game. But all things are rarely equal. Usually I play board games with mixed groups that include non-rpg players, or when time constraints do not allow for more involved play. I also like to plan a little board game (or card game, etc.) time during a convention or a gaming weekend just to give the creative mind a little rest.

A question for the thread: Do you often find yourself role playing when you play non-rpg games? How much does it depend on what you are playing, and what elements of those games prompt it? Does it ever cause you to make non-optimal choices that support character reality instead of working efficiently toward the game goal?
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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by fox01313 » Thu Apr 02, 2015 4:38 am

Well update from the field with a few things, along with a few lost female research assistants I want to find but those damn gate spells....:

*Saw this at the local game shoppe, Kingsport Festival.
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Game-Stu ... =kingsport

Seen recently so between it & the lack of many reviews on amazon must be new, so curious now to see how it goes.

*Played both Eldritch Horror & Arkham Horror some more with some unexpected time off from work temporarily.
-Starting with the big one, Arkham Horror, while I like the game between being buried in clue tokens showing up in the same spots & monsters always getting wiped out from headlines, maybe from poor shuffling, the game took way to long so I can only imagine if I put in the Black Pharaoh or Dark Goat smaller expansions in, it would add even more time. I like it but it eats up too much table room & crawls along.
-Eldritch Horror is like the podcast reports of being more streamlined though if like my game, all the players are on one side of the world with the gates stacking up on the other, the games lasted about half as long as the Arkham game did but the doom track spun down a lot faster. I really like how the resources are done in Eldritch Horror so the game isn't really simplified as much as excess junk cut away. This is the preferred game here between them.

*Thanks to the same local game shop having deals or games going on for the Tabletop day on April 11, I'll be getting the Mansions of Madness game to give that a whirl. If that one is sold out that day, I'll go for the one similar, Star Wars Imperial Assault (which is based off Dominion if I recall from reviews of Imperial Assault), so either this or Mansions would be giving the same style of game with different trappings. (also I noticed more with Imperial Assault that it'd work great for doing minimal map layouts in the narrative dice Fantasy Flight Star Wars** game & expect the same with Mansions for using in Call/Trail of Cthulhu just to show off the locations a little easier).


edit-*as for the Cthulhu CCG, I love the art (so I recommend the Art of H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos by Pat Harrigan and Brian Wood using a lot of the art from the cards here) but it's biggest flaw which might be the same for other Fantasy Flight card games, is that it's for 2 people. With many of the other Cthulhu games mentioned in the podcast & here support many people or can go for solo play too, having the card game going for two people is a bit limiting. I'm still going to try to get a better idea on the rules for the CCG, which seems okay for a card game, just hard to have fun with a group when only two people can play.

link to the book for the CCG hardcover art book
http://www.amazon.com/Art-H-P-Lovecraft ... lhu+Mythos

**After also seeing through the beginner box of both Star Wars Age of Rebellion & Star Wars Edge of Empire (same core rules, different setting/races), the Edge of Empire beginner box is far more worth it for not only the overall contents being bigger due to the locations involved but also Edge is a better box for future scenarios/campaigns with the contents in the box.
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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Gladius » Thu Apr 02, 2015 10:05 pm

Dr. Gerard wrote: A question for the thread: Do you often find yourself role playing when you play non-rpg games? How much does it depend on what you are playing, and what elements of those games prompt it? Does it ever cause you to make non-optimal choices that support character reality instead of working efficiently toward the game goal?
Chad have you ever played Tales of the Arabian Nights? It's a board game...but...kind of like a choose your own adventure, where you meet NPCs and you choose your character's reaction to them. There is a book of "mini scenarios" that the player to your left reads to you, you select your reaction (intimidate, woo, attack, etc. - there are about 20 choices) and then the reader looks up the results of the encounter and reads it to you.

Sounds a bit complicated but it's really fun, particularly if you can get everyone into playing the roles of their characters.

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Re: MU Podcast 073 - Gaming Through the Ages

Post by Dr. Gerard » Fri Apr 03, 2015 1:49 am

Oh, that does sound interesting. I'll have to check that out!
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