Variant Rules for Moving Between Towns

So I've only played two games with the complete Dunwich expansion, but I've already decided it really sucks to be stuck in Dunwich with no cash for the train and to continually fail to scrounge up a buck or a ride in any encounters. At one point, I even hoped for the sheriff to show up and arrest my character, just to get back to Arkham.

I've been thinking about including an additional way to move between towns: it costs an investigator their entire movement to move between two train depots, like the Train Station and Bishop's Brook Bridge. In the game world, I suppose you could describe it as the investigator riding hobo-style in a boxcar.

Has anyone else given any thought to making movement between towns easier?

DrFaust wrote:I've been thinking about including an additional way to move between towns: it costs an investigator their entire movement to move between two train depots, like the Train Station and Bishop's Brook Bridge. In the game world, I suppose you could describe it as the investigator riding hobo-style in a boxcar.

I like the idea, but would add that the investigator should be delayed and lose the rest of his/her turn (-> no encounter). In most cases, the players didn't look forward when something like this happens, and it should cost them some turns if they don't pay the $1.

HÃ«llRÃ†ZÃ˜R wrote:I like the idea, but would add that the investigator should be delayed and lose the rest of his/her turn (-> no encounter). In most cases, the players didn't look forward when something like this happens, and it should cost them some turns if they don't pay the $1.

Right now it is impossible to move between towns without the money for most investigators.

There are motorcyles and Sedanettes in the game. Perhaps a movement cost to move from a street in one town to a street in another. 5 or 6 Movement points I would suggest. If the investigator doesn't have that much, then they actually lose their next turn as they walking between the villages.

mageith wrote:There are motorcyles and Sedanettes in the game. Perhaps a movement cost to move from a street in one town to a street in another. 5 or 6 Movement points I would suggest. If the investigator doesn't have that much, then they actually lose their next turn as they walking between the villages.

What about halving one's movement score when moving between towns while using a vehicle?

Also what expansion is the sedanette in? I haven't encountered that one yet.

HÃ«llRÃ†ZÃ˜R wrote:I like the idea, but would add that the investigator should be delayed and lose the rest of his/her turn (-> no encounter). In most cases, the players didn't look forward when something like this happens, and it should cost them some turns if they don't pay the $1.

You could certainly do that.

My reason for creating a house rule is I think the $1 itself can be too stringent when it's the only option, particularly since I like to be able to explore the locations on the board, so I wanted to create an alternative that allows exploration (having encounters) but still comes at a cost that makes buying a ticket attractive when feasible. Spending all their move means the investigator's going to pass a couple turns in the Train Station or at the bridge (bad, in terms of staying on top of monsters and gates), but as a carrot, they still get encounters in those places (potentially good).

mageith wrote:There are motorcyles and Sedanettes in the game. Perhaps a movement cost to move from a street in one town to a street in another. 5 or 6 Movement points I would suggest. If the investigator doesn't have that much, then they actually lose their next turn as they walking between the villages.

I think 5 or 6 are good values.

First I also thought about making the investigator lose his/her next turn, but then I realized that it doesn't make much sense to have an encounter at the target train depot, and then skip the turn for travelling between the cities. My idea is that the investigator must be at the depot at the start of his turn, then he can move to the target train depot, skip the rest of his turn and becomes delayed. Then, during the next turn, the investigator cannot move (he's still delayed), but has an Encounter at the train depot. Adding your idea, the investigator could spend 5 or 6 movement points and doesn't lose the rest of his turn / isn't delayed.

Our House rule for this is that the character may make a luck or stealth roll at -1 to use the train but if they fail they are arrested.

godofjell0 wrote:Our House rule for this is that the character may make a luck or stealth roll at -1 to use the train but if they fail they are arrested.

Nice one. Best, squidnibble.

Kill monsters and spend the trophies at the Hopyard for cash.

or

Have encounters at Wizard's Hill.

What is the fictional distance between the tri-villages?

Right now train travel is apparently at the speed of light since no time is taken up or the distance is quite short.

All I'm concerned about is that there is some way to travel among the tri-villages other than the train.

Yesterday I rode Shantak from Arkham to Dunwich. Apparently I had to fly down and pay the train ticket in order to get there, ride the train and continue my flight. I'm sure Shantak drove a few of the other passengers crazy.

mageith wrote:What is the fictional distance between the tri-villages?

Arkham is on the eastern end of Massachusetts, pretty close to where the real town of Salem exists. Kingsport is maybe three miles away, right on the Atlantic coast. It wouldn't be unreasonable for characters to walk to the Causeway in Kingsport from the southeast corner of Arkham (like South Church) in less time than it would take to walk to the train station in Arkham. Dunwich, however is way over in the north central portion of Massachusetts, maybe 60 miles away. And back in the 1920s, a sixty mile drive would take about two hours, due to bad roads.

http://www.benbell.net/cthulhu/lovecraftcountry/lovecraftcountry.jpg

godofjell0 wrote:Our House rule for this is that the character may make a luck or stealth roll at -1 to use the train but if they fail they are arrested.

Not everyone can jump

Rosevillain wrote:Dunwich, however is way over in the north central portion of Massachusetts, maybe 60 miles away. And back in the 1920s, a sixty mile drive would take about two hours, due to bad roads.

Thanks.

So if a turn is a day and 4 Movement points is an average days walk (investigation) through the town, its faster to walk to Kingsport then to take a train to Dunwich.

How many folks would have a car available to them in the 20's? I'll probably revise downward the time it takes to motor to Dunwich to one or two Movement points.

mageith wrote:
How many folks would have a car available to them in the 20's? I'll probably revise downward the time it takes to motor to Dunwich to one or two Movement points.

Great question. I didn't see a stat in the Arkham Unveiled supplement for Call of Cthulhu that this game is based on (the map on the first edition of AH is a color version of the map in the Arkham Unveiled supplement). But the Kingsport: City in the Mists supplement states that Kingsport is a little old-fashioned, in that only 1 out of 6 families own a car. Also, I remember reading in the Return to Dunwich supplement that most dirt roads in Dunwich are unsuitable for cars during winter snow and spring rain, so many residents there ride horses. Only a few major roads are paved.

Now, *that* would be an interesting ability:

Nameless Hobo (or whatever he was called in the Mythos CCG!) would have the ability to move from one location in one town to another, at the cost of being delayed or losing a turn. He wouldn't have to pay the $1 to take the train!

aka. Washu! ^O^

I don't really get the topic...or rather fail to see any issue at hand at all.

First of all when going to Dunwich prepare by having 2$ pocketed...stops the whole thing right there.
Except for an encounter where you get robbed of your 1$ but that almost doesnt exist since most are about 3$ or more.

If you can only cough up one buck to get there well then you can still trade in monster trophies and gate trophies for cash and clue tokens...and if there weren't any gates or monsters in dunwich for you to redeem, then I'm sorry friend, but what the hell were you doing there anyways?

At least in two player games I don't have time to idle around in Dunwich when there's no "normal" way (having the money or getting it through trading in trophies) to return and/or Dunwich posed no immediate threat to us.

So like I mentioned above, don't see any need whatsoever for applying house rules or anything like that to get around. Maybe after this post you still do but then please tell me what you were in dunwich for boy

*Edit*
Please also note that a reason like "I want to keep my trophies for something worthwhile instead of getting a $ and a clue for them" are not deemed viable by me

I also consider diluting bad gameplay choices by adding a backup plan via a house rule swinging the nerfbat and I've never been a fan of that at all.
And if you aren't stuck because of bad choices but bad luck then it's just that...bad luck and dealing with that is way more fun on the long run imo.
Just my 2 cents here...you're going to do what you want anyways and I'm not saying you can't just that you shouldn't

*End of Edit*

The Wes

Hi dudes, great discussion.
Here is my take on this

I think the $1 train fare is acceptable while using the Summon Shantak spell. You see, it's all a matter of perspective.

Firstly, casting Summon Shantak doesn't necessarily mean that your character has got the use of the shantak for your entire journey. it only grants 1 extra movement point and allows you to evade monsters so conceptually you summon it to fly over the streets where there is a monster, or you summon it once you have got off the train at Dunwich. Shantaks are terrible to behold and flying all over Dunwich, Kingsport and Arkham would probably drive your investigator insane.

Second the game doesn’t call for a sanity check when the shantak conceptually arrives, yes you lose sanity but that is for the casting of the spell. That then leaves the matter of control, the game doesn’t make you bind the shantak remember these beasts are evil, and one assumes that your character doesn’t know the correct way to titter to these beasts, even Randolph Carter the great dreamer, himself couldn't communicate with them.

So the game looks the other way for the purposes of sanity loss and control of the beast so the balancing factor is you still have to pay your dollar train fare. Neat.

However should you want a little more realism and flexibility with the shantak once your investigator is lashed to its back and hasn't gone insane or flown back to the lofty heights of Kadath against your will you can use this neat little idea I came up with. An investigator with the summon shantak card in use can spend all of his movement points to move into the sky. (Place character tile in the sky space on the board) he either has no encounters there or has to fight/evade a random monster tile (you decide which house rule to use). Then on the investigators next go he can move to any location on any board by using up all of his movement points remember the sky is considered adjacent to all boards. No dollar is paid and it takes two turns to travel anywhere between towns.

Hope that helps.
Phil

I've done some ciphering the past couple days. This is what I think I'll try out. To move between two train depots, the investigator can pay $1 and a movement point to carry on their merry way, or:
1) End their movement at a depot.
2) Spend all their movement points next turn to move to any other depot in play and become delayed.

Investigators still get encounters at the depots because hey, it's two turns of not getting where you want to be going. That's what spending a buck to ride on the inside of the train is for.

Two house rules:

1. At the start of the game, any investigator can discard Whiskey to activate the Ferry Service. Later on, any investigator may pay $3 at the River Docks to activate the Ferry Service.

Ferry Service: Any investigator may pay $1 and one movement point to move from the River Docks to the Harbourside or to Bishops Brook Bridge.

2. At the start of the game, any one investigator may choose to begin the game delayed in the Outskirts, instead of in their home location. If they do so, activate the Twisting Footpaths condition.

Twisting Footpaths: Any player may pay 1 movement point to move from the Woods, Causeway or Blasted Heath to the Outskirts or vice versa.

I have cards for both conditions, and will publish them when I have finished the small project I am working on at the moment.

I love those, Jake. They're really fitting.

I dont have the cards in front of me right now but if I recall correctly Summon Shantak only lets you ignore Monsters on your starting and your ending location not in the streets. And time and time again I saw people praising the shantak for its awesome auto-evading everything ability. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me right now or a looot of people seem to use that spell the wrong way.

If I'm wrong I'm sorry but I'm preeeetty sure.

The Wes

This thread, and a discussion I had with a fairly outspoken player about the subject, prompted me to make this:

(I'm really sorry.)

(I'm reeeeeaaalllly sorry.

)

*edit*

I think having things like Formerly known as Jake suggests is a bit better than having actual game mechanics for going from town to town, though given the horrendously dilapitated state of the town of Dunwich and its more than unfriendly inhabitants, I'd be inclined not to have any special stuff which allows you to return from that haunting village too easily.

The Wes

Cereal2K wrote:I dont have the cards in front of me right now but if I recall correctly Summon Shantak only lets you ignore Monsters on your starting and your ending location not in the streets. And time and time again I saw people praising the shantak for its awesome auto-evading everything ability. Maybe my memory is playing tricks on me right now or a looot of people seem to use that spell the wrong way.

If I'm wrong I'm sorry but I'm preeeetty sure.

SUMMON SHANTAK
Casting Modifier: -1
Sanity Cost: 1

Magical Spell

Movement: Cast and exhaust to gain 1 movement point. In addition, you may leave or end your movement in spaces containing monsters without encountering the monsters this turn.

Since monster encounters happen any time you try to leave or end at a space where they are, that pretty much makes this an awesome auto-evading everything ability. I think how you're reading it, you think that "leave" means the space you start at, and "end" means the space you end up at, but you're not allowing the Spell to work on any intermediate spaces. I do not believe you are correct about that.

jgt7771 wrote:
SUMMON SHANTAK
Casting Modifier: -1
Sanity Cost: 1

Magical Spell

Movement: Cast and exhaust to gain 1 movement point. In addition, you may leave or end your movement in spaces containing monsters without encountering the monsters this turn.

Since monster encounters happen any time you try to leave or end at a space where they are, that pretty much makes this an awesome auto-evading everything ability. I think how you're reading it, you think that "leave" means the space you start at, and "end" means the space you end up at, but you're not allowing the Spell to work on any intermediate spaces. I do not believe you are correct about that.

I actually think he is correct; i.e. only your starting and ending space are 'safe'. I see movement as one continuous thing, not a series of separate 'steps'. But I can offer no more than (my) common sense to back this up.