City of Archives Review
Forcibly snatched from the depths of last scenario’s caves, you find yourself in an alien city, being interviewed by a distinctly alien creature. Only it’s not the only alien in the room: a glance downwards confirms the same conical form and mixture of appendages. I think we’re having an out of body experience.
The good news is they’re nice aliens. Just wanting a little chat. Well, mostly. You are their prisoner in so many ways and although you can walk around in relative safety attempting to escape will certainly draw their ire. And you must escape. Before you lose all memory of who and what you are.
Heavily based on the Lovecraft story A Shadow out of Time, this scenario makes for a dramatic change of scene. Far more conventional for all its alienness, and after the weighty heat of the jungle, all the more appreciated for it. Your new physical form has a major effect on the gameplay which is really quite cool although I suspect the wrong deck could be something of a hindrance. I think my main concern story wise is that if you are on the wrong story thread you will likely miss the context that ties this scenario in to the rest of the campaign. Although you may be able to deduce it from the clues within.
In thematically appropriate fashion, this scenario is a jarring change. Coming out of nowhere and then disappearing like a dream. Yet it certainly offers the chance to re-contextualise the entire campaign so far, unless your previous choices leave you in the dark. In some ways that’s a shame but in others it’s all rather Lovecraft to leave a protagonist without the bigger picture and this campaign has let you choose how much you’ll be told, even if you didn’t realise you were making that choice at the time.
Rating:
Player Cards
Surprisingly few player cards this month, with only a single addition for Guardians and Survivors. That said, I’m sure the Guardians will be having too much fun with their new M1918 BAR and its spectacular gribbly-suppression capabilities. A massive 8 ammo, and the choice of how much of it to pour into an attack, each bullet adding both 1 Fight and 1 Damage, letting you tailor your assault to one shot just about anything you’re likely to face. Goodness, what a treat!
Knowingly making On Your Own the sole Survivor card is a touch on the nose but, again, it is a lovely card. It is also, along with Sacrifice, the first cards I can recall referencing card classes. So On Your Own lets you play Survivor events on the cheap, a hugely valuable for the sometimes event heavy Survivor decks, and especially for their low resource builds. Sacrifice has you discarding one of your own Mystic assets to gain resources or cards. It’s a valuable option to have, especially in the mid to late game where your spells have become exhausted or your Daniel Renfield has been horrifyingly overloaded with doom.
Crystalline Elder Sign is the Mystic’s other new card and its +1 to all stats is nothing to be sniffed at, especially in low investigator count games. It’s no Key of Ys, but then it doesn’t come with Key of Ys’ somewhat intimidating risks, nor its cost. The biggest issue it has is that for many Mystics, only the +1 head really matters, and there are plenty of other cards that provide this better.
The Rogues have the perfectly useful Slip Away and the hilariously abusable Pay Day. Slip Away lets you potentially boost the effectiveness of your typically high Rogue evade even further and potentially tie an annoying enemy up in knots. Sadly it doesn’t work on Elite enemies who are really the ones where you’d most appreciate this effect! Since it uses books, this could be a nice card for certain Seekers too. Pay Day could gather you some big piles of resources if you have a good number of extra action abilities, which is one of Rogue investigators’ specialities. Of course, resource gathering is also one of their specialities so this card doesn’t end up as a must include, but it is certainly a nice cheap option to consider.
Finally we have the anticipated Ancient Stone upgrades, accessible only once you’ve investigated with the lower level Ancient Stone from The Forgotten Age base set. Both trigger, if you wish, when drawing cards. Minds in Harmony lets you heal horror, an effect I always appreciate. But Knowledge of the Elders lets you deal clean, test free damage to enemies and that is truly spectacular. Given both cost the same amount of experience I find it difficult to believe I would ever choose Minds in Harmony over Knowledge of the Elders, but maybe that just speaks more to my aggressive tendencies…
Spoilers
Let’s talk about the conical monstrosity in the room: you.
Mind transference complete, you awaken in the body of an Yithian. This certainly comes as a shock for your character, and even more so for you when you replace your character card with the one above. All stats at 2!? I mean, it’s not as bad as Calvin Wright, but that’s still a rude awakening and no mistake. To make matters worse, the first agenda rule prevents you from equipping any items while you learn how to hold things again.
Fortunately any skill symbols committed to tests count double. This is great, and that first agenda rule acts ingeniously to force you to adjust to this new way of playing. It’s a simple change that makes you completely re-evaluate how you handle your deck. While it would be tedious repeated across a campaign, for a one-off scenario it works perfectly.
The setting also takes some of the edge off a typical scenario’s start (particularly compared to last scenario!) The denizens of this city, the Yithians are willing to treat you more as a guest than as a prisoner. Many of the enemies will remain aloof, until it becomes clear you are trying to escape. And escape you must. For each time the agenda deck advances you lose a little bit more of your mind. Your memories of who you were, and where you came from start to fade. Here, that’s represented by your hand size being reduced. First to 6 cards, and then to 4!
If we are using the size of your hand to represent your grasp on your past, then I do appreciate the Yithian Orrery room with its map of the solar system and Earth, reminding you of your home and increasing your hand size while you are in it. Escape, to win the scenario is going to take some serious focus too. You’ll need to piece together enough of how the mind transference process works by finding key phrases across the various locations in the city. It is rather brilliantly suggested that although a minimum number of phrases are essential, getting as many as possible are certainly preferred. This is your mind after all! But that is just the technical test, to trigger it you must be truly focussed on your goal, where you need to return. So, you must engineer having 10 cards in your hand!
Starting from 4 this is rather a challenge, especially when you must commit so many cards to pass skill tests. Fortunately the act deck is sympathetic to your needs (for once). Performing a draw action gets you two cards, and a bonus third if beyond your hand limit. I’m not 100% certain on the thematic underpinnings here but at least it gives you a chance. Not that it is likely to be too easy. For one, everyone needs to pull this off on the same round (maximum hand size only being checked at round end, after all). On top of that, the more key phrases you uncover, the more dangerous the encounter deck becomes. Scientists of Yith and Keepers of the Great Library both go from aloof to actively hunting you if you interfere with their particular areas of expertise, and coming across the remains of a Yithian interrogation is extra harrowing after meeting the interview subjects. It is frankly lucky that wasn’t you down there.
One of the few safe phrases to uncover comes by way of the Custodian, a wandering Yithian researcher whose mannerisms appears strangely familiar. If you can track them down you can talk to them and gain them as an ally. But the real hidden truth to them is gated behind a truly monumental amount of effort. Though perhaps you can guess that this is in fact Alejandro transported here as you were! The Alejandro you knew was already under the control of the Yithians from the start. I feel moderately bad about besmirching his good name last article.
It seems, therefore that the Yithians have orchestrated this campaign from the start. They were pursuing the orb. They are willing to destroy the Earth to get their way. Yet none of this would become known to you if you didn’t put your trust in Alejandro in that first scenario! And also rescued him in Threads of Fate. A challenging affair indeed! Without that you are left somewhat without context. Perhaps you can guess. We certainly gathered the Custodian was Alejandro. But this scenario as a whole felt a little like filler without realising how integral the Yithians were from the start. I only hope this isn’t the last we see of them as the campaign wraps up.
Of course, if you don’t escape this trial then there won’t be anymore campaign! In spectacular Arkham style the outcome of a loss is defeat! But not bloodily. Instead you simply wake up 15 years older with no memory of what came before. Your life stolen out from underneath you. Not that all is sunshine and roses if you do win. For one thing, there are two more scenarios to face. And if you did not find enough of the key phrases you might well be in even poorer shape than usual. Another new weakness is added to your deck! What joy!
But at least you’re back on track. On track for an interlude where your poor supply choices once again give you a bit of a kicking. Supplies are truly my least favourite mechanic in this campaign. Well, that and snake people. And given how much Yig’s Fury has accumulated, Im sure I’ll soon hate that too! Oh God. Why didn’t I just stay in Arkham where it’s ‘safe’?
Our copy of City of Archives was provided for review by Asmodee UK. You can pick up a copy for £14.99 RRP from your local hobby store.
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