{"id":22276,"date":"2024-10-24T11:47:31","date_gmt":"2024-10-24T15:47:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/?p=22276"},"modified":"2024-10-24T11:47:34","modified_gmt":"2024-10-24T15:47:34","slug":"questions-and-ultimatums","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/questions-and-ultimatums\/","title":{"rendered":"Questions and Ultimatums"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Greetings, intrepid investigators of Arkham Horror<\/em>: The Card Game<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s that time of year again. A chill wind blows across the benighted cityscape of Arkham, Massachusetts, and our investigators must once again steel themselves for new horrors, terrors, specters…and winter. Midwinter, to be precise.\u00a0FAQ 2.3<\/a>: The Midwinter Gala edition is here, and it\u2019s just as terrifying as the last. Aside from some new rulings and clarifications, this FAQ contains a small update to the Taboo list as well as the introduction of alternate play variants in Ultimatums and Boons. Read on\u2014if you dare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Errata<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When our hapless investigators perform a ritual or translate arcane secrets, a single word out of place can bring chaos. The same is true for Arkham Horror: The Card Game<\/em>. With thousands of scenario and player cards in circulation at this point, it\u2019s inevitable that the occasional card and game effects might not function as intended.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Horrifying ant-wasp hybrids weren\u2019t the only thing we uncovered in The Feast of Hemlock Vale<\/em> campaign. Since its release, we\u2019ve found a few bugs that we aim to address in 2.3\u2019s update. By adding a single trait to a card in The Lost Sister<\/em> scenario, players no longer can softlock themselves with a few unlucky pulls from the Cavern deck. It was also a bit strange that you could recruit Judith Park in the Vale and take her into any scenario, so there\u2019s been some updated wording to address that issue. A small change to one of the preludes ensures that a feud between two cousins can actually<\/em> be settled amicably. And another errata may (depending) make it a bit easier (or at least not impossible) to grab the Prismatic Shard in Written in Rock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You may also notice that the four mask rewards in Carnevale of Horrors now reflect the wording on the new mask suite in\u00a0The Feast of Hemlock Vale<\/em>\u00a0Investigator<\/em>\u00a0Expansion<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rulings and Clarifications<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve only included one completely new ruling in this update. Check out 1.30 Basic Action Types<\/strong>, in which we define basic actions. (Note that while grabbing a pumpkin spice latte is technically<\/em> a basic action, we\u2019ve omitted it from the card game for now.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a rule of thumb, a basic action is an action that you could resolve in full without playing a card or activating a card ability. Taking a Resource <\/strong>action, an Engage <\/strong>action, or a Move <\/strong>action are all basic actions. Attempting to Fight<\/strong> or Evade<\/strong> an enemy (without <\/em>using a card ability or by playing an event) is a basic action. However, if you Play <\/strong>an event with a bolded Fight<\/strong> action designator, it is not<\/em> a basic fight action. Likewise, if you Activate <\/strong>an action ability with a bolded Investigate<\/strong> action designator, that is not <\/em>a basic investigate action. Additionally, we\u2019d like to clarify that while Parley <\/strong>and Resign <\/strong>are their own action types with bold action designators, they are not basic actions (as they cannot be resolved in full without other triggered abilities).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This ruling really won’t affect much at the moment, but we believe it is nevertheless important to define for future design space. Currently, this mostly matters for a card like Close the Circle (Edge of the Earth Investigator Expansion<\/em>, 62), which specifically directs players to take a basic action without defining which basic actions a player can take. Likewise, defining Parley<\/strong> as its own action type may matter for other card abilities that care about which types of actions have been taken, such as Haste (The Dream-Eaters Investigator Expansion<\/em>, 239).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also updated 2.24, regarding action costs. Given the strength of exile and \u201cremove from game\u201d effects, we want to drive home the fact that those effects are absolute (especially when they factor into the cost for another ability). For example, you can\u2019t use Pushed to the Limit (The Feast of Hemlock Vale Investigator Expansion<\/em>, 113) to automatically evade all enemies at your location with Fire Extinguisher (Edge of the Earth IE<\/em>, 80) and then shuffle it into your deck afterwards\u2014exiling the Fire Extinguisher must happen in order to use that ability. This, again, isn\u2019t a huge wrinkle, but it helps us maintain some of the balance and design space around these kinds of card abilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve had plenty of new questions to stock the FAQ list as well! No, you can\u2019t move damage to a card that doesn\u2019t have health (but good try!). Using Eldritch Tongue (The Feast of Hemlock Vale IE<\/em>, 128) to play Beguile (The Feast of Hemlock Vale IE<\/em>, 10) will remove it from the game after Beguile attaches to an enemy. If an enemy with the elusive keyword moves away while you\u2019re resolving One-Two Punch (Nathaniel Cho Investigator Starter Deck,<\/em>\u00a017), you can still attack a second time; no monstrous hybrids are safe from a good pair of boxing gloves. And you heard it right and you heard it here: tokens revealed with Rod of Carnamagos (The Feast of Hemlock Vale IE<\/em>, 85) while attacking with Armageddon (The Innsmouth Conspiracy Investigator Expansion<\/em>, 226) can result in some crazy damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Taboo List<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Like last time, we\u2019ve taken a fairly light touch to the Taboo list in this update. The Taboo list is an optional set of adjustments to the power level of certain cards that we find under- or over-performing in the current meta. Underworld Market (The Scarlet Keys Investigator Expnasion<\/em>, 77) and two Ravenous Myconid (The Feast of Hemlock Vale IE<\/em>, 59 and 60) upgrades have been chained. (As a reminder: Underworld Market is still level 2 but now costs 2 additional experience\u2014so it\u2019s 6 experience instead of 4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ve included a few additional mutations as well. Unscrupulous Loan (Edge of the Earth IE<\/em>, 113) is laughably strong in standalone scenarios with no downside, and so it has been mutated for Campaign Mode only. And you\u2019ll also notice that Empirical Hypothesis\u2019s (The Scarlet Keys IE<\/em>, 41) incredible draw power has been tempered with a \u201cLimit twice per round\u201d mutation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Introducing Ultimatums, Boons, and Refractions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ultimatums have been a semi-official element of Arkham Horror: The Card Game<\/em> for quite some time, and we\u2019re pleased to incorporate them in the latest FAQ. Ultimatums are optional variants that provide additional play restrictions for groups looking for additional challenges or new ways to re-experience a campaign or scenario. These restrictions can range from mild (such as the Ultimatum of Hardship<\/strong>, which reduces each investigator\u2019s starting resources) to dire (as in the case of the Ultimatum of Finality<\/strong>, which turns investigator defeat into certain death or insanity). Long-time players may recognize some of these ultimatums from past Invocation events and marketing articles. We\u2019ve included all of the previous Ultimatums and even added some new ones to the mix!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also introduced Boons in this update. Boons are optional variants designed to make the game easier. As a tribute to Lovecraft\u2019s love of classical and Egyptian mythology, some of these boons are attributed to specific mythological figures. Solo players, often strapped for movement, may opt to take the Boon of Hermes<\/strong> to cover more ground. Players who are more interested in playing for the story than for the challenge may want to take the Boon of Osiris<\/strong>, which allows an investigator to continue the game after their first defeat. Or, perhaps, groups wanting a small but significant boost might take the Boon of Thoth<\/strong> to start the game with an extra card in their opening hand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But wait! There\u2019s more! We\u2019ve also included Refractions, which are scenario and campaign-specific Ultimatums and Boons. For example, the Ultimatum of Venom<\/strong> gives extra teeth to the Poisoned weakness in The Forgotten Age<\/em> campaign, whereas the Boon of Bliss<\/strong> gives players more time to complete Fate of the Vale in The Feast of Hemlock Vale <\/em>campaign. Other variants address specific elements of certain scenarios that players may have found too challenging or too easy, or that might lead to a negative play experience. The Ultimatum of the Man<\/strong>, for example, makes The Man in the Pallid Mask immune to the effects of the Corpse Dweller enemy in The Pallid Mask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve provided these tools so you can play Arkham Horror: The Card Game <\/em>how you want. Whether you use them to spice up a campaign you found too easy or finally steamroll Shades of Suffering is up to you. Whatever you choose, we hope it helps you enjoy the game more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And with that, we\u2019re out! Nick, Waleed, and I heard something about a missing shipment somewhere in Arkham so we\u2019re on our way to investigate. Hopefully we can avoid any rampaging Ancient Ones!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks for playing. You are the reason we make this game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Josiah \u201cDuke\u201d Harrist, Game Designer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nicholas Kory, Game Designer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Waleed Ma\u2019Arouf, Game Designer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alex Werner, Game Rules Specialist<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Greetings, intrepid investigators of Arkham Horror: The Card Game! A new FAQ for Arkham Horror: The Card Game is now available. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":22278,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1360,1257,874],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22276","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arkham-horror","category-experts","category-games"],"acf":[],"featuredImageSourceUrl":"https:\/\/cdn.svc.asmodee.net\/production-asmodeeca\/uploads\/image-converter\/2024\/10\/2024_10_23-AH_FAQ-QUESTIONS_AND_ULTIMATUM-ARTICLE_IMAGE-1024x614.webp","productImageSourceUrl":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22276","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22276"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22276\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22284,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22276\/revisions\/22284"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22276"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22276"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.asmodee.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22276"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}