(Photo credit to Edge Studio)
Written by Ed Carter, Staff Writer
Arkham Horror Role playing game: The Hungering Abyss
Edge Studio
Role Playing, Dice pool, Lovecraft
The Stars are wrong
This is a hybrid Role Playing Game set in the Arkham universe. It can use elements of the Arkham Horror board game, but expand it into a more in depth Role Playing experience. In this box is the entire investigation, character sheets, dice. Item cards, tokens and maps plus additional aids. It’s definitely a beginner box, but it doesn’t have any more rules than the one investigation it offers. To expand it further, you need the core rulebook for the Arkham Horror Role Playing Game (RPG) in order to create more investigations and your own characters. With that said, there’s a lot to make this worth looking into. So get ready to look into the mystery of the Hungering Abyss.
Something is rotten in Arkham
To play, you will need a game master or Narrator and 1-6 players. There are six pre generated characters to choose from for this investigation. Each character has elements that can help with the investigation which is broken into 3 acts. I will not spoil any of the investigation so I am just going over the rules and the mechanics.
Each character needs 6 dice, as this is their dice pool. The game uses a dynamic dice pool system, where characters spend dice from their pool to complete actions during scenes. There are Narrative scenes and structured scenes. Narrative scenes are when players are investigating clues, gathering information, interviewing the non player characters in the investigation. They use dice to roll for tests based on their skills. A test is rolled whenever there is a chance of failure when completing an action. A roll is not needed to open an unlocked door, but may be needed for a locked one. Once a die is spent it does not refresh until the end of the scene. Dice management is vital in this game. To make a test, select a number of dice from your pool, and roll them to meet or excede the target number for a skill. A success is based on the number of dice that pass. If the target number (TN) is met, the action is a success.
A structured scene is where combat takes place. Much like a Narrative Scene, dice are rolled but they refresh after each round. A combat scene is broken into rounds, each consisting of the characters phase and the enemy phase. There is no initiative roll, as each character spends dice on their turn to make either a melee or ranged combat skill check. Each success does damage which reduces the dice pool of their target. Once a dice pool is reduced to zero by damage, the character must strain themselves and take a wound. The GM rolls on the wound table. Then their dice pool is refreshed and combat continues until the enemies are defeated or the scene ends according to the investigation.
Characters can also take Horror damage where normal dice are replaced with horror dice. These work like regular dice except whenever a 1 is rolled, the character suffers a trauma. The GM makes a trauma roll and the character is now impacted by the result from the trauma table. Like damage, trauma can be healed by time or actions.
Items and spells can be used in addition to knacks, special abilities the characters have acquired, to modify skill tests. These can allow rerolls, extra dice, or even automatic successes. Characters earn experience to improve skills or knacks by completing tasks in the investigation. The investigation continues with narrative and structured scenes until the characters are eliminated by wounds or trauma or they complete the investigation.
What’s next?
Since this is a single investigation, what can you do with it after its done? The item cards, enemies and allies can be used if you decide to expand into the full Arkham horror Role Playing Game. The dice and character sheets plus the game master screen are great tools when playing the full game. If not, you can try different characters or switch the game master, so there is some replayability.
I think the box is worth the price of admission because of the resources it comes with but you can just get the core rulebook for the complete rules for the game. It’s an interesting mechanism using the dynamic dice pool system; it tracks your overall health and actions in one mechanic. It’s the first game I have ever seen do that. There are only a few tables to use in this game, so it really opens up Role Playing experiences beyond combat. Lots of table interaction between characters and the other non player characters run by the GM.
I have used my map tiles, miniatures, and cards from my Mansions of Madness game to add to the game experience and table presence to replace the counters included. It is a much simpler streamlined game than the grand daddy of Lovecraft horror games, Call of Cthuhlu, but fans of Arkham horror may like the deeper experience it provides than just the board game.
Until next time, keep moving those meeples and happy gaming!
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